- Private equity firm OpenGate Capital announced it acquired InRule Technology and named Damian Blazy as principal
OpenGate Capital — a private equity company — announced that it has acquired InRule Technology. InRule is a market-leading decision management platform and business rules management system (BRMS). This deal marks OpenGate’s fifth investment completed in 2019 through its second institutional fund. The financial terms of this deal were undisclosed.
InRule’s software is also known for powering mission-critical decisions for enterprise and government customers. And InRule provides an end-to-end and fully auditable platform that acts as a “single source of truth” for enterprises processing complex business rules and decision workflows. And its decision platform drives significant and quantifiable business value across a variety of use cases, including insurance eligibility, mortgage qualification, risk rating and fraud reduction, regulatory compliance, healthcare claims processing, and CPQ calculations.
And InRule has diverse, global, and long-standing relationships with over 400 customers across a variety of industries, including financial services, public sector, IT and business services, healthcare and insurance.
Based in Chicago around 17 years ago, InRule is going to continue to be led by co-founder and CEO Rik Chomko, co-founder and CTO Loren Goodman, and a team of industry veterans.
“We are pleased to partner with OpenGate, a global private equity firm that shares our goal to be the global leader in the decision management market,” said Chomko. “InRule remains deeply committed to the markets we serve, and we now have greater flexibility to invest in our customers, technology, people and future. I am proud of our employees, and all that we have accomplished together; we are transforming the way complex decisions are managed by the enterprise. InRule has never been better positioned for success.”
OpenGate Capital sourced InRule through its global origination team led by Joshua Adams (managing director – business development at OpenGate) and Rafael Baron (vice president at OpenGate). And from the LA office, the following team members negotiated and oversaw the investment: Robert Young (Principal – M&A at OpenGate) and Paul Bridwell (Managing Director – Operations at OpenGate).
“InRule is an exciting investment for OpenGate when we consider the vital nature of decision automation in today’s increasingly complex world. InRule’s unique ability to process complex logic and vast amounts of data is critical at a time when governance, compliance and digital transformation are vital to any organization’s success. OpenGate’s investment in InRule is a tremendous point of pride and we welcome the business into our portfolio,” added OpenGate Capital’s founder and CEO Andrew Nikou.
OpenGate’s acquisition of InRule follows the recently completed acquisitions of Duraco from Essentra, Sargent and Greenleaf from Stanley Black & Decker, SMAC from Colas Group, and Fiven from Saint-Gobain.
Over 400 InRule User Community members depend on InRule to reduce development and change cycles by 90% for their mission-critical systems and customer-facing applications. And InRule has been delivering measurable business and IT results in high-performance environments since 2002.
Damian Blazy Named As Principal In Operations
OpenGate also announced that it named Damian Blazy as a Principal on the North American operations team. Blazy will be responsible for working with the firm’s North American investments and is a contributing member of the firm’s global operations team.
Before joining OpenGate, Blazy was VP of Portfolio Operations at a New York-based private equity firm where he focused on collaborating with executive teams to establish strategic direction, identify and realize cost synergies, and pursue growth initiatives. Plus Blazy was also a principal with Oliver Wyman and he was also a Research Affiliate with Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Damian is a fantastic addition to our team at a time when we are experiencing tremendous growth. With his experience, insights, and knowledge, Damian will be a great contributor to all of the businesses he works with and expanding OpenGate’s global operations playbook. He is extensively skilled in optimizing value through applying advanced technologies, and we’re excited to leverage his strengths both in the field and within the firm as we extend our capabilities,” commented OpenGate Capital Managing Director Paul Bridwell — who is the head of the North American portfolio.
Blazy had also served in the United States Navy where he flew FA-18s for 8 years and deployed twice in support of “Operation Enduring Freedom.” And during his time of service, Blazy was awarded the Strike Fighter Medal for leading 20 combat missions over Afghanistan and the Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Blazy has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and graduated at the top of his class in Naval Flight Training. Plus he graduated from the University of Maryland with high honors in Physics.
“I am pleased to have joined OpenGate Capital at a time when the North American portfolio is expanding, and as the firm is evolving. I am excited to work with a growing portfolio of diverse companies and am looking forward to working with the entire OpenGate organization,” explained Blazy.
