Integral agrees sale of Graphwise

Integral Capital Group (“Integral”) a leading mid-market private equity platform in Central and South-Eastern Europe, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to sell Graphwise (“Graphwise” or “Company”), a pioneer in knowledge graph and semantic AI technology, to Oakley Capital (“Oakley”). Under the terms of the transaction, Oakley’s Fund VI will acquire a majority stake in the Company, partnering with Graphwise’s founders and management team to support its continued growth.

Integral invested in the business in 2022, when an Integral-led consortium, together with PortfoLion Capital Partners, Carpathian Partners and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), acquired Ontotext, a specialist in knowledge graph technology founded in Sofia in 2000 by Atanas Kiryakov. Integral’s cornerstone investor the European Investment Fund (EIF), was also a co-investor in the transaction. In October 2024, Ontotext merged with Vienna-based Semantic Web Company to form Graphwise, creating a global leader in the semantic layer space that today serves more than 200 blue-chip corporate customers internationally.

The transaction represents one of the largest software exits in Bulgaria's history, and among the most significant to date involving a homegrown enterprise AI business. Graphwise's knowledge graph technology addresses one of the central challenges in enterprise AI adoption, grounding large language models in accurate, governed data, positioning the Company in a segment of rising strategic importance as organisations move from AI experimentation to production.

Integral manages institutional private equity and growth capital across two funds and is focused on investments in leading medium- and small-sized companies active in Central and South-Eastern Europe, and the Adria region. Integral’s funds are backed by leading international institutional investors including EIF, EBRD and the International Finance Corporation. Integral covers its pan-regional target market out of hub offices in Budapest and Belgrade, and satellite offices in London, Bucharest, Sofia and Zagreb.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Arma Partners acted as financial advisor to the selling shareholders and Graphwise. Deloitte and Boston Consulting Group provided vendor financial, tax and commercial due diligence, and DGKV and Gowling WLG acted as legal advisors.

Integral Capital Group’s investment in Graphwise through Evolving Europe Principal Investments I benefitted from the financial backing from the European Union under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), as well as the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME) through Equity Facility for Growth (EFG). Graphwise benefitted from the support of EIF backed by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria.