Bridgepointe Investment in Wave Builds On Clover Acquisition

Bridgepointe Technologies is deepening its sales footprint in the Northeast with an investment in Wave.

San Mateo, California-based Bridgepointe wrapped its investment in Wave, which sells to midmarket and enterprise customers as well as running a partner program. The deal harnesses funds from Charlesbank’s $100-plus million strategic investment in Bridgepointe. As a result, the Wave team can use the Bridgepointe brand and “considerable resources,” the company said.

New York-based Wave agreed to a partnership with Bridgepointe in August 2021. Wave CEO Kyle Taylor said his team knew “this opportunity was on the horizon” when it formed the agreement.

Wave’s Kyle Taylor

“We wanted to get in early, and now we’re excited to be part of the bigger vision, which is well-funded with an extensive supplier portfolio serving clients from coast to coast,” Taylor said.

Taylor and fellow principals Aviva Noorani and Jason Pucciarelli have taken the title of partner at Bridgepointe.

Wave’s Jason Pucciarelli

Pucciarelli said Wave and Bridgepointe align very closely in their culture and go-to-market strategy. He called the investment a “win-win for everyone involved.”

“We have very ambitious growth targets for the next year and beyond,” Taylor told Channel Futures. “Teaming up with Bridgepointe offers our company, partners and clients the benefits of Bridgepointe’s vast supplier portfolio, engineering resources and tools.”

Wave’s Aviva Noorani

Clover Acquisition

Bridgepointe executives compared the transaction’s structure to that of the company’s 2020 acquisition of Clover Communications. Moreover, Wave similarly helps Bridgepointe expand its presence on the East Coast.

The deal with New Jersey-based Clover expanded Bridgepointe’s agent base. Clover’s president Dom Callandriello now works as managing partner East for Bridgepointe.

Bridgepointe’s Dom Callandriello

“Since becoming part of the Bridgepointe family, we’ve experienced significant upside. In just over a year, we’ve dramatically reduced our non-selling administrative time by over one-half and our sales have increased by 30%,” Callandriello said.

Funding

Bridgepointe has used a portion of the Charlesbank war chest to make investments in different IT strategists (subcontracting channel partners), who have gained equity in Bridgepointe and “partner” status.

Most recently, David Barsocchini agreed to an investment.

Bridgepoitne co-founder Scott Evars said the firm had been eying Wave for an investment.

Bridgepointe’s Scott Evars

“With the capital provided by Charlesbank earlier this year, Wave was at the top of our list to add to the Bridgepointe portfolio,” explained Scott Evars, co-founder, Bridgepointe Technologies. “We’re approaching these transactions differently than anyone else in the industry. Our focus is on ensuring better financial outcomes through seamless integration and investing heavily in our team and tools to support our newest additions.”