TA-Backed Radialpoint Acquires VC-Backed Casero
By Daniel Hausmann
Getting a foot in the door was one thing for Casero Inc. Getting a piece of the broadband customer pie was another.
The venture capital-backed company was acquired by Radialpoint Inc., a portfolio company of TA Associates Inc. The sale price was not disclosed.
Casero backers, including Rembrandt Venture Partners, Argo Global Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Casero founders Paul Atkinson and Kevin Kimsa, received a mix of cash and stock and own, as a group, about 11% of Radialpoint's shares.
Radialpoint provides home network security products, and Casero provides online back-up and media-sharing products. Both companies' offerings are software-as-a-service products and both had been successful in signing up broadband service providers to offer their services. Radialpoint, though, has had more success in selling products to end users, Casero Chief Executive Atkinson said. The companies offer their technology to broadband customers through private label brands, sold under names like Comcast or Verizon.
Casero raised about $13 million in two rounds of funding, including a 2008 $5.8 million Series B round led by Rembrandt. Investors and the companies declined to say if the firms had gained their equity back in this sale.
"It was a great deal for us and I think we'll make a lot of money going forward," Rembrandt General Partner Douglas Schrier said.
Jonathan Meeks, a managing director with TA Associates, said growth acquisitions were a focus for Radialpoint when TA invested C$98 million for a minority stake last year.
"We thought Radialpoint could be a consolidator in the industry," Meeks said. "Casero was top on our list of things to do. They had a great product and a large customer base that they had not been able to drive significant revenues from."
Radialpoint generates over $50 million in annual revenue currently and expects to top $100 million in annual sales in the next two years. Casero generates in excess of $3 million in annual revenue.
Reach TA Associates at 617-574-6700; Rembrandt Venture Partners at 650-326-7070.