Ottawa software powerhouse Assent has pulled the trigger on its first-ever acquisition, buying a German company in a bid to broaden its customer base and expand its footprint across the Atlantic. Assent said Thursday it has closed a deal to acquire iPoint, a firm headquartered in Reutlingen, Germany that specializes in product compliance and sustainability […]
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Ottawa software powerhouse Assent has pulled the trigger on its first-ever acquisition, buying a German company in a bid to broaden its customer base and expand its footprint across the Atlantic.
Assent said Thursday it has closed a deal to acquire iPoint, a firm headquartered in Reutlingen, Germany that specializes in product compliance and sustainability software for the automotive industry.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition of iPoint “marks a significant step in Assent's strategy to expand beyond supply chain compliance and deliver comprehensive product lifecycle intelligence, helping manufacturers manage evolving product requirements, sustainability performance, and regulatory obligations from design through end of life,” the Ottawa firm said in a news release.
Hundreds of manufacturers around the world – including household names such as Honeywell International, General Electric, Boeing, Toshiba and Johnson & Johnson – use Assent’s cloud-based software to ensure their supply chains comply with an ever-growing list of ethical and regulatory standards.
Assent said iPoint’s base in Europe and its expertise in the automotive sector “will enrich Assent’s existing parts network and accelerate expansion in the U.S. and European automotive markets.”
Assent CEO Michael Southworth said the deal marks “a meaningful step forward” for Assent, which made headlines in 2024 when then-chief executive Andrew Waitman announced it had reached US$100 million in annual recurring revenues.
“Our customers need to understand their products at every level, from what goes into them across their supply chains to their full environmental impact across their lifecycle,” Southworth said in a news release.
“Until now, getting that complete picture required piecing together data from multiple systems. By combining Assent's supply chain compliance and product compliance capabilities with iPoint’s material intelligence and lifecycle assessment expertise, and applying AI across that combined data, we can give manufacturers and distributors a faster, unified view on a single platform — from what's in their products to the impact they have on the world.”
Assent’s first foray into M&A comes just over a year after U.S. investment firms Vista Equity Partners Management and Blackstone Inc. bought out the Ottawa firm’s other venture-capital investors for about US$400 million.
The brainchild of Ottawa boxers and entrepreneurs Matt Whitteker and Jonathan Hughes, Assent was founded in 2010.
Originally funded out of the founders’ own pockets, the company then known as Assent Compliance really began to take off when Waitman — a former managing partner of Ottawa VC firm Celtic House Venture Partners — joined the firm in 2014 after a stint as CEO of IT services provider Pythian.
Waitman, who had met Whitteker while training for a celebrity boxing match, needed an office and decided to work out of Assent’s headquarters.
But he quickly sensed the fledgling firm’s potential and agreed to take the reins. He put $1 million of his own money into the young enterprise, which then had 25 employees and annual revenues of about US$1 million.
Southworth, who previously served as CEO of AI analytics platform Babel Street, took over as chief executive last year when Waitman transitioned to the role of executive chairman. Waitman said the shift would allow him to “focus on long-term strategy, AI adoption and supporting this incredible leadership team.”
The company said the moves put Assent in a position “to accelerate global expansion, pursue strategic acquisitions, and deepen its product innovation — building on its supply chain expertise, unique sustainability data, and advanced AI capabilities.”
