Payments solutions provider, Clearent, has acquired controlling interest in Service Autopilot, a field-service-management, software-as-a-service (SaaS) business serving green-industry (lawncare, snow-removal and cleaning-industry) customers. Clearent Software Holdings (CSH), a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based Clearent, announced the move as the latest example of its effort toward broadening its stable of high-quality, affordable and user-friendly solutions to customers in the field-services industry.
Service Autopilot will continue to operate business as usual out of its Richardson, Texas, headquarters. Its founders, CEO Jonathan Pototschnik and CTO John Caldwell, will stay on as shareholders and continue to lead the company in their current roles. Additionally, all 90 Service Autopilot employees will stay on following the completion of the acquisition.
Service Autopilot’s cloud-based SaaS platform provides customers with a full suite of services designed to save time and money while growing revenue and enhancing profitability. Service Autopilot’s end-to-end solution allows customers to schedule, route and dispatch employees; job-cost, invoice and bill customers; and generate, capture and nurture leads, among other features. Launched in 2009 as a scheduling system for green-industry companies, Service Autopilot has grown to become the single system customers use to run their business. Service enhancements include the addition of mobile functionality, a client portal, two-way QuickBooks sync and marketing and business automation.
“We’re excited to welcome Service Autopilot to Clearent’s portfolio of leading field-service-management solutions. Our ‘invest-to-grow’ strategy has been successfully applied to current portfolio businesses, including FieldEdge and Coolfront, and we are confident it will provide Service Autopilot with the incremental resources needed to grow by meeting the needs of existing customers, the green industry as a whole and other future markets,” said Connie Certusi, president of Clearent Field Services Management Solutions. “We look forward to partnering with Jonathan and John, along with the entire Service Autopilot team, to increase Clearent’s footprint in this rapidly growing market.”
This latest purchase broadens Clearent Software Holdings’ portfolio of independent software vendors in the field-services industry to reach green-industry customers that include lawncare, pool-cleaning and snow-removal companies. Service Autopilot will operate alongside FieldEdge, which traditionally supports mechanical contractors such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing and equipment repair companies. FieldEdge and Service Autopilot will collectively benefit by sharing best practices and centers of excellence – pooling/sharing services and common infrastructure where appropriate, while continuing to operate as independent companies.
“We’re excited to join Clearent’s family of ISVs servicing the field-services space,” said Pototschnik. “Clearent has a solid track record of growing companies within the field-services-management space, while allowing them the freedom to do what they do best. The guidance and access to additional resources provided as a result of this transaction will allow Service Autopilot to focus on our customers – whom we call ‘members’ – and grow the business.”
Clearent Software Holdings was established as a subsidiary of Clearent to encompass a number of independent software vendors so it can leverage Clearent’s strengths as a payment processor as well as the collective resources of associated SaaS solution providers.
Vista Point Advisors, a San Francisco-based boutique investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Service Autopilot.
About Service Autopilot
Founded in 2009 by co-founders Jonathan Pototschnik and John Caldwell, Service Autopilot has created a SaaS platform that offers best-in-class business management features for the field service industry, allowing lawncare, snow-removal and related green-industry customers to save time, money, grow revenue, automate tasks, and ultimately become much more profitable. Based in Richardson, Texas, Service Autopilot has a loyal – and growing – customer base, which includes more than 3,400 customers across the United States. For more information visit serviceautopilot.com.
About Clearent
Clearent is a full-service payment-solutions provider with more than 600 employees, 50,000 customers and $20 billion in payment processing volume. Clearent helps small- and medium-size business owners securely accept payments anywhere with no hidden fees and transparent pricing. Clearent also owns independent software vendors (ISVs) in select vertical markets that leverage Clearent’s turnkey payment integration as well as the collective resources of associated SaaS solution providers. Headquartered in St. Louis, the company has been named to several prestigious lists year after year, including the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies, The Nilson Report’s list of top U.S. merchant acquirers, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplaces award. To learn more, visit clearent.com.