Vena Solutions raises $30 million through Centana Growth Partners

Toronto cloud-based corporate performance management (CPM) software vendor Vena Solutions has secured $30 million in funding, led by Centana Growth Partners, a growth equity firm based in Silicon Valley’s Menlo Park and New York that specializes in investing in high growth firms serving the financial services ecosystem.
Vena’s software automates and streamlines finance-oriented Excel spreadsheet processes for enterprise.
KPMG Corporate Finance served as exclusive financial advisor to Vena for the funding round.
“We’ve accomplished more in five years than our competitors took a decade or more to do,” said Vena Solutions CEO Don Mal. “Having just wrapped up our largest sales quarter to date, we’re well on our way to meeting our growth plans for 2016.”
Vena has staked out a position as the fastest growing provider of cloud-based corporate performance management software, and has posted triple digit growth rates for customers and annual recurring revenue (ARR).
“Our bread and butter has traditionally been automating budgeting, planning and forecasting processes, but the long term opportunities for Vena are immense,” said Mal. “Just think of the vital role spreadsheets continue to play in virtually every department, company and industry today.”
Founded in 2011, Vena provides a way for Excel’s more than half billion users to bring their work into the cloud, proving popular with employees who specialize in budgeting and planning, forecasting, analytics and disclosure management.
Companies that use Vena, which have included Home Depot, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley and Marks & Spencer, get additional functionality out of Excel templates, models and reports without sacrificing their initial investment in Excel.
In that sense, Vena’s embrace of Excel turned out to be a savvy move, rather than attempting to replace it entirely.
Vena will use the funding to accelerate its growth by: building on its five-year track record of more than 100% yearly growth in global customers and annual recurring revenue (ARR); investing general operating capital in product development, partnerships, professional services, sales and marketing, and more; and significantly expanding its team, which is already present in offices on four continents.
“Vena fits squarely into our sweet spot for investments, combining an impressive track record of rapid customer growth – including many financial institutions and other enterprises – with solid, sustainable growth opportunities,” said Eric Byunn, Partner at Centana Growth Partners. “What’s more, we believe they have just scratched the surface by automating not just financial, accounting and regulatory reporting functions, but any spreadsheet-driven process across enterprise organizations.”