Electric, a venture-backed managed IT services provider (MSP), has acquired New York neighbor Sinu. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is M&A deal number 488 that ChannelE2E has tracked so far in 2020. Find a full list of M&A deals here.
Sinu’s operating model is built around what Electric calls “disruptive unlimited support.” The company has operated for over 20 years and has worked in several industries, including non-profit, media and entertainment, and professional and financial services.
The acquisition of Sinu will add expert IT support to Electric’s deep bench of over 60 IT service professionals, the buyer said.
Electric Acquires Sinu: Services versus Software
While Electric already offers IT services–leveraging familiar automation tools from Cisco Meraki, Jamf, Kaseya, Slack and Ubiquiti Networks–this deal comes at a time when the company has been looking to extend beyond managed services.
As the company’s CEO Ryan Denehy explained to ChannelE2E in July, Electric is looking to transform from an MSP into a software provider. So, while this latest deal may not seem in keeping with that goal, Denehy says the company is being strategic about its expansion plans:
“Most startups develop a 'sweet' spot early on, which are the types of customers you know you can win with over and over, but eventually you have to expand your view. Organic market entry, even in adjacent markets, can be extremely time-consuming and expensive. Sinu's team has done an excellent job winning and pleasing customers in a lot of industries where we currently don't play, but probably should. The combination of our two companies is a massive shot in the arm to our national expansion strategy.”
As Electric continues to expand its offerings, Denehy says it wants to base its product roadmap on “the best-run manual processes in the industry.” Processes which, in the eyes of Denehy, Sinu has:
“Larry and his team at Sinu have the retention and satisfaction metrics to back up how great they are, and the years of expertise that create a huge competitive advantage for all of our teams."
Electric Acquires Sinu: Scalable Delivery
Today, Electric has close to 400 customers and more than 20,000 employee end-users through its IT platform. The platform includes real-time support, device management, security and compliance, inventory management, network and server management, application and cloud management, employee on-boarding and off-boarding, and data monitoring and insights.
Electric last raised $25 million in Series B funding — bringing the MSP’s total funding in early 2019 to $38 million. Key backers include GGV Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Sinu, founded in 2000, has clients across the United States with a concentration along the East Coast. The company’s offering is built on unlimited support, Hardware as a Service, and cloud migration.
Denehy said:
“This deal is an investment in our customers. Sinu has proven that you can deliver top-shelf customer satisfaction to a wide range of businesses in a very repeatable, scalable way. I’m thrilled to partner and inject more of that DNA into all of our solutions here at Electric.”
Larry Velez, CTO and Founder of Sinu, added:
“We founded Sinu to deliver overwhelming value to clients through unlimited IT support - an IT Department as a Service. With Electric, we have a partner who is accelerating service delivery through technology. Together, our people and software will deliver unrivaled value and security. We are excited to shape an innovative future with the Electric team.”
