Serent Capital Portfolio Company Avionté Acquires COMPAS Technology

Serent Capital Portfolio Company Avionté Acquires COMPAS Technology

October 6, 2018

San Francisco, CA – October 5, 2018 – Serent Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on investing in fast-growing software and services businesses, announced that its portfolio company Avionté has acquired COMPAS Technology, a front-office recruiting and time & attendance provider to the staffing industry, which is based out of San Francisco, CA.

The acquisition bolsters Avionté’s front-office offerings and deepens its ability to serve clients in the IT and Professional Staffing end markets. Following the integration of both product suites, Avionté will be one of the only full featured front and back-office software providers to scale across multiple staffing verticals.  “Avionté is driving growth and profitability for our customers and simplifying the lives of individuals in the staffing profession,” said Karl Florida, CEO of Avionté. “We are truly excited about entering this next chapter with COMPAS, which we believe will drive continued value for our Clerical and Light Industrial customers and expand our ability to serve clients in the IT and Professional markets.”

Brian Vesce, Founder and CEO of COMPAS, will join Avionté as President of Compas, an Avionté company. Prior to founding COMPAS, Brian founded another human capital management services business called Cypress HCM. In addition to Brian, the full COMPAS team will continue in their roles as part of the combined organization. “We are very confident that the Avionté and COMPAS combination will continue to deliver great results for our customers and our teammates.” said Brian Vesce, Founder and CEO of COMPAS. “We are very excited about the opportunity to work with the team at Avionte, which is known for its customer-first approach to serving staffing companies.”

The transaction closed on September 28, 2018, following months of evaluation and planning done by both the COMPAS and Avionté leadership teams to ensure the highest potential of success for all clients and employees involved.

“We are thrilled to welcome COMPAS into the Avionté family,” said Kevin Frick, Co-Chairman of Avionté and a Partner in Serent Capital. “Both companies share an intense focus on supporting their clients’ goals to drive higher revenue with lower costs than competitive solutions.  Each also deeply shares an understanding that staffing is a people business, and have built deep and sustaining relationships with their clients.”

Serent’s investment in COMPAS represents its eighth investment in the Human Resources Technology sector in the last four years —Avionté (2014), ICon Professional Services (2015), Synergy Services (2015, combined with ICon to form TalentWave), Humanis (2016, combined with Avionté), Apex Payroll Software (2016), AST (2017, combined with Avionté), TKO Systems (2017, combined with Avionte) and now COMPAS Technology.

Bowstring Advisors served as the exclusive financial advisor to COMPAS in the transaction.

About Avionté

Founded in 2005, Avionté offers a commitment to staffing paired with excellent technology. With this commitment to employees and customers, Avionté delivers a best of breed product, with a fully integrated front and back office staffing software system, a full suite of reports and metrics, compliance management, a robust partnership program and on-the-go mobile response.

About Serent Capital

Serent Capital invests in growing businesses that have developed compelling solutions that address their customers’ needs. As those businesses grow and evolve, the opportunities and challenges that they face change with them. Principals at Serent Capital have firsthand experience at capturing those opportunities and navigating these difficulties through their experiences as CEOs, strategic advisors and board members to successful growing businesses. By bringing its expertise and capital to bear, Serent helps growing businesses thrive.

Serent Capital invests in growing businesses that have developed compelling solutions that address their customers' needs. As those businesses grow and evolve, the opportunities and challenges that they face change with them. Principals at Serent Capital have firsthand experience at capturing those opportunities and navigating these difficulties through their experiences as CEOs, strategic advisors, and board members to successful growing businesses. By bringing its expertise and capital to bear, Serent seeks to help growing businesses thrive. Learn more about our portfolio companies.

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