Ascentis Raises Growth Equity Financing from Summit Partners

SAN MATEO, CA and MENLO PARK, CA – Ascentis Corporation, a market-leading provider of cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) human capital management (HCM) solutions and integrated payroll services, today announced a majority recapitalization by global growth equity investor Summit Partners. Brian Provost, an Executive-in-Residence with Summit Partners and a software industry leader with more than 20 years of executive experience, will join Ascentis as CEO. The funding will be used to fuel product innovation and drive new growth initiatives.

Ascentis offers a comprehensive, end-to-end suite of human resources, benefits, payroll, timekeeping and talent management products to more than 1,000 customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company’s SaaS-based solutions increase productivity by automating HR and payroll processes, reducing costs, providing meaningful insights into organizational trends, and empowering employees in all aspects of the HR and benefits process.

“HR professionals – particularly in the mid-market – face an increasingly complex set of requirements as they grow and manage their workforce. Ascentis offers the technological depth and the