Profile

Serent Capital is a growth-focused private equity firm partnering with founder-led B2B software and technology companies. Serent takes a differentiated approach, combining flexible growth capital with hands-on operational support through its in-house Growth Team of more than 25 professionals. By partnering with Serent, founders gain access to practical strategic and operational resources to accelerate growth, including go-to-market execution, executive hiring, strategic M&A support, and a curated network of more than 400 founders and operating executives. With more than $6 billion in assets under management, Serent has partnered with more than 70 industry-leading companies, helping them scale efficiently and sustainably while preserving founder vision.

www.serentcapital.com.

Awards

2025 Top Private Equity Firms, Top Growth Equity Firms

2024 Top Growth Equity Firms, Top Private Equity Firms

2023 Top Private Equity Firms

2022 Top Private Equity Firms

Features

Founder Focused Growth Investing: Serent’s Kevin Frick

GrowthCap’s RJ Lumba spoke with Kevin Frick on May 31, 2023. Kevin is Co-Founder and Partner of Serent Capital, a private equity firm focused on high-growth service and technology businesses. Prior to co-founding Serent, he was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he led the firm’s West Coast Private Equity practice.

Key People

John Caselli, Partner

John Caselli is a Partner at Serent Capital, where he leads the firm’s healthcare investment efforts and oversees the deal origination team. Since joining Serent in 2013, he has played a key role in shaping the firm’s healthcare strategy and supporting portfolio companies on growth initiatives like operational improvements and strategic partnerships. His leadership has been instrumental in sourcing and scaling several successful investments. Prior to Serent, John was an Investment Banker at Deutsche Bank, advising clients in the Software, eCommerce, and Digital Media sectors. He holds a BA in Economics and History with a minor in Political Science from UCLA.

Lance Fenton, Partner

Lance Fenton is a Partner at Serent Capital focused on the financial services sector, with leadership in fintech, payments, and specialty finance. He has also invested in hospitality and real estate, bringing a broad perspective to growth and value creation. Lance works closely with management teams on initiatives including new market entry, product development, and M&A. Before joining Serent in 2008, he worked at Fortress Investment Group and began his career as a teacher in New York City. He holds degrees from Cornell University, the City College of New York, and Stanford University.

Kevin Frick, Partner

Kevin Frick is a founding Partner of Serent Capital, where he partners with CEOs and management teams to unlock growth through strategy, operations, and M&A. He brings decades of experience helping companies achieve transformative performance improvements. Before co-founding Serent, Kevin was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he led the West Coast Private Equity practice and advised over 100 companies. His leadership contributed to a 60%+ CAGR within the practice and significant results across the portfolio. Kevin holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Stanford. He also serves as an emeritus board member of the Solve ME/CFS Initiative.

Dexter Hopen, Partner

Dexter Hopen is a Partner at Serent Capital with investment leadership in the education, hospitality, and travel sectors. He joined the firm in 2013 and has been instrumental in developing best practices for investment execution and overseeing the firm’s associate program. Dexter collaborates closely with portfolio companies to scale operations and accelerate growth. Prior to Serent, he was an Investment Banker at Morgan Stanley, focusing on M&A and capital markets in logistics and transportation. He holds a BS in Finance and Statistics from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Prital Kadakia, Partner

Prital Kadakia is a Partner at Serent Capital and leads the firm’s portfolio operations team. He works with companies on growth and margin expansion initiatives across areas such as pricing, sales force effectiveness, strategy, and digital marketing. His approach combines deep operating experience with analytical rigor to drive measurable impact. Prior to Serent, Prital held leadership roles at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and McKinsey & Company, and led business planning at Mars Chocolate. He earned an AB in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Stewart Lynn, Partner

Stewart Lynn is a Partner at Serent Capital, where he leads software investments across verticals including real estate, transportation, govtech, and entertainment. Since joining the firm in 2013, he has spearheaded numerous investments and supported executive teams on growth initiatives spanning strategy, GTM scaling, pricing, and M&A. Stewart brings a strong mix of strategic and operational expertise to his portfolio work. Prior to Serent, he was a Vice President at the Seabury Group and a consultant at Bain & Company. He holds a JD-MBA from Stanford University and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Northwestern University.

Funds Raised

Key Investments

Avionté: Invested January 17, 2014
Sector: HR Tech

Avionté provides a comprehensive suite of front- and back-office staffing software, enabling firms to streamline operations, improve margins, and enhance the recruiter and candidate experience. The platform offers deep functionality, full integration, and an intuitive user interface tailored to the staffing industry.

ePayPolicy: Invested January 8, 2020
Sector: FinTech

ePayPolicy offers a digital payment platform purpose-built for the insurance industry. It integrates with leading agency management systems to help agencies, MGAs, wholesale brokers, and premium finance companies reduce check usage and automate reconciliation. Since launching in 2014, ePayPolicy has scaled to serve over 2,300 customers, process $2B+ in annual payments, and maintain customer satisfaction scores nearly 5x the market average.

