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Portland, US headquartered software provider for legal governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), Exterro, has announced raising an undisclosed amount of equity capital as part of a continuation vehicle transaction, taking its valuation to over $1 billion. Founder and CEO Bobby Balachandran told YS that this was a pre-IPO round of fundraise, ahead of its targeted IPO in the US markets by 2023.

Exterro partnered with Leeds Equity Partners in 2018 giving them a significant minority stake on the cap table of the company. In the current round, Exterro completed a strategic recapitalisation and raised additional capital from a group of institutional investors co-led by Coller Capital and Glendower Capital. Leeds Equity has made a significant new equity commitment from its latest flagship fund, Leeds Equity Partners VII, as part of the round, along with the continuation vehicle, said a statement issued by Exterro.

The company will utilise the capital to grow its GRC portfolio through mergers and acquisitions and product development. It will also develop new initiatives for law firms and service providers and grow its product for digital forensics, and target global expansion.

“We are targeting a 2023 IPO,” Bobby Balachandran, Founder and CEO of Exterro, said. “It has been some time since we crossed the $100 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). We had quadrupled our revenues after partnering with Leeds Equity in 2018,” he added. 

He said the company also planned on closing four to five meaningful acquisitions ahead of its public listing to expand its suite of products in cybersecurity compliance and to add geographical expertise.

Founded in 2008, Exterro claims to work with nearly 3,000 customers globally offering GRC platform to businesses including the likes of Boeing, United Healthcare, American Express, Aflac, and Oracle.

The company, which works on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, offers a platform to automate interconnections of privacy, legal operations, digital investigations, cybersecurity response, compliance, and information governance. 

Exterro’s Research and Development unit in Coimbatore, India, led by Dr Kavitha Thangasami, employs nearly 375 people of its 700-plus employee headcount.

“India comprises over 50% of our global employee base and we expect to more than double hiring in India in the next year,” added Bobby.