Mission
Coalesce seeks to invest behind the operators, founders, and owners of leading mid-sized human capital and technology-enabled business services companies. We back ambitious entrepreneurs looking for a thoughtful capital partner to help accelerate their company’s growth.
How do we help? We provide upfront and ongoing capital, support technology and digital enablement, and provide a suite of tailored resources to drive value creation post-investment.
We are active and committed investors. Our goal is to forge deep partnerships with our portfolio companies and work collectively to build enduring companies of lasting value.
Sector Focus
Services
Certification & Compliance
(TIC & C)
& Facility Services
Services
Values
Stewardship:
Transparency:
Belonging:
Excellence:
Investments
Portfolio
Philosophy
How are we different? We emphasize a distinctive, people-focused, diversity-driven, and growth-oriented approach to investing. We partner with management teams that are at an inflection point and would benefit from a capital partner that can help pull the right levers to accelerate growth.
Key Tenets of Our Investment
Philosophy Include:
We focus on business model attributes first and foremost. In our experience, the best businesses have a strong value proposition, recurring or re-occurring revenues, attractive unit economics, high free cash flow generation, and margins that grow with scale.
We recognize that great businesses aren’t built overnight. We make thoughtful long-term investments, in partnership with management teams, with the goal of building durable franchises.
We take pride in working tirelessly on our companies’ behalf, offering resources and counsel where needed. We want our management teams to be repeat partners and serve as our strongest referrals.
We deploy creative incentive structures that motivate all stakeholders toward a common goal of growth and value creation, not just executive management. We seek to provide equity ownership opportunities deep into an organization.
Our aim is always to drive returns through growth (both organic and acquisition-driven), not through financial engineering. We invest in businesses that are at a tipping point, where our support can help them grow into market leaders.
We have a proven value creation playbook that we tailor and implement in partnership with management. Key tenets of this playbook include improved professionalization and financial reporting (“Systematize”), more proactive sales and go-to-market (“Sell”), greater focus on talent acquisition and retention (“Serve”), and pricing and account management initiatives (“Solve”).
Criteria
We do have the flexibility to make minority investments or provide other forms of equity capital based on the specific needs of each company.
Business Model
Durable End-Market
Secular Tailwinds
- Headquartered in North America.
- Typically, at least $5M of EBITDA and $25M of Revenue.
- Asset-light business model, powered by human capital.
- Differentiated service offering, with clear competitive advantages and strong value proposition.
- Entrepreneurial and ambitious management teams committed to driving long-term growth.
- Opportunity to drive value through both organic growth and add-on acquisitions.
- Stable end-markets with limited cyclicality and risk of disruption.
- Strong secular tailwinds benefiting the business, such as an increase in outsourcing or growing regulatory complexity.
Team
Our team brings to bear significant prior expertise investing in business and technology-enabled services. We have seen and done it before across a variety of business models and verticals.
Investing & Business Development
Stephanie is the Founder and Managing Partner of Coalesce Capital, a private equity firm dedicated to investing in human capital and technology-enabled services companies. She has over two decades of investment experience, primarily focused on partnering with executive teams to build pioneering services companies that use technology to empower human capital.
Prior to forming Coalesce, Stephanie spent over 12 years at Warburg Pincus, most recently as a Partner and Head of the Business Services Group. She was previously a Principal at Silver Lake Partners.
Stephanie currently serves on the board of directors of Examinetics and has previously served on the boards of several public and private companies, including A-LIGN, Arise Virtual Solutions, Certified Group, Electronic Funds Source, FlexXray, GA Foods, Hygiena, Sotera Health, SPINS, Sweeping Corporation of America, and TRC. She has also been involved in investments in ARAMARK, Endurance International Group, Gerson Lehrman Group, GrubHub, Mercury Payment Systems, and WEX.
Stephanie graduated summa cum laude with a degree in finance and economics from University of Notre Dame and received her MBA with high distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School. She lives in Rye, New York with her husband and four children.
