Canoe Intelligence Raises Another $25M in Data Management and Intelligence Platform for Alternative Investments – AlleyWatch

Data continuously flows into the alternative investment universe in a variety of formats, including capital calls, distributions, monthly and quarterly reports, emails, investment decks, and information from unstructured data sources. For this information to be actionable and insightful, it must be seamlessly integrated and organized into enterprise workflows. canoe An intelligence platform for the alternative investment industry, serving institutional investors, wealth managers, capital allocators, and asset servicing firms. Cloud-based platform leverages machine learning to ingest, classify, extract, validate, and deliver insights in seconds, eliminating manual data entry and costly dedicated back-office operations teams You no longer need to By automating processes, companies can reduce reporting delays, consolidate more data to maximize profits, ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, improve risk management and establish a competitive edge through digitalization. You can also. First developed within Portage Partners, his Canoe is now used by hundreds of top institutions managing hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.

alley watch I caught up with the CEO of Canoe Intelligence Jason Eyesworth To learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent funding rounds and more…

Who are your investors and how much did you raise?

Raised $25 million. This is our Series B round of funding, F Prime Capital with participation from Eight Road Ventures and other strategic investors.
We completed our first series A round in February 2020. This included investments from strategic partners and advisors including Hamilton Lane, Nasdaq Ventures and other alternative investment leaders. The Series A extension took place in September 2021 and was led by Blackstone Innovations Investments and Carlyle, with participation from existing investor Hamilton Lane.

What products or services does Canoe offer?

Canoe powers alternative investment intelligence for institutional investors, capital allocators, wealth managers and wealth service firms. Our technology helps businesses invest in alternatives to streamline data management processes, reduce the time and costs associated with collecting and collating documents, and help them make more informed investment decisions. It helps us to be able to act on the information. The platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically collect and classify documents from investor portals and email inboxes to extract, validate and deliver clean data to downstream systems. This eliminates the need to manually enter data.
We currently offer two products: Canoe Connect for automated document retrieval and Canoe Intelligence for continuous data extraction, validation and delivery to downstream systems. Over half of our customers use both products.

What made you start canoeing?

In 2013, the canoe was fostered within private investment firm Portage Partners, evolving into the backbone of the company’s operations. To date, Portage does not employ middle or back office professionals, instead relying solely on Canoe. In 2017, Canoe spun out and in 2018 launched a scalable solution for managing complex alternative investment documents and data. From the beginning, we have maintained, and will continue to do, a client-first approach focused on building and enhancing our technology. .

How is it different from a canoe?

We deliver unprecedented AI technology to power the future of alternative investments. Canoe reimagines alternative investment processing workflows using cloud-based machine learning technology for document collection, data extraction, and data science initiatives. Transform complex documents into actionable intelligence in seconds and equip your allocator with the tools to unlock new efficiencies in your business. We cover over 20,000 funds and extract over 20 million data points with Fund Master, giving clients unparalleled access to alternative investment data. moreover:

• Alternative technology pioneers: Canoe is specifically designed for industry professionals by industry professionals. Our experience and know-how facilitate our ability to successfully automate all manual tasks associated with alternative document and data management.
• Alternative Ecosystem: Whether connecting with GPs and portal providers to automate document collection, or seamlessly integrating with reporting systems to streamline analysis, Canoe’s ecosystem improves alternative investment practices for everyone.
• Shared Intelligence: When clients use Canoe to automate alternative data management, they are actively contributing to a stronger and more relevant industry. Data in all new fund documents introduced is mapped, resulting in faster onboarding and more accurate data extraction.
• Backed by innovators: From clients to investors to partners, our network is full of industry changemakers. They banded together to advance the alternative investment landscape, trusting canoeing to drive progress. When clients use Canoe to automate alternative data management, they are actively contributing to a stronger investment. A connected industry.

What is Canoe’s target market and size?

