Big data. Image: Ekaphon maneechot/Shutterstock
The six-year-old Irish analytics company Datahug has been bought by CallidusCloud in a cash deal worth €13m.
SaaS firm Datahug, based in Dublin and specialising in predictive forecasting and sales analytics, has been acquired by CallidusCloud. The “unique” technology of Datahug was said to have sealed the deal.
Customers of the latter’s technology include companies like Nitro, Instructure, G2 Crowd, McCann FitzGerald and Scottish Equity Partners.
Leslie Stretch, CEO and president of CallidusCloud, claims Datahug’s expertise is perfect for honing in on the 50m companies around the world, each wanting “better sales and forecasting”.
“Datahug’s unique, patented technology delivers rich, predictive analysis of sales pipelines in a visually stunning way,” he said.
“Being able to better predict the outcomes of sales cycles and identify the right sales opportunities means big value for our Lead to Money customers.
“Their fast and easy-to-use solution leverages CRM, commissions, CPQ, service and customer feedback data sources to bring forecasting to life in a practical way that is easy to understand and visualise.”
Through his relationship with Draper Esprit, Brian Caulfield is one of those with prior stakes in Datahug.
Connor Murphy and Ray Smith co-founded Datahug in 2010, with Smith having spent six years working as a manager in Accenture’s systems integration and technology group.
“CallidusCloud brings a wealth of experience in our target markets and a loyal customer base who will be keen to tap into the value of predictive analytics that accelerate sales,” said Smith.
“We’re looking forward to working with the team to deliver unique value to the large addressable market for sales force automation and acceleration.”
Smith recently told Siliconrepublic.com real-world problems that need fixing are the areas where tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and great companies will come from.
“Technology is turning many traditional industries upside down,” he said, noting artificial intelligence and virtual reality as real areas of interest.
“Entrepreneurs need to remember that the primary factor in the success or failure of their start-up isn’t the type of technology they choose, but the experience they deliver to their end users.”
It looks like Datahug will remain in Dublin, forming a new CallidusCloud predictive analytics, AI and machine learning innovation centre, which Stretch is “super excited” about.
Walter Hobbs, executive director of investment and finance for Enterprise Ireland commented: “Enterprise Ireland has supported Datahug since the year the company was founded, with Enterprise Ireland subsequently making an equity investment in the company on its Series C funding round and becoming a minority shareholder.
“A key role of Enterprise Ireland is to work with and invest in start-up companies with international potential. Datahug has also engaged with Enterprise Ireland’s overseas offices in Silicon Valley and Toronto as part of the company’s international growth strategy.”
