After more than six months of discussions, Prospus Consulting Private Limited (PCPL) — an Indian company — is being acquired by Kaamfu Inc — a US Delaware corporation. After nearly 12 years of operation, this is exciting news for the staff and management of PCPL because it marks our integration into a larger vision. PCPL has operated as a software delivery center since 2011, when it was established by Marc Ragsdale, Pacific IT Consulting, and our domestic partner Siddharth Chattopadhyay in Noida, NCR. Over the course of 11 years, we have helped our parent company Prospus Inc, a Delaware corporation, deliver hundreds of projects across virtually every domain and industry.
PCPL had humble beginnings in India in 2011. Then operating as a general partnership called Pacific IT Consulting, Ragsdale had secured several six-figure investor-funded web projects. Unable to find the labor he needed in Washington, he flew to Delhi, India to source a development team. With just $50,000 and a need for skills he could not find in America, Ragsdale decided to build a company rather than hire a third-party team. In April 2011, Prospus Consulting Private Limited was founded in a small office in Noida, NCR.
Ragsdale’s original goal was simply to augment the skills offered by his Washington-based consultancy, but within just the first year his capacity to deliver projects doubled in size. The vast amount of high-quality talent, coupled with the lower labor costs, allowed Pacific IT to take on additional projects. The project variety and portfolio grew beyond web apps and into mobile apps, enterprise applications, secure government contracts, and even in-house digital products.
It was not without some difficulties. Communication and cultural issues created many problems in our early years. Misunderstandings cropped up, and Ragsdale decided to remain in India to directly train his team, rather than hand it off to local managers. The time away from family was challenging, Ragsdale has remarked in the past, but it paid off. By the second year the Noida-based delivery center was consistently delivering high-quality projects on-time and within budget 90% of the time. Customer satisfaction was an impressive 95%, and project sizes were steadily growing as our portfolio and experience grew.
Prospus continued to double its growth every year until 2019, when Ragsdale decided he would retire and sell the company. Prospus was attractive to buyers: it had nearly a decade of market goodwill, a steady stream of website visitors, a stunning portfolio of software projects ranging from $50k to $1.5m in size, a stable recurring revenue from satisfied clients, and a vibrant team of 60 hard-working Indian developers and designers. He had lined up several buyers interested in purchasing Prospus as a turnkey software development agency, but when covid hit the landscape changed. Large numbers of agencies were going out of business left and right, driving agency prices down.
While this dashed the plans of the two primary owners, in early 2021 Ragsdale began to commit funds to several India-based startups, including one of his own. One idea in particular intrigued him, and he assembled a small team to build it, outside of, but paid by Prospus. After six months, in December 2021 Ragsdale formally cancelled his retirement plans and committed full-time to a new startup that would come to be called Kaamfu Inc.
As Kaamfu evolved from an idea to a product, Kaamfu became larger in vision than the Prospus agency. It also became clear to Ragsdale that Prospus could serve an important role in the emerging Kaamfu vision. In April 2022, exactly 11 years after founding Prospus Consulting Private Limited in Noida, India, Ragsdale founded and funded Kaamfu Inc as a Delaware C-corporation. As the principal in both companies, it was fairly easy to iron out the sale details with special attention paid to fair market pricing to appease all governments involved. As of the date of this post, the acquisition has not transpired, but it is ongoing.
Prospus Consulting Private Limited wants to thank everyone who has been part of our journey. Since 2011, we have employed over 400 full-time Indian designers, developers, stylists, administrators, analysts, project managers, and more. And every single one of them receives our gratitude for their hard work and service. And most of all, we want to thank all of our clients and partners over the years who have both tested and trusted us. While we have made some missteps in the past, it is the determination of the Prospus team that we must thank for our impressive customer satisfaction rating.
In our new role as the back-end delivery center for our new parent Kaamfu Inc, we will look forward to expanding our in-house product team, but also continuing to deliver innovative solutions to our business, academic, consumer, and government clients across. We have included some important questions that might interest our current and future clients and partners.
Why is this happening?
There are two primary reasons this acquisition makes sense to both companies. Kaamfu Inc is product company with ambitions to deliver an end-to-end digital solution that combines buying, selling, and working in one single platform. Since this is an SaaS tool, Kaamfu will require a high-performance in-house product development team. Prospus CPL has 11 years of experience doing just that, and so will nicely fill this role.
Additionally, one of the features of the Kaamfu Workforce platform is its integrated, on-demand workforce, called “Workline”. The idea behind Workline is that users of the Kaamfu Workforce platform can quickly engage professional talent directly through the platform itself. To deliver on this vision, Kaamfu will require a division for handling such requests. Prospus CPL will be perfectly suited for handling this work and helping Kaamfu validate and execute its Workline service.
How will this acquisition impact Prospus’ current relationships?
