FARMINGTON HILLS – Tecra Systems Inc., which provides Marketing Automation, Web-To-Print and Customer Communications Management software, wanted to acquire in April 2014 the Marketing Services Group from Novitex, a spin off from Pitney Bowes and had to do it quickly because there were other suitors in the mix. 

Through a mutual friend, Tecra Founder and CEO Girl Gondi approached Mark Holtz, Bank of Ann Arbor Vice President, about working with BOAA to secure a Small Business Administration 7(a) Loan to complete the transaction. It marked the first time BOAA’s Technology Industry Group completed an SBA 7(a) loan. 

Girl Gondi 

The $1.7 million, seven-year loan received a 75 percent repayment guarantee from the SBA, at a competitive interest rate.

Tecra acquired the business in August 2014, and set it up as an independent entity named IQense LLC (d.b.a. Through-Channel). In March 2018 IQense was acquired by 360Insights, a Toronto, Canada-based channel marketing company.

The sale provided Tecra with a healthy return on investment after paying off all the company’s debt. 

“Without Bank of Ann Arbor, we could not have pulled off the acquisition from Novitex and the subsequent liquidity event with 360insights”, said Ram Rajagopalan, IQense’s, former President

Added Gondi: “We had to do this quickly. The seller was in a hurry to sell and focus on its core business”.

Rajagopalan and Gondi voiced a similar opinion when they said:  “Dealing with BOAA has been very easy and their support is outstanding. They are excellent people.” 

Mark Holtz

BOAA’s Holtz said SBA 7(a) loans are perfect for technology companies with limited assets and revenue. 

“It’s hard to put technology companies in a box,” Holtz said. “We look at them on a case-by-case basis. An innovation-based community is what is going on in Ann Arbor. We need to know what these companies want to achieve and help them achieve those goals.”

About 90 percent of the BOAA Technology Industry Group’s portfolio is in Washtenaw County. Holtz hopes to change that. 

 

 

Recently, BOAA acquired Bank of Birmingham in Oakland County, and Bank of Plymouth in Western Wayne County. Holtz said BOAA has also been working with tech companies in downtown Detroit for more than five years. 

“We are a tech-friendly bank,” Holtz said. “There are only a handful of banks in the country with an innovation sector focus like Bank of Ann Arbor.  Our technology and life sciences banking practice has been around for over fifteen years.  We are the only bank headquartered in the Midwest with this type of expertise and our clients often find that of great value.”

If you are interested in more information about the Bank of Ann Arbor Technology Industry Group, Mark Holtz can be reached at [email protected].