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- Climb's M&A Weekly: Rocket Companies, Gemspring Capital, and INNERGY all feature
Climb's M&A Weekly: Rocket Companies, Gemspring Capital, and INNERGY all feature
Rocket Companies buys Redfin and Gemspring Capital acquires Appriss Retail
Nick @ Climb
March 16, 2025
Welcome back to the Climb Advisors weekly newsletter with five deals from across the B2B tech landscape. Sentiment is strong in the M&A community, with many expecting 2025 to be a record year in terms of deal volume & aggregate value. Valuations are strong & buyers are eager to deploy capital.
Climb Advisors focuses on sell-side advisory for B2B Software and services companies generating $5m-$15m in revenue. We also advise on credit placements and non-dilutive capital solutions for companies of the same profile & in select cases engage in retained buy-side processes for quality buyers. We love to talk markets and connect dots - please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re a founder or investor looking to transact.
INNERGY acquires Microvellum, forming woodworking partnership
Overview: INNERGY, an ERP software company for millwork and cabinetry manufacturers, has purchased Microvellum, a woodworking software company. Both companies have a long history in the woodworking industry and this partnership now allows Microvellum to fully integrate INNERGY’s ERP software into its platform. Over the next year, INNERGY will look to integrate its cloud-based software into Microvellum’s platform. Read more here.
Climb Comment: In August of this past year, Mainsail Partners invested $44 million in INNERGY to support moves like this. INNERGY was created by woodworkers and is built for the unique challenges woodworkers face and Microvellum has a long history in the woodworking industry. Woodworking is a multibillion dollar industry & growing and INNERGY is well-positioned to grow with the market and continue expansion.
Rocket Companies acquires Redfin for $1.75 billion
Overview: Rocket Companies, the holding company for Rocket Mortgage, among others, has acquired the real estate listing platform, Redfin. Redfin is a real estate brokerage platform that calls itself the “Amazon of real estate.” With the acquisition, Rocket Companies will pair its finance and real estate offerings with the capabilities of Redfin. Read more here.
Climb Comment: The $1.75 billion price tag for Redfin represents a share value of $12.50 which is a 63% premium to the volume weighted average price of Redfin stock over the prior month. In 2024, Redfin had an adjusted EBITDA net loss of $26.5 million, while revenues grew 7% YoY to $1.04 billion. Rocket Companies expects the acquisition to boost revenues by $60 million and lower costs by $140 million.
Gemspring acquires a software company for retailers
Overview: Gemspring Capital has announced that one of its affiliates has purchased Appriss Retail, an AI-driven analytics software platform for retailers. Appriss’s solutions allow retailers to prevent losses by identifying fraud and optimizing operational efficiency. The company also has solutions to boost sales by enhancing the overall shopping experience. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Gemspring Capital and its portfolio companies have been very active to start 2025, with this being their 6th acquisition of the new year. Appriss Retail was originally backed by Clearlake and Insight Partners before the Gemspring takeover. Appriss’s solutions focus on reducing fraud and abuse for retailers, specifically on the return side of the equation. Apriss claims that customers often see ~10% reduction in overall returns, due to powerful ML algorithms - making all the difference in a thin-margin business such as retail.
Cuadrilla Capital backed, Chartbeat, acquires ad revenue management company
Overview: Chartbeat, a digital publishing software company, has acquired FatTail, an ad revenue management software company. Chartbeat wants to be an end-to-end software solution for media companies and acquiring the revenue-focused FatTail is a step towards that goal. FatTail helps publishers automate sales deals with advertisers and the company’s solutions will be integrated into Chartbeat’s solutions for publishers. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Chartbeat already has three platforms in FatTail’s space, with one being an order management solution and the other two being content analytics tools. FatTail’s adtech solutions will be directly integrated with Chartbeat’s existing ecosystem, putting Chartbeat one-step closer to its goal of being an end-to-end media operations platform.
Euna Solutions purchases AmpliFund
Overview: Euna Solutions is a provider of SaaS solutions for the public sector and it has acquired AmpliFund, a grant management platform. Euna provides solutions to grantmakers, grantseekers, and organizations throughout the full lifecycle of grants. With the acquisition, Euna Solutions adds over 100 GovTech employees to deepen its expertise in grant management. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Euna Solutions, a Govtech 100 leader in financial and administrative software for the public sector, serves more than 3,200 public sector clients globally. Here they make a strong play into the grant management niche, a crucial and under-digitized function. AmpliFund helps with full-cycle grant management, empowering both grantees and grantors to view and report on the impact of funds allocated and drive positive change.
Article of the week
This week, Open AI published a document related to the building of AI agents. While there is still some confusion in the market as to what exactly an AI agent *is*, there is no doubt that advancements in the discipline are permanently, fundamentally, and drastically altering the business landscape across industries. The above paper is a bit technical but worth a read — prudent for business leaders to stay aware of the rapidly evolving tech.
Thanks for following along & hope you found something useful or interesting. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re considering a sale this year - we’re always glad to chat & share perspective.
All the best,
Nick