Simplus Raises $7.3M Series A Round, Acquires BaldPeak Consulting, Let’s Celebrate With A Poem
“We are fortunate to be backed by Salesforce Ventures and we plan to use the funding to acquire other Salesforce Quote-to-Cash partners in our journey to grow the best team of experts in the world.”
SLC-based Simplus has closed a $7.3 million Series A round led by Epic Ventures with participation from Salesforce Ventures and others. The money was raised with the explicit purpose of acquiring Salesforce Quote-to-Cash partners (I’ll explain this in a second) and wouldn’t you know it, the acquisition party has already begun: Simplus is also announcing the acquisition of BaldPeak Consulting.
While you wrap your head around this funding/acquisition double whammy, I’ll explain a few things so this will hopefully all make sense. Simplus, as you may have read on an incredibly prestigious website, was founded by four entrepreneurs (Ryan Westwood, Isaac Westwood, Blake Hannon, John Lawton) as a way for companies to integrate with Salesforce. They were originally called Outbox Systems and during this time, formed partnerships with a variety of companies including one called SteelBrick, a CPQ (Configure Price Quote) company that enabled users to quickly transition their quotes into cash. This partnership became so strong that when Simplus raised a $4.2 million seed round in July 2015, SteelBrick CEO Godard Abel was one of the investors. And lo and behold, more things happened — SteelBrick was acquired by Salesforce in December 2015 and became Salesforce Quote-to-Cash, which brings us full circle to today’s investment that features participation from Salesforce Ventures. Simplus is now touted on their homepage as “the leader in Salesforce Quote-to-Cash implementation,” and if your company is also a Salesforce Quote-to-Cash partner, Simplus is looking to acquire. That’s how BaldPeak enters the equation, snatched up for their reputation as the premier Salesforce Quote-to-Cash billing experts.
“We are fortunate to be backed by Salesforce Ventures and we plan to use the funding to acquire other Salesforce Quote-to-Cash partners in our journey to grow the best team of experts in the world,” Ryan Westwood, CEO of Simplus, said in a statement.
Well this is all pretty exciting, you must be thinking, but you’re also wishfully longing for a podcast that features Ryan Westwood (aka the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur), where he explains in his own words the ebb and flow of being an entrepreneur, the creation of Simplus, and his overall passion for the Utah tech and startup scene. Well, my friends, you’re in luck, because he sat down with Beehive Startups founder and recreational boat captain Clint Betts for a very personal conversation earlier this year. Ryan also spoke with me earlier this year about investing in female entrepreneurs, an article I recommend for your consuming pleasure. If all this — combined with today’s funding and acquisition — doesn’t fulfill your Simplus fix, I wrote a funding poem. Read it and enjoy the rest of your day.
An Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur
Here is what people mean when they say,
look, there goes an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur.
It means nurturing, cultivating, breathing life
into a startup community in the same way
a parent cares for a child,
offering solace for a bleeding knee and
sitting bedside until the weight of the day
shuts their tired eyes.
It means building, living, creating company
after company,
watching them grow and flourish
like solemn stalks of corn,
bursting at the seams until, shucked,
they give their hearts to the world.
It means Outbox simplified, plus, then Simplus,
raising money in a way that solidifies,
helping turn quotes to cash
in the blink of an eye,
such astonishing speed that Usain Bolt
nods in approval.
It means loving, helping, offering advice
to everyday people,
who have their own ideas and
reach for the stars,
convinced that at some point
their hands will find something to hold.