Practice Ignition raises $50m to scale globally

By Leandra Monteiro

Practice Ignition, the world’s first client engagement and commerce platform for professional services businesses, has raised $50 million in a Series C funding round to fuel hyper growth and scale globally.

The funding round was led by JMI Equity. Also participating alongside JMI in this fundraise were existing investors Tiger Global, EVP and a number of other strategic angel investors and family office groups.

Practice Ignition has experienced tremendous growth since its launch, nearly doubling client revenues facilitated via the platform in 2021. With thousands of customers across six markets and over $2 billion in client revenue under management, the business is on track to drive significant growth in 2022 and beyond. To date, over one million clients have been engaged via the platform, with nearly 6.5 million payment transactions completed globally, and US payment volumes increasing by 106% year-over-year.

Guy Pearson, CEO and Co-founder of Practice Ignition said, “As the world moves online, many accountants and bookkeepers are having to rapidly shift their business practices and functions to be fully digital overnight. This, together with the transition of accounting from tax compliance to advisory, means that the need to deliver engaging, quality customer interactions via technology is critical for closing deals, boosting profitability and winning and retaining clients.”

He added, “We are creating a new category with our client engagement and commerce platform, and we’re only scratching the surface when it comes to market penetration in the global professional services industry. We are confident that the wealth of knowledge and experience JMI brings, through their long history of backing high-growth technology businesses, will be invaluable in helping us capture market share rapidly as we enter this next phase of growth.”

Funds raised from Series C will enable Practice Ignition to double down on growing its core key markets in North America, APAC and EMEA through further product development and enhanced marketing and sales capabilities. It will also turbocharge the company’s international expansion plans with a focus on the US through its strategic partnerships with Gusto and Intuit.

Sureel Sheth, Principal at JMI Equity said, “Guy, Dane and the team at Practice Ignition have built a category-defining business with a world-class team.  We have been impressed by the strength of the product, the engaged and loyal customer base and the enormous potential for growth and scale globally. As an emerging leader in the accounting and broader professional services markets, Practice Ignition’s culture of innovation is unparalleled in the sector and we’re thrilled to partner as Practice Ignition embarks on this next phase of international expansion.”

“Practice Ignition has all the hallmarks of a world-class SaaS platform,” said Howard Leibman, Founder of EVP. “The platform addresses a very real need amongst mid-market professional service firms to streamline and automate their processes. The high level of customer advocacy speaks to the product’s success in driving real bottom-line impact for the thousands of such firms already on the platform. With Practice Ignition having established a strong global footprint, we’re excited to continue supporting Guy, Dane and the team through the next stage of growth.”