Quantexa has announced the acquisition of Aylien, a provider of AI-Based Risk & Market Intelligence Solutions. Dublin-based Aylien provides a news aggregation, search and data monitoring platform that leverages natural language processing to provide insights from the news. Its solution is used by over 40 enterprise customers, including global brands such as Wells Fargo, Fidelity, IBM and S&P Global.
The acquisition will enable Quantexa to combine its decision intelligence platform with the information gathering provided by Aylien through its news APIs. Combining the two technologies will enable Quantexa to take better advantage of the $230 billion Decision intelligence market (Quantexa’s estimate). ReportLinker estimates the global decision intelligence market size is expected to reach a more conservative $26 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 17.5% CAGR between 2022 and 2028, a slightly lower figure.
This is the first acquisition by Quantexa since it raised $153 million+ in a Series D funding round led by Warburg Pincus in July 2021. BNY Mellon would later join the round in October 2021.
Quantexa CEO, Vishal Marria, commented, “We are thrilled to welcome the Aylien team into the Quantexa organization following an extensive process run by our Corporate Development team.
“Aylien is a first-class organization with an impressive team that continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in NLP. Their unique approach and commitment to combining research and commercial software development has allowed Aylien to deliver significant value to their customers using AI to extract intelligence for critical decision making. Our organizations are strongly aligned when it comes to how we build our solutions and our cultural values.”
More than just a tech tuck-in
This acquisition is likely to accelerate Quantexa’s growth. It is less a tech tuck-in and more a tech add-on. It also provides access to an impressive customer list that Aylien has built since it was founded in 2021. The acquisition will see Quantexa enter the text analytics market. A market that Allied Market research estimated would reach $29.42 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 17.8%.
The addition of RADAR, Aylien’s risk identification and monitoring solution, will complement the Quantexa portfolio immediately. The solution allows analysts to proactively monitor their risk landscape across ESG, third parties, reputational issues, and operations beyond compliance and controls.
Quantexa will also continue to invest in Aylien products. It will further invest in the AI and NLP space as it broadens its industry focus. Aylien has built a 30-strong NLP R&D team in Dublin and has partnerships with four world-class universities, including Cornell.
Parsa Ghaffari, Aylien CEO. “For over a decade we have helped our customers become more efficient and resilient by using our cutting-edge AI to allow them to put their data in context and make confident decisions. In the last few months, we have worked closely with Quantexa’s leadership team and have seen first-hand how closely our cultures and R&D efforts align.
“Quantexa is experiencing remarkable growth and I am confident that they will leverage Aylien’s offerings and bring their benefits to new solutions and customers. We are excited about the expanding opportunities we will have as part of the Quantexa team.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
This seems like an ideal acquisition for Quantexa. Not only does it strengthen its product and customer portfolio, but it also adds a complementary market. It adds another location in Europe, complementing Amsterdam, Brussels and London. It also brings with its relationships with some leading universities. The two companies seem aligned on culture, though the proof will be how long the employees stay.
What isn’t clear from the release is what role Ghaffari will have within Quantexa. Neither party disclosed terms, but this will provide a good exit for Finch Capital, Atlantic Bridge, Enterprise Ireland and SOSV.
