Executive Summary
Galvanize, originally founded as ACL Services in 1987, had established itself as a pioneer in governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) software. For years, Norwest had watched ACL’s rise to become the first choice in audit analytics, and by 2017, it was ready to modernize and expand its market leadership as a risk management and compliance platform. That’s when Norwest partnered with CEO Laurie Schultz and her team to support a transformation journey that combined cloud migration, strategic acquisitions, and a bold rebrand.
Together, we migrated thousands of customers to the cloud, launched new products, and built momentum that ultimately moved Galvanize into the coveted “Leaders” quadrant of The Forrester Wave™ for GRC Software. In 2021, the company agreed to be acquired by Diligent for $1 billion, underscoring the strength of its strategy and execution. Today, Norwest remains a shareholder in the combined business.
Investing in Leading Compliance-Oriented Businesses
Our thesis in partnering with Galvanize stemmed from a conviction that governance and compliance were no longer optional overhead functions, but becoming core drivers of productivity, trust, and resilience. Across industries, organizations struggle to keep pace with increasingly complex regulations, shifting geopolitics, and heightened supply chain disruptions.
Galvanize’s mission to deliver purpose-built, cloud-first GRC solutions fit this view, positioning the company to lead in a market where compliance had become both a necessity and a strategic advantage.
A Partnership Built on Company Culture and Long-Term Vision
For years, Norwest followed the company's rise as it became a trusted provider of audit and risk management software worldwide. When CEO Laurie Schultz began considering new capital to accelerate growth, she looked for a partner who would respect the company’s culture and long-term vision.
“Norwest shares our focus on driving success through a balanced focus on employees, customers, and financials, all enabled by a strong corporate culture,” Laurie recalls. “This, in combination with Norwest’s industry experience and strategic resources, makes for an ideal collaboration.”
That alignment was key. Norwest’s “invited guest” philosophy — showing up with conviction, providing guidance when needed and taking a step back when it’s not — resonated with Laurie and her team. In 2017, Norwest invested in the business, quickly becoming a trusted advisor within the first year.
“Norwest shares our focus on driving success through a balanced focus on employees, customers, and financials, all enabled by a strong corporate culture. This, in combination with Norwest’s industry experience and strategic resources, makes for an ideal collaboration.”
Scaling Through Product, M&A, and Go-to-Market
The next stage of Galvanize’s journey required modernization and bold moves. Together, Norwest and management pursued a multi-pronged growth strategy:
- Brand building: Norwest assisted in rebranding ACL to Galvanize, elevating the company’s presence with analysts and expanding its product story to a broader audience.
- Product modernization: Galvanize launched new cloud-native products, migrated more than 2,000 customers from on-premises solutions, and improved pricing and packaging strategies — resulting in a 20%+ lift in license revenue.
- Leadership expansion: Norwest supported the recruitment of industry veterans, including Shanti Atkins (former NAVEX CEO) to the board, and CRO Pascal Van Dooren, who helped drive significant cross-sell across the customer base.
- Operational efficiency: Benchmarking and disciplined cost management contributed to ~$40M in cash EBITDA increases and margin improvements of over 40 percentage points.
- M&A: Sourced, negotiated, and closed strategic acquisition of RSAM, in which Norwest invested additional equity to fund the deal.
Leading in the Highly Competitive GRC Space
The results spoke for themselves. Laurie and her team led strong internal execution, helping to drive profitable organic growth as well as accretive inorganic growth.
Notably, Galvanize moved to top-right corner of The Forrester Wave™: GRC Software quadrant in the highly competitive GRC space. The company received the highest scores possible across the risk and control management, document management, audit management, and IT risk management criteria. In addition, Galvanize was among the highest ranked solutions with advanced predictive analytics, with the report noting that the integration with RSAM created an industry catalyst.
In 2021, Galvanize agreed to sell to Diligent for $1 billion, one of several unsolicited bids the growing company attracted. As part of the transaction, Norwest rolled partial ownership into the newly combined entity and remains a shareholder today.
