Company formed by industry veterans with investment backing from Growth Catalyst Partners
Veteran risk management executive, Andrew Hersh, in partnership with middle market private equity firm Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP), announced today the launch of Sigma7, a risk services company founded to support large organizations facing today’s dynamic environment of
complex risks.
Sigma7 will integrate the services of leading specialized risk services firms to build a comprehensive platform in service of companies across industry sectors, risk domains and global locations. Three initial acquisitions have been closed: Strategia Worldwide, focused on risk strategy, Paragon, a market leader in risk engineering services, and RWH Myers, forensic accounting and loss recovery experts.
The foundational acquisitions give Sigma7 an installed client base of over 300 large global businesses and 150 employees operating in 9 countries across 5 continents. The new firm intends to scale rapidly through acquisition and organic growth, adding best-in-class capabilities, and applying modern technologies to give companies the real-time capability of visualizing and quantifying their exposures and valuing the
effectiveness of their controls and coverages.
The total global market for risk services is estimated at over $400B in size and is growing rapidly, outpacing growth in general management consulting. An evolving risk landscape, including threats from geopolitical volatility, cyber attacks, and global health risks, is increasingly on the agenda for executive leaders and board directors.
“Organizations are facing unprecedented threats to their supply chains, operations and people,” commented Sigma7 Chief Executive Officer Andrew Hersh. He added, “Companies are demanding complete risk outcomes, informed in real-time by the highest fidelity information available. Yesterday’s subjective, static and siloed capability has proven ineffective in addressing today’s threats, let alone tomorrow’s. We are pleased to provide our clients, along with those of partner law firms, insurance brokerages and others, a distinct competitive advantage.”
Before founding Sigma7, Hersh held senior executive risk advisory roles at leading firms including Lockton Companies, Aon and Marsh, and is an industry delegate to several public/private partnerships focused on
national security and critical infrastructure. The company’s leadership also includes Chuck Bralver, co-founder of management consultancy, Oliver Wyman & Company, and General Sir Richard Shirreff, Former
Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO and a globally recognized expert on security and risk strategy.
Sigma7 aims to help complex businesses contextualize and manage risk, integrating risk preparation and response with business strategy, creating resilience and ultimately, competitive advantage. Hersh commented, “Sigma7 is excited to be the premium market disruptor in risk services, building an industry leading platform that upgrades our client’s capabilities and access beyond what was formerly possible. In addition to our elite portfolio of risk services, Sigma7 clients have access to world, business, and national security leaders globally. Our clients will be better situated than their peers to excel in this increasingly volatile world.”
Partnering with Sigma7’s management team is Growth Catalyst Partners, a leading middle market private equity firm focused on building leading information, marketing, and tech-enabled services platform companies in rapidly growing vertical markets. GCP recently announced the closing of its oversubscribed second investment fund and is an investor in 12 platform companies to date.
“Our team has been working on a thesis to build a premier independent global risk management, information and services business with a tech-enabled and data driven orientation. We are extremely fortunate to have partnered with a world class leadership team of industry experts and have a very ambitious M&A roadmap to scale the business quickly. We started with combining three leading companies to form the platform of Sigma7 and will be very active in the months ahead,” said Scott Peters,
Managing Partner of Growth Catalyst Partners.
Canaccord Genuity provided advisory services and Seward & Kissel LLP provided legal representation in Sigma7’s formation and initial acquisitions.
About Sigma7
Sigma7 is building a new kind of risk services model that is unconflicted, comprehensive, and focused on measurable business outcomes. The company’s foundational brands include Strategia Worldwide, Paragon
Risk Engineering and RWH Myers, with additional acquisitions and organic growth planned. Its client base includes over 300 of the world’s largest and most complex organizations. Sigma7 is dually headquartered in New York City and London. More information is available at s7risk.com.
About Growth Catalyst Partners
Growth Catalyst Partners is a middle market private equity firm investing in information, marketing and tech-enabled services businesses. GCP’s strategy involves targeting growth segments of industries and identifying and building market-leading companies with breakout potential. GCP partners with company founders and owners along with top executives within those industries and provides capital, proprietary deal origination and operating expertise to the management teams. GCP’s team has deep sector expertise and has led hundreds of transactions and successful investments in services businesses for over 20 years. Since the firm’s founding in 2015 GCP has completed over 60 acquisitions across its 11 industry-leading platform comapnies.
For more information, visit growthcatalystpartners.com
