M&A Moves: These 3 Philly-area software companies made acquisition announcements

Wayne-based QuantaVerse, maker of an artificial intelligence-based platform that tracks risky financial transactions, has been acquired by Cleveland-based AML RightSource, the companies announced this week. Financial details were not disclosed.

The seven-year old Delaware County company uses data science to automate and improve financial crime identification. In 2017, it gained prominence when it was featured in a documentary from “The Economist“ where founder and CEO Dave McLaughlin described how the company combines data science with AI in order to track and identify transactions by shady users. Think: money launderers, terrorist financiers or, as shown in the doc, human traffickers. AML stands for anti-money-laundering.

“Combining our technology solutions with AML RightSource’s global advisory and managed services offerings in an integrated deployment framework will enable customers to improve flexibility, scale, and regulatory compliance,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “The strategy that’s been put in place by AML RightSource is going to drive a paradigm shift in the industry.”

Philadelphia Business Journal reports that QuantaVerse has just a dozen employees who will now join the 2,400-person AML RightSource.

This acquisition will allow the Cleveland company to accelerate its strategy to offer more tech-enabled services to support its clients, AML RightSource CEO Frank Ewing said in a statement, as well as provide its clients improved ROI by “eliminating noise and unproductive reviews” with its streamlined infrastructure.

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Malvern-based retail payments company Cantaloupe — which changed its name from USA Technologies earlier this year — just acquired point-of sale platform Yoke Payments.

More than a decade ago, the company manufactured payment systems that let consumers purchase goods with cards instead of cash. More recently, the company has developed an all-in-one platform for retail payments operations with hardware and software solutions. Its software, called Seed, offers real-time analytics, sales and performance updates, and a cloud-based vending management system among other tools.

Its acquisition of Los Angeles-based Yoke will allow the companies to expand its micro market offerings to any location and allow retailers to further scale their businesses, the companies said in a statement.

“This integration enables faster on-boarding through a plug-and-play setup that simplifies operations and reduces costs — making Yoke and Seed Markets a highly-scalable, profitable micro market solution for small to medium businesses, as well as for enterprise customers looking to optimize existing locations,” Cantaloupe CEO Sean Feeney said.

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And here’s a follow-up from a 2021 acquisition:

Earlier this year, Technical.ly reported that Old City-based WebLinc’s in-house ecommerce platform, Workarea, was purchased by VTEX, a commerce platform with native marketplace and order management capabilities. The U.K.-based company announced the news in February, saying the deal would “strengthen its presence in and commitment to the U.S. and Canadian market.”

On July 21, about six months after the acquisition, VTEX went public with a $3.5 billion valuation on the NYSE. Philly-based Avery Amaya, the VP of sales for VTEX North America and former chief revenue officer of WebLinc, wrote about the experience on LinkedIn.

“In January of this year I experienced one of the biggest shifts in my career (and adult life) when Workarea/WebLinc was acquired by VTEX,” he wrote. “This was certainly not a bad thing. I already knew the people at VTEX and was excited and optimistic about the opportunity. Nonetheless, after spending more than a decade working in one amazing organization it was still a major transition.”

Coming with nearly 15 years with the Philly company, the transition came with the highs and lows of growing a business, he said. Amaya thanked those who have shared time and wisdom over the years, and said he got to be present for the IPO.

“I was lucky enough to be there to not only witness it, but, thanks to the encouragement of my VTEX colleagues, to really participate and be a part of that extraordinary experience,” he wrote. “This has been an unbelievable year already and I am so proud to be a part of this marvelous organization.”