Pritzker Group Venture Capital, formerly New World Ventures, today announced it invested $45 million in Chicago-based SMS Assist, the advanced mobile and cloud-based facilities maintenance technology company. This brings the Pritzkers' total investment to $62 million.

'SMS Assist has disruptive technology that is significantly reducing facilities maintenance expenses for some of the nation's largest companies. Validating the company's growth trajectory is a series of high-value contracts, including one of the largest in retail facilities maintenance history. We are helping to build a great company that is fundamentally changing its industry,' said J.B. Pritzker, Pritzker Group's managing partner.

SMS Assist offers advanced mobile and cloud-based technology capable of managing millions of daily facilities maintenance service orders. Its 28,000 affiliated providers currently service more than 50,000 U.S. locations for a client base primarily comprised of Fortune 500 companies. SMS's proprietary technology platform turns cost centers into expense reduction centers by identifying innovative ways to reduce expenses and gain operational efficiencies while improving service quality. Customers also benefit from real-time visibility into work orders and spend by store, service type and geography, data that is unique to SMS Assist.

SMS Assist recently announced it won a major multi-year contract expansion with a major retailer, consolidating services at nearly 8,000 U.S. locations. The company currently provides services to 50,000 locations for national companies including Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), CBRE (NYSE: CBG), Diamond Resorts International (NYSE: DRII) and Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL).

SMS Assist is now Pritzker Group's largest venture investment, surpassing its $50 million investment in IO, the leading provider of next-generation modular data center technology and services. It is the most recent late stage investment for Pritzker Group Venture Capital, which recently announced the expansion of its investments to include large, later-stage funding of companies with disruptive technology that are nearing IPO or revolutionizing industries.

'The backing of Pritzker Group means SMS Assist will have the growth capital it needs to continue providing the highest quality service to our customers, no matter how much business we add. They are committed to helping us make SMS Assist the world leader in its industry, and we are extremely proud that they have chosen to partner with us,' said Michael Rothman, SMS Assist chief executive officer.

About Pritzker Group Venture Capital

Pritzker Group Venture Capital, formerly New World Ventures, helps entrepreneurs build market-leading technology companies at every stage of their growth. Since its founding in 1996, the firm has worked side-by-side with entrepreneurs at more than 100 companies, building partnerships based on trust and integrity. The firm's proprietary capital structure allows for tremendous flexibility, and its experienced team of investment professionals and entrepreneurs offers companies a vast network of strategic relationships and guidance. Successful exits in recent years include Fleetmatics (NYSE: FLTX), SinglePlatform (acquired by Constant Contact), Zinch (acquired by Chegg), Playdom (acquired by Disney), LeftHand Networks (acquired by Hewlett-Packard), and TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster).

About SMS Assist

Chicago-based SMS Assist is an advanced technology company whose mobile and cloud-based facilities maintenance platform manages over 28,000 affiliated providers to service a nationwide roster of Fortune 500 clients representing over 50,000 locations. SMS's proprietary technology provides vendor management, logistics planning, real-time order tracking, predictive modeling and electronic invoicing to deliver on-time, best-in-class service to every location, every time. A leader in facilities management, SMS and its affiliated providers execute millions of services annually while delivering significant cost savings to their clients.