Pender Ventures Wins VC Deal of the Year Award for Copperleaf Technologies Inc.
Founded in Vancouver in 2000 as a consulting firm, over the years Copperleaf Technologies eventually evolved into a leading provider of decision analytics software for companies that manage critical infrastructure, such as electric grids, pipelines, roads, and railways. Back in 2009, however, the company had just landed its first contract with Duke Energy in North Carolina. The problem was that the company not only didn’t have a working solution at the time, but also lacked the capital it needed to finish developing one.
It was around this time that Judi Hess joined Copperleaf as the company’s CEO. Her first priority after assuming that position was to start fundraising. “We had just come out of the Global Financial Crisis, so it was a very difficult time to be looking for investors,” recalls Hess. Initially she turned to the company’s board of directors to raise enough funds to keep the business going.
Fortunately, not long after, Hess met Maria Pacella, now the Managing Partner of Pender Ventures, an early-stage tech VC fund with offices in Vancouver and Montreal. “I was immediately impressed with Maria,” says Hess. “She has a tremendous amount of acumen and it soon became clear that I was in great hands.”
In 2010, while working with the Working Opportunity Fund — which Pender Ventures would later assume management of — Maria Pacella led a round of financing with a $2 million investment in Copperleaf’s Series B round. For Pacella, backing Copperleaf made a lot of sense. “They were a very small company and yet they had landed a contract with Duke Energy” says Pacella. “That said to me that they were not only in a position to solve a very critical problem, but that it was a problem that others would also need help with. So there was a big market opportunity and the potential for demand from customers all over the world.” Pacella also believed that Judi, and the new management team that she brought in with her, had the experience and expertise to execute and deliver.
The Path to Unicorn Status
Over the years that followed, Copperleaf’s business started to take off. “Back in 2010, we only generated $950,000 in revenue,” says Hess. “It took time, but we eventually got to $5 million in revenue. After that, things really started falling in place.” Copperleaf ultimately reached $100 million in revenue, grew its headcount from around 30 employees to more than 400, and had gone from having just one utility customer to servicing hundreds of customers across an array of verticals all over the world. “Pender was a great partner at every step of our journey,” says Hess.
Pacella’s expertise came into play on many occasions, from quarterbacking the initial deal, which involved an unusually large number of stakeholders, to providing valuable insights into areas like structuring compensation in the right way to motivate the Copperleaf team. “Maria was a very helpful board member who always offered great advice and was incredibly helpful in making introductions to just the right people,” says Hess.
Toward the end of 2019 and into 2020, Copperleaf switched its business model, transforming itself from a licensing business with on premise solutions to a SaaS business with recurring revenue. By 2021, the company was ready to go public, and with Pender’s help, raised $161 million in its IPO. It quickly went on to hit unicorn status.
Unfortunately, not long after the IPO, the market took a turn for the worse in the face of geopolitical challenges. Even as the price of the company’s stock started going down, Pender remained a supportive investor, even taking advantage of the opportunity to increase its position in the business.
A Great Outcome for Everyone
As the markets recovered, so did Copperleaf. In 2024, the company was acquired by IFS, a multinational enterprise software company based out of Sweden that had long been interested in the business. IFS ultimately wound up offering an almost 100% premium for Copperleaf based on the share price at the time the negotiations started, paying $1 billion for the company.
Hess was happy with the outcome and grateful for the support that Pender provided. “They took a big risk supporting us when we were such a small company with only a prototype of our product,” says Hess. “Maria looked at what we were trying to do and saw the opportunity. She did a tremendous job and played a critical role in helping us grow to a billion-dollar business.”
Pender Ventures was ultimately awarded the VC Deal of the Year award, sponsored by CIBC Innovation Banking, for its work with Copperleaf. The deal generated a MOIC of 42.9x and an IRR of 20.1% for Pender’s investors — a strong outcome reflecting both the firm’s early conviction and long-term support.
“Judi and her team helped define the asset investment planning category and became a leader in that category in a very short period of time,” says Pacella. “We couldn’t be happier for her or for the phenomenal results we got for our LPs. We were invested across several funds for a total of 14 years. That’s a long time, but it’s proof that sometimes it pays to be patient and to hold onto really great investments. That strategy certainly paid off for everyone involved with Copperleaf.”
