Scottish Equity Partners: Dynamics 365 Customer Case Study

Learn how Xpedition delivered an enhanced Venture Capital CRM solution for leading venture capital firm, Scottish Equity Partners.

Xpedition successfully delivers deal flow and data analytics project for Scottish Equity Partners, a leading VC firm

An Xpedition Venture Capital and Private Equity CRM success story.
Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) is an award-winning venture capital firm behind some of Europe’s most innovative high growth companies.
Find out how Xpedition delivered a winning Venture Capital CRM project that delivered enhanced deal flow management and ensured SEP met its performance and growth targets.
“After a competitive selection process, we felt Xpedition was the best partner to work with, particularly given their track record in Venture Capital.
Our conviction was proved right throughout the project: we saved time and made rapid progress because of the consultants’ knowledge and fully justified our confidence in their ability to define and deliver an effective solution for our particular needs.”
Stuart Parterson, Partner, SEP
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The Challenge

Advanced VC functionality and integration at pace
Scottish Equity Partners knew the benefits of their existing CRM. However, the firm had outgrown its capability and sought a more sophisticated and enhanced replacement for the future. As a specialist investor in the technology sector, Scottish Equity Partners appreciates the value of innovative digital solutions to drive business performance. Therefore choosing a highly regarded, cutting-edge solution with full deal flow visibility, intelligent reporting and mobile capabilities was essential.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM/365 was the most robust and well-developed platform on the market, with strong investment from Microsoft evident in the clear progression and innovation of their offering. CRM/365 was also a good fit with their overall technology strategy for Office 365 and SaaS cloud computing.
To go with the market-leading platform, Scottish Equity Partners needed an expert service provider to manage the implementation. Their priorities were sector expertise in PE/VC and proven capability to deploy rapidly, to reduce disruption to everyday operations and take advantage of data insights quickly.
“We recognised that an expert partner with a real understanding of our specialist sector was as important as choosing the best technology.” Stuart Paterson, Partner 

The Solution

A rapid route to deal flow and performance insight
Industry expertise and the Xpedition Private Equity Accelerator were key for Scottish Equity Partners. The Accelerator refines Microsoft Dynamics 365 to the specialist functional requirements of the sector. SEP were keen to benefit from the new platform rapidly. The PE Accelerator meant a faster path to an industry specific solution configured to suit SEP’s individual requirements.
The Xpedition team focused first on data migration and activating out of the box functionality to provide the core functions and data that Scottish Equity Partners needed. In the second phase, Xpedition integrated third party products and more sophisticated configurations. The final step was to add new investor relations capability.
“We knew we needed to make our systems accessible and relevant to our team so they could respond quickly and effectively to situations in a competitive market. Dynamics fitted well with our Office 365 strategy. The PE Accelerator made Xpedition’s solution truly relevant to our activities and was a decisive factor.”  Stuart Paterson, Partner 

The Results

Swift deployment and positive user engagement
With its familiar Office 365 interface and intuitive controls, it’s been easy for SEP to introduce the new system and convince the team of its benefits. Xpedition worked closely with SEP’s in-house business analyst during the deployment. Effective knowledge and skills transfer means that SEP is now largely self-sufficient in managing and supporting the solution day-to-day.
SEP’s staff use the system both from desktops and mobile devices, meaning they can update and interrogate deal, client and market information wherever they are, and helping SEP make faster decisions and keep ahead of the competition.
With sophisticated real-time reporting and analytics from their new CRM solution, Scottish Equity Partners can access reliable, insightful analysis on past performance and future projections for potential investment opportunities. New investor relations tools also help Scottish Equity Partners to maintain relationships in a timely and relevant way.
“We recognised that an expert partner with a real understanding of our specialist sector was as important as choosing the best technology. After a competitive selection process, we felt Xpedition was the best partner to work with, particularly given their track record in Venture Capital.” Stuart Paterson, Partner