- Companies
- SMS Assist
SMS Assist Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
SMS Assist was acquired by Lessen for $2B in January 2023, a 2.5x multiple on $800M of revenue.
SMS Assist revenue at acquisition
$800M
Last twelve months · Jan 2023
SMS Assist revenue multiple at acquisition
2.5x
EV/Revenue · Jan 2023
Cumulative funding SMS Assist raised
$240M
across 3 funding rounds
About SMS Assist
SMS Assist is a national integrator for facilities maintenance services across over 40,000 customer sites in the United States. It manages electrical, plumbing, HVAC repairs, cleaning, landscaping, and snow removal through a network of subcontractors. Chicago-based, the company delivers transparency via a vendor management platform, achieving average cost reductions of 20 percent for multi-location retailers and restaurants like McDonald's and Walmart.
Founded
1995
HQ
Website
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Services
Revenue
$800M (Jan 2023)
Valuation
$1B (Jun 2016)
SMS Assist Acquisition
SMS Assist was acquired by Lessen for $2B on 12 January 2023.
The acquisition price implies a 2.5x revenue multiple on $800M of revenue.
Before the acquisition SMS Assist had raised $240M across 3 funding rounds.
| Acquirer | Date | Type | Price | EV/Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan 2023 | Strategic M&A | $2B | 2.5x |
SMS Assist Valuation
SMS Assist is currently valued at $1B, based on its Series D in June 2016.
The $150M round was led by Goldman Sachs.
SMS Assist valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2016 | Series D | $1B |
SMS Assist Funding History
SMS Assist has raised a total of $240M across 3 funding rounds.
SMS Assist's first fundraising round was a $45M Series B in October 2013. The most recent completed round was a $150M Series D in June 2016.
SMS Assist funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2016 | Series D | Goldman Sachs (lead) | $150M | $1B | SMS Assist is a Chicago-based technology company providing cloud-based multisite property management solutions to Fortune 500 clients including JPMorgan Chase, Family Dollar, O'Reilly Automotive, and Jones Lang LaSalle. The platform streamlines service procurement, offering leveraged pricing, a $50 million insurance policy, real-time validation, instant invoicing, automatic audits, and data analysis across more than 186,000 service locations with over 20,000 affiliate subcontractors and 800 employees. On June 7, 2016, SMS Assist raised $150 million in Series D funding led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, bringing total venture funding to $258 million. Prior investors included Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Insight Venture Partners. According to Crain's Chicago Business, the deal valued the company at $1 billion, marking it as Chicago's newest unicorn at the time. The investment aims to fuel continuous growth, market expansion, and development of its technology platform, One by SMS Assist, targeting servicing one million unique locations. Goldman Sachs Investment Partners highlighted SMS Assist's scalable solution improving quality, transparency, and cost efficiency in the historically underserved facilities maintenance sector. CEO Michael Rothman emphasized the partnership's potential for the fully-managed business solution amid rapid growth into new markets. The round aligns with Goldman Sachs Investment Partners' strategy of backing exceptional teams applying technology to inefficient industries, with prior investments in Uber, Facebook, Spotify, and Pinterest. SMS Assist positions itself as the only player delivering comprehensive improvements in property management, serving a massive market opportunity for property owners and real estate professionals. |
| May 2015 | Series C | Insight Partners (lead); Pritzker Group Venture Capital | $45M | - | SMS Assist is a Chicago-based technology company offering a cloud-based mobile platform for multisite property management, connecting real estate professionals with a network of over 20,000 certified affiliate subcontractors and approximately 500,000 maintenance technicians to service more than 90,000 client locations. The platform aims to reduce property maintenance costs, improve service quality, and speed of delivery in the $50 billion maintenance and management market. On May 5, 2015, SMS Assist announced a $45 million Series C investment led by Insight Venture Partners, with continued backing from Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Prior to the 2015 round, SMS Assist had raised $15 million in 2011 and $45 million in 2013 from Pritzker Group, fueling explosive growth in revenue, profitability, and operating scale, with the company employing over 400 people at its Chicago headquarters by early 2015. The Series C funding was intended to support entry into new markets, accelerate growth, and enhance its technology platform, including approaching 100,000 locations served and saving tens of millions of dollars for customers. Insight Managing Director Ryan Hinkle joined the board alongside Pritzker Group’s J.B. Pritzker. The company was described as profitable and experiencing rapid expansion, with clients including major firms like O’Reilly Automotive and Colony Capital. Following the Insight round, SMS Assist launched 'One by SMS Assist' and entered the single-family residential market. In June 2016, it raised a $150 million Series D from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (with participation from Insight), at which point it managed 120,000 locations, employed over 550 people, and was valued at $1 billion according to Crain's Chicago Business, achieving unicorn status. |
