This Week’s Vendor News

NEW & UPDATED PRODUCTS

SUBSCRIBE launches EXTRACT to streamline reporting data. EXTRACT is a machine-learning-powered investor portal designed to automate and streamline fund reporting document collection, PDF data extraction, tax information centralization and the delivery of data to downstream systems – thereby allowing institutional investors and wealth managers to collect, organize, extract, and deliver their information using a single end-to-end operating system powered by SUBSCRIBE. EXTRACT solves many issues facing private fund investors, eliminating the need for investors to log into numerous portals and simplifies sharing information with downstream systems, accountants, and tax advisors—which enhances data accessibility and operational efficiency. ↗

Anaplan unveils its new Integrated Financial Planning app. Anaplan’s IFP app provides real-time insights, scenario modeling, and a financial overview—all in a single platform. The new platform enables users to: 1 - Integrate ERP/GL data with a pre-built datahub featuring best practice dimensions to streamline financial planning, 2 -set up using its configurator and implement best practice-based FP&A
processes including models, calculations, dashboards and reports, reducing implementation risk and fostering fast user adoption, 3 - extend the application by building custom planning models tailored to your specific requirements, 4 - Make more informed decisions using built-in driver-based planning, scenario modeling, and what-if analysis, 4 - Gain full visibility into your financial health with a balance sheet and cash flow plan for monitoring and decision-making, 5 - integration with Anaplan’s Financial Close and Consolidation application, 6 - Leverage XL Reporting, an excel plug-in for reporting, analysis and user adoption. ↗

Blueflame AI introduces its no-code workflow automation solution for alternative investment managers, Blueprints. With Blueprints, users can: 1 - Automate manual tasks and workflows, 2 - get started immediately: no coding required, 3 - integrate with your existing systems, 4 - get insights right away from multiple data sources. Blueprints work by leveraging advanced natural language prompts and large language models to query and synthesize data from multiple internal and external sources, including files, the internet, and third-party systems. By reducing manual research and analysis time, firms can achieve productivity gains and operational efficiencies. Key Features of Blueprints: 1 - Pre-built Blueprints library, 2 - Multi-source data queries, 3 - Intelligent information synthesis, 4 - No-code custom Blueprints: You can auto-generate custom Blueprints by simply describing the tasks you want to accomplish. These can be shared within your firm's library or with team members. ↗

Specter adds three new features on its platform: Chrome Extension, Customer Focus, and Product Connection. 1 - With the Specter Chrome Extension, users can access actionable insights about companies directly in their browser, streamlining their workflow with a click. With the Customer Focus (B2B/B2C Classification). 2 - The B2B/B2C Classification feature is a tool for venture capital and private equity investors to identify whether a company targets businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C). 3 - Specter integrated Talent Signals and Strategic Signals into company profiles. ↗

Anduin launches its own Data Extraction Service. Benefits of this new service include: 1 - Bringing offline subscriptions online: Close funds by bringing LP data online, enabling validation and corrections. 2 - Automating compliance checks: Extract and validate data from documents like MFNs, tax forms, and AML/KYC checks, all in one streamlined process. 3 - Creating a positive post-close experience: Transform static data into a valuable asset that drives post-close workflows and fuels future investments. ↗

German private company data is now available on Beauhurst. With this new update, subscribers can now: 1 - Identify interesting German businesses, 2 - Monitor competitors, or track existing German clients, 3 - Explore and understand the German company landscape. Germany is just the start. Now, Beauhurst is looking to expand its coverage to other markets. ↗

Attio's new website is now live. It can be found at: attio.com ↗

Vestlane releases 5 new features for investor onboarding. These new enhancements are: 1 - Manage Subscriptions by Closing: users can see an overview of investors involved in each closing with the new closing tag and filter in the subscriptions dashboard. 2 - Invite Investors Through Custom Links: users can generate a shareable link to invite investors directly through an email or messaging tool. 3 - Internal-Only Comments for Team Collaboration: the new internal-only comments feature allows users to leave notes that are visible only to their organization. 4 - Click-Through NDA & other Pre-Access messages/agreements before subscription: a new pre-access modal, users can add NDAs, privacy policies, or other terms and conditions that investors must review and confirm before they can access documents, workflows, or the data room. This feature enhances security and compliance while streamlining investor onboarding. 5 - Onboard Secondary Investors: Fund managers can now use Vestlane to onboard secondary investors—those joining by acquiring an existing LP’s participation. ↗

