ProcessMaker: From One Engineer to a $45M Series A
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RootStone Partners — https://www.rootstonepartners.com/processmaker-from-one-engineer-to-a-45m-series-a
Author: Administrator
Published: Jun 1, 2022
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When I joined ProcessMaker in 2018, I was the founding engineer for a product that did not exist yet. Four years later I was accountable for more than 60 engineers across three countries, and the company had raised a $45M Series A. This is how that happened.
The challenge
The existing product, ProcessMaker 3, carried enough technical debt that it could no longer be modernized. Customers kept using it, but the architecture could not support the enterprise features and scale the business needed to grow. The company had to rebuild the platform from scratch, on an aggressive timeline, with very few engineers. They needed someone who could both architect the new product and build the organization to deliver it. I took on both.
What I did
Architected ProcessMaker 4. I designed a modern platform: a Laravel-based microservices architecture with Laravel Horizon managing queues and jobs, a Vue.js frontend for the workflow designer, a BPMN engine for complex process automation, and an API-first design that let it integrate with enterprise ERP, CRM, and banking systems. Security was built in from the start, with audit logging, SSO, and compliance-ready infrastructure for regulated clients.
Built a global organization. I grew the team across three locations: core product development in Las Vegas, an internal development division in Bolivia, and professional services and enterprise implementation from headquarters in North Carolina. I set consistent coding standards and architectural patterns so the teams could operate independently without the product fragmenting.
Set the culture. I hired for growth potential and collaboration over raw technical horsepower, and built a "no ego" team. We ran authentic Agile, with standups focused on removing blockers and retrospectives that produced real change. I promoted from within, advancing a lead developer into a Development Manager role and scaling leadership through several technical product managers.
Went after regulated industries. I focused the platform on financial institutions, where mission-critical workflow automation has to meet strict security, compliance, and audit requirements. I directed implementations for major banks including Guaranty Trust Bank, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, and Access Bank, covering digital account opening with integrated eSignature, loan processing, and compliance automation.
The results
- $45M Series A secured in February 2021, led by Aldrich Capital Partners.
- Engineering scaled from 1 to 60+ professionals across three continents.
- The company grew past 200 employees and reached $22M in revenue.
- Named to The Software Report's list of Top Business Process companies.
My own role evolved alongside the organization: founding lead developer in 2018, senior developer and product owner in 2019, and Senior Director of Product and Engineering from 2020 to 2022. During due diligence I supported the raise directly, with investor-facing MVPs and the technical documentation that demonstrated the architecture, scalability, and security enterprise buyers required. The clearest proof point was the organization itself: a single developer had become a 60-person team shipping enterprise-grade software.