Upstack has acquired two more technology companies -- the latest in a string of deals from the private equity-backed IT advisory firm. Financial details of the acquisitions were not disclosed.
The latest acquisitions involve idea! Communications Group and MOC4 -- a network and IT consulting firm, and a technology advisory firm, respectively.
These are technology M&A deals number 576 and 577 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.
Idea! was founded in Colorado in 2002 while MOC4 began in 2012 in California. As part of the deals, idea! co-founders David Garrick and Frank Ferdowsian will join Upstack as partners and managing directors while MOC4 founder Daniel Mocny will come onboard as a partner, the buyer announced.
Upstack's M&A Plays
Both deals are part of Upstack’s overall strategy to accelerate the growth of its industry-transforming platform, which combines leading internet infrastructure advisors with proprietary software and support resources, according to the company.
That strategy is supported by a $50 million equity investment from Berkshire Partners, which Upstack will use to scale its platform through technology expansion and acquisitions, Upstack said.
Past deals have included:
- August 2021: CloudAdvise, a technology infrastructure advisory firm.
- July 2021: LanYap Networks, a strategic telecom and cloud solutions provider for medium and large businesses.
- July 2021: Consulting firm DataCenterAndColocation.com
- June 2021: Global technology infrastructure solutions firm Cloudwirx Inc
- May 2021: Telecommunications consulting firm M2 Enterprise Group
- April 2021: Global technology and telecommunications consulting firm Cloudnexion
Upstack's Latest Acquisitions: Executive Perspectives:
Christopher Trapp, CEO of Upstack, commented on the idea! acquisition:
"idea! Communications Group is a welcome addition to the Upstack team. David and Frank built a thriving business on doing what's right for their customers. Their 'customers-before-company' mindset backed by tenured experience designing complex network, communications, and IT solutions will help drive Upstack's success going forward."
Referring to the MOC4n acquisition, Trapp added:
"We're excited to welcome MOC4 Consulting to the Upstack family. In addition to his long experience delivering complex multi-vendor network solutions, Daniel's competitive spirit and team-first mentality are sure to drive growth for the entire Upstack team."
Frank Ferdowsian of idea! said:
"Our customers are our friends; our relationships extend beyond business. We cannot in good conscience take a payout, walk away and leave our customers in the hands of someone else that will not offer the same level of service we provide," said Ferdowsian. "Upstack was different. They shared our customer-first passion and didn't ask us to walk away, they wanted to help grow our customer relationships further."
MOC4’s Daniel Mocny – a former Division I baseball player – commented:
"In baseball, you fail more than you succeed, so sales was a natural match for me as it taught me how to battle through adversity. IT consultancies I trusted in the industry were taking the step forward with Upstack, and they validated my thoughts about this great opportunity," he said. "When I met with CEO Chris Trapp, it was clear that Upstack had the resources, vision and long-term plan that I had been looking for, so the decision to join Upstack was easy and I’m excited about the future."
About Upstack’s Offering
Upstack originally positioned itself as a colocation marketplace, but since then it has pivoted to become a sales agency much like CloudAdvise. The company offers to help customers select and activate a variety of IT services including colocation, network connectivity, SD-WAN, unified communications, cloud, mobile, IoT, and business connectivity solutions.
Upstack’s platform allows business technology buyers and advisors to “design and compare cloud and internet infrastructure solutions. Its technology consists of a set of tools that automate many of the most time-consuming components of designing and sourcing IT solutions, saving its advisors and end-customers significant amounts of time relative to current modes of manual data extraction, input, comparison, and presentation,” the company says.
