While the Pandemic has upended economic, political and social life across the globe, it has also poured lighter fluid on many of the trends in the supply chain software sector that have been burning hot for the past several years.

From the Amazon effect in retail eCommerce and fulfilment to the rise of automation and visibility platforms in global transportation networks, to accelerated roboticization in warehouse and distribution centers, the emergence of eCommerce as a dominating force in retail has quickened dramatically in just the last four months.

The supply chain software sector has been a clear beneficiary of these trends as investors and acquirers have continued to pour investment and M&A resources into both established and emerging companies. At the current activity levels through July 2020, we are on pace to exceed the record-breaking 2019.

Click to download AGC’s report: SCM-Market-Update-2020

Prior to COVID, annual gains in Telehealth usage were measured in basis points. The current episode has effectively compressed a decade or more of hoped-for adoption into a matter of months. From every quarter, the data keeps rolling in showing Telehealth services growing at a blistering pace. According to a study recently released by Fair Health, Telehealth claim lines increased 8,335% year-over-year during the month of April in the U.S. Telehealth is defined as the use of information and telecom tech to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional education, public health and health administration. Technologies include various real-time interactive communications such as mobile video and IP video conferencing as well as store-and-forward imaging, streaming media, and wireless communication between connected devices. This report takes a closer look into the market as well as companies in the ecosystem, M&A and private placement activity.

Click to download AGC’s report: AGC-Telehealth-Sep-2020

During the Covid-19 pandemic, as people are self-isolating and socially distancing, online and mobile entertainment is booming. The global games market is expected to generate revenues of $159 billion in 2020. Gaming and entertainment technologies have experienced amazing advances in the past few years with billions of dollars invested in virtual and augmented reality, 3D computer graphics, GPU and CPU processing power, and real time immersive experiences.

This report focuses on the technologies that empower the creation of games and online entertainment.

Click to download AGC’s report: Game-Tech-Whitepaper

You need to have faith, hope, and $7.2 trillion in fiscal and monetary stimulus behind you to power through the COVID-19 pandemic. AGC’s early read of the new post-COVID normal is that the tech M&A market will be in short supply of companies for sale until September. PEs are not likely to be selling portfolio companies until the COVID storm has passed. And while VCs may be more willing to sell, it will be driven by portfolio restructuring, i.e. cutting loose underperforming investments to free up time and capital for perceived winners. This will likely result in a leaner market not just in quantity, but also quality. The good news is, deals going to market right now are getting a ton of attention. While PEs may be on the sidelines as active sellers, they are lined up in droves as buyers, and their pockets are very deep.

The tech M&A business is decelerating rapidly as of this writing. Q1’20 volume was 853 deals vs 850 in Q1’19, surprisingly solid! First week of April volume is down 30% and it will get worse as we progress through the quarter. That said, the S&P 500 is only down 3% over the last 12 months, an expression of confidence that the worst is over. It will be interesting to see whether the Strategics will take back ground from the PE players in these challenging times after giving up so much tech M&A market share over the last 5 years. We estimate the Top 200 Tech PE Funds to have over $1T in tech AUMs including significant dry powder. On the tech VC front, by COVID-19, we expect them to be busy identifying companies for disposition. While cash deals will be harder to come by because of the virtual shutdown in the debt markets, equity swaps with the PE-backed strategic will proliferate.

The attached deck covers some of the latest data on tech M&A.

Click to download AGC’s report: AGC-COVID-19-Tech-MA-Update-Apr-2020

With AUMs growing by nearly $400B annually and on track to surpass $5T by 2023, private equity has been the fastest growing asset class for some time now. As a subset, tech-focused PEs have been a strong driver of that growth. Tech PEs have become the power player in the global tech world competing toe-to-toe with the strategic community and rocking the landscape across the hundreds of technology markets and thousands of companies. They now account for 31% of all deal flow, up from 9% at the beginning of the decade.

The post great recession generation of tech PE funds deserves the mantra of “buy and build,” and our analysis bears that out. The top Tech PE firms seek out and pay up for platform companies that have the size, market leadership, and management on which they can build. Over the two year period tracked, the top five firms alone combined for 369 add-ons and 83 platform acquisitions, a roughly 4 to 1 split and multiplier effect. These are the firms perfecting the PE “buy and build” formula, generating outsized returns and new fund closings in kind.

