Although we are announcing it today, on December 16th, after discussions with over 20 prospective buyers, we closed the deal to sell Nuula to Nav Technologies, Inc.
The deal is good for both the IP that we had built, and for the team who helped build it. We are confident that Nuula customers will find a compelling new home in Nav’s growing mobile offerings.
The vast majority of our technology team, in addition to core data science, accounting and marketing talent from our Canadian office joined Nav at the close back in December. The Nuula technology will become an integral part of Nav’s mobile offering going forward, and the team is already working hard to help deliver on that promise.
If you read my post from October, you will know that Nuula faced a tough Black Swan event which forced some painful choices on all of us. As a leadership team, it doesn’t matter how hard the challenge, or how bleak things look, or what black swans show up at the front door, it’s important to keep fighting to deliver the best outcomes possible for your stakeholders (team, investors, etc.). Our team certainly did that.
It has been great getting to know Levi King, Greg Ott and the rest of the team at Nav. I am impressed with what they have collectively built. I am excited by this acquisition, and look forward to seeing what Nav does with both the Nuula technology and our unique talent pool.
To my CEO peers facing tough economic and/or funding climates … Never give up. Never surrender. Leverage the collective strength of your team. Make tough choices quickly and courageously. Channel your inner Navy Seal, work the problem and seize the day.
Onwards.
#fintech #acquisition
Mark Ruddock
Thoughts of an internationally experienced growth stage CEO and Board Member.
Thoughts of an internationally experienced growth stage CEO and Board Member
Mark Ruddock
Thoughts of an internationally experienced growth stage CEO and Board Member.
Experienced international CEO with three exits and over 20 years of experience at the helm of VC-backed technology and fintech startups. I've founded companies and come in as a later-stage CEO to help existing companies scale. My experience spans multi-country online financial services, mission-critical enterprise software and consumer-focused mobile applications.
Currently CEO of Kontent.ai, the industry's first CMS with native AI capabilities, kontent.ai helps the world's leading organizations generate an unparalleled return on their content by enabling them to create, manage, distribute, and optimize their content at scale with unprecedented speed oversight, and security.
Before that, I was CEO of Nuula (formerly known as BFS Capital), which Nav acquired. At Nuula, we believed there was a better way to help run your small business — so we built it. Nuula is a mobile application that gives small business owners instant access to critical business metrics and innovative financial products anytime, anywhere. It provides small business owners with the tools, content, and capital they need to be successful in a modern, competitive market.
Prior to that interim CEO of 4finance. Agreed to take on an interim role to help clarify strategy, accelerate the critical transformation of the business and set the company on a course for the next growth phase.
Before that, I was Managing Director, International at Wonga, responsible for overseeing all businesses outside of the UK, including consumer lending businesses in Canada, Spain, Poland and South Africa and our eCommerce and product financing business BillPay in Germany. Prior to that was CEO of Wonga Canada.
Prior to that, I was EO Viigo. When Viigo was acquired by Blackberry in 2010, the company had hundreds of partners, won numerous awards, including “PC Magazine’s Editors Choice“, the “Most Promising New Company of the Year” from the CNMA, and the “Wireless Leadership Award” from RIM, signed marquee enterprise customers such as Oppenheimer, UBS, BAT and Scotts and been downloaded over 3MM times, becoming one of the most popular BlackBerry apps of all time.
I started my career as the Founder and CEO of INEA. A software company that was a strategic partner to many of the world's leading financial institutions, INEA had deployments in over 44 countries. Backed by RBC, Ventures West, APAX and Edgestone, the company was acquired in June 2005 by Cartesis. Cartesis was subsequently acquired by Business Objects in 2007, which was later acquired by SAP.
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