Who is Serent Capital?
Serent Capital is a growth-focused private equity firm founded in 2008 by David Kennedy and Kevin Frick. David Kennedy was previously president of ServiceSource, and Kevin Frick previously led McKinsey and Company’s West Coast private equity practice. Serent Capital operates from offices in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, and Kevin Frick serves as the firm’s CEO.
Serent Capital manages more than $7 billion across its funds. The firm closed a $250 million debut fund in 2008 and a $572 million Fund III in October 2017. Later vehicles grew to $750 million with Fund IV in March 2020, $1.1 billion with Fund V in March 2022, and $1.3 billion with Fund VI, which closed oversubscribed in July 2026 in under 90 days.
Serent Capital has invested in more than 100 software and technology-enabled services companies since 2008. Inc. magazine has named Serent Capital a founder-friendly investor for seven consecutive years through 2025. Founders should read that branding as marketing aimed at one audience: bootstrapped owners Serent Capital wants to reach before any banker does.
What does Serent Capital buy?
Serent Capital’s Fund V announcement describes the target company precisely: bootstrapped, founder-led B2B software and technology-enabled services businesses. The same announcement states that Serent Capital invests $20 million to $200 million per company, in businesses with $10 million to $50 million of annual recurring revenue, annual growth of 20 to 100 percent, and EBITDA margins between 0 and 50 percent.
Serent Capital makes both majority and minority investments, per its Fund VI announcement, and its Fund V materials list buyouts and recapitalizations alongside growth capital. Partner Lance Fenton has said on the record that Serent Capital targets vertical software companies in total addressable markets of $100 million to $300 million, deliberately avoiding categories crowded with venture-funded competitors. Fenton has also said Serent Capital begins tracking companies at roughly $8 million to $10 million of revenue with 25 to 40 percent organic growth.
| Criterion | Serent Capital’s stated target | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Company profile | Bootstrapped, founder-led B2B software and tech-enabled services | Fund V and Fund VI announcements |
| Investment size | $20 million to $200 million per company | Fund V announcement, March 2022 |
| Revenue | $10 million to $50 million ARR | Fund V announcement, March 2022 |
| Growth rate | 20 to 100 percent per year | Fund V announcement, March 2022 |
| EBITDA margin | 0 to 50 percent | Fund V announcement, March 2022 |
| Ownership posture | Majority and minority; buyouts, recapitalizations, growth capital | Fund V and Fund VI announcements |
| Market size | $100 million to $300 million TAM, vertical software | Lance Fenton interview, Masters in Small Business M&A podcast |
What has Serent Capital actually invested in?
Serent Capital states it has made more than 75 platform investments and partnered with more than 150 founder-owned businesses. In 2025 alone, Serent Capital reported seven new platform investments, nine add-on acquisitions, and nine liquidity events. Purchase prices are almost never disclosed in Serent Capital deal announcements, which is standard practice in lower-middle-market private equity.
| Company | Sector | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optimal Blue | Mortgage technology | Serent Capital exit; recapitalized by GTCR | 2016 |
| Docutech | Mortgage document software | Serent Capital exit; acquired by First American | 2020 |
| First Due | Fire and EMS software | Serent Capital platform investment | July 2021 |
| ParentSquare | K-12 communications | Serent Capital growth investment | August 2021 |
| Restaurant365 | Restaurant management software | Serent Capital became shareholder via Compeat merger | 2021 |
| BS&A | Local government ERP software | Serent Capital growth investment | May 2023 |
| KORE Software | Sports and entertainment data | Serent Capital exit; acquired by Two Circles | October 2024 |
| GovWorx, PhotoDay, Edulog, PlotBox, Casino Cash Trac, StockIQ | Various verticals | Serent Capital 2025 platform investments | 2025 |
The First Due arc shows what a Serent Capital outcome can look like. Serent Capital backed First Due, a fire and EMS software company, in July 2021, and First Due announced a $355 million investment led by JMI Equity in August 2025. None of the deals above carried a disclosed purchase price at entry.
What does Serent Capital typically pay?
No purchase multiple for any Serent Capital platform investment appears in public sources, and Windsor Drake will not invent one. Serent Capital’s stated check range of $20 million to $200 million against $10 million to $50 million of ARR frames the zone the firm operates in, and the price an individual founder receives is negotiated deal by deal.
Lance Fenton has described Serent Capital’s return drivers in order: organic revenue growth first, add-on acquisitions second, with multiple expansion behind both. Fenton has also noted that funds investing at lower price points face less competition for deals than large-cap software buyout funds face. Both statements point the same direction: entry price discipline is core to the Serent Capital model.
How does Serent Capital find companies?
Serent Capital runs a roughly 15-person business development team dedicated to direct outreach, according to Lance Fenton’s on-record interview. Fenton states that 70 to 80 percent of Serent Capital’s investments are sourced directly rather than through intermediaries, and that the average relationship runs about four years from first contact to closed investment.