In this report, AGC identify what they believe to be the core of the Tech PE world, with firms ranked by number of deals, dollar value, fund formation and other key metrics.

Click to download AGC’s report: AGC-Global-PE-Tech-Review-Feb-2020

Attached is AGC Partners’ Insight report “The ABCs of SMBs.” This thought piece explores the market for software and services selling into small and midsize businesses (SMB) globally, and the technology providers and strategies used to best penetrate this underserved and rapidly growing market. The low-cost ease of use SaaS delivery model has broken open the SMB market, generating $380 billion in software spend.

SMB is a different animal than the large enterprise market, and requires a radically different go-to-market strategy. A watered-down version of an enterprise offering is almost guaranteed to fail. Software vendors need to maintain a laser focus on unit economics and a low-cost approach to sales in order to minimize customer acquisition costs and churn, and maximize volumes.

Click to download AGC’s report – ABCs-of-SMBs-12.12.19-Condensed-Version

Attached is AGC Partners’ Insight report on the future of restaurant technology.

Entitled “The Future of Restaurant Technology,” this piece explores how technology is positioned to transform this $900 billion sales industry, historically one of the most labor intensive sectors of the U.S economy. An extended economic recovery, low unemployment rate, and continued rise of millennials as the largest demographic in the workplace are factors driving strong restaurant spending. Yet, razor thin profit margins and unique challenges restaurants face require purpose built solutions to cut costs, gain efficiencies, and increase visibility. These factors have created a multi-billion-dollar market for restaurant management software, which is growing at double digits. Online ordering and migration to next generation POS to facilitate ordering, payment processing, customer interaction, marketing, sales tracking and order management is driving much of the growth. This report takes a closer look into the market as well as companies in the ecosystem, M&A and private placement activity.

Click to download AGC’s report – AGC-Restaurant-Tech-Nov-2019

Attached is AGC Partners’ Insight report on Genomics Data Management.

AGC’s research on the market for Genomics Data Management Software can be found in our latest Insight report, which you can request to download using the form below. It discusses how the analysis, integration and interpretation of data from next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology poses challenges to researchers, and has given way to the market opportunities for Genomics Data Management Software. Other topics included in the report are listed below.

– Genomics Market Size & Growth Forecasts
– Company Landscape
– Problems & Solutions With Interpreting Genomics Data
– Case Studies on the Impact of Genomics Data Management Software
– Major Challenges to the Market
– Publicly Traded Companies Overview
– Top Genomics Data Management Software M&A Deals, Financings, and Most Active Investors
– All Genomics Data Management Software M&A Transactions and Private Placement Transactions Since 2016

Click to download AGC’s report – AGC-Genomics-Data-Management-Oct-2019

Attached is AGC Partners’ Insight report on legal, compliance and regulatory technology.

The global legal technology market, estimated at ~$4B in size, is poised for explosive growth in the years ahead as legal and compliance teams fully embrace digitalization and automation. Legal tech solutions revolve around real time access to data that keep litigation costs under budget and improve outcomes in cases litigated or agreements negotiated. At the frontier, other solutions are emerging to automate eDiscovery and Contract Management, mostly involving AI and ML technologies. Financing into private legal tech companies is now pouring in, while M&A activity has also seen a lockstep change to unprecedented levels over the last year. With over 180 companies identified in AGC’s Legal and Compliance Tech landscape, this industry is large and growing rapidly with many new startups forcing disruption of this traditional sector, and many public giants competing for pole position to build or buy the ecosystem.

Click to download AGC’s report – AGC-Legal-Compliance-Tech-Sep-2019

Attached is AGC Partners’ Insight report on IoT and the Enterprise.

IoT is fast approaching critical mass in terms of units installed. By 2020, IoT is on track to surpass phones, laptops and tablets collectively as the largest category of connected devices. As this plays out, the Enterprise sets up as the next big leg of exciting growth in the extended IoT adoption wave, taking over from the Consumer and Industrial domains. Deployments are well under way with over 84% of enterprises expected to complete IoT implementations within the next two years. Meanwhile, private markets have begun to percolate with over 40 transactions occurring annually and hundreds of millions in deployed capital. With nearly 100 companies identified in AGC’s Enterprise IoT landscape, this report explores disruptive participants and trends in this rapidly emerging segment of IoT.

Click to download AGC’s report – AGC-Enterprise-IoT-Aug-2019