K1 Investment Management has funded Reveal’s latest acquisitions of Logikcull and IPRO in what seems like a direct challenge to Relativity’s long term dominance of the eDiscovery tech market. This makes 7 acquisitions since 2019 if you count the original Reveal-NexLP deal. The release says that Logikcull and IPRO products will keep their names, which rarely works for long. While I can see enormous potential in the aggregate Reveal portfolio, it will take an enormous effort to transform/consolidate the diverse technologies, cultures, customers, etc. into a functional brand.
Franken-ware built by clever, desperate service providers dominated the early eDiscovery market (1990 – 2005). Behind the scenes they were processing-review-production workflows built on licensed software components. This worked while managed by service providers, but is not ‘enterprise ready technology’. Just look at how long it Microsoft has been merging acquisitions into the Microsoft 365 platform.
The whole $1B valuation feels like smoke and mirrors without hard acquisition/revenue numbers. What is the overlap in the combined 4,000 customers? How will Reveal manage 3+ different review products? The simplistic view is that IPRO will provide the processing, Logikcull the simple cloud GUI and Brainspace-NexLP the advanced analytics to build matter storylines. That approach leaves a lot of features and products on the cutting room floor. I would guess that Jay Leib will go for a ground up new architecture initiative combined with quick integrations for the existing products. That would mean minimal new features for current customers while waiting for the big ‘Reveal’. All of this is pure conjecture by an armchair analyst helping my corporate clients navigate our evolving discipline. Layoffs are the only certainty in market consolidation, so I hope that all my friends find soft landings.
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