Cayuse
Cayuse is a cloud-native SaaS platform serving 700+ research institutions globally with modular applications spanning the full research lifecycle — proposal submission, award management, compliance (IRB/IACUC/IBC/COI), vivarium operations, and technology transfer — for universities, healthcare systems, life sciences organizations, nonprofits, and government agencies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersPortland, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cayuse does
Cayuse is a privately held SaaS company, founded circa 1994 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, that provides a cloud-native research administration and compliance platform to over 700 research institutions globally. The company operates a modular suite — organized into Award Management, Compliance Management, Vivarium Management, and Technology Transfer — covering the full research lifecycle from funding discovery and proposal submission (Proposals S2S, Sponsored Projects, Fund Finder) through award closeout, financial management (Fund Manager, Project Effort, Agreements, Insights), and regulatory oversight (Human Ethics/IRB, Animal Oversight/IACUC, Hazard Safety/IBC, Outside Interests/COI, Risk & Compliance/Iris). The platform is hosted on AWS, leverages Snowflake for data warehousing and Sigma Computing for analytics, and integrates with federal grant portals (Grants.gov) and institutional ERP/HR/finance systems via system-to-system connectors.
Cayuse generates revenue primarily through annual subscription fees for its modular SaaS platform, supplemented by professional services revenue from implementation, managed services, and the Cayuse Academy training program. Pricing is quote-based and tailored to institution size and module selection, sold exclusively through direct enterprise field sales and inside sales teams — no channel partners or marketplaces are used. Customers include R1 research universities (University of Melbourne, University of Dayton, Texas Tech University, University of Southern Mississippi), healthcare systems (Providence, Rady Children's Hospital, Sinai Chicago), life sciences organizations (La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Whitehead Institute), nonprofit research institutes, and government agencies across North America, the UK, Ireland, the Middle East, and APAC. The company holds SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certifications, with FedRAMP pursued as a federal procurement enabler.
The company's corporate structure includes multiple wholly-owned subsidiaries (Cayuse Topco, Cayuse Holdings, Cayuse Intermediate Holdings, ERA Software, NTM Consulting Services, Information Technology Works, iMedRIS Data Corporation), reflecting a roll-up acquisition strategy executed between 2018 and 2021 that has integrated both technology assets and consulting capacity. Leadership includes President and CEO Matt McLellan, CTO Ben Panning, CIO John Nord, CRO Nick Naso, CFO John Starr, and COO Maria Siambekos. Headcount of 101-250 employees and a customer base spanning six verticals (Higher Education, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Nonprofit, Government, International) indicate a mid-market enterprise SaaS company at scale, though no revenue, funding, or ARR figures are publicly disclosed.
Cayuse firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cayuse
- Legal name
- Cayuse, LLC
- Website
- https://cayuse.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Cayuse is a cloud-native SaaS platform serving 700+ research institutions globally with modular applications spanning the full research lifecycle — proposal submission, award management, compliance (IRB/IACUC/IBC/COI), vivarium operations, and technology transfer — for universities, healthcare systems, life sciences organizations, nonprofits, and government agencies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cayuse industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Research Administration Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Clinical Trial Informatics (EDC/CTMS/eCOA/eTMF) (HLAGAJAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Quality Management & Regulatory Compliance (CLIA/CAP/ISO) for Labs (HLACAMAH), Cloud Compliance, Audit & Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM/GRC) (HDABAHAI)
Keywords
Where Cayuse is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Portland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Cayuse business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
Revenue model
- SaaS Platform Subscriptions: Cayuse operates as a cloud-based SaaS company offering a suite of connected applications for research administration and compliance. Customers pay subscription fees to access the Cayuse Suite covering proposal management, award management, compliance management, vivarium management, and technology transfer. Pricing is quote-based and tailored to institution size and modules selected. The company also generates revenue from professional services including implementation, managed services, and Cayuse Academy training programs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise SaaS subscription with modular pricing based on deployed solutions |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Cayuse product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cayuse provides a cloud-based research administration software suite that helps universities, academic medical centers, hospitals, life sciences organizations, government agencies, and nonprofits manage the full research lifecycle — including proposal submission, award and grant management, research compliance (IRB, IACUC, COI, IBC), vivarium operations, and technology transfer. The platform is sold as a unified suite with modular subscriptions and is complemented by implementation, managed services, and training offerings.
Product overview
Cayuse offers a comprehensive, cloud-based platform called the Cayuse Suite designed to streamline research administration across the full research lifecycle. The suite is organized into five interconnected solution areas: (1) Cayuse Platform — the central hub connecting all applications with unified task management; (2) Award Management — containing Fund Finder, Proposals (S2S), Sponsored Projects, Fund Manager, Project Effort, Agreements, and Insights for pre- and post-award grant and financial management; (3) Compliance Management — covering Human Ethics (IRB), Animal Oversight (IACUC), Hazard Safety (IBC), Outside Interests (COI), and Cayuse Risk & Compliance for regulatory oversight; (4) Vivarium Management — including Vivarium Operations, Schedules, and Vet Care for animal research facility management; and (5) Technology Transfer — managing inventions and IP licensing. The Report Connector enables data exports to external BI tools. Cayuse serves over 700 global research institutions across higher education, healthcare, life sciences, nonprofit, government, and international markets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cayuse Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- University of Northern Iowa reduces time spent on administration by 50%
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Cayuse
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments6 records
Cayuse technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature12 records
Cayuse partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core infrastructure, core product and supporting.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)core infrastructureAWS serves as Cayuse's primary infrastructure hosting provider. AWS hosts Cayuse's cloud platform in the United States, supporting the company's SaaS delivery of research administration software globally.
