Serent News

Serent Capital Portfolio Company Avionté Acquires TKO Systems & Support

December 12, 2017

San Francisco, CA – December 12, 2017 — 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 TKO Systems & Support (“TKO”), a Holbrook, New York-based provider of front and back-office staffing software to the staffing industry.

TKO clients will have the opportunity to take advantage of Avionté’s staffing software technology platform, which is focused on enabling growth and business efficiency. The Avionté platform offers improved solutions to TKO clients to help them stay competitive, with new features and functionality that were previously not available to them.

“After 30 years as a leading provider of staffing software systems, TKO began to search for a company to whom we could pass the baton,” said Gary Miller, President of TKO. “With the many options before us our main focus was to provide a transition for our employees and clients that would be advantageous for all.  After completing a yearlong evaluation it was clear that only one staffing software provider stood out amongst the rest. We considered integrity, reputation, culture, advanced technology, and the resources to provide for a seamless transition in our evaluation. It became crystal clear that Avionte was far and away the best partner and we are confident that Avionté will provide our customers and employees with a platform to continue to thrive and compete.”

The transaction closed on December 1, 2017, following months of evaluation and planning done by both TKO’s and Avionté’s leadership teams to ensure the highest potential of success for all clients and employees involved. TKO’s staff immediately transitioned to become Avionté employees and will continue to support customers from Holbrook, NY.

“As consolidation of technologies and providers continues within the staffing industry, Avionté seeks to be a home for staffing firms who need a robust and evolving software solution to support their dynamic businesses,” said Karl Florida, CEO of Avionté. “We are thrilled to welcome TKO customers to the Avionté family.  I’m humbled that Avionté has been selected as the technology partner that can enable the next level of growth and efficiency for the staffing firms currently using the TKO platform.  We will continue the TKO legacy of excellence in customer care, including as TKO customers transition to the Avionté platform in the future.”

“At Avionte, we continue our commitment of providing the best end-to-end experience for our clients,” said Kevin Frick, a partner and co-founder at Serent Capital. “Once again this year, we are demonstrating that commitment by increasing our R&D spend by over 25%, on an enduring quest to help our clients grow their businesses faster and run them more efficiently.  Karl, the whole Avionte team, and I welcome Gary Miller and the whole TKO team to that endeavor.”

TKO is the third acquisition Avionté has completed in the last 18 months. In July 2016, Avionté purchased Questek Systems, Inc., the Canadian-based development company of Humanis Staffing Software. In June 2017, Avionté purchased Applied Systems Technology (AST), a New York-based staffing software business.

Serent's investment in TKO represents its seventh investment in the Human Resources Technology space 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), and AST (2017, combined with Avionté).

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 profitable, growing service companies. We typically invest in founder-led companies and often represent the first institutional capital in the company. We are highly selective, choosing to invest in only a handful of businesses each year. Our selectivity ensures that all our companies receive the attention and expertise that they need. Learn more about our portfolio companies.

Disclaimer:
Nothing presented herein is intended to constitute investment advice, nor sales material, and no investment decision should be made based on any information provided herein. Information provided reflects Serent's views as of a particular time and are subject to change without notice. Any forward looking statements or forecasts are based on assumptions and actual results are expected to vary from any such statements or forecasts. While Serent has used reasonable efforts to obtain information from reliable sources, we make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of third party information presented herein. Past performance is not indicative of future results. There can be no guarantee that any investment strategy employed by Serent will be successful. A full list of portfolio holdings is available on Serent's website.

The information contained herein may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or posted in whole or in part, in any form without the prior written consent of Serent.