Sarah Hauer

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Fast-growing Milwaukee software company TechCanary was acquired by Applied Systems, the Illinois insurance software company announced in a news release Wednesday.

TechCanary builds customer relationship management systems for insurance using the Salesforce platform. Through the acquisition, TechCanary said it would "integrate functionally into the existing Applied Systems organization." TechCanary will retain its Milwaukee office and employees.

Applied Systems has more than 1,600 employees worldwide with its U.S. headquarters in University Park, Illinois. It provides cloud-based software for the insurance business. Applied Systems, a private company, did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition.

“As the demand for sales and marketing automation is increasing at a rapid pace, we recognized an opportunity with Applied for our customers to benefit from the broader, more global product portfolio as well as Applied’s technical resources and support services,” TechCanary Chief Executive Officer Reid Holzworth said in the news release. “This acquisition provides our customers with access to new innovation and scale to further accelerate the growth of their businesses.”

TechCanary's customer relationship management system will be integrated with Applied Epic, an agency management system. This will allow agencies, insurers and managing general agents to all use the Salesforce platform to manage their sales, marketing activities, prospects and clients, Applied Systems said in the release.

TechCanary, founded in 2011, has 67 employees. Most work from the company's Milwaukee office; 12 are in Canada. Since its founding, TechCanary has raised about $3 million in funding, the company said.

Applied Systems acquired another Milwaukee-area technology firm, Dynamis Software Corp., founded by entrepreneur Andy Nunemaker, in October. Dynamis' 10-person team will move to TechCanary's office on North Eighth Street. The two companies will work together under Applied Systems.

TechCanary ranked at No. 393 on the annual Inc. 5000 list in 2018. TechCanary grew 1,258% over three years, ending 2017 with $2.7 million in revenue, according to the magazine. It was the fastest-growing Milwaukee-based company on the list, followed by Penrod, another software company that builds on Salesforce.

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Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Instagram @HauerSarah and Twitter @SarahHauer. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Be MKE at jsonline.com/bemke.