GE Digital, a subsidiary of hardware conglomerate General Electric, has agreed a $915m acquisition of US-based field service management software provider ServiceMax, enabling another GE unit, GE Ventures, to exit.
Enterprise software producer Salesforce.com, which had initially invested in ServiceMax through its Salesforce Ventures unit, and service management software producer PTC were also among the investors that exited in the deal.
ServiceMax supplies mobile and cloud-focused field service management software for industrial businesses that install, maintain and repair machines. Its product includes inventory and parts logistics, work order management, and scheduling and workforce optimisation.
GE Digital intends to strengthen ServiceMax’s software with its own analytics and insights post-acquisition, and will add the company’s technology to its industrial internet offering, most notably its cloud-based industrial software product, Predix.
Bill Ruh, chief executive of GE Digital, said: “This acquisition builds upon our ongoing efforts to enhance our overall technology stack around the Predix platform and advance our industrial internet vision.”
Dave Yarnold, ServiceMax’s CEO, added: “The transaction will help position ServiceMax to reach its next phase of growth by having access to GE’s broad and advanced industrial portfolio, deep domain expertise and substantial customer footprint.
“We look forward to benefitting from GE’s experience, capabilities and resources as we expand into new markets while continuing to deliver the best tools to help customers maximize productivity and efficiency.”
ServiceMax had raised $205m in total, including $82m in an August 2015 series F round featuring GE Ventures, PTC, PremjiInvest, Cloud Apps Capital, Emergence Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Mayfield Fund, Meritech, Adams Street Partners, Crosslink Capital, Questmark Partners, Sozo Ventures and Trinity Ventures.
The company won Salesforce’s Million Dollar Challenge in 2008, which led to it securing $2m in series A funding from Emergence Capital. Salesforce Ventures took part in the company’s $8m series B round in 2010 and its $14m series C the following year.
Salesforce subsequently participated in a $71m series E round in early 2014 that included Meritech, KPCB, QuestMark, Sozo, Emergence Capital, Mayfield, Trinity Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Adams Street and Cross Creek Advisors.