NYC CleanLinks Event:

RTP CleanLinks Event

See press release.

Ryla’s revenue climbed from less than $1.1 million in 2002 to over $100 million in 2009.  The number of employees increased from 20 at the time of SJF’s investment to more than 3,500 today.  Salvage Direct has emerged to be one of the largest sellers of salvage vehicles in the U.S pioneering the internet auction model.  The company’s online auctions for cars, trucks, boats and other vehicles increased the utilization and efficiency of metals recycling and parts reuse for 49,000 salvage vehicles in 2009. 

Ryla Investment Case Study and Salvage Direct Investment Case Study

SJF Ventures portfolio company Salvage Direct has been acquired by QCSA Auto Auctions, the nation’s largest independent salvage auction company.  The transaction was funded by private equity firm Kinderhook Industries and debt provider Amalgamated Capital.  The combination of Salvage Direct and QCSA creates the third largest company in the salvage vehicle auction industry behind public companies Copart and KAR Auction Services. 

Based in Titusville, Pennsylvania, Salvage Direct pioneered the salvage industry’s first on-line auction and today operates exclusively through a unique web-based business model.  Since SJF Ventures led the Company’s second round of equity financing, Salvage Direct has grown to 145 employees and a network of over 80 facilities in 28 states.  Their cleantech impact includes increasing the utilization and efficiency of metals recycling and parts reuse for approximately 50 thousand vehicles in 2009.

Read press release.

SJF Ventures’ portfolio company Ryla, Inc., has received a strategic investment from California-based Alorica, Inc.  The partnership helps solidify Ryla as a leading call center solutions provider and infuses additional capital for growth.  Ryla will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity, drawing on the company’s unique, people-focused corporate culture.   CEO Mark Wilson and other management team members will remain with the company.  SJF Ventures, Frontier Capital, CDVCA and other previous capital sources have exited their investments as part of the transaction.  SJF provided Ryla’s first institutional investment when the company had fewer than 25 employees and $2 million in annual revenue.  Today, Ryla employs over 3,500 individuals and has generated more than $100 million in revenue during its most recent fiscal year.   
 
Headquartered in Kennesaw, GA, Ryla is ranked one of the fastest growing private companies in the nation by Inc. magazine and nationally recognized as a top workplace.  Last week Ryla was named the fastest growing private company in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  Both Ryla and Alorica are certified Minority Business Enterprises in the customer care industry.

Read the full press release.

SJF Ventures has been an investor in Ryla since 2002.  Read the full press release here.

Schirmacher joins FieldView Solutions from Goldman Sachs & Company where as Vice President and Global Head of Engineering and Critical Systems he was responsible for the design, operation and overall strategy of the firm’s data centers, trading and critical business environments throughout the US, Europe and Asia.

“David’s knowledge of the mission critical industry, proven track record of building and operating high performance enterprise data centers and his reputation as one of the industry’s most dynamic and forward thinking advisors makes him uniquely qualified to lead our product development effort, ” said Fred Dirla, Chief Executive Officer of FieldView Solutions. “We believe David’s hiring not only builds on the Company’s current momentum, it is a fundamental step toward our goal of positioning FieldView Solutions as the industry leading provider of data center operational and energy efficiency software solutions.”

As Chief Strategy Officer, Schirmacher will be responsible for directing the development of the firm’s mission critical software solutions including their flagship data center management platform, FieldView.

Schirmacher’s career spans close to 30 years with senior roles at Jones Lang LaSalle, Compass, and Goldman Sachs. During this time, he has managed the design and operation of millions of square feet of mission critical facilities representing billions of dollars of corporate investment. He is a recognized innovator in the data center industry driving reliability, performance, and operational efficiency into all areas of design and operational practice.

“I’ve known Fred and many members of the FieldView Solutions team for many years. When I heard they were coming together to start up the new company I couldn’t wait to join them,” said Schirmacher. “This is an incredibly talented and innovative team and I’m really excited to be working with them to continue to evolve an already amazing platform, and to deliver a product that answers all the challenges and concerns of our clients.”

FieldView Solutions’ core platform makes it possible for data center managers, IT personnel, facilities managers and even C-level executives to instantly see how their critical environments are performing. Every aspect of data center operations from the IT device and rack through the power and cooling infrastructure is instantly accessible. The powerful metrics and reporting engine provides real-time information that allows data center operators to optimize rack/room space utilization, energy efficiency, and infrastructure resiliency.

The 2010 Fellows are an impressive group of early stage cleantech entrepreneurs operating companies with significant market potential.  The Mentor group is equally strong and made up of successful serial entrepreneurs and advisors.  The program is supported by Citi Foundation and sponsored by Articulate Communications Inc., Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris PC, Reitler Kailas Rosenblatt LLC and NYU Poly.  

Click here for full list of 2010 Cleantech Mentorship Fellows and Mentors.

SJF Ventures is expanding upon its successful cleantech business networking events in 2009 under the new name CleanLinks.

CleanLinks happy hour events will remain free and open to all business professionals with an interest in growing the fields of cleantech, renewable energy, energy efficiency and related environmental business sectors.   The next NYC event will be on 2/24 at Connolly’s and the next RTP event will be on 3/2 at Tosca in Durham, NC.

Click here for more information about CleanLinks and to register for these great networking opportunities.

In her interview with Green For All, Bonny provides green company entrepreneurs with useful tips and insight for accessing capital. Read the complete interview here.