When Dave Batt joined Frisco-based FPX as CEO in 2013, the company specializing in configure-price-quote software for big enterprises was growing at about 6 percent annually. Batt set out to “align the company more with commercial trends,” he said, and, within about a year, the growth rate was nearing 30 percent. Today it’s closer to 60 percent—and FPX ain’t done yet. After being acquired this spring by Silicon Valley private-equity firm HGGC, the company early next year will set up operations in London and Munich and consider an acquisition in Shanghai, China.
While FPX’s current revenue is “just shy of $100 million,” Batt said, HGGC has a “long-term hold position” in the company and, “in their view, we can be a $1 billion company over time. That’s why I go to sleep smiling and I wake up smiling.” The CEO made the comments Wednesday while attending the EY Strategic Growth Forum 2016 in Palm Springs, California. Batt, who was a Southwest regional finalist in EY’s 2016 Entrepreneur Of The Year program, was one of about 60 executives from Dallas attending the California event.
Acquisitions in China and elsewhere will allow FPX to “expand its footprint” beyond CPQ—which helps companies sell their complex products and services more easily—to include billing and subscription management, for example, Batt said. He’s optimistic about the prospect, he added, because, since closing the HGGC deal, “incremental transactional growth” with existing clients already has increased by more than 45 percent. FPX clients have included AT&T, Bell Helicopter, Toyota, and Honeywell.
To cope with all the growth, the company recently relocated from a 3,000-square-foot space in Uptown to an 8,000-square-foot facility in Frisco. It also has secured the rights to expand into a 27,000-square-foot space nearby. It had 98 total employees before the HGGC deal and now has 144, including 30 to 35 working in Frisco. “We can’t hire fast enough,” Batt said. “In Dallas we’ll double [the employee count] by June, from 30 to 35 to 70 or 75, even before closing on any acquisitions. That’s why more space is so important.”
This year, he said, “we’ll go from high double-digit growth to triple-digit growth in sales revenue.” So, does he have a revenue target for 2017? “Yes, we do,” Batt says coyly. “I’ll let you know when we hit it.”
