Blackstone-Led Funding Round Nets LemonEdge $4M

Accounting platform LemonEdge has raised $4 million in a funding round led by Blackstone, bringing the amount of capital raised by the U.K. firm to $7 million within its first year of launch, the company announced in a news release Thursday (Feb. 3).

Based in London, LemonEdge helps private capital firms automate and digitize end-to-end accounting processes, which can often rely on older systems or spreadsheets. In what LemonEdge says is an industry-first, the company melds a “modern, purpose-built financial engine” with a customizable low-code platform, and advanced reporting and scenario tools.

“The growing requirement by private capital firms to have the highest efficiencies, while dealing with complexity in an agile manner is becoming more of a prerequisite for staying ahead in the market,” Jamie Nascimento, co-founder and chief commercial officer at LemonEdge, said.

“Firms are looking for ways to deliver efficient, accurate content to clients with the goal to ultimately provide the highest level of client service in a timely manner. There is no longer the leeway to process calculations outside of systems, manually post multiple transactions, or run separate solutions for the end-to-end accounting and middle office,” he said.

Gareth Hewitt, co-founder and CEO of LemonEdge, said the firm was delighted to have Blackstone’s backing, noting the investor’s “unique insight into a diverse range of asset classes.” Blackstone has $881 billion in assets under management, including investments in private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds.

Last year, the investment house became majority owner in the apparel brand Spanx, bringing the value of the company to $1.2 billion.

Read more: Blackstone Finalizes Majority Investment of SPANX, Inc., Driving Valuation to $1.2B

Other investors in LemonEdge include existing backers Sidekick Partners, Lauren Iaslovits (co-founder of Investran and a pioneer of private capital market technologies) and Scribd and Parse founder Tikhon Bernstam.

Earlier this month, Kensington Capital Partners appointed LemonEdge as their front-to backoffice accounting solution. LemonEdge says it will be power the firm’s private equity, venture capital, and fund-of-fund structures as well as an investor portal.