EQT to acquire majority position to support the growth of CluePoints, a leading provider of AI-powered software solutions used for data interrogation and analytics in clinical trials

• CluePoints is a cloud-based software platform for Risk-Based Quality Management (“RBQM”) and data quality oversight in clinical trials, designed to enable safer and more efficient processes and improving data integrity and risk compliance
• As scientific breakthroughs and advancements in technology and data are accelerating healthcare innovation, the markets for RBQM and data interrogation & analytics software are expected to experience strong growth
• In this highly thematic investment at the intersection of pharma, software and AI, EQT will apply its expertise investing in healthcare and throughout the tech value-chain to help CluePoints cement its leading global position
• Summit Partners, an investor in CluePoints since 2020, and Clinimetrics SA, a co-founder of CluePoints, will retain minority stakes with participation in this funding round

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy and the EQT Growth Fund have agreed to acquire a majority stake in CluePoints (the “Company”), with meaningful reinvestment from the management team and existing shareholders Summit Partners and Clinimetrics SA, which was also a co-founder of the Company.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Belgium, CluePoints is a premier software provider for RBQM and data quality oversight in clinical trials. Applying advanced statistics and machine learning, and harnessing over 10 years of clinical trials knowledge, CluePoints’ proprietary algorithms help drive positive outcomes for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, contract research organizations and other customers. The Company offers an end-to-end value proposition from initial risk identification to ongoing tracking and monitoring of issues and discrepancies throughout the drug development process. With more than 9,500 platform users, CluePoints has helped de-risk more than 1,600 studies and has detected over 142,000 issues for its customers, which include many of the top 20 largest pharma companies. 

CluePoints received a growth investment from Summit Partners in 2020, and over the course of the last several years, the Company has generated significant growth, building a robust go-to-market function, launching new products and diversifying into new markets.

This new investment comes at a time when CluePoints is seeing accelerating growth, underpinned by increasing adoption of RBQM software across virtually all clinical trial phases. The industry is experiencing momentum due to growing research & development spend, increasing data complexity in clinical trials and a focus on patient safety and data quality driven partly by regulatory scrutiny. 

Investing in CluePoints is aligned with the objectives of EQT Healthcare Growth to support companies with their mission to deliver positive healthcare outcomes, and of EQT Growth to invest in the next generation of technology leaders. EQT will apply its 30-year track record of investing in healthcare, experience of investing in software and AI, its in-house digital team and global network of Industrial Advisors to help CluePoints cement its leading global position in RBQM and data analytics for clinical trials. 

Andy Cooper, CEO of CluePoints, said: “We are delighted that EQT has chosen to partner with CluePoints. EQT is a market-leading investor in both SaaS (Software as a Service) and medical research industries. This combination makes EQT an ideal partner for CluePoints which is a market leader for SaaS-based clinical data analytics. We are grateful for Summit’s active support over the last four years. Their depth of industry knowledge and operational resources have been instrumental in our growth trajectory. Both EQT and Summit share our passion for and commitment to leveraging innovative advanced statistics and machine learning solutions to eliminate manual, error-prone activities in the clinical trial process.”

Dr Mark Braganza, Partner in the EQT Healthcare Growth Advisory Team, commented: “We are excited to be partnering with CluePoints and its dynamic leadership team to help it scale and reach its full potential. The Company’s ambition is a perfect match with ours to help enable the development of medical research to deliver more effective, efficient and accessible healthcare.”

Kirk Lepke, Partner in the EQT Growth Advisory Team, said: “CluePoints is a prime example of how data, machine-learning and AI can be leveraged to improve real world outcomes – in this case pharmaceutical drug development. The entire EQT platform is behind this investment and ready to support the Company with its continued expansion in RBQM and into growing, adjacent markets.”

Thomas Tarnowski, a Managing Director at Summit Partners, said: “We’ve been proud to work alongside the entire CluePoints team during a period of meaningful growth and expansion, supporting the acceleration of product development efforts and entry into new markets.” Jono Pagden, a Principal at Summit, continued: “We are excited to continue our support of the Company and to partner with management and EQT during this next phase of growth.”

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals. It is expected to close in Q3 2024.

Contacts
EQT Press Office, [email protected]
Summit Partners Press Office, [email protected]
CluePoints Press Office, [email protected]

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