PSG-Backed Signaturit and Ivnosys Join Forces with Universign
Appoints Bertrand Sciard as New Chairman
Combination of Signaturit, Ivnosys and Universign aims to create a leading European provider of digital signature, digital transaction management and trust services
LONDON - PSG, a leading growth equity firm focused on partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled service companies, today announced that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Universign, a leading provider of SaaS-based electronic signature solutions. Universign will join Signaturit and Ivnosys to offer one of the widest catalogues of digital transaction management and trust services in Europe.
Headquartered in France, Universign was founded in 2001 and has evolved into a leading e-signature, e-seal and timestamping software solutions provider, serving more than 9,000 clients. Universign has built longstanding relationships with large corporates and expanded towards the SMB segment. As one of the sector’s pioneers and a qualified trust service provider under the eIDAS regulation, Universign provides high levels of compliance and security coupled with modern and scalable technology through dashboard and API-led products. The Universign operations will continue to be led by Founder and CEO Julien Stern, who will join the senior management team and remain Head of France, becoming a shareholder of the combined group.
Julien Stern, Founder and CEO of Universign, said: “In our view, we’ve built our business on two key principles: simplicity and compliance. This investment is a testament to our vision, our team and our commitment to providing clients with a solution they can trust. We look forward to working with our new colleagues at Signaturit and Ivnosys, as we believe our combined product suite and expanded European footprint will allow us to accelerate our growth and better serve our clients throughout the region.”
Sergio Ruiz and Jaime Castello, co-CEOs of Signaturit and Ivnosys, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Universign to the Signaturit and Ivnosys group and believe we can create with them a digital signature leader in Europe. Julien and his talented team have built a leading software solution that shares our aim to deliver the safest and most secure solutions in the industry. Together, we aim not only to scale our full platform, but to continue to innovate and expand our breadth of products.”
As part of this combination, the company has appointed Bertrand Sciard as the new Chairman of the Board.
Bertrand Sciard, new Chairman of the Board of the combined group, said: “I feel privileged to take on this role at such an exciting time for the company. The last 18 months have demonstrated an accelerated need for fully compliant, digital solutions in accordance with the European eIDAS regulation. We believe the addition of the Universign platform to Signaturit and Ivnosys will enable us to continue providing the same digitisation solutions to existing customers, and build on that to expand the product suite and quality of services to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. I look forward to supporting the combined group as it continues to build onto its current offering.”
The acquisition follows the recent combination of PSG-backed Signaturit and Ivnosys in April 2021. The combined platform aims to provide a complete suite of trust services and digital transaction management software to corporates, small-medium enterprises and individuals in Europe. Through fit-for-purpose solutions, dashboard-led products and API-led deployments, the combined business today serves roughly 236,000 clients across the region.
About PSG
PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 85 companies and facilitated over 325 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City and London. To learn more about PSG, visit www.psgequity.com.
About Universign
Universign is an eIDAS Qualified Trust Service Provider that offers a SaaS platform for electronic signature, seal and timestamp services. It aims to ensure electronic transactions are legally recognised and comply with European regulations. Founded in 2001, Universign serves over 9,000 clients across various sectors including Insurance, Banking, Industry and Energy, Services as well as the Public sector. Each year, over 24 million signatures are processed on the Universign platform.
For more information on Universign, please visit www.universign.com/en/
About Signaturit
Signaturit is a Qualified Trust Service Provider that offers innovative cloud-based solutions in the field of Electronic Signatures (eSignatures), Certified Registered Delivery (eDelivery), and Electronic Identification (eID) to digitise transactions between companies and individuals, securely and with legal compliance. Founded in 2013, the company serves over 5,000 customers in more than 40 countries and has completed over 38 million signatures on its platform. Signaturit’s Trust Services seeks to optimise the signature process by enabling customers to reduce paper consumption, improve their billing and hiring processes and provide their teams with a tool that helps them to streamline their administrative tasks related to document signing. For more information on Signaturit, please visit www.signaturit.com/en
About Ivnosys
Ivnosys, founded in 2013 in Valencia, develops customizable solutions and services that enable the digitalization of processes in corporates, SMEs, and individuals. Ivnosys’ product suite includes a market-leading platform for the centralized management of digital identities (certificates), electronic signatures, and notifications. Serving approx. 225,000 clients, Ivnosys provides its solutions both on-cloud and on-premise, seeking to provide strong legal guarantees as a Qualified Trusted Service Provider. Please visit www.ivnosys.com for more information.