Fulcrum backs four of the Inc. 5000's fastest growing companies through multiple rounds of funding

USA - English

• USA - English

ATLANTA, Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Fulcrum invested almost $40 million in four (4) of the Inc. 5000's fastest growing companies of 2019. The Inc. 5000, an annual guide to the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S., recently published their 2019 report that highlighted Fattmerchant, Dropoff, SaaSOptics, and Surefire Local, all of which are Fulcrum portfolio companies.

"It's exciting to partner with dynamic businesses and management teams going through such rapid growth and expansion. Our latest fund enables us to be stronger financial partner, and fuel our companies' organic growth and acquisition strategies," said Jim Douglass who serves on the boards of Fattmerchant, Dropoff, and Surefire Local. Fulcrum's latest fund more than doubled the size of their second fund from $93 million to $204 million, allowing Fulcrum to write larger initial checks, as well as reserve more capital for future growth initiatives or follow-on financings. For perspective, Fulcrum is able to invest close to $25 million in any one portfolio company in the current fund.

As former executives of growth companies, Fulcrum's strategy is to be a dependable capital partner and eliminate the need for an entrepreneur to continually raise funds from new investors. "The ability to lead and participate in follow-on equity financings has become very important. Raising capital is a full-time job, so enabling management teams to stay focused on growing their businesses and minimizing the distraction of a broader capital raising process has been extremely well received by our management teams," said Frank Dalton, a partner with Fulcrum.

As an example, in October 2017, Fulcrum led the $5.5 million Series B round for Fattmerchant. In July 2018, roughly 10 months after the Series B round, Fulcrum led Fattmerchants's $10.5 million Series C equity financing. With the help of Fulcrum and existing investors, Fattmerchant, has been able to accelerate the growth within their company – growing 1,915% over the past three years and in the top 250 of the Inc. 5000. "We're honored to be ranked on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list as one of the top 10 fastest growing financial services companies in America," said Suneera Madhani, CEO and founder of Fattmerchant. "Fulcrum's support has been absolutely integral to our rapid growth and innovation. Our ability to develop industry-first technology quickly and scale our team is a direct impact of their partnership with us."

Since its first institutional fund in 2006, Fulcrum has been working with management teams to accelerate organic growth and take advantage of targeted merger and acquisition ("M&A") opportunities. "Organic growth is one of the most effective ways to create value for all stakeholders, but M&A is also a very effective strategy to significantly increase revenue, a company's customer base, growth rates and the expansion of EBITDA margins," said Jim Douglass. Fulcrum's active M&A growth strategy is apparent with Dropoff and Surefire Local, that combined acquired five (5) companies and are also members of this year's Inc. 5000 list.

About Fulcrum Equity Partners
Fulcrum Equity Partners is an Atlanta-based growth equity firm that manages over $350 million and provides expansion capital to rapidly growing companies led by strong entrepreneurs and management teams. Fulcrum targets companies within healthcare services, B2B SaaS and technology-enabled services sectors. Fulcrum's initial target investment size is $3 million - $15 million to provide financing to meet a wide range of needs, including internal growth initiatives, acquisitions, divestitures, shareholder liquidity and recapitalizations. The partners have over 130 years of relevant experience in Fulcrum's target markets, including significant operating experience in senior executive positions at companies that grew rapidly and enjoyed successful exits. Additionally, Fulcrum's limited partners include over 100 current or former business owners and CEOs of leading companies in a wide variety of industries that provide a rich resource for the firm and portfolio companies.
To learn more, please visit http://www.fulcrumep.com.

About Inc. 5000
Companies on the 2019 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2015 to 2018. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2015. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as of December 31, 2018.2

1: Source: https://www.inc.com/profile/fattmerchant
2: Source: https://www.inc.com/inc5000/2019/top-private-companies-2019-inc5000.html

SOURCE Fulcrum Equity Partners