Payments solutions provider Clearent has acquired controlling interest in Service Autopilot, a field service management, software as a service business serving green-industry customers.
Clearent Software Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based Clearent, announced the move as the latest example of its effort toward broadening its stable.
Service Autopilot will continue to operate business as usual out of its Richardson, Texas, headquarters. Its founders, CEO Jonathan Pototschnik and chief technology officer John Caldwell, will stay on as shareholders and continue to lead the company in their current roles. Additionally, all 90 Service Autopilot employees will stay on following the completion of the acquisition.
Service Autopilot’s end-to-end solution allows customers to schedule, route and dispatch employees; job-cost, invoice and bill customers; and generate, capture and nurture leads, among other features. The program was launched in 2009 as a scheduling system for green-industry companies. Service enhancements include the addition of mobile functionality, a client portal, two-way QuickBooks sync and marketing and business automation.
“We’re excited to welcome Service Autopilot to Clearent’s portfolio of leading field-service-management solutions. Our ‘invest-to-grow’ strategy has been successfully applied to current portfolio businesses, including FieldEdge and Coolfront, and we are confident it will provide Service Autopilot with the incremental resources needed to grow by meeting the needs of existing customers, the green industry as a whole and other future markets,” said Connie Certusi, president of Clearent Field Services Management Solutions. “We look forward to partnering with Jonathan and John, along with the entire Service Autopilot team, to increase Clearent’s footprint in this rapidly growing market.”
This latest purchase broadens Clearent Software Holdings’ portfolio of independent software vendors in the field-services industry to reach green-industry customers that include lawn care, pool cleaning and snow removal companies. Service Autopilot will operate alongside FieldEdge, which traditionally supports mechanical contractors such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing and equipment repair companies. FieldEdge and Service Autopilot will collectively benefit by sharing best practices and centers of excellence – pooling/sharing services and common infrastructure where appropriate, while continuing to operate as independent companies.
Clearent Software Holdings was established as a subsidiary of Clearent to encompass a number of independent software vendors so it can leverage Clearent’s strengths as a payment processor as well as the collective resources of associated SaaS solution providers.
Vista Point Advisors, a San Francisco-based boutique investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Service Autopilot.
