Company’s innovative budgeting software marries strategic planning and budgeting
November 3, 2010 – Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that it has made a follow-on investment of $500,000 in software solutions company XLerant Inc. of Stamford, Conn., through its Eli Whitney Fund. CI’s investment is part of a funding round also involving individual investors.
XLerant builds and implements easy-to-use budget preparation software for mid-sized organizations. XLerant’s flagship product BudgetPak allows users to tie the budgeting process to the strategic planning process – and essentially develop budgets that translate a business’s strategic plan into numbers. The end result is that users can develop more accurate and more meaningful budgets.
“Connecticut Innovations’ investment will support our ability to build our team and expand to address the huge demand from mid-sized companies looking for a solution to the complexity of the budget process,” said XLerant CEO William Wilcoxson. “We look forward to working with Connecticut Innovations as we continue to build a market-leading company, and we are excited to be among the first companies to both benefit from the Connecticut Angel Investor Tax Credit Program and extend its benefits to the state’s economy.”
The company’s founders have decades of budgeting experience and understand that budgeting is as much a communications process as it is a financial one. The result is that XLerant’s solutions help its clients to create a culture of accountability, where non-finance staff are brought into the budget process and take ownership in the final product. BudgetPak guides non-finance users through a plain English budget-building process so that little or no knowledge of accounting is required. This allows clients to focus on business issues as well as to explore “what if” scenarios.
Built on the Microsoft platform, the product’s functionality, value and ease of use have enabled XLerant to attract a wide range of clients, including colleges and universities, such as Drew University and Quinnipiac University, nonprofits, media, manufacturing, high-tech and defense companies.
“XLerant is a truly innovative company,” said Governor M. Jodi Rell. “Not only has it developed innovative software, but it has also secured funding in a unique way. XLerant has leveraged CI’s investment by participating in the recently launched Angel Investor Tax Credit Program. In so doing, XLerant became one of the first companies in Connecticut to participate in the program and to receive funding through participating angel investors.”
Public Act No. 10-75, passed in 2010 and signed into law by Governor Rell, established the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program. Under the program, qualified angel investors may take a credit against their Connecticut state income tax for certain investments made in qualifying, early-stage technology businesses that apply to participate in the program. The program, which is administered by CI, was established to spur private sector investments in early-stage technology ventures.
Peter Longo, president and executive director of CI, said, “CI believes in XLerant’s holistic approach to budgeting, the strength of its BudgetPak tool and the capabilities of its team. That’s what gave us the confidence to invest once again in XLerant.”
Pauline Murphy, CI managing director of investments, represents CI on XLerant’s board of directors.
About XLerant Inc.
Focused on the needs of organizations which have been struggling with home-grown, Excel-based budgeting systems, XLerant is a software solutions company that builds and implements innovative, practical and incredibly powerful corporate budget preparation software for mid-sized and large organizations. XLerant’s approach helps to create a “Culture of Accountability” with your users, without requiring accounting ability from the line managers and executives—key stakeholders whose participation in the budget development process is essential to your company’s financial performance throughout the entire fiscal year. We believe the more accountable your users are, the higher the quality the budget is, and, therefore, the greater the probability that your organization will achieve its goals.
Consistent with our core belief that budgeting is both and art and a science, XLerant combines the science of prepackaged budgeting functionality and reporting with the arts of communications throughout the process; balance of financial control, user flexibility and IT standards; and process coaching and guidance along the way. The result is an efficient, straightforward budget development system with a low total cost of ownership and high return on investment.
About Connecticut Innovations Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in: early-stage Connecticut technology companies; university/industry research collaborations; technology transfer; and, clean energy initiatives through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CI also fosters collaboration among government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promotes public policies consistent with CI’s mission.
For more information on CI, visit www.ctinnovations.com.
