Serent Capital, a growth-focused private equity firm that invests in founder-led B2B SaaS and technology companies, announced that its portfolio company, Knowland, a leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events, has been acquired by Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology company.
Founded in 2004, Knowland provides hotels and venues with powerful data insights and analytics tools to help them optimize group business and drive revenue growth. Knowland's platform includes extensive market intelligence data on meetings and events gathered from over 7,500 hotels across the globe. Its suite of products provides hoteliers with actionable insights that boost revenue, speed up the sales cycle, and streamline processes to meet group sales targets. Serent Capital made a significant investment in Knowland in 2013, fueling the company's continued innovation and expansion.
Over the course of Serent Capital's investment, Knowland has significantly expanded its operations and strengthened its position as a leading provider of meeting market intelligence in the hospitality industry. Through the acquisition of three companies, Knowland has broadened its reach and enhanced its product offerings to better serve its clients. Knowland's platform now features the industry's largest historical database of actualized events, with over 20 million events. These acquisitions have been instrumental in driving growth and further cementing Knowland's leadership in the market.
"It has been gratifying to partner with the Knowland team and support them in building their organization, executing key M&A initiatives, and honing their long-term strategy," said Lance Fenton, Partner at Serent Capital. "Over the years, we've seen Knowland continue to grow as a leader in market intelligence data for meetings and events, and we are honored to have been a part of their journey. We look forward to their continued success."
Serent Capital has a robust track record in the hospitality market, having invested in over 15 hospitality tech companies in the last decade. To learn more about Serent's partnership with hospitality companies, visit https://serentcapital.com/hospitality-and-travel/.
Stifel, Nicolaus acted as a financial advisor to Knowland and Serent Capital in the transaction.
About Knowland
Celebrating its 20th year in 2024, Knowland is the world’s leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality. With the industry’s largest historical database of actualized events, thousands of customers trust Knowland to sell group smarter and maximize their revenue. Knowland operates globally and is headquartered just outside Washington, DC. To find out more, visit www.knowland.com.
About Serent Capital
Serent Capital is a growth-focused private equity firm investing in capital-efficient, B2B SaaS and technology companies. From its founding, Serent set out to build a distinctly different firm that prioritizes founders and their companies and provides true hands-on resources through its 25+ person Growth Team. Serent’s in-house Growth Team is equipped with a wide range of resources to help companies accelerate growth, including strategic and operational support to drive revenue generation, assistance in building a top-tier executive team, guidance for transformative M&A, and a community of 400+ founders and operating executives. With $5 billion of assets under management, the firm has partnered with over 60 founder-led, industry-changing companies and offers unparalleled hands-on operational support. Discover how Serent Capital is fueling the growth of innovative companies across a range of industries at www.serentcapital.com.
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Contacts
Sam Whitford
Sam.whitford@serentcapital.com