S&P Global launches Kensho LLM-ready API (beta), making its structured data accessible for Generative AI. Kensho LLM-ready API integrates seamlessly with large language models like GPT, Gemini, or Claude, allowing customers to use natural language to query S&P Global’s datasets. The API will help engineering, product, and business teams across financial services save significant time and resources by making company information, financial statements, historic market data, and global securities data a question away. ↗

Arcesium unveils new Regulatory Reporting Solution to help investment managers achieve compliance. This new tool allows investment managers to remain compliant with evolving global reporting frameworks, using a single source of data pulled from within their already existing operating model. This brings accuracy, control and efficiency to the reporting process. The reporting solution launches as an extension to Arcesium’s investment lifecycle management platform, Opterra, and will streamline disclosure processes by automating reports using a firm’s consolidated data on trades, positions, P&Ls and accounts. Arcesium’s Regulatory Reporting tool reduces the risk of compliance errors, replaces manual workloads, and positions asset managers to be able to adapt to future reporting changes. ↗

Similarweb introduces new product updates from October 2024. 1 - Preferred URLs for rank tracking: Users can now assign a target URL to keywords in Rank Tracker. This allows users to check if their most relevant page ranks for a specific search term, highlighting successes and identifying areas where you may have cannibalization or need further optimization. 2 - Ad title and description filter: Use Similarweb's new filter to discover targeted, relevant ads containing the specific word, brand, or phrase you want to review. With this functionality, you can quickly identify if, where, and how competitors are using your brand name, analyze their ad copy, and see how they are positioning themselves. 3 - Upping Excel Downloadable Data: Similarweb lifted the 10k Excel download limit in its 10 most popular reports. Users can now download up to 50k rows or specify a custom number to make downloads more manageable and efficient. 4 - Ticker-to-App Mapping dataset: This dataset maps over 51,000 mobile apps to 14,000 tickers across 135 global exchanges. Investors can now access key app performance metrics, including monthly active users, average usage time, and download numbers, providing unique insights to uncover alpha. ↗

FactSet launches Internal Research Notes 2.0, an enhancement to its Research Management Solutions for buy-side and wealth professionals. IRN 2.0 utilizes GenAI to provide research analysts, asset owners, and wealth managers with a centralized repository for internal research, meeting notes, commentary, and supporting documents. IRN 2.0 integrates internally curated data and research via one interconnected platform to identify overlapping content and link disparate contributing sources. Users across a firm can now collaboratively aggregate, store, and track current and pre-existing content to streamline their research workflows. Key features of IRN 2.0 include: 1 - Conversational IRN: Through a large language model chat interface, IRN 2.0 searches, reviews, filters, and digests internal data to generate responses to users’ queries regarding recommendation history, latest ratings, manager commentary, and market sentiment. 2 - Draft Assistant: IRN 2.0’s GenAI assistant expedites the research publication process by providing analysts with GenAI summaries of relevant internal and external content in line with their active sources, identifiers, and themes. 3 - Theme Intelligence and Topic Assistant: As research teams populate IRN 2.0 with commentary, investment theses, manager reviews, and trade rationale according to their tailored workflows, the GenAI Theme Intelligence layer will review that content and surface emerging themes via a word cloud. Similarly, IRN 2.0’s GenAI-powered Topic Assistant will uncover specific topics that are most relevant to the firm’s strategies. Together, these tools automatically standardize team findings, enhance searchability, and recall data to drive communication with portfolio managers. ↗

Attio adds two new platform updates. The first is new interaction tracking capabilities. Attio already captures all email and calendar events, but now users can log calls and in-person meetings as well, for interactions that happen elsewhere. Users can populate each activity with further details, including a Title, Summary, Host, Participants, Date and time, and more. Attio has also added communications intelligence support for both new activity types, so users can now use call and in-person interaction data across all tables, reporting, and workflows. The second new feature is, the ability to record and list entry creation templates. Attio just shipped custom templates for record and list entry creation. This means when creating a record or adding a record to a list, users can now customize which attributes are shown, and the order in which they appear. ↗

S&P Global Market Intelligence unveils its Cross Reference Services Lookup Tool. With this new feature, users can access detailed security reference data. Users need to enter a security identifier or company name to view security classifications, issuer profiles, and trading details. Backed by the S&P Global Cross Reference Services database, this tool provides up-to-date data to support research and decision-making. ↗

DEAL ACTIVITY

Robin AI has closed a “Series B Plus” fundraising round of $25 million, on top of its initial $26 million Series B fundraising announced in January. This brings the total amount Robin AI has raised to date to $61.5 million. Investors in the new funding round include the venture arm of PayPal, Michael Bloomberg’s family office, which is called Willets, and the University of Cambridge—all of which are also customers of Robin AI. The original Series B round was led by Temasek. The company did not disclose its valuation following the latest investment. It said it is currently earning $10 million in annual recurring revenue. ↗

