Indy’s 2019 top tech stories show market still growing

There’s only one constant in the technology sector: change. And like the evolution of technology itself, the stream of startups, pivots, mergers and acquisitions this year—like most—came fast and furious.

Here are some highlights from some of the big news events in the local tech sector this year. I won’t attempt to rank them; instead, I’ll note them in chronological order.

• Allos Ventures, an Indianapolis-based venture capital firm focused on Midwest technology companies, announced in January it raised $40 million for its latest fund, Allos III, and had begun making investments. Allos III’s first investment was in Perq, an Indianapolis-based marketing technology firm with about 115 employees.

• Two out-of-state private equity firms in January announced they took a majority stake in Fishers-based internet of things integrator ClearObject, which for several years ranked among the fastest-growing firms in the Indianapolis area. New Jersey-based Egis Capital Partners and Maryland-based ABS Capital Partners announced that much of the ClearObject team, including CEO John McDonald, would stay with the company and its presence would grow in central Indiana.

• In February, Carmel-based Determine Inc., a 23-year-old publicly traded software company that had never turned an annual profit, was acquired by Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Corcentric Inc. for $32 million. Determine moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Carmel in 2016.

• After nearly four years away from Indiana, local tech luminary Scott Jones, who made millions through his voice-mail innovation more than two decades ago, returned to central Indiana. Jones actually came back in 2018, but kept a low profile early this year, when he supercharged the not-for-profit computer coding school Eleven Fifty Academy, helped push forward a promising life-sciences company that he says can “transform medicine on multiple fronts,” and lobbied Indiana’s governor as well as state and federal legislators to push initiatives he thinks will help Hoosiers earn lots more money—and, in turn, bring in more money for the state. This summer, he also helped launch the Indiana 5G Zone, which is a coalition that aims to make central Indiana a leader in 5G technology.

• Lev—formerly Levementum—announced in February that the marketing technology consulting firm is moving its headquarters from Chandler, Arizona, to its offices in Indianapolis. Lev is a customer relationship management consultancy with a Salesforce.com Inc. partnership.

• More than 20 years after founding his tech consulting and development firm Studio Science, Kristian Andersen in March sold the company to a group of investors led by CEO Steve Pruden. Studio Science officials announced they plan to keep the operation in Indianapolis and grow here.

• Indianapolis-based Synovia Solutions LLC in April was acquired by Irvine, California-based CalAmp for $50 million. Synovia, founded in 2001, has about 120 employees and a 12,000-square-foot headquarters off of East 96th Street and North Keystone Avenue. The company, known for its Here Comes the Bus app, saw revenue climb from $14 million in 2014 to more than $28 million last year.

• In June, local tech advocacy group TechPoint partnered with TMap, an Indianapolis startup headed by former Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle, and five blue-chip companies to bring far flung native Hoosiers back to the state to work. The partnership—sponsored by Cummins, Eli Lilly and Co., GEICO, Raytheon and Salesforce—included a red carpet event in October for 25 top employee prospects who are considering moving back to Indiana.

• United Technologies Corp.—the parent of Carrier Corp.— announced in June it was buying Raytheon Co. in an all-stock deal, forming an aerospace and defense giant with $74 billion in sales in one of the industry’s biggest transactions ever. The new entity will be called Raytheon Technologies Corp. when the deal closes in the first half of 2020, after United Technologies completes the separation of its Otis elevator and Carrier air-conditioner businesses, the companies said. While billed as a merger of equals, current United Technologies shareholders will own most of the company.

• In June, an English company acquired Carmel-based cyber-threat firm Rook Security LLC. Sophos Group said it plans to maintains Rook’s local office and keep Rook’s 19 employees on the payroll.

• In July it was announced that Journey Holding Corp.—formed this year through the merger of Indianapolis-based tech company DoubleMap Inc. and Salt Lake City-based Ride Systems LLC—was being acquired by a unit of Ford Motor Co. DoubleMap and Ride Systems provide automatic vehicle location services to municipalities, universities, airports, hospitals and corporate fleets.

• In August, Doxly, a local software-as-a-service firm that helps clients collect and manage legal documents through a cloud-based platform, was acquired by Litera Microsystems, a Chicago-based provider of document-management software. Litera officials said they plan to maintain an Indianapolis presence—and grow it. Doxly was founded in 2016 by Haley Altman—a former partner in the Ice Miller law firm—under the High Alpha Studio umbrella.

• Indianapolis-based tech startup Zylo Inc.—which helps companies manage their software subscriptions—in September secured its third big round of funding, including investments from key names in the world of cloud computing. The company, founded in June 2016, announced this fall it has landed $22.5 million in “Series B” funding from a group of mostly institutional investors.

• In September, Allegion Plc launched an innovation studio bent on getting products from concept to market in 120 days or less. By November had unveiled the first product to come out of the Pin & Tumbler Studio in Carmel. Typically, the company—which sells security and door products under such brands as Von Duprin, Schlage and CISA—needs up to two years to get a new idea to market. Allegion officials said they expect to launch a number of technology-oriented products—in smaller batches—out of the studio.

• Cleveland-based Everstream Solutions LLC announced in October that it had agreed to buy a 200-plus-mile Indianapolis-based fiber network from Dallas-based DataBank Ltd., with plans to quadruple the network’s size. Everstream officials said their company plans to invest $38 million in the Indianapolis metro area network and expand it by 600 miles, to a total of more than 800 miles. The acquisitions sets up a potential battle in the market between Everstream and Indianapolis-based Intelligent Fiber Network, which has 4,500 miles of fiber in 60 Indiana counties.

• Local tech startup Sigstr Inc. in December was acquired by Atlanta-based marketing technology firm Terminus Software Inc. Sigstr, which sells software that enables companies to leverage employee emails for marketing purposes, is expected to maintain—and grow—its Indianapolis presence under the Terminus name, company officials said. Sigstr, which was founded in 2015 and has 60 employees, was one of High Alpha’s first portfolio companies.