DORDA Advises Guidepost in $35M Funding Round in Tractive
June, 2021 - Vienna, Austria
Guidepost invests in Austrian market leader for pet GPS trackers with the support of DORDA's Digital Industries Group.
DORDA, led by Christian Ritschka (Partner, M&A), together with Kirkland & Ellis, advised the Boston-based growth equity fund Guidepost as lead investor in the acquisition of an interest in Austrian tractive GmbH. With a total investment of $35 million, this is one of the largest investment rounds in the Austrian startup market in the last months.
Tractive was founded in 2012 in Austria with the goal of preventing pets from getting lost. The company specializes in the development of GPS trackers for cats and dogs. The investment will be used to expand the existing market leadership in Europe and for further market development. This highlights tractive's course towards the US, which is envisaged to develop into the company's largest single market in the course of 2021.
Christian Ritschka comments: "We are pleased to have supported Guidepost on such a significant investment in an Austrian start-up, thus allowing tractive to continue their successful journey."
Guidepost Growth Equity is a leading growth equity firm that partners with growth-stage technology companies providing innovative solutions in large, dynamic markets – including tech-enabled services, infrastructure software and services, and application software and data services.
The DORDA team led by Christian Ritschka was further composed of Mike Schaunig (Associate, M&A), Bernhard Rieder (Partner, Corporate), Tibor Varga (Partner, Banking & Finance), Nino Tlapak (Partner IP/IT, Data Protection), Bernhard Heinzl (Attorney, IP/IT), Elisabeth König (Associate, Telecom), Lisa Kulmer (Associate, Employment), Günther Posch (Associate, Employment), Michael Hardt (Associate, IP/IT, Data Protection), and Anneliese Keinrath (Associate, Banking & Finance).
The Kirkland & Ellis team (Lead Counsel) was led by Christian A. Atwood (Partner, M&A, Boston) with support from the Munich team, Mark Aschenbrenner (Partner, M&A) and Samuel Frommelt (Associate, M&A).
