While the investment amount was not disclosed, the move marks the latest sign of growing activity in the digital billing and accounting space for local and state governments.
Black Mountain Software launched in 1993 and has headquarters in Polson, Mont. The new investment will help the company create and expand products and grow into new geographic markets, according to a statement.
“Peterson was our capital partner of choice from the beginning given their outstanding reputation of being genuine partners with the businesses they invest in,” said Jack Liebschutz, co-founder and director of Black Mountain Software. “We are grateful to be able to leverage Peterson’s experience scaling businesses and their network of operational experts.”
With the investment comes fresh management.
The statement said Mike Fabrizio and Nate Quinn will join the Black Mountain management team as co-CEOs. Fabrizio worked on the investment team at private equity firm Accel-KKR, while Quinn worked for the investment team at Menlo Ventures.
“What makes Black Mountain special is the intense focus on anticipating and meeting the needs of its customers,” said Fabrizio in the statement. “Nate and I are excited about the chance to help write the next chapter of growth at Black Mountain.”
Peterson says it has more than $1.8 billion under management and has invested in more than 300 companies, including Lucid Software and Vivint.
Black Mountain Software, meanwhile, recently inked a strategic partnership with ClearGov, which sells cloud-based government budgeting software. The move specifically targets small towns, according to a statement about the deal.
“ClearGov's budgeting software is designed precisely for the type of local government agencies that use Black Mountain Software's accounting and ERP systems,” said Bryan Burdick, president and co-founder of ClearGov, in that statement. “It is our mission to help governments of all sizes budget better through easy-to-use, collaborative and accessible software solutions, and we're excited to show more local governments how easy it is to modernize their budget process.”
Meanwhile, the market for accounting and billing software for state and local governments promises to become more competitive.
One recent example comes from utility software-as-a-service company Aptumo. It already bills 15 million households in the U.K. and Australia and recently announced its U.S. launch.
“We understand that globally, including in the U.S., customer expectations are changing, and many water utilities are currently operating legacy CIS solutions,” Monica Mackintosh, managing director at Aptumo, told Government Technology at the time as an example of the opportunity such companies are seeing. “These systems are hindering the ability to deliver the standard of service that customers now expect from all of their suppliers, which includes options for quick and convenient self-service, and an experience that better meets their own needs.”
