January 22, 2019 - Serent Capital, a San Francisco and Austin-based private equity firm focused on investing in fast-growing software and services businesses, announced that its portfolio company KORE Software has acquired SponServe, a global leader in sponsorship activation management for the sports industry.
KORE, the global leader in business management software for the sports industry, helps more than 450 professional and college sport clubs, leagues properties and brands around the world. With the SponServe acquisition, KORE is significantly expanding its global footprint.
“We’re delighted to welcome SponServe to the team to broaden our suite of products and accelerate our global growth,” said Todd Cusolle, CEO of KORE Software. “KORE’s fundamental aim to help businesses sell smarter, act faster and engage deeper is perfectly complemented by the addition of SponServe.”
“As the premier business management platform for professional sports teams around the globe, KORE was the natural home for SponServe. I am excited to see what KORE and SponServe can achieve together,” said SponServe’s Managing Director, Mark Thompson.
Through the combined organization, KORE will expand its focus on global growth - leveraging SponServe’s sponsorship management software and a customer base that includes some of the top sports brands in Europe and Australia.
“We are thrilled to build on KORE’s existing momentum outside of North America,” said Serent Capital Partner Lance Fenton. “Our thesis in partnering with KORE was to back the leader in sports business management software and build a global platform. Alongside KORE’s impressive organic growth, acquiring SponServe is the first inorganic building block of that strategy.”
SponServe represents Serent's third investment in the sports industry in recent history. Prior investments include KORE Software (2018) and ArbiterSports (2017).
About SponServe
Founded in Australia in 2015, SponServe, is a cloud based dedicated sponsorship management platform working with more than 100 leading rights holders and brands around the world. The company’s solutions help teams better monitor, manage and maximize the value of partnerships for the likes of Williams F1, Scarlets Pro14 Rugby, AS Roma, 7 Premier League teams, the NRL, Cricket Australia and the Brisbane Broncos among many others. For more information about Sponserve, please visit www.sponserve.net.
About KORE Software
KORE is the global leader in sport and entertainment business management solutions. Comprised of KORE Software and KPI (KORE Planning and Insights), KORE serves more than 120 professional sport clubs and leagues and 450 brands and properties worldwide, providing practical tools and services to harness customer data, facilitate sponsorship sales and activation, and create actionable insights. KORE Software’s business management software applications include Ticketing & Fan Engagement™, Sponsorship & Partner Engagement™, KONNECT™, Suites & Premium™, and Data Warehouse & Analytics™. KORE Planning & Insights (KPI) is a division of KORE that provides business intelligence consultation and staff augmentation services. For more information about KORE Software and KPI, please visit KOREsoftware.com.
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. For more information about Serent Capital, please visit www.serentcapital.com.
