[Updated 8/21/17, 11:34 am. See below.] This week in Boston tech, we’re tracking endings and new beginnings.
It’s the end of an era at both 17-year-old ZoomInfo, which just got acquired, and 20-year-old Endurance International Group, which named the successor to its founding CEO. CloudHealth Technologies will move into new digs next year. GoPapaya is winding down, while Smilo and SSC Venture Partners are just getting started. Read on for details.
—Private equity firm Great Hill Partners acquired Zoom Information—a Waltham, MA-based software company that goes by ZoomInfo—for $240 million in cash, according to a spokeswoman. ZoomInfo will keep its brand name, she said in an e-mail. ZoomInfo provides tools for sales and marketing teams, including a database of contact information for business professionals. Read more about the company in this Xconomy profile from 2007. [This paragraph updated with sale price and other deal terms.]
—GoPapaya, a small restaurant technology startup in the Boston area, is shutting down, BostInno reported. The company’s app enables users to make last-minute restaurant reservations and find deals.
—Fresh off of a $46 million funding round in June, CloudHealth Technologies is on a hiring spree and plans to move into a larger head office in downtown Boston next year. The company currently has around 200 local employees, up from 60 in January 2016, according to a press release. CloudHealth’s total employee count is projected to reach 420 people by the end of 2018, with 360 of those workers located in Boston, according to a spokesman.
—Endurance International Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EIGI]]) has tapped Jeffrey Fox to lead the Burlington, MA-based software company. Fox takes over for founding CEO Hari Ravichandran. The company announced in April that it was on the hunt for a new chief executive, and that Ravichandran would remain in that role until his successor was found.
Fox previously was CEO of Convergys and a principal of The Circumference Group, an investment and advisory firm he started in 2009, according to a press release.
Endurance’s stock has been trading below $10 per share this year, less than half its peak of $22-plus in 2015.
—A new Boston startup called Smilo announced the commercial launch of its line of “high-performance” baby products, designed in-house, that it will sell directly to consumers on its website. The company has raised $3.25 million so far from investors, including Brand Foundry and Norwest Venture Partners, according to a press release e-mailed to Xconomy.
—There’s a new accelerator and venture fund in town: SSC Venture Partners. The firm says it was created by Boston College alumni to help launch and fund startups with ties to the school. Read more in this Boston Business Journal story (which is behind a paywall).
