AuditBoard’s software-as-a-service platform helps companies better manage risk across audit, ESG and information security in an increasingly volatile world.

Background:

AuditBoard was founded by Daniel Kim and Jay Lee, two childhood best friends who sought to reshape the audit, risk and compliance landscape. Kim, a professional auditor, had grown frustrated with the lack of purpose-built tools for his daily workflow.

In 2014, Kim teamed up with his friend Lee, who had been working in private equity, to launch Soxhub, a tool for managing corporate compliance with Sarbanes Oxley regulations. But within a few years, the team started to see a much bigger business opportunity. In the meantime, Battery was conducting an internal research project exploring the emerging market for software for the CFO suite, including auditing and risk-management software. Software purchased and consumed by chief financial officers (and their teams) includes some of the most mission-critical technology platforms that companies use. Yet, Battery’s research found that the CFO suite was one of the most under-invested areas of enterprise SaaS. The timing felt ripe for software innovation.

Enter AuditBoard. Once Battery tracked down the right company contact (at first, the team couldn’t find the CEO on LinkedIn—because no one at the company had that title), Battery spoke with AuditBoard and clearly understood the pain points in the space. Auditors had no purpose-built tool for their daily workflow. They were being left using governance, risk and compliance (GRC) tools that were built for a compliance buyer and needed to be repurposed to meet the unique needs of auditors. Further, the industry generally lacked tools to address the idea of ‘connected risk’; instead, many companies thought of risk in distinct silos: operational risk, financial risk and supply chain risk. Battery shared Kim’s and Lee’s vision of a connected risk platform in which controls updated in one functional area flowed through to all of the other groups across the enterprise. Battery led AuditBoard’s Series B financing round in 2018.

The Battery Impact:

• Battery helped the company rebrand from Soxhub to AuditBoard in 2017 and expand into adjacent markets.
• Leveraging its SaaS industry network, Battery recruited a new CEO, Scott Arnold, after both Lee and Kim voluntarily decided to step back from the business. Arnold had extensive tech and software management experience and helped scale AuditBoard to $200 million in annual recurring revenue by early 2024.
• Battery tapped its industry and software expertise to help the company develop new products and sell into new markets. By 2024, the company boasted over eight product modules that work together as a suite connecting controls and frameworks across audit, risk and compliance teams.

Outcome:

The company has operated profitably since Battery’s first investment; Battery continued adding to its AuditBoard position over the years, although the company never raised another equity round of funding. In May 2024, AuditBoard announced it had agreed to be acquired for more than $3 billion by private equity firm Hg. The deal closed later that year. The company later rebranded and is now known as Optro.