NuBridges

About NuBridges

NuBridges, founded in 2001 by Tycho Howle, established itself as a specialized provider of data security solutions before its acquisition by Liaison Technologies in April 2011. The Atlanta-based firm focused on protecting sensitive data, both at rest and in transit, for a large client base that included prominent names like WalMart, Amazon, Bank of America, and Verizon. The company's business model revolved around providing software and managed services to enterprises, enabling them to secure data across various applications and organizations, thereby ensuring compliance with complex security mandates. NuBridges developed a suite of products to address these needs, operating across multiple platforms including IBM i, Windows, Linux, and z/OS.

The company's core offerings included data encryption, data tokenization, key management, managed file transfer (MFT), and electronic data interchange (EDI) solutions. Its product portfolio featured nuBridges Protect, which provided data encryption and tokenization, and Exchange i, which handled MFT and EDI capabilities. A key element of their service was a cloud-based "tokenization-as-a-service" (TaaS) that allowed clients to substitute sensitive data with tokens, a feature that was particularly attractive to its acquirer. The nuBridges Exchange platform was designed for high-volume, secure file transfers, offering features like streaming file delivery to prevent data from being stored on intermediary systems. This system provided global visibility and management of all file transfers through a web-based interface.

The acquisition by Liaison Technologies, another Atlanta-area company, was a strategic move to bolster Liaison's position in the cloud B2B services market. Liaison sought NuBridges for its robust cloud offerings and its expertise in secure file transfer and data security. The combination created a larger entity with approximately 9,000 customers across North America and Europe, serving industries such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and retail. At the time of the acquisition, NuBridges had over 3,000 customers and its technology was processing transactions worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually. The deal was seen as a complementary merger, combining Liaison's expertise in data integration with NuBridges' focus on data security and EDI.