Events

How they did it: Successfully scaling and exiting a European SaaS business

Rimilia was founded in the UK in 2008, raised funding from Eight Roads and Kennet in 2017, and grew to become a leading provider of AI-powered accounts receivable automation solutions for large and medium-sized enterprises. The company was acquired by BlackLine, Inc (Nasdaq: BL) in October 2020 for $150 million in cash, of which $120 million payable at close with additional potential earnout payments of up to $30 million (see the case study here).

Kevin Kimber, CEO of Rimilia at the time of the transaction, Davor Hebel, Managing Partner of Eight Roads Ventures Europe, and Hillel Zidel, Managing Director of Kennet Partners, have kindly agreed to join us for a panel discussion on Wednesday 10th March, to share first-hand their insights into scaling and maximising value for European SaaS companies.
The panel bring huge experience of both investing in and running very successful SaaS companies, and will be sharing practical insights and experience on a range of topics, including:

• What growth equity investors are looking for
• International expansion; cracking the US
• Building an enterprise sales team
• Customer success; key learnings
• Revenue growth versus profitability
• What drives value for a buyer
• Key lessons learned

Speakers:

Kevin Kimber

Kevin is the Managing Director of Global AR at BlackLine having joined through acquisition of Rimilia where he led the company as CEO. Prior to joining Rimilia, Kevin spent a number of years investing and advising early stage SaaS businesses helping them manage and drive scale.  Kevin brings over 20yrs experience of leading software companies and has held leadership roles at the likes of ServiceNow where he founded their international business, Zuora where he led their EMEA operations and SAP where he led their cloud portfolio which included businesses such as SuccessFactors, Ariba, Concur and Hybris.

Hillel Zidel

Hillel is a Managing Director of Kennet Partners. His experience includes investing both as an equity and debt provider, management consulting and performing operational roles in high growth technology companies.  Hillel has led / leads Kennet’s investments in Codility (SaaS platform for hiring engineers at scale), Eloomi, (HCM SaaS for the mid-market), Receipt Bank (bookkeeping automation SaaS), RealityMine (passive research SaaS), ABA English (mobile video-based language learning), Spreadshirt (print on demand platform), Adikteev (marketing technology platofrm), Rivo Software (health and safety SaaS platform acquired by Sphera Solutions) and Rimilia (finance automation platform acquired by BlackLine Inc).

Davor Hebel

Davor is the Managing Partner and Head of Eight Roads Ventures Europe. Davor joined Eight Roads in 2005 and is currently deploying a $375m scale-up fund focused on technology investments in Europe and Israel. Earlier in his career, Davor spent several years at McKinsey & Company, where he advised companies on issues of strategy and technology. He was also an entrepreneur in his native Croatia and has business and technology degrees from HBS, Carnegie Melon, and ASU. Davor’s investments include Appsflyer, Red Points, Notonthehighstreet, Made.com, Innogames (MTG), Wahanda (Recruit), and Oviva.

Julie Langley

Julie has been advising high-growth technology companies on M&A and fundraising for over 20 years; the last 8 years with Results and prior to that with Jefferies.  Julie’s experience spans all areas of enterprise software and digital services.  She recently advised on the sale of Rimilia to BlackLine, and has also advised on transactions with buyers such as Spotify, Oracle, Microsoft, Accenture, Rakuten, HP, IPG and Dentsu, as well as with investors including Eight Roads, Kennet, LDC, Livingbridge, AKKR and Smedvig.