21st December 2021
Investment is eleventh from FPE’s software and services focussed Fund II
FPE Capital LLP (‘FPE’), the software & services focused lower mid-market growth investor, announces that it has invested in 60 Decibels, a social impact measurement company, that talks directly to customers, employees or beneficiaries about social issues in more than 50 countries on behalf of impact focused investors and enterprises.
This marks the eleventh investment from FPE Fund II. 60 Decibels is the fifth investment FPE has made in the last 13 months in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
60 Decibels sources its social impact measurement data via short phone calls through a field of over 800+ remote researchers, where recipients are asked both quantitative and qualitative questions; these conversations are then turned into end individual-level impact performance data through the business’ proprietary methodology, with their technology enabled database increasingly allowing analysis, comparability and benchmarking within market segments. The business was jointly founded between the UK and US, with the management team split between London and New York, and with subsidiary operations in India and Kenya.
The transaction was sourced directly and reflects FPE’s domain expertise in the data sector via previously realised investments in Defaqto and IWSR, which also collated data from geographically disparate sources into a single database, as well as the contact centre vertical via the existing Fund II investment in MaxContact. FPE’s growth capital investment will help capitalise on ESG driven market demand for data and insight around societal impact by investing in sales and marketing, as well as further technology enablement in order to drive delivery efficiencies and transition further towards a data and subscription led business model around customer benchmarking and ratings.
David Barbour, Managing Partner at FPE, commented: “FPE is delighted to have completed this growth investment into 60 Decibels. Our expertise is focussed on investing in high quality companies operating in large markets where we can support the team in their growth ambitions. The ESG sector has seen significant growth and promises to be a major focus for the investment industry. We look forward to working with the founders Sasha Dichter and Tom Adams and their management team in the coming years to build a strong position in this market.”
Sasha Dichter, CEO of 60 Decibels, added: “We are excited to be partnering with experienced technology investors in FPE. Their experience in growing data platforms and their strong track record made them an ideal partner with which to pursue our next phase of growth, delivering social measurement data in the rapidly growing and evolving ESG landscape.”
FPE’s investment will make it the largest shareholder in the business.
Henry Sallitt and Llewellyn John will join the Board from completion.
The FPE investment was led by Llewellyn John, Chris Kay and Claire Sweet. FPE was advised on the transaction by Goodwins (Legal), Luminii Consulting (Commercial), HMT (Financial), RSM (Tax DD) and Continuum Ventures (Management).
60 Decibels was advised by Much Shelist (Legal).
-ENDS-
Media inquiries:
FPE: David Barbour - david.barbour@fpecapital.com
60 Decibels: Sasha Dichter - sasha@60decibels.com
About FPE Capital
FPE is a specialist growth private equity investor focussed on the software and services sectors. It invests in lower mid-market UK and Irish software and services companies with advantaged business models that offer significant growth potential in large markets that are undergoing structural change. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.fpecapital.com
About 60 Decibels
60 Decibels is a social impact measurement company, that talks directly to customers, employees or beneficiaries about social issues in more than 50 countries on behalf of impact focused investors and enterprises. www.60decibels.com
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