Atego Secures Major, Multi-Million Dollar Equity Investment

SAN DIEGO, California and CHELTENHAM, England, February 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Atego™, the world leading software tools and professional services supplier, for complex, mission- and safety-critical systems and software engineering, announced today that it has secured an additional, multi-million dollar equity investment. Existing investor ETV Capital led the funding with participation from Albion Ventures, new investor ESO and individual investors.  The funds will be used to finance the Atego's current growth plan combining organic and external, acquisition-driven growth.

"Atego is a unique company with a strong portfolio of software products and professional services used daily by the largest global avionics, railways, automotive and defense companies.  While the massive, $20 billion global embedded systems market is growing slowly, Atego has demonstrated a winning strategy allowing it to grow profitably and with this new investment the company is now well placed for further expansion." said Neil Pitcher, CEO at ETV Capital. "With such growth rates, an experienced management team and a sterling list of customers, Atego offers a truly compelling investment opportunity in Software and Systems Engineering."

Founded in December of 2009 through the merger of Artisan Software Tools and Aonix, Atego has since acquired three companies in Europe and the US, better serving its global customers and improving economies of scale.

The Company is also pleased to announce that as part of the fund raising, Richard Horsman joined the board as Independent Chairman. Richard is a software industry veteran having spent the last 9 years as CEO of Cybit Holdings Plc. and prior to this had senior management roles with Global Telematics Plc., The Baan Company, Manugustics and Dunn and Bradstreet Software (Geac). He is also currently a Non-Executive Director of Aim listed Plethora Solutions Holdings Plc.  Richard Horsman said "I am delighted to join Atego at such an exciting time in the evolution of the business. As a result of our recent investment round, Atego is now well funded and ideally placed to exploit both organic and acquisitive growth opportunities. I am looking forward to working with the board as we further develop and deliver against our strategy.

"The continued support we receive from our investors shows strong support of our business plan.  We continue to grow our core business profitably, both in existing geographies as well as markets in Asia Pacific, while integrating recent acquisitions such as HighRely Inc. and continuing to scan the market for further external growth opportunities," said Pierre Cesarini, CEO of Atego. "These funds will strengthen our balance sheet, finance our expansion in the fast-growing Chinese market and better place us to exploit acquisition opportunities should they present themselves in the future."

About Atego

Atego is a world leading software tools and professional services company, focused on helping organizations engineer complex, mission- and safety-critical systems and software. With today's systems and software engineering projects continually growing in complexity, Atego's collaborative development

tools, robust runtime environments, certification know-how and supporting services enable abstraction, optimization and automation - dramatically increasing quality, security and productivity.

http://www.Atego.com 

About ETV Capital

ETV is one of Europe's leading providers of debt financing solutions for venture capital backed technology and healthcare businesses.  Founded in 1999, ETV has a long and successful track record of investing in technology or intellectual property based companies across Europe and Israel, diversified by industry and development stage.

http://www.etvcapital.com

About Albion Ventures

Albion Ventures LLP is a leading independent venture capital investor, managing approximately $360 million across eight Venture Capital Trusts. Albion Ventures LLP is a partnership formed by the Close Ventures' management team to acquire the business of Close Ventures Limited. http://www.albion-ventures.co.uk

All trademarks are recognized and are the property of their respective companies.

Media contacts:

Beverley McFarlane
Tel: +44-1242-229-335  
Email: [email protected]

Please send reader enquiries to:

Atego, 5930 Cornerstone Court West, Suite 250, San Diego, CA 92121 USA
Tel: 888-91-ATEGO (+1-888-912-8346)
Email: [email protected]

Atego, 701, Eagle Tower, Montpellier Drive, Cheltenham, GL50 1TA, UK
Tel: +44-1242-229-300
Fax: +44-1242-229-301
Email: [email protected]  

This press release (PDF format) can be downloaded from  http://www.Atego.com.

SOURCE Atego