Silicon Valley firms buy out local VCs at Center City software maker

Silicon Valley-based Accel-KKR, a partnership between two of the nation's largest private investment firms, has bought out regional investors in IntegriChain, a 75-person sale-channel-management cloud-software maker that last year moved its offices and most of its 75 scientific, software engineering and business staff to Center City from the Princeton area. Buyer statement here.

The company now occupies a floor at 8 Penn Center on JFK Boulevard in Center City. CEO Kevin Leininger said he and his partners figured the move would improve recruiting and reduce turnover by drawing from Philadelphia's tech community and engineering school graduates from Drexel, Penn and other local schools.

IntegriChain and Accel-KKR won't say what the buyer paid to previous investors, who include NJTC Venture Fund of Mount Laurel, Milestone Venture Partners and Cross Atlantic Partners (corrected), and Redwood Pharma Ventures LLC of Philadelphia.

Cofounders including Leininger and executive vice president Josh Halpern will remain minority owners. Accel-KKR managing director Fred Sturgis praised InegriChain's "industry-leading cloud platform, superior service," and "rapidly-growing" client list.

The company calls itself "the leading channel management cloud used by life sciences suppliers," including Merck, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, GSK and other big drugmakers, to "manage their supply chain relationships, inventories and orders" through drugstores, warehouses and online distributors.

The company collects and analyzes store (point-of-sale) data and other industry metrics and makes it available through smartphone apps to corporate clients so they can better estimate costs and direct their sales efforts efficiently. The company says it collected data on 2 billion transactions worth more than $200 billion last year. The company won't disclose its sales.