| Oct 2013 | Series B | Pritzker Group Venture Capital (lead); Jumpstart Ventures | $45M | - | SMS Assist is a Chicago-based mobile and cloud-based multisite property management company offering a technology platform and network of over 20,000 subcontracted affiliates and 500,000 technicians for maintenance needs across portfolios like 120,000 locations. In October 2013, it raised $45 million from Pritzker Group Venture Capital, bringing their total investment to $62 million and making it their largest venture investment. Prior investments from Pritzker Group occurred in 2011. The company focused on disruptive technology to reduce facilities costs. Following the 2013 round, SMS Assist saw rapid growth in revenue, profitability, and operating scale, as noted in later announcements. By June 2016, it secured a $150 million Series D from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, with prior investors including Insight Venture Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Leaders highlighted its technology for efficiency in the $50 billion maintenance market and its profitable, explosive growth trajectory toward servicing one million locations. SMS Assist was recognized in 2017 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and World Business Chicago as one of the fastest-growing technology companies. |
Who has invested in SMS Assist?
4 investors have backed SMS Assist across its funding rounds, including Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Insight Partners, Goldman Sachs and Jumpstart Ventures.
Lead investors include Goldman Sachs, Insight Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital.
SMS Assist Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Lead | Oct 2013 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Jun 2016 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 4 SMS Assist investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.
Start Free TrialSMS Assist Competitors
SMS Assist competitors include listed companies like Grupo GPS, Dexterra Group and K-Bro Linen, and private ones like Envoy, Graviton and Spaceti.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $3.4B | $436M | $1.9B | 0.7x | ||
| Publicly listed | $746M | $78M | $650M | 1.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $363M | $65M | $386M | 1.5x | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.4B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $168M | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $104M | - |
SMS Assist Public Comps
SMS Assist is no longer listed, but its public comps include Target Hospitality, Badger Infrastructure, Grupo GPS, Tasmea, Wintech Nano (Suzhou) Co, Carmila, Shoucheng Holdings, Open Up Group, ABM Industries and Matrix Design Co..
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $321M | $36M | 6.5x | 5.1x | 58.4x | 22.2x | |||
| $832M | $184M | 2.9x | 2.6x | 13.1x | 10.6x | |||
| $3.4B | $436M | 0.7x | 0.7x | 5.3x | 6.4x | |||
| $920M | $99M | 2.1x | 1.7x | 19.4x | 16.5x | |||
| $79M | $34M | 24.9x | - | 58.0x | - | |||
| $626M | $327M | 8.9x | 10.8x | 17.0x | 13.7x | |||
| $183M | $79M | 5.8x | 5.8x | 13.4x | 9.1x | |||
| $1.2B | $121M | 0.8x | 1.0x | 8.4x | 8.3x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all SMS Assist competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about SMS Assist
| When was SMS Assist founded? | SMS Assist was founded in 1995. |
| Where is SMS Assist headquartered? | SMS Assist is headquartered in Chicago, IL, United States. |
| Is SMS Assist publicly listed? | No, SMS Assist was acquired by Lessen in January 2023. |
| Who acquired SMS Assist? | SMS Assist was acquired by Lessen in January 2023. |
| How much was SMS Assist acquired for? | SMS Assist was acquired for $2B in January 2023, a 2.5x revenue multiple. |
| What is SMS Assist's valuation? | SMS Assist was last valued at $1B in its Series D in June 2016. |
| How much funding has SMS Assist raised? | SMS Assist has raised $240M across 3 funding rounds. |
| What was SMS Assist's last funding round? | SMS Assist's last funding round was a $150M Series D in June 2016, led by Goldman Sachs. |
| Who are SMS Assist's investors? | SMS Assist's investors include Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Goldman Sachs, Jumpstart Ventures and Insight Partners. |
| Which companies are comparable to SMS Assist? | Companies comparable to SMS Assist include Grupo GPS, Dexterra Group, K-Bro Linen, Envoy, Graviton and Spaceti. |
See companies similar to SMS Assist
Start Your
Free Trial Today
Try Multiples for free for 3 days. Got questions or need a demo? Schedule a call with us below.




