Synova

Company type| Limited liability partnership
Industry| Private equity, venture capital
Founded| 2007
Founders| David Menton
Philip Shapiro
Headquarters|

London

United Kingdom

Area served

| United Kingdom
Products| Venture capital, private equity funds, equity investment, management buy-in, management buyout, growth capital
AUM| £1.7 billion
Website| www.synova.pe

Synova is a growth focused investor supporting European companies valued between £20m and £250m. The firm manages £1.7bn of capital on behalf of institutional investors and family offices and invests across three interrelated sectors: Software & Data, Tech Enabled Services and Financial Services.[1] Synova partners with founders and managers to accelerate growth and drive exceptional returns. Synova is currently investing across the full mid-market spectrum from its £875m fifth fund, raised in 2022, which includes a dedicated £250m pool of capital, Chrysalis, to support smaller growth companies.

The firm was named Private Equity House of the Year at the 2025, 2022 and 2020 Private Equity Awards and House of the Year at the 2022 and 2019 British Private Equity Awards. According to Preqin in 2024 Synova's returns place the firm as Europe's top performing private equity fund.[2]

Synova was founded in 2007 by its managing partners, David Menton and Philip Shapiro. Synova's other partners include Alex Bowden, Daniel Silverton-Parker, Zachary Tsai, Sunil Jain and Ben Snow.

Synova's 2007 Fund I was fully realised in 2018 generating a 4x return for investors. Synova's £110m 2013 Fund II has now returned 3.5x its total invested capital. Synova closed its 2016 third fund at £250m which is performing strongly with 4x its total invested capital returned to date. Synova closed its 2019 fourth fund at its £365m hard cap and its 2022 Fund V at its £875m hard cap.

Notable exits include the sale of Kinapse to Hg Capital generating a 16x return, the sale of Tonic Games to Epic Games for a 9x return and 200% IRR, the sale of Mandata for a 8x return and the sale of Mintec to Five Arrows Principal Investments for a 12x return. Synova’s average return on realised investments exceeds 6x invested capital.

## Current and past investments by year and sector1

[edit]

Company  | Year of investment  | Return  | Sector

|
|
|

dbg  | 2010 - Exited 2013  | 5.8x [3] | Tech Enabled Services
Kinapse  | 2012 - Exited 2016  | 16.1x [4] | Tech Enabled Services
Mandata  | 2013 - Exited 2018  | 8.0x [5] | Software & Data
MK Test  | 2014 - Exited 2024  | 3.0x  | Tech Enabled Services
Stackhouse Poland  | 2014 - Exited 2019  | 5.6x [6] | Financial Services
Defaqto  | 2015 - Exited 2019  | 3.9x [7] | Software & Data
Merit Software  | 2015 - Exited 2019  | 4.0x [8] | Software & Data
4Ways  | 2015 - Exited 2018  | 6.0x  | Tech Enabled Services
Vistair  | 2015 - Exited 2023  | 6.5x  | Software & Data
Fairstone2 | 2016 - Exited 2021  | 4.5x [9] | Financial Services
Avantra  | 2017- Exited 2024  | 4.5x  | Software & Data
AllClear  | 2018 - Exited 2024  | 7.3x  | Financial Services
Expana  | 2018 - Exited 2022  | 12.0x  | Software & Data
Pacifica  | 2019  |  | Tech Enabled Services
Tonic Games  | 2019 - Exited 2021  | 9.0x [10] | Software & Data
JMG Group2 | 2020 - Exited 2025  | 5.6x  | Financial Services
Orbis Protect  | 2021  |  | Tech Enabled Services
DM Financial  | 2021  |  | Tech Enabled Services
National Education Group  | 2021  |  | Software & Data
Unity5  | 2022  |  | Software & Data
3173  | 2022  |  | Financial Services
Mallcom  | 2022  |  | Software & Data
Learnlight  | 2023  |  | Tech Enabled Services
Synectics Solutions  | 2024  |  | Software & Data
Mecsia  | 2024  |  | Tech Enabled Services  |

1 Synova sector focus , 2 Synova reinvestment

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Our Focus", Synova Capital. Retrieved on 6 July 2013.
2. ^ "Synova ranked UK's top performing private equity firm | Synova".
3. ^ "Synova Capital gets first fund off to a flyer with 5.8x DBG exit | AltAssets Private Equity News". 16 April 2013.
4. ^ "Synova nets 16.1x on Kinapse sale". February 2016.
5. ^ Alves, Joice (May 2018). "Synova Nets 8x Return on £20 Million Sale of Mandata to LDC". Wall Street Journal.
6. ^ "Arthur J. Gallagher to buy UK insurance broker Stackhouse Poland". 8 January 2019.
7. ^ "Houlihan Lokey Advises Defaqto | Transaction Details".
8. ^ "Synova banks 4x money with Meritsoft sale to Cognizant | Real Deals".
9. ^ "Synova scores 4.5x on sale of Fairstone to TA | Unquote". 25 February 2021.
10. ^ "Synova exits Tonic Games Group to Epic Games | Real Deals".