For Clients. All our clients will receive updated details explaining new legal and payment information. Many of our clients require vendor confirmation, and we will be completing those processes if we have not already. We will also continue to operate our software services division as “Prospus”. However, we will be moving all project management, engagement, and back-office operations to the Kaamfu platform, which will be featured prominently across our interactions and marketing materials.
For Partners. We will continue to operate under the Prospus brand with our partners, however we will note our legal relationship with Kaamfu Inc. Other than that, nothing will change with our partners.
For Employees. There will be significant changes to our employment standards. Kaamfu Inc will be moving to a 100% remote workforce, and contractors will be playing an increasingly visible role within our operations. Additionally, we will be closing our Noida-based offices given that they are rarely used since covid and our shift to a remote workforce. India-based employees will continue to be paid by Prospus Consulting Private Limited.
For Contractors. Our day-to-day interactions will not change, however all payments will be sent from Kaamfu Inc, rather than Prospus Inc (US) or Prospus Consulting Private Limited (India). Our HR and accounts payable departments will reach out to contractors to ensure their billing details are updated.
For Vendors and Suppliers. Prospus CPL will continue to maintain its India-based vendors and suppliers, however our international vendors and suppliers may be disrupted.
We have licensing agreements for a Prospus product. How does this impact us?
Legally, any product licensing agreements are between the licensee and Prospus Inc. Prospus CPL is an India-based delivery center, and has no ownership over the licensing rights, however it does provide technical support and development. Those relationships will continue. In an effort to minimize any friction for the many users of our products, Kaamfu Inc and Prospus Inc will co-manage these licenses and support to deliver a seamless, uninterrupted service channel. So, whatever support channel you are presently using, continue using that and it will get routed properly.
How will our paperwork be affected?
One the acquisition has been finalized, all materials and transactions should reflect our legal name: Kaamfu Inc for those interacting with Kaamfu, and “Kaamfu Inc dba Prospus” for those entities interacting with the India-based delivery center. Clients will deposit checks into the account of Kaamfu Inc, rather than Prospus Inc – this is the biggest noticeable change.
What entity will we be interacting with?
That depends on who you interact with now. If you interact with the Kaamfu SaaS tool, then you will interact with Kaamfu. However, if you interact with our software development division, then you will interact with “Prospus”. If you have specific business with “Prospus Inc” (note the ‘Inc’), then you will continue t0 interact with “Prospus Inc”. Prospus Inc is not part of this acquisition, and remains a separate company. However, upon the finalization of the acquisition, Prospus Inc is solely concerned with licensing rights to Kaamfu Inc and, except in rare cases, will not interact with any individual or business outside of Kaamfu Inc.
Will the ownership change?
Yes. Prospus CPL and Kaamfu Inc have different ownership structures prior to this acquisition. However, with the acquisition, Prospus CPL will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kaamfu Inc. Siddharth Chattopadhay will continue to be a nominal shareholder in Prospus CPL to satisfy Indian ownership regulations.
Will existing contracts with Prospus change?
No. Future contracts will all display “Kaamfu Inc”, however.
Will prices change?
No. Our prices will remain the same and the work will continue to be performed by the same offshore development team. However, Kaamfu will be expanding teams to the Americas to offer different skill and price-points to its clients.
Will the contact information change?
We will still operate as “Prospus” — you won’t see Kaamfu Inc anywhere in our agency work except in contracts, or when we use our Kaamfu workforce management and support tool — in the same way you’d see Trello, Jira, Userback.io, or Slack used. So we will still use our same @prospus.com emails.
I have a grievance with Prospus Consulting Private Limited. What should I do?
You should contact our parent company Kaamfu Inc at support@kaamfu.io. Note that any email sent to @prospus.com will also reach our Kaamfu Inc headquarters.
Is there a difference between Prospus Inc and Prospus Consulting Private Limited?
Yes there is. Prospus Inc owns all the intellectual property associated with the Prospus brand, and will continue to retain those rights. Kaamfu Inc will not be entitled to the various products within this portfolio, including Prospus Universe, Prospus Agency, Prospus Diligence, and more. However, under our forthcoming agreement, Kaamfu will have access to these tools and products under fair licensing terms. Prospus Inc also owns the “Prospus” brand and trademark, however under the terms of our agreement it will be licensed in perpetuity to Kaamfu Inc.
Are we going to kill off the “Prospus” brand?
Absolutely not. Prospus is a valuable brand with 11 years of market goodwill and presence. Kaamfu Inc will continue to provide consulting and digital services under the Prospus name, but with the Kaamfu ownership prominently displayed.
How can I get details about the acquisition?
Financial details of the acquisition will be disclosed to bona fide investors in Kaamfu Inc upon request. If you are an investor in Kaamfu Inc and are interested in learning more, please send a request to legal@kaamfu.io.
I have other questions that are not answered here.
You can reach out to accounts@kaamfu.io with all other questions you have. Please whitelist @kaamfu.io emails so you can receive our replies.