First Due: Invested July 29, 2021
Sector: GovTech

First Due provides cloud-based software for fire and EMS agencies, unifying operations like pre-incident planning, prevention, response, ePCR, scheduling, and community engagement. Its all-in-one platform replaces legacy point solutions and is used by over 300 agencies across 32 states. First Due enables emergency service providers to improve safety, streamline operations, and better serve their communities.

Actionstep: Invested September 14, 2020
Sector: Legal

Actionstep is a cloud-based practice management platform serving small to mid-sized law firms. It combines client and matter management, billing and trust accounting, document automation, time tracking, and reporting in one system, helping firms operate more efficiently and scale operations.

Lantern (formerly) Employer Direct Healthcare: Invested October 26, 2020
Sector: Healthcare

Lantern delivers high-quality, cost-efficient healthcare services to self-funded employers and their members. Its solutions help members access top-tier care at fair prices across the U.S., improving outcomes for critical health events while reducing employer costs.

Raintree: Invested December 6, 2021
Sector: Healthcare

Raintree is a leading provider of electronic health record (EHR) and revenue cycle management (RCM) software for therapy practices. Serving over 25,000 users across North America, Raintree helps customers drive clinical and financial performance. Its “Software-as-a-Relationship” approach emphasizes long-term partnership and tailored support.

ParentSquare: Invested August 3, 2021
Sector: EdTech

ParentSquare powers school-home communication for millions of educators and families across 44+ states. The platform supports district-to-classroom messaging, real-time translation in 100+ languages, and access via app, text, email, voice, and web. Its integrations with student information systems ensure seamless, equitable communication at scale.

BS&A: Invested May 10, 2023
Sector: GovTech

BS&A provides ERP software that streamlines operations for municipalities across the U.S. Its platform supports finance, utilities, HR, community development, assessments, and property taxes, helping local governments increase efficiency and transparency.

Harper (formerly HarperDB): Invested May 28, 2024
Sector: IT

Harper unifies database, caching, application, and streaming into one platform, enabling high-performance, low-latency applications across industries like gaming, digital commerce, and media. Designed for global scalability and real-time data processing, Harper simplifies backend development and accelerates deployment for enterprise and developer teams.

Next Gear Solutions: Exited (Acquired by CoreLogic – September 16, 2021)
Sector: Field Services

Next Gear Solutions delivered workflow automation software for the property restoration industry. Under Serent’s ownership, the company expanded its market position before being acquired by CoreLogic, a global leader in property data and analytics.

CoConstruct: Exited (Acquired by Buildertrend – February 24, 2021)
Sector: Construction

CoConstruct provided project management software for custom homebuilders and remodelers. Its acquisition by Buildertrend created the largest construction management platform dedicated to independent contractors and residential builders.

SHR (Sceptre Hospitality Resources): Exited (Acquired by The Access Group – May 30, 2024)
Sector: Hospitality

SHR offered revenue management and distribution software for hotels. Post-acquisition, SHR’s solutions help The Access Group expand into North America and serve larger hotel groups with complex distribution needs.

CEO Reviews

Donny Wyatt, Founder, CoConstruct

“Serent was really thoughtful in cultivating that relationship where I realized they understood the market, they understood founders, they understood the fears of founders, and really just how to partner at a values level.”

Gabby Wong, CEO,  FranConnect

“The thing that makes Serent different from other private equity companies is that they’re really smart operators. They understand what it takes to grow a company — not only in terms of the financial engineering, but more importantly from a strategic and operational perspective. They have a real depth of experience in how to take products to market and then how to grow those products within the market.”

Katherine Novikov, Co-Founder, Diamond Mind

“Serent is different from other firms; they bring more integrity to the table, and they are going to do what they say they are going to do. They are capable, ‘salt of the earth’ people that added a tremendous amount of value and operational resources that helped us grow Diamond Mind.”

Rod Jimenez, Co-Founder and CEO, SHR

“The Growth Team at Serent is a bunch of A-players that are available to help the portfolio companies with all kinds of challenges, from go-to-market to human capital, to M&A.”

Garret Gray, Founder and CEO, Next Gear Solutions

“Regardless of what kind of deal you strike… you’re giving up some level of control. It’s important that you trust who you give it to. Years later, I still trust them, and there’s no shoe that’s been dropped.”

Executive endorsements of Serent Capital are for illustrative purposes, designed to attract business development contacts, and should not be construed as a client or investor testimonial of Serent Capital’s investment advisory services. All such endorsements are from current or former portfolio company leadership about Serent Capital’s ability to provide services to their companies. Certain executives are also investors in Serent Capital’s investment vehicle(s), and as such, there is an inherent conflict in that those executives have an incentive to provide favorable reviews of Serent Capital’s business practices for the benefit of the investment vehicles that they hold a personal ownership interest in. Serent Capital has not, directly or indirectly, paid any compensation to such individuals for their endorsements.