Canoe targets investors with allocations to alternative asset classes. Alternative investments are assets that do not fall into traditional investment categories such as stocks and bonds. Alternative investments may include private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, etc.
Investments in alternative asset classes have grown from $4.6 trillion to $13.3 trillion over the past decade and are expected to exceed $23 trillion globally by 2026. There are an estimated 5,850 companies that are potential candidates for alternative data management products and services. With Canoe’s current suite of products, this can serve a combined market of over $1 billion.
Hundreds of institutional investors, asset servicers, capital allocators, and wealth managers rely on Canoe Intelligence to automate the most time-consuming manual alternative investment processes, gain deeper access to data, and achieve sustainability We are expanding our company for sustainable growth.

what is your business model?
Canoe Intelligence generates revenue by selling annual web-based licenses to its technology platform and standalone Canoe Connect document search product. Additional service fees are incurred through onboarding, implementation, and professional services agreements.

How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
In times of economic uncertainty, allocations to alternative investments are often viewed as a more attractive and stable investment option. A large portion of our client base expects to see increased capital flows and funding for alternative investments, even as the economy slows. And he said, Canoe enables clients to manage more alternative investments with the same number of people through increased speed, efficiency, transparency and accuracy. So, contrary to many industries, a potential macroeconomic slowdown could actually benefit our growth.

What was the fundraising process like?
Our funding process has been typical of the highest growth SaaS-based businesses with a strong product and market fit, world-class clients and investors. There has been significant interest from both late-stage VC and growth capital investors. We have received multiple term sheets and are pleased to partner with David Jegen of F-Prime and Alston Zecha of 8 Roads.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in raising capital?
Even when successful, fundraising is a very time-consuming process. And as CEO, my days are always full. Balancing the demands of the fundraising process while being fully involved in Canoe’s continued rapid growth certainly required considerable additional effort.

What factors in your business are driving investors to write you checks?
F-Prime Capital and Eight Roads Ventures believe in Canoe’s vision to enhance alternative investment intelligence. F-Prime Capital believes Canoe is ideally positioned to serve their investment infrastructure needs and become an industry standard. Eight Roads Ventures believes Canoe can solve the data challenges associated with European alternatives more completely than any of his local solutions currently available.

“Alternative investments such as private equity, hedge funds and real estate have become essential for investors seeking higher returns and diversification. It’s hard for investors.Canoe has significantly improved the way companies manage their alternative investment data.Not only is it much more efficient, but the accuracy and completeness of their alternative investment data has also improved.Canoe We are ideally positioned to meet our investment infrastructure needs and become the industry standard.”

David Jegen, Managing Partner at F-Prime Capital

“The Canoe platform has rapidly become a key solution for the North American alternative investment industry, with a proven track record of impressive client results. is the same, but there is currently no equivalent local solution.Canoe has a huge opportunity to deliver customer value in Europe, where it already has a presence first, and other regions in the future as well. .”

Alston Zecha, partner at Eight Roads

What milestones do you plan to achieve in the next six months?
As alternative investments continue to gain popularity among institutional and retail investors, the new injection of capital will help us better serve our client base and streamline our alternative investment data globally. can. The funding will be used to accelerate our expansion into the European market, grow our team in key functional areas, strengthen our product offerings for our enterprise clients, develop new data products and enhance our core platform. .

As alternative investments continue to gain popularity among institutional and retail investors, the new capital injection will allow us to better serve our client base and streamline alternative investment data globally. The funding will be used to accelerate our expansion into the European market, grow our team in key functional areas, strengthen our product offerings for our enterprise clients, develop new data products and enhance our core platform. .

Where do you see the company going now in the near future?
The funding will be used to accelerate our expansion into the European market, grow our team in key functional areas, strengthen our enterprise product offering, develop new data products and continue to enhance Canoe’s core platform. increase. As alternative investments continue to gain popularity among institutional and retail investors, the new injection of capital will help us better serve our client base and streamline our alternative investment data globally. can.

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