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By Laura Cooper
Updated Oct. 31, 2016 7:02 p.m. ET
FTV Capital Backs Software Provider Nitrogen
The company’s software services are used by financial advisers, broker-dealers, asset managers and others to analyze and manage investment risk.
Fresh from closing its latest fund in September, FTV Capital said it led a $20 million minority growth-equity investment in Nitrogen Inc., a provider of risk-management and compliance software.
The new funding is Nitrogen’s first outside institutional capital, according to a news release. FTV Capital was the only institutional investor involved in the round, according to a spokesman for the firm.
The Auburn, Calif., company’s software services are used by financial advisers, broker-dealers, asset managers and others to analyze and manage investment risk.
Nitrogen said the investment will be used to strengthen the company’s digital product line, including its flagship Nitrogen product. The company also plans to hire new employees, particularly for its product and engineering teams.
Aaron Klein, chief executive of Nitrogen, said the company decided to pursue an investor to help speed up the expansion of the business.
Nitrogen previously funded its growth efforts with capital from friends and family, Mr. Klein said. To date, the company has invested $5 million, he said.
Brad Bernstein, an FTV managing partner, said the firm met with Nitrogen a couple of years ago and has kept track of the company’s progress since then. The company had “100%-plus growth over the last couple of years,” he said.
Mr. Klein said while the company previously expanded through “homegrown innovation,” all options, including acquisitions, are on the table. He said the company may look to expand into overseas markets as well into wirehouse banking sector and to wirehouse firms.
Financial Technology Partners LP and FTP Securities LLC advised Nitrogen on the deal.
FTV said in September it completed fundraising for its fifth vehicle, FTV V LP, which gathered $850 million.
The firm in June said it invested $30 million in ReliaQuest LLC, a provider of information technology security services.
FTV, of San Francisco, invests $10 million to $85 million in companies with annual revenue of $10 million to $100 million. The firm targets financial services, payments and transaction processing and enterprise technology and services businesses.
Write to Laura Cooper at [email protected].
This article was originally published in the Wall Street Journal.