Venture capital firm Surge Ventures announced the acquisition of a software developer and the launch of a new wealth management data integration platform.
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Surge Ventures, a firm that specializes in investing in technology firms, has acquired Kovair Software, a software and data management firm based in San Ramon, Calif.
“The cutting-edge platform (of Kovair) is designed to streamline data, applications and workflow management while offering a seamless, integration platform experience that is tailored to the unique needs of the financial services sector,” Surge said in announcing the acquisition yesterday.
The platform will allow firms to unlock the data they need be successful and integrate the data from different platforms and vendors, Sid Yenamandra, founder, CEO and managing partner of Surge Ventures, who will now be CEO of Kovair, said in an interview. Former Kovair CEO Bipin Shah will serve on the board of directors for Surge.
For instance, if a broker-dealer is changing its clearing house, the data from diverse platforms would be integrated through the Kovair platform. The firm’s premier platform is known as the Omnibus Integration Platform. Surge Ventures will sell these data services to RIAs and broker-dealers.
“We believe there is a huge market in the wealth management space, where RIAs are using a CRM, a compliance platform and several other data management systems. The data the firms use is locked in the different systems. Kovair’s Omnibus platform integrates the data,” he said. “The same problem exists for broker-dealers.”
Surge Ventures aims to address the challenges of data management by offering innovative products that enhance operational efficiency, data flow, and security across software applications, Surge said. “Surge Ventures and Kovair, with their combined expertise, engineering capabilities, and industry knowledge, are set to unlock new frontiers of innovation in wealth management technology,” the company said.
Kovair is known as a pioneer in software development and data integration solutions that are designed to provide platforms that boost organizational efficiency and productivity, Kovair said.
“Kovair’s Omnibus platform supports more than 110 different integrations out-of-the-box with the ability to rapidly develop new integrations,” Kovair said. The Worldbank Group, Intel, Applied Materials and the U.S. Department of the Navy are among the firm’s clients.
“Kovair’s Omnibus platform will be at the heart of Surge Ventures’ new data integration platform for wealth management firms,” Surge said.
“With this venture, we aim to tackle the problem of data management in the wealth management industry and to offer products that dramatically improve operational efficiency, data flow, and security across software applications, for wealth management firms, addressing the industry's demand for secure and unified data integration solutions,” Yenamandra said in a statement.
Surge Ventures is a technology investment firm that has interest in several industries. It “co-founds and invests in promising start-ups that are using innovative technology to address rapidly intensifying data and privacy needs across wealth management firms and other financial services businesses,” Surge said.
Before founding Surge Ventures, Yenamandra was CEO and founder of Entreda, acquired by K1 Investment Management and Smarsh in 2020. Prior to Entreda, Yenamandra served as vice president of product and marketing at venture-funded, Plato Networks, which was acquired by Netlogic and then Broadcom.