SPS is acquired by With Intelligence. SPS combined with With’s private markets fund and investor data, will provide a 360 degree view of the investment lifecycle, from fundraising and allocation to deal execution for investors, fund managers, service providers and deal professionals. The addition of SPS is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions for With Intelligence, as With continues to invest in its ability to support the alternative asset management industry in raising funds effectively and making better allocation decisions. ↗

PARTNERSHIPS & INTEGRATIONS

FINTRX & GK3 Capital partner to enhance data & marketing solutions for wealth managers. This partnership brings together FINTRX’s data intelligence with GK3 Capital’s digital marketing strategies, which will drive growth, streamline prospecting, and enhance client acquisition within the wealth and investment sectors. ↗

Finalis welcomes Standard Demand Partners as its newest partner. Standard Demand Partners leverages a modern outreach method combined with proprietary software and data. This approach connects fundraising teams with ideal investors, streamlining equity and debt offerings. ↗

Carta chooses Morgan Stanley at Work as its exclusive US public equity management and broader workplace benefits platform for late-stage private companies going public. The collaboration allows clients to leverage Carta’s private equity management platform while private, then transition to Morgan Stanley at Work when they go public. Together, Carta and Morgan Stanley at Work will offer a cohesive and integrated solution to support these companies and their employees as they make their transition to being transaction ready and publicly traded. ↗

Propense.ai is partnering with RelPro. Propense.ai feels that data quality is a pervasive issue for professional services firms.Propense.ai's partnership with RelPro allows it to address this concern head on and enhances its ability to anticipate their clients' needs with confidence. ↗

There have been three new integrations with Attio recently. 1 - Fireflies is a call recording tool which captures and summarizes meetings. Integrating with Fireflies allows users to sync meeting data into Attio, ensuring records and tasks are up-to-date. 2 - AI meeting agent Spinach AI summarizes meetings and updates notes in Attio. 3 - Ply is a software augmentation platform which enables users to build custom features into other apps, such as Gmail and Intercom. By connecting Ply and Attio users can extend Attio’s functionality to other tools in your stack, no coding required. ↗

Alvarez & Marsal teams up with 73 Strings to help asset managers grow. A&M feels that asset managers in private equity are experiencing growth and facing challenges in managing large, complex portfolios while meeting investor and regulatory demands for accurate, transparent data. By combining 73 Strings’ AI-augmented valuation platform with A&M’s industry-specific experience, together they can streamline valuation processes and provide asset managers with the ability to scale efficiently, adapt to market complexities, and make informed strategic decisions for optimal results. ↗

Prospect Capital Management partners with iCapital to expand investment advisor access to Closed End Fund and Business Development Company opportunities. This partnership allows financial advisors to access Prospect’s institutional quality CEF and BDC opportunities managed by Prospect and its affiliates, and now available on iCapital Marketplace. As part of this strategic collaboration, Prospect also continues its dedication to educating industry professionals on niche structured credit strategies through bespoke educational modules, intended to further enhance the investment expertise of financial advisors and wealth managers. Additionally, financial advisors can now access Prospect’s portfolio of funds through iCapital’s platform. ↗

ANALEC, a purpose-built CRM solution for mid-market firms with sales, research, and investment banking capabilities, and SS&C's Tier1 have formed a strategic partnership to serve the demands of specialized firms in research sales, trading, and investment banking. “For ANALEC, this partnership marks an expansion into the US and EMEA markets, leveraging SS&C Tier1’s network to establish a local presence. This alliance provides a full-spectrum solution designed for mid-market firms requiring quick go-to-market capabilities and streamlined integration. ↗

Finalis enters into a strategic partnership with Goldman Sachs. This partnership is the first step in delivering growth and opportunity for their affiliated investment bankers. Finalis' partnership with Goldman's Private Wealth and Investment Banking Divisions introduces new deal flow opportunities for the Finalis network, while also enabling partnership on larger transactions. ↗

The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System has streamlined their upgrade process by leveraging SimCorp’s Continuous Testing Service. With OPERS managing a diverse investment portfolio, it relies on SimCorp’s platform for critical functions such as compliance, reconciliation, and settlement. OPERS has been a client of SimCorp for a few years but recently OPERS transitioned to SimCorp’s Continuous Testing Service, which has saved time and resources for OPERS, which in turn drives business value. The solution means that SimCorp assumes responsibility for testing, ensuring a seamless upgrade experience, and minimizing risk for the client. By outsourcing testing, the pension fund could save time and resources, eliminating the need for internal testing staff and infrastructure. By OPERS transitioning to Continuous Testing Service, the ability to predict upgrade timelines, and costs, and effectively manage the upgrade budget was improved. ↗