Jon is a Partner at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, Jon was at Sentinel Capital Partners for over 12 years focused on investments in the business services sector. He was previously an investment banker at Harris Williams & Co.
Jon has served on the board of directors of CIN Group, Corporate Visions, New Era Technology, Revenew, SPL, TriMech, and UBEO, among others.
Jon received a BS in Business Administration and a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Austin is a Managing Director at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, Austin was at Abry Partners for 12 years focused on investments in technology-enabled services sectors. He was previously an investment banker at Barclays.
Austin has served on the board of directors of Reward Gateway, Turnberry Solutions, Illumifin, Datapipe, NSM Insurance Group, and The Hilb Group, among others.
Austin received a BS in Applied Economics and Management, magna cum laude, from Cornell University.
Curtis is a Managing Director at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, Curtis was at Audax Private Equity for eight years focused on investments in the business services sector. He was previously a middle market private equity investor in the Direct Equity group at Portfolio Advisors and an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Curtis previously served on the board of directors of DISA Global Solutions, Beacon Mobility, Alliance Ground International and 48forty Solutions, among others.
Curtis received a BA in English, cum laude, from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Thomas is Managing Director at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2023, Thomas was a Principal at Flexpoint Ford focused on investments in business and technology-enabled services companies within the financial services sector. He previously worked at GIC, Warburg Pincus and Evercore.
He currently serves on the board of directors of Examinetics and previously served on the boards of TRAKAmerica and Clearstead Advisors.
Thomas received a BS in Economics, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
JJ is a Managing Director and Head of Business Development at Coalesce Capital. He is responsible for the firm’s origination efforts, including establishing and maintaining coverage of the firm’s corporate, investment banking and other intermediary relationships. He has 15 years of experience in private equity and financial services business development.
Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, JJ was the Head of Business Development at Two Sigma Impact. He was previously a Principal at Freemark Partners and a Director at Riverside Partners.
JJ received a BA in Economics, with honors, from St. Lawrence University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Shash is a Principal at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2023, he served as the Head of Finance at Cometeer, a venture-backed e-commerce business. He previously worked at Warburg Pincus for five years. He currently serves on the board of directors of Examinetics.
Shash received a BS in Economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and BA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
Neil is a Principal at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, he was a Principal at Vestar Capital Partners and previously worked at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He previously served on the board of directors of Roland Foods.
Neil received a BS in Economics, cum laude, and an MBA, with Honors, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Will is a Vice President at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, he was a Vice President at New Mountain Capital and previously worked at Vestar Capital Partners, Perella Weinberg Partners, and BMO Capital Markets.
Will received a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeff is a Director of Business Development at Coalesce Capital. He has over ten years of private equity business development experience. Prior to joining Coalesce, Jeff served in business development roles at SFW Capital Partners and Soundcore Capital Partners.
Jeff received a BA from the Madison School of Business at the University of Wisconsin.
Edward is a Senior Associate at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, Edward worked at Charlesbank Capital Partners and Blackstone.
Edward received a BA in Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Chicago.
Colleen Hynes is a Senior Associate at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2023, Colleen worked at BlackRock Global Event Partners, the firm’s event-driven strategy. Prior to BlackRock, she was a Senior Associate at Sentinel Capital Partners and an Associate at Barclays Investment Bank in the Leveraged Finance and Financial Sponsors groups.
Colleen received a BA in Biology and Neuroscience from The College of the Holy Cross.
Gurbani is a Senior Associate at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2023, Gurbani worked at Littlejohn & Co. and previously worked as an investment banker at Deloitte Corporate Finance.
Gurbani received a BA in Public Policy from Duke University and a Master of Management Studies from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
James is an Associate at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, James worked at BDT & MSD Partners in the Private Capital and Advisory group.
James received a BA in Financial Economics and a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures, cum laude, from Columbia University.
Alexander is an Associate at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, Alexander worked at Lazard in the Technology M&A advisory group.
