By Natalie Rodriguez

A consortium of private equity firms and venture funds will bankroll a $165 million investment in Drilling Info Inc., an Austin, Texas-based data intelligence provider to the oil and gas industries, the companies announced on Monday.

The infusion of cash is primarily backed by New York private equity firm Insight Venture Partners, with additional support from Boston-based Battery Ventures and New York tech firm Eastern Advisors Private Fund. The investment will help Drilling Info expand its data and analytics offerings, as well as repay some of its early investors who were mostly non-institutional backers, Deven Parekh, managing director at Insight Venture, told Law360.

"We are very excited about this investment. As the United States continues on a path toward energy independence through both conservation and exploration, Drilling Info's data intelligence tools become even more essential for the oil and gas industries,"  Parekh said.

He added that the firm expected Drilling Info to benefit from the growing global trend of increased investments in unconventional energy exploration. The analytics company has seen a recent surge in interest from oil and gas companies seeking to invest in shale reserves that need information on cost-effective and environmentally safe drilling and extraction processes, the firm said.

Drilling Info plans to expand "both organically, as well as through acquisition, to increase the geographic reach of its products and expand its product offerings," Parekh said, adding that the company would focus on new markets opening up with unconventional exploration technologies.

The company's tools, which primarily serve members of the upstream oil and gas industry, provide information such as land title, leases, well completion and well production data. "What we're doing is providing these companies with the data to make better capital allocation decisions around their dollars," Parekh told Law360.

Drilling Info said it looked forward to working with the private equity firm, which has significant experience in the global software, Internet and data-services industries.  "This is a great opportunity for Drilling Info to accelerate the achievement of our organization's goals while providing rewards to our early investors ... Our management team, which has deep roots in the energy business, is eager to work with Insight's team to further improve the quality and quantity of offerings for customers," Allen Gilmer, chairman and chief executive officer of Drilling Info, said in a statement.

Gilmer added, however, that it would otherwise be business as usual at its offices. "Drilling Info's core culture will not change. We remain committed to our customers as well as the oil and gas industry as a whole. We will continue to promote our customers' ability to make better and faster oil and gas decisions as they step up to meet the world's growing needs for more energy," Gilmer said.

Drilling Info has more than 2,700 accounts globally, with more than 20,000 users, it said. Headquartered in Austin, the company also has offices throughout the U.S. oil patch, the U.K., Southeast Asia, and South America.

The three investment firms, all involved in some way in the tech industry, said they preferred to focus on expansion- or growth-state companies.

Representatives for Eastern Advisors and Battery Ventures declined to comment.

Representatives for Drilling Info were not immediately available for comment on Monday.

Insight Venture is represented by Gordon Caplan and Morgan Elwyn of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

Drilling Info is represented by Andrews Kurth LLP.

Battery Ventures is represented by Cooley LLP.

Counsel information for the other parties was not immediately available.

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