Fenton is equally direct about auctions: “we’re not set up to compete in auctions.” Serent Capital walks away when founders run formal competitive processes, even after years of relationship building. A founder receiving Serent Capital calls should hold both halves of that statement together: the persistence is real, and so is the price discipline behind it.
What does a Serent Capital approach look like?
A Serent Capital approach usually begins years before any offer. Expect emails and calls from business development associates, requests for a short introductory conversation, and periodic check-ins that reference your growth and your market. Windsor Drake documents how to handle this pattern in its guide to responding to an acquirer approach.
When Serent Capital moves from relationship mode to deal mode, the firm requests financials and proposes terms directly to the founder, typically with no other bidder present. A founder holding a Serent Capital term sheet is holding a proprietary offer. Windsor Drake’s guide on what to do when you receive an offer covers the 30 days that follow.
What is life after a Serent Capital investment?
Serent Capital’s operating model centers on its Growth Team, which the firm describes as 25 or more professionals whose services carry no fees for portfolio companies. Lance Fenton has described roughly 30 people funded through Serent Capital’s own P&L, including three former Simon-Kucher partners working on pricing. The Growth Team works on go-to-market strategy and pricing, and it recruits executives into portfolio companies while supporting add-on acquisitions.
Serent Capital reports more than 550 executive placements into its portfolio, and in 2025 it reported 48 value creation initiatives launched and 70 executives placed across 26 companies. Independent founder accounts of life after a Serent Capital investment are scarce in public sources; most testimonials appear in Serent Capital’s own materials. Windsor Drake weighs firm-published accounts accordingly.
Who else competes with Serent Capital for the same companies?
A founder fielding Serent Capital interest usually also fits the buy box of the perpetual-hold software consolidators, including Volaris Group, Valsoft, and ESW Capital, and of growth-fund peers such as Mainsail Partners, Level Equity, and PSG. The structural difference matters more than the names. Consolidators like Volaris hold companies permanently and price accordingly, while Serent Capital and its fund peers must resell your company within a fund’s life, which changes both deal structure and the founder’s second bite of equity.
Windsor Drake maintains a broader list of private equity firms that buy SaaS companies for founders mapping the full buyer set.
What would a competitive process change?
Windsor Drake calls the gap The Proprietary Discount: the difference between what a serial acquirer pays in an unbanked bilateral negotiation and what the same business clears in a competitive process. A growth equity firm’s first offer is likewise calibrated against no competing bid. Serent Capital sources 70 to 80 percent of its deals directly and, by its own partner’s account, exits conversations when auctions begin.
Serent Capital’s stated behavior is the strongest evidence a founder gets: the firm declines to compete in auctions rather than pay auction-clearing prices. No discount percentage is quoted here because no credible public figure exists for Serent Capital specifically. Whether a full process fits your company is a fact-specific question, and Windsor Drake’s guide on whether you need a banker works through it.
Questions founders ask
Is Serent Capital a buyer or a minority investor?
Both. Serent Capital’s Fund VI announcement states the firm makes majority and minority investments in founder-led software and technology-enabled services companies. The Fund V announcement lists buyouts and recapitalizations alongside growth capital.
What size companies does Serent Capital invest in?
Serent Capital’s Fund V announcement targets companies with $10 million to $50 million of annual recurring revenue and invests $20 million to $200 million per company. Partner Lance Fenton has said the firm starts tracking companies at roughly $8 million to $10 million of revenue.
Who founded Serent Capital?
David Kennedy, former president of ServiceSource, and Kevin Frick, former head of McKinsey and Company’s West Coast private equity practice, founded Serent Capital in 2008. Kevin Frick is the firm’s CEO.
How much money does Serent Capital manage?
Serent Capital reports more than $7 billion in assets under management. The firm’s sixth fund closed at $1.3 billion in July 2026, after raising $1.1 billion for Fund V in 2022 and $750 million for Fund IV in 2020.
Does Serent Capital cold call founders?
Yes. Partner Lance Fenton has described a roughly 15-person business development team, said 70 to 80 percent of investments are sourced directly, and put the average courtship at about four years from first contact to close.
Will Serent Capital participate in a competitive sale process?
Usually not. Lance Fenton has said Serent Capital is not set up to compete in auctions and withdraws when founders run formal processes, even after years of relationship building.
How long does Serent Capital hold its investments?
Serent Capital invests from finite funds and sells. Documented exits include Optimal Blue, recapitalized by GTCR in 2016, Docutech, acquired by First American in 2020, and KORE Software, acquired by Two Circles in 2024. Serent Capital reported nine liquidity events in 2025.
Should I reply to a Serent Capital outreach email?
Reply only when you are prepared. Serent Capital’s business development team tracks companies for years, and every metric you share becomes an input to a future proprietary offer. Windsor Drake advises founders to control information flow from the first call.
Last reviewed July 28, 2026 by Jeff Barrington, Founder and Managing Director, Windsor Drake. Content on this page may be cited with attribution and a link to https://windsordrake.com/acquirers/serent-capital/