Why Wellspring Chose to Raise Capital in 2022

July 14, 2022

Today, Wellspring announced a significant capital raise. You can read the press release to learn more about Resurgens, our new growth partners, and the deal itself. In this post, I’d like to focus on the bigger picture — why it made sense to raise a fresh round of capital, why 2022 was the right time, and why I’m deeply excited for Wellspring’s future.

The past few years have been intensely disruptive. A global pandemic. War in Ukraine. Supply chain issues. The Great Resignation. And much more.

Yet this period also yielded profound advancements. COVID vaccines brought to market in record time. Civilians flying into space. Human-like AI programs. A mind-controlled car. And much more.

Through it all, we’ve seen two enduring trends. First, the world is counting on innovation more now than at any point in the past half-century (at least). Second, Wellspring’s business has continued to grow, and grow, and grow. We’re pretty sure these two trends are connected.

It’s been just over seventy-five years since Vannevar Bush delivered his seminal report on Science: The Endless Frontier. The recognition that companies, universities, and government agencies can work collaboratively and successfully for scientific advancement led to a golden age of innovation — not just in the US, but around the world. The contemporary analogues of that period are once again coalescing, and for many of the same reasons: Global challenges in need of fresh solutions. Massive opportunities to build a better world.

In the coming years, three critical capabilities will determine who succeeds — and indeed, to what degree we all succeed collectively — in the new golden age of innovation:

  • The ability to access and leverage data-driven insights
  • The ability to partner across the technology ecosystem
  • The ability to deliver real-world innovations that benefit society

Wellspring already provides software and solutions for all three of these foundational needs. We have a head start in assembling a vast corpus of actionable data from across the worldwide innovation landscape – everything from research projects to startups to product development and beyond. We have a strong and growing client footprint throughout the global Knowledge Supply Chain, from government agencies to research institutions to corporations to startups. And we have core software systems that already power enterprise-wide Innovation Operations at some of today’s largest and most successful technology leaders.

Given the specter of inflation and recession, much has been written lately about the funding environment. But for Wellspring, the timing of a fundraise in 2022 was perfect. Across our business, everywhere we look, we’ve found new growth opportunities. Organizations around the world need to accelerate innovation as never before – and we find ourselves uniquely equipped to help them. This new injection of growth capital will help us scale quickly enough to continue servicing all these fast-growing needs.

This represents an opportunity far beyond Wellspring’s own growth interests. It’s also an opportunity for all our clients, and for everyone who works in science-driven innovation, to take a step forward with us. In the words of one of our investors, we are committed to do what we are already doing well — just much more of it. That is, Wellspring will continue the journey we've started, in four ways:

  • Invest in industry-leading products that enable our clients to innovate more effectively and efficiently
  • Double-down on supporting the success of our customers through expanded service offerings
  • Leverage AI to identify and support collaborations between organizations that otherwise aren't aware of the opportunity
  • Accelerate the expansion of our footprint globally and throughout the innovation value chain

It's not hard to sense that uncertain times are ahead – for the world in general, and for many of us personally. But that uncertainty also drives heightened potential for positive change. Science and innovation will be key to lighting the path to a brighter future. And here at Wellspring, we’re investing heavily to help drive those solutions forward for a better tomorrow.

Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay

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