Accredit Solutions receives investment from Gresham House Ventures

Think 22min read
Posted in: Raising finance

Case Study

Accredit Solutions receives investment from Gresham House Ventures.

The deal.

We advised Accredit Solutions, a leading event accreditation software provider, on its significant £10m investment from Gresham House Ventures (Gresham) and its recently launched private equity fund, a new limited partnership that enables institutional investors to support growth companies.

Accredit Solutions provides end-to-end software for the accreditation of all the workforce including media, broadcast, athletes, performers, and officials at stadiums, festivals, and large-scale events. Its rich platform allows organisations to set levels of personnel security and risk-based data collection while removing pain points for venue owners and event organisers, with tools for data registration and document collection, data review and vetting, and more. While covering operations, health and safety, security and IT, Accredit Solutions’ platform benefits multiple client departments by streamlining efficiencies and driving increased security to protect against global terrorism threats to events, making it a mission-critical technology.

Since its launch in 2017, Accredit Solutions has seen rapid growth, gaining an international reputation as a leading sports and major event accreditation platform. Its customer base is made up of top sports teams and governing bodies including The Football Association, The German Football Association, the International Cricket Council, and the Professional Golf Association in addition to a strong presence in the NFL, working with nine teams including the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. In recent years, the business has also expanded beyond sporting events into other sectors, including music and cultural events such as the Brit Awards as well as high-profile public and corporate events including the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the Expo 2020 Dubai, and COP28.

This investment from Gresham will be used to drive further expansion and strategic new penetration into the business’s core markets, globally.

Our role.

We were appointed as Accredit Solutions’ adviser with the brief of raising growth capital to help drive international expansion alongside providing liquidity for exiting shareholders. What became transparent within a few meetings was their desire to find the right partner, culturally – one that shared the same ambition to “conquer the world”, whilst also providing fresh perspectives and adding value to the boardroom.

We invited several parties to meet with the management team before the official process launched, which allowed them to establish what type of investor they were looking for. Following a formal auction process, attracting significant interest, Gresham was subsequently selected as the preferred party of choice, given the strong cultural alignment and its significant experience with growing SaaS businesses on a global stage. This was a significant investment for Gresham’s recently launched private equity fund.

We are very proud of the result that was delivered for the management team and exiting shareholders and we look forward to seeing Accredit Solutions develop through its next stage of growth.

“Accredit Solutions engaged Clearwater Growth after a lengthy process to find the perfect corporate finance advisory partner to help us on the journey of securing our first institutional investment. We found the team to be the perfect fit for the stage of our organisation’s growth and our culture. With this being our first institutional investment, I can honestly say that the process would not have been possible without the tireless work of the Clearwater Growth team.”

Peder Berg, CEO, Accredit Solutions

Testimonials.

“Gresham has an outstanding track record of supporting growing businesses like Accredit Solutions, so we are delighted to have secured this significant investment. There are huge opportunities for Accredit Solutions to build on its existing success across new markets in the coming years, and we look forward to working closely with the Gresham team as we continue our growth journey.

Accredit Solutions engaged Clearwater Growth after a lengthy process to find the perfect corporate finance advisory partner to help us on the journey of securing our first institutional investment. After meetings with several providers, we were excited to find Clearwater Growth led by Richard Ellis and supported by Joe Savage. We found the team to be the perfect fit for the stage of our organisation’s growth and our culture. With this being our first institutional investment, I can honestly say that the process would not have been possible without the tireless work of the CWG team, and I want to extend my eternal gratitude to Richard, Joe and the whole of the Clearwater Growth team for all they did to help us achieve our investment goals.”

Peder Berg, CEO, Accredit Solutions

“We are hugely impressed by the exceptional client base Accredit Solutions has attracted, which is a testament to the quality of the solution that the business delivers. We believe the business is well placed to capitalise on an attractive global market opportunity, especially in a highly interconnected sports and live event industry that relies on word of mouth for solution discovery. We are very excited to be backing Peder Berg and his team to support their international expansion plans over the coming years.”

Greg Blin, Investment Partner, Gresham House Ventures

“It was an absolute pleasure advising the management team and shareholders of Accredit Solutions on this transaction and helping them find the right investor. Peder, Nicola, and the rest of the team have built an exceptional business, with an ever-growing list of high-profile customers that includes the who’s who of global sports organisations, stadiums, and events. In such a short space of time, Accredit Solutions has developed into a global leader in the accreditation software space, and now with this investment, is ideally placed to accelerate growth internationally and across new verticals. With Gresham, they have a partner who is aligned both culturally and strategically and has a track record of successfully supporting SaaS businesses through international growth. We are delighted to have worked with Peder, Nicola, and the team, we wish them and Gresham all the best in the future.”

Richard Ellis, Director, Clearwater Growth