PRESS RELEASE
Helsinki & London – August [25] 2020 – Providence Strategic Growth (“PSG”), the growth equity affiliate of premier asset management firm Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”), today announced the completion of a majority investment in Sympa, a leading provider of cloud-based human capital management (“HCM”) software in the Nordics. Alfvén & Didrikson, an active, long-term backer of Nordic businesses with international growth potential, invested in Sympa in 2016 and will retain a minority stake alongside the company’s founding team. PSG team members Edward Hughes, Aldo Mareuse, and Tobias Richter have joined Sympa’s board of directors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sympa was founded in 2005 and is now one of the fastest-growing cloud HR suite vendors in the Nordics. Its signature solution, Sympa, is a comprehensive HR platform that gives businesses advanced tools for automating a wide range of HR tasks and amplifies the expertise of HCM professionals. PSG’s investment will support Sympa’s next phase of growth focused on product enhancement and strategic M&A to drive expansion across Europe. Co-Founder and CEO Keijo Karjalainen will continue leading day-to-day operations and Sympa’s team of 140 employees in 8 offices in 5 countries.
With PSG on our side we believe we’re perfectly placed to secure market leadership beyond our Nordic heartland. Right now, the future looks very exciting.
“We chose to partner with Sympa because we believe it is an outstanding business that will spearhead consolidation in Europe’s HCM software segment,” said Edward Hughes, Managing Director at PSG. “The market is growing rapidly, and companies now demand sophisticated digital HR management tools, which presents a compelling growth opportunity for Sympa. We look forward to working with Keijo and his team to unlock the company’s full potential and accelerate its international expansion.”
Keijo Karjalainen, Founder and CEO, commented, “Since founding Sympa, we have been convinced there’s a pent-up demand for more robust HCM software to support the full range of HR processes and unlock data-driven HR. We also identified a critical lack of HR software for mid-market organisations managing international HR operations in all their complexity. Meeting both these needs while always putting the customer first has powered Sympa’s outstanding growth, and with PSG on our side we believe we’re perfectly placed to secure market leadership beyond our Nordic heartland. Right now, the future looks very exciting.”
Sympa currently helps more than 1000 organisations, including renowned brands in the Nordics – such as BMW, Dustin, and Byggmax – to nurture the development of their employees, operate more efficiently, and make smarter strategic decisions through its fully digital HR solution. Sympa previously won Red Herring’s list of 100 of the most exciting start-ups from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Sympa is a complete, fully customizable solution that lets you focus on people and smart decision-making. It provides companies with a clear, aggregated, view of all their people data, a trusted tool for automating a wide range of everyday HR tasks and unlimited connectors to other software. Sympa HR is now used an average of 650,000 times every month in 700 organizations in over 100 countries. Sympa has also one of the highest customer satisfaction rates in HR technology in Europe. Learn more about Sympa’s HR solution and customers on the company’s website, www.sympa.com
PSG is an affiliate of Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”). Established in 2014, PSG focuses on growth equity investments in lower middle market software and technology-enabled service companies. Providence is a premier global asset management firm that pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firm’s inception in 1989, Providence has invested in more than 200 companies and is a leading equity investment firm focused on the media, communications, education, software and services industries. PSG is headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in London and Kansas City. For more information on Providence, please visit www.provequity.com.
Alfvén & Didrikson is an active and long-term backer of passionate entrepreneurs and teams with international growth ambitions. Since 2010, the Alfvén & Didrikson team has made investments in fast-growing Northern European companies such as Trustly, Quinyx, Mentimeter, Acast, Offerta, PE Accounting, Ftrack, Joint Academy, Transfer Galaxy, Airmee and Paligo. For more information see www.alfvendidrikson.com.