In a deal led by corporate finance advisory firm Bamburgh Capital, Jexo, provider of agile project management tools, has been acquired by Appfire.
London-based Jexo is a fast-growing and award-winning developer of project management apps, and is now set for further rapid progress after the deal with Appfire, an acquisitive US based enterprise collaboration software company.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Jexo provides project management plugins for Jira software by Atlassian to help teams manage workloads efficiently. Since its founding in 2018 by Florin Biro and Nikki Zavadska, with funding from Germany-based re:solution in 2020 and Atlassian in 2021, it has grown rapidly and now provides over 4,000 companies with its products, including the likes of Vimeo, Virgin Media and Ocado. Jexo has also built a skilled global team spanning the UK, Brazil, Mexico, India, Ukraine and Canada.
Jexo’s apps are available on the Atlassian marketplace, including Swanly (Jira project portfolio planning and tracking tool), Octo (Jira component management tool), and Foxly (backlog organisation tool), in addition to other work management apps.
The company is highly regarded within the Atlassian ecosystem, and well known for its podcasts, video series and organising the industry-leading PM72 Summit, an annual 72-hour virtual project management event with discussion panels and talks by expert speakers in the project management space.
Jexo marks a strategic acquisition for Appfire, who offer the widest adopted portfolio of Atlassian apps with 200,000+ active installations across tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Appfire recently announced a record year of growth in 2022, achieving more than $150 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), growing from $10 million ARR in 2019. It also announced in January the acquisition of a suite of over 20 apps from ServiceRocket, the leading provider of tech-enabled services, highlighting Appfire’s continued strategic expansion within the ecosystem.
Jexo founder Florin Biro said: “We’re proud to join the extremely successful and fast-growing Appfire company, and we thank the brilliant Bamburgh Capital team who led the acquisition on our behalf. The Bamburgh crew’s energy, level of support, and professionalism have been a big ingredient in the success of this deal.
Having gone above and beyond, I’m grateful I had the opportunity to work with the talented team at Bamburgh Capital and hope to do so again in the future.”
Alex Clarkson from Bamburgh Capital added: “It has been a pleasure working with the Jexo team on this important strategic step in their growth as a pioneer in the project management software space.
“We are delighted they have found the right partner in Appfire, who share a common passion for creating powerful and innovative software solutions enabling businesses to thrive and a strong focus on their people. We wish Jexo the very best on their continued global growth journey ahead.”
Other advisers for Jexo were Keystone Law (legal) and Alexander & Co (tax).
Ed Dawes, Partner at Keystone law said: “It has been a pleasure working alongside Bamburgh Capital on this project which was a true team effort. The team of experienced advisers with complementary capabilities worked together with the drive and commercial acumen needed to help the sellers overcome obstacles and to deliver a great result for all. Together, Appfire and Jexo will undoubtedly enhance the project management software field.”
Appfire was advised by KPMG (financial and tax) and Walker Morris (legal)
