Legal GRC Platform Exterro Announces Acquisition of E-Discovery Provider Zapproved
Author: Exterro
…Exterro, a leading provider of Legal Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) software, has acquired Zapproved, a provider of e-discovery software known for its strong customer outcomes...
…Modern enterprises must address critical business challenges within these disciplines as quickly and cost effectively as possible, which is one of the driving forces behind Exterro’s acquisition of Zapproved.
…Monica Enand, President and CEO, Zapproved. “We are confident that combining Exterro’s innovation engine with Zapproved’s world-class customer experience brings the best of the industry together in one powerful and easy to use solution that comprehensively addresses the critical business challenges facing our customers today.”…
Remember when Exterro, Zapproved, Atlas and few others were specialized Legal Hold SaaS point products? They made traction with corporate legal departments at $50-100k+ annual subscriptions. Then every eDiscovery platform and M365 added simple Legal Hold notification features to check that RFP box. Exterro made the move into processing and review before Zapproved, but Zapproved always had better, simpler usability in the RFPs I conducted. RelativityOne’s Legal Hold module entered the market at a flat $17k, which put even more pressure on the reigning Legal Hold platforms to expand their coverage upstream. It is interesting to me that Vista Equity made a ‘partial exit’ on their 2017 $15M stake in Zapproved. Exterro recently secured capital funding from Leeds Equity Partners to make this kind of acquisition prior to an IPO run. I hope that Exterro avoids the ‘eDiscovery company goes public’ spike and fall syndrome that afflicted Guidance, Nuix, DISCO and others. If I were doing diligence on Exterro, I would be looking at their sales outside of their preservation and processing wheelhouse. New RelativityOne customers receive Legal Hold and unlimited user seats for free under the new licensing structure. That has to put pressure on Exterro-Zapproved to adapt quickly.