Alexander received a BA in Economics, with honors, from Harvard University. He was also a Master of Music candidate as part of the Harvard-NEC dual degree program.
Isabella is an Analyst at Coalesce Capital and joined the firm in 2024. She received a BA in Economics from Stanford University.
Business Transformation – Coalesce Capital Advisors
Henry is a Partner and Managing Director at Coalesce Capital Advisors. With over 15 years of experience, Henry brings an operational and strategic lens and oversees the firm’s value creation initiatives. In his previous role as a Partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants, Henry worked closely with the management teams of business and technology-enabled services companies and their investors, focusing on corporate & portfolio strategy, sales & marketing optimization, operational transformation, commercial due diligence, and buy & build strategies.
During his time at OC&C Strategy Consultants, Henry led commercial due diligence and / or value creation work on investments in Hygiena, TRC, Sotera, A-LIGN, Certified, FlexXray, and Sweeping Corp of America.
Henry is also a former senior advisor to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and received a B.A. in Classics from Cambridge University.
Ms. Chaibi has more than 34 years of experience in both private equity backed and public companies. Most recently, she served as Chief Executive Officer of CoolSys, Inc., a market-leading refrigeration and HVAC service provider with engineering services capabilities. Prior to joining CoolSys, Inc., Ms. Chaibi served as an industry advisor in the Industrial and Business Services Group with Warburg Pincus, where she met and worked with Stephanie Geveda.
Ms. Chaibi was previously the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Optimas OE Solutions, LLC, a global provider of integrated supply chain solutions and engineering support, from 2016-2019. Prior to that, Ms. Chaibi served as President and Chief Executive Officer of HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, a division of HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (an industrial supplier), from 2005-2015. Ms. Chaibi began her career at General Electric, where she held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility within several business units from 1989-2005.
Ms. Chaibi has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from West Virginia University and an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Ms. Chaibi has served as a director of the board of RegalRexnord Corporation (NYSE: RRX) since 2014 and is a member of the Corporate Governance, Sustainability, and Director Affairs Committee and was the former Chairperson of the Compensation and Human Resources Committee. Since 2020, she has served as a director of the board of Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE: WMS) and is a member of the Audit and Sustainability Committees. Ms. Chaibi previously served on the board of Warburg Pincus Capital Corporation I-A (NYSE: WPCA-UN). She also holds the credential of Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Bethany is a Senior Advisor to Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce, she was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at LNK Partners.
She is formerly Vice Chair of Fernweh Group, an investment and transformation firm spun-out of McKinsey & Company. She is a member of the Private Equity CFO Association (PECFOA) and the PEI Private Funds CFO network.
Bethany received a dual BA in Computer Science and Art and the History of Art from Amherst College and a CTA from Columbia University in the Analysis and Design of Information Systems.
Firm & Fund Operations
Christian is a Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Coalesce Capital. He has over 15 years of private equity finance and operations experience.
Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, Christian was a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Two Sigma's private investment businesses. He previously held senior financial leadership roles at Navab Capital and Corsair Capital.
Christian is a Certified Public Accountant and received a BS and MBA, with distinction, from the New York Institute of Technology.
Cara is an Assistant Controller at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, she was a Director of Accounting at Victory Park Capital and previously worked in the Audit & Assurance practice at Deloitte.
Cara is a Certified Public Accountant and received a BBA in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame.
Venus is Head of Office & Support Services at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2023, she was an Executive Assistant at Warburg Pincus and previously worked at Morgan Stanley.
Venus received a BA in Criminology and History from York University and a BEd, with distinction, in Social Science and History from the University of Toronto.
Hanah is an Executive Assistant at Coalesce Capital. Prior to joining Coalesce in 2024, she was a Research Coordinator at RTW Investments.
Hanah received a BA from Muhlenberg College in Psychology and Theater.
Marie-Josée is an administrative receptionist at Coalesce Capital and joined the firm in 2024. Marie-Josée received a BA in Anthropology, magna cum laude, from Columbia University.
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