- GrantForwardcore productGrantForward provides the underlying funding opportunity database and matching technology powering Cayuse Fund Finder, enabling automated grant discovery, filtering, and alerts for research institutions.
- WorkRampcore productWorkRamp provides the Learning Management System (LMS) platform powering Cayuse Academy, the company's free training and certification program for product users.
- Salesforce / PardotsupportingSalesforce and Pardot are used by Cayuse for CRM data storage and marketing automation, managing user-contacted information and customer relationship management.
- SnowflakesupportingSnowflake is used by Cayuse for data storage capabilities supporting the platform's analytics and reporting functions.
- Sigma Computingcore productSigma Computing powers Cayuse's analytics and reporting dashboard (Cayuse Insights), enabling data visualization and business intelligence across the research administration platform.
- PendosupportingPendo is used by Cayuse for application usage measurement, helping the company understand product usage patterns and customer engagement within the Cayuse platform.
- TwiliosupportingTwilio handles SMS/text message delivery for Cayuse's transactional and informational text messaging communications to registered users and clients regarding platform updates, support communications, and service announcements.
- GreenhousesupportingGreenhouse is Cayuse's applicant tracking system used for job applicant management and recruitment workflows globally.
- HireRightsupportingHireRight provides global background screening services for Cayuse's candidate hiring processes across all markets (US, UK, AU, CA, and others).
- Google Analytics / Google Tag ManagersupportingGoogle Analytics and Google Tag Manager are used for website analytics, performance measurement, and tag management on cayuse.com.
- Hu-manity Rights, Inc.supportingHu-manity Rights provides Cayuse's consent management platform (Usercentrics) to manage cookie preferences and data sharing levels on the Cayuse website.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cayuse competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Huron Research Suite: Huron's research enterprise suite covers pre-award, post-award, and clinical research management for universities and academic medical centers, overlapping directly with Cayuse's Sponsored Projects, IRB, and award management modules.
- Kuali Research: Kuali offers open-source and cloud research administration software for higher education, including proposal, award, and compliance modules, making it one of the closest direct competitors to Cayuse's core modules.
- InfoEd Global: InfoEd Global provides research administration and electronic research administration (eRA) software to universities and hospitals, competing head-on with Cayuse in pre-award, post-award, and compliance management for research institutions.
- Velos eResearch: Velos offers clinical trial management, IRB, and research compliance software to academic medical centers and hospitals, competing with Cayuse in clinical research and compliance workflows.
Emerging players
- BioRAFT (a KEM Company): BioRAFT provides lab safety, biosafety (IBC), and EH&S compliance software for research institutions, directly comparable to Cayuse's Hazard Safety and Outside Interests compliance modules.
- LabArchives: LabArchives offers electronic lab notebooks and research data management for academic and life sciences labs, an adjacent research-administration category where Cayuse's Vivarium and Technology Transfer modules also compete for share of institution budgets.
- Advarra: Advarra provides IRB, IBC, and research compliance technology and services, overlapping with Cayuse's Human Ethics, Hazard Safety, and broader Compliance Management modules for academic and clinical research institutions.
- Florence eBinders: Florence's eBinders platform manages regulatory and compliance documentation for clinical research, overlapping with Cayuse's IRB/IACUC oversight and clinical research compliance modules.
Broad incumbents
- Workday (Grants & Research Modules): Workday's Grants Management and research-related modules, integrated with Workday Financials and HCM, compete with Cayuse by bundling research administration into a broader enterprise cloud suite used by large institutions.
- Oracle Research Administration (formerly PeopleSoft/eRA): Oracle's research administration offerings, evolved from PeopleSoft eRA, target the same higher-ed and federal research market as Cayuse, providing broad-ERP alternatives with native grant and compliance modules.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cayuse social profiles
Digital presenceCayuse compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
Cayuse financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cayuse leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Cayuse subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries7 records
Cayuse funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cayuse M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A5 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cayuse
What does Cayuse do?
Cayuse provides a cloud-based research administration software suite that helps universities, academic medical centers, hospitals, life sciences organizations, government agencies, and nonprofits manage the full research lifecycle — including proposal submission, award and grant management, research compliance (IRB, IACUC, COI, IBC), vivarium operations, and technology transfer. The platform is sold as a unified suite with modular subscriptions and is complemented by implementation, managed services, and training offerings.
Is Cayuse a public or private company?
Cayuse is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Cayuse founded?
Cayuse was founded in 1994. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Cayuse based?
Cayuse is headquartered in Portland, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cayuse make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Platform Subscriptions.
Who are Cayuse's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Huron Research Suite, Kuali Research, InfoEd Global and Velos eResearch. Emerging players are BioRAFT (a KEM Company), LabArchives, Advarra and Florence eBinders. Broad incumbents are Workday (Grants & Research Modules) and Oracle Research Administration (formerly PeopleSoft/eRA).
Does Cayuse have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cayuse.
What industry is Cayuse in?
Cayuse's product category is Research Administration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAJAM, Clinical Trial Informatics (EDC/CTMS/eCOA/eTMF), with a secondary code of HLACAMAH, Quality Management & Regulatory Compliance (CLIA/CAP/ISO) for Labs. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.