Canadian-founded, San Francisco-headquartered AppDirect is looking to capitalize on a surge in global energy demand by picking up energy brokerage Broker Online Exchange (BOX).
AppDirect purchased the entirety of BOX, including the staff, platform, and intellectual property, the company said. Andy Ellerhorst, vice president of corporate development and chief of staff at AppDirect, wrote in an email to BetaKit that BOX was “purchased at an enterprise valuation” of $85 million USD ($116 million CAD). The transaction closed on May 8.
“Business is entering a new era where technology alone isn’t enough; it also needs the infrastructure that powers it.”
Nicolas Desmarais
AppDirect
AppDirect, which offers a suite of cloud-based services and management solutions for enterprises, expects demand for electricity to grow sharply over the next decade, the company said, and BOX’s platform will allow the company to enter that market.
“Business is entering a new era where technology alone isn’t enough; it also needs the infrastructure that powers it,” AppDirect chair and CEO Nicolas Desmarais said in a statement.
Artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, by way of data centres, is expected to cause a 160-percent increase in power demand globally by 2030, according to a May 2024 report from Goldman Sachs. This could potentially consume four percent of the world’s energy, up from one to two percent today, and double associated carbon emissions.
Founded in 2013, BOX is a management platform for energy brokers, who assist clients in procuring gas and electricity from suppliers. BOX says it offers access to energy suppliers, live pricing, and customer-management solutions to more than 2,000 energy brokers. BOX is active in Alberta and throughout the US.
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Ellerhorst told BetaKit that the BOX brand and business will continue to operate as a distinct business unit. BOX brokers will gain access to AppDirect’s tech solutions when selling to their clients.
When asked if BOX’s team was retained through the acquisition, Ellerhorst said there were “no current plans for major restructuring.”
Ellerhorst said that BOX hit 50-percent annual recurring revenue growth year-over-year, which AppDirect expects will only increase. He added that AppDirect itself expects its gross revenues to cross $1 billion USD ($1.37 billion CAD) in the next 24 months.
Based in San Francisco, AppDirect has offices in Montréal and Calgary and strong ties to Canada. It was co-founded in 2009 by Canadians Daniel Saks and Desmarais, with backing from the Desmarais family, one of Canada’s wealthiest and most influential families across a number of sectors, including tech. The family has backed notable Canadian tech companies such as Wealthsimple, Koho, and Borrowell via Power Corporation.
AppDirect serves more than 6 million end customers worldwide through its various partners and advisors, Ellerhorst said, from the small business level to large enterprises.
AppDirect has made acquisitions a key part of its business strategy as it seeks to offer clients a broad array of services and become the “everything store for businesses,” the company said. The BOX purchase marks its fifth known acquisition since the beginning of 2023.
Last fall, AppDirect announced plans to purchase IT lifecycle management software vCom Solutions for an undisclosed amount. Recent acquisitions include marketplace-building platform Builtfirst, and two businesses owned by US-based services provider ADCom Solutions. In early 2023, the company acquired Telecom Brokerage Inc. to merge its engineering and educational resources with AppDirect’s advisors.
Feature image courtesy AppDirect.