OFFICE & PERSONNEL

Ontra appoints Eric Hawkins as Chief Technology Officer. Under Hawkins' leadership as SVP of Engineering, Ontra leveraged its technology to deliver valuable product innovations to its customers. Notable enhancements include AI search and markup builder. In his new role, Hawkins will continue to accelerate the development of Ontra’s private markets technology platform by introducing new products and enhancing existing products to solve more problems faced by private fund managers. Before joining Ontra, Hawkins spent ten years at AppFolio, where he led the development of AppFolio’s mobile and payment solutions before building and leading engineering for the Investment Management business unit. ↗

Broadridge welcomes David Fellah as its Vice President of AI Trading Solutions. Fellah will be responsible for leveraging data, AI, and analytics to deliver solutions that improve trading strategies and reduce costs. Fellah brings nearly thirty years of experience in trading technology, quantitative research, and advanced analytics. ↗

Validus appoints two senior hires in its Business Development and Client Coverage division in London. Sean Duffy joins as Senior Manager of Client Engagement where he will cover a range of Private Capital firms, acting as a senior point of client contact and directing service delivery teams. His previous experience in this field includes both the sell-side and buy-side. Duffy joins Validus from Alcentra, where he held the role as Executive Director, in charge of FX and Liquidity management for the firm’s funds. Prior to this he spent five years on the Institutional FX and Rates desk at Lloyds Banking Group. Ron Pathak joins as Senior Manager of Event-Driven Hedging Solutions where he will advise clients on investment-specific market risks and direct service delivery teams in providing hedging solutions to funds and portfolio companies. With more than 20 years of experience in capital markets, Pathak will help clients navigate and mitigate risk scenarios associated with financings, refinancings and cross-border M&A transactions. Pathak joins Validus having spent more than two decades specializing in FX and Rates risk management at financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, RBS, and Standard Chartered, in London and Singapore. ↗

Alkymi welcomes Casper Laurent to the team as its new Director of Professional Services and Customer Success for EMEA. Laurent previously spent more than five years at Salesforce as a Solution Engineer. ↗

Charles River adds Wenyong (Chloe) Qin to its team. Qin is the newest hire as a Software Engineering Co-Op in the CI/CD team. ↗

Inés Darnond joins Finalis as its new Head of Marketing. In this role, Darnond will lead a team of marketers to develop and execute new strategies and is responsible for driving the growth of its marketing organization. Darnond brings previous experience from her roles at Coca-Cola, Bayer, and Unilever. ↗

Fatima Naimi is the new Business Development Manager at Integrum ESG. ↗

Titanbay hires Alex Wood to work within its Investor Services team. Wood is responsible for owning the post-commitment relationship with Titanbay's LPs. Wood began his career as a graduate at J.P. Morgan, where he spent 4 years and most recently covered the Cash Equity markets for the Asia Pacific region. ↗

Cofi.ai welcomes Maura Fox as its newest Senior Account Executive. Fox joined Cofi.ai from Workiva where she was the Regional Sales Director- ESG Sustainability. ↗

VENDOR RESEARCH & WHITEPAPERS

The ROYC Group has a new blog, "Simplifying Private Equity for Advisors through Technology". The ROYC Group goes over two challenges that occur in private equity, three tech-enabled solutions for simplification and three benefits for advisors and clients. ↗

AWARDS

Winners from the Private Equity Wire European Emerging Manager Awards 2024 have been announced.

Winners from our Vendor Profiles include:

Data Management Solution of the Year– 73 Strings
Data Provider of the Year – DealEdge
Deal Origination Solution of the Year – Filament
Fund Accounting Provider of the Year – FIS
Investor Relations Technology of the Year – Anduin
ODD Solution of the Year – Dasseti
Regulatory & Compliance Technology Provider of the Year – Allvue Systems
Regulatory Advisor of the Year – Kroll
Risk Management Software Provider of the Year – Validus Risk Management

Congratulations to all the winners! ↗

Bite wins at the World Economic Magazine 2024 awards. Bite Investments has won Best Investment Technology Solution UK 2024 and Most Innovative Alternative Investment Platform UK 2024 for the third year in a row at the World Economic Magazine Awards. The World Economic Magazine Awards celebrate leaders who drive progress and transformation in their industries, from FinTech to Green Energy. ↗

FundCount won the Best Portfolio Management Solution category at this year's Global Private Banker Awards. ↗