BigTime Software, a provider of cloud-based software for professional services firms, has closed a $14 million investment led by Boston-based private equity firm Wavecrest Growth Partners, with participation from MassMutual Ventures and Migration Capital.
The Chicago-based company provides more than 2,000 professional services firms with an integrated all-in-one solution for budgeting, tracking, managing and invoicing within project-based firms. The new funding will be used to add depth to Big Time’s senior management team, accelerate growth in sales and marketing, and fast-track additional product development hires within its Chicago team.
The firm was started in 2002 and bootstrapped by University of Chicago graduate Brian Saunders, who created the firm’s first software product. The firm has won numerous honors, including being included in G2 Crowd’s Top 100 Software Companies, winning the Gold Stevie Award in the Cloud ERP space and being named a top Quickbooks-integrated app by Intuit Software.
Wavecrest Growth Partners is a Boston-based growth equity firm that partners with B2B technology entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley to accelerate growth and build sustainable operating models.
“We are excited to make the first of what we hope will be many investments in standout high-growth B2B companies in Chicago that are well run and ready to scale,” Wavecrest Managing Partner Vaibhav Nalwaya said in a statement. “BigTime has the technology platform and reputation to become the go-to solution in the professional services space. Brian and his team have built a solid foundation with a highly capital-efficient mindset. Now — with the right senior team and a few best practices, we’re confident we can scale it up over the next several years.”
While this is the first Chicago investment for Wavecrest, its principals have been enthusiastic supporters of the Chicago tech ecosystem for many years. As an investor at his prior firm, Nalwaya built a relationship with Godard Abel and his executive team at Chicago-based BigMachines, which was acquired by Oracle. Abel is currently the CEO of Chicago-based G2.
“We made a decision in mid-2018 that the demand for our enterprise product was simply too high for us to be able to meet without significant additional investment in our sales and marketing engine,” BigTime Software Founder Brian Saunders said in a statement. “During our more than 50 discussions with investment firms, Wavecrest was a clear standout in terms of both their transparency as well as their deep knowledge around scaling companies like ours.”
