Ncontracts Adds Third-Party Risk Management Expertise With Venminder Acquisition

Ncontracts has enhanced its third-party risk management expertise by acquiring Venminder.

This acquisition will add Venminder’s unified platform for managing third-party risk to Ncontracts’ integrated compliance, risk and vendor management solutions for the financial services industry, the companies said in a Wednesday (Sept. 4) press release.

Simultaneously with this transaction, software and services business investor Hg bought out prior Ncontracts shareholder Gryphon Investors and prior Venminder shareholders, according to the release. Hg’s specialty is supporting the development of sector-leading enterprises that supply businesses with software applications or workflow services.

The combined business created by these transactions will be led by Ncontracts founder and CEO Michael Berman, per the release.

“With our teams coming together to help reduce risk, improve compliance and control costs, we will continue to strengthen the financial industry and the communities they serve,” Berman said of the combination of Ncontracts and Venminder. “With the investment and support from Hg, we are well positioned to continue our rapid growth.”

Ncontracts provides governance, risk and compliance (GRC) software solutions to more than 4,000 banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, FinTechs and registered investment advisors, according to the release.

With the company’s acquisition of Venminder and its more than 1,200 customers, Ncontracts will serve a total of more than 5,000 customers, per the release.

Hg Head of North America Alan Cline said in the release: “We see Ncontracts swiftly becoming a ‘gold standard’ provider of highly automated, AI-enabled, integrated software solutions for the financial industry. The merger with Venminder creates a compelling platform with a comprehensive product suite that can deliver significant value to customers.”

Artificial intelligence can be harnessed to address the pain points financial institutions face when grappling with vendor lifecycle management, Berman told PYMNTS in an interview posted in January.

For example, when agreements come up for renewal, the technology can flag language that is missing or that needs to be improved so that remediation measures can be taken, Berman said.

“AI is going to allow us to address risk and compliance in a much more efficient way than we’ve ever been able to do before,” Berman said.