Private equity investor Oakley Capital announced that Oakley Capital Fund V is investing in Assured Data Protection, a Managed Services Provider (MSP) focused on Backup, Disaster Recovery and Cyber Resiliency as a Service.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
“Founded in Leeds, UK and Virginia, US in 2016 by serial tech entrepreneur Simon Chappell and four co-founders, Assured uses Rubrik software and Assured’s own proprietary software platform to provide mission-critical backup and disaster recovery services for companies globally,” said Oakley Capital.
“Assured enhances its customers’ cyber resilience by protecting their data and ensuring business continuity, with near-zero server recovery time in the event of a significant IT failure or cyber-attack.
“Assured operates in a high growth segment of the disaster recovery space which is expected to expand almost 5x over the next five years, as companies’ data architecture becomes more complex and as the prevalence and severity of cyber threats grows.
“Rubrik, the technology Assured leverages, provides a next generation software solution that is growing rapidly as it displaces legacy providers.
“Assured has generated consistently high double-digit growth with almost 100% recurring revenues and low customer churn thanks to growing demand for its products and services.”
Oakley said it will support Assured’s management team to capitalise on strong growth in its underlying markets including the US, with a focus on “providing the required capital and organisational structures to enable sustained organic growth.
“Given Assured’s significant hosting infrastructure, this is also an opportunity to leverage Oakley’s extensive hosting experience. The five co-founders including Simon Chappell will remain invested in Assured and will continue to manage the business.”
Assured Data Protection CEO Simon Chappell said: “More and more companies are having to strengthen their IT and data systems in the face of increased cyber and ransomware attacks that can cripple operations.
“Assured is well-placed to help mitigate these risks as the partner of choice for small and medium-sized enterprises.
“We were looking for a genuine partner that could help us scale our business and were impressed by Oakley’s track record of helping build €1bn+ global industry leaders and equally the firm’s entrepreneurial ethos and approach. We look forward to working with the team to further strengthen Assured’s market-leading position.”
Peter Dubens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Oakley Capital, said: “This is a rare opportunity to invest behind a proven team that has built a business that will benefit from several structural tailwinds and has an attractive business model that is differentiated and scalable.
“Assured is an IT services business with strong organic growth and recurring revenues, genuine IP, and led by exceptional founders. We’re pleased to be partnering with Simon and his team as they leverage the significant opportunities in a fast-growing market.”