Vancouver-based Traction Guest has been acquired by PSG, a growth equity firm based in Boston, Massachusetts that focuses on growth-stage software companies.
Traction Guest offers cloud-based visitor management systems (VMS) that enable enterprises to leverage visitor data, shape their brand experience, and enhance security measures.
According to PSG, the deal was made in combination with ShieldCo, a PSG V portfolio company that specializes in building the visitor management space. ShieldCo appears to be tied to PSG, as Jeff Gordon, a senior advisor to PSG, is leading the operating company that now oversees Traction Guest and United Kingdom-based Sign In App.
Traction Guest is noted as ShieldCo’s second investment after Sign In App. The financial terms of the Traction Guest deal, which appears to have included PSG and ShieldCo, were not disclosed. BetaKit has reached out to the companies for clarification.
Keith Metcalfe will continue to lead Traction Guest as CEO and will also join the ShieldCo senior leadership team, along with Dan Harding, CEO of Sign In App.
Traction Guest was one of Traction on Demand’s first incubated products, and the first product to be spun off into an independent company. In 2018, Traction Guest became one of the first four companies to receive an investment from Salesforce’s $100 million Canadian-focused fund.
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Founded in 2017, Traction on Demand is a cloud consulting and application development partner with Salesforce. In addition to Traction Guest, it has also launched other SaaS product companies such as bettr.me, Traction Rec, Traction Hierarchies, and Traction Complete.
Traction on Demand CEO and founder Greg Malpass said this incubation model mitigated one of the primary obstacles for new startups, by providing its spinoff companies with their own infrastructure and tertiary departments.
Traction Guest provides health and safety controls, critical outreach and alerting, as well as analytics and auditing functionality. The tech is used by enterprises on five continents in dozens of industries, including brands like DocuSign, Thermo Fisher, and VICE Media.
“We developed our low-code platform to allow organizations to easily deploy the adaptable solutions they need to confront the ever-evolving risk landscape,” said Metcalfe. “Recognizing the many challenges facing enterprise security leaders, we’re excited to build on our innovation heritage and support even more customer requirements now with PSG’s support.”
Prior to the PSG deal, Traction Guest’s total funding raised was a $17 million CAD Series A round announced in 2019, led by Silicon Valley-based Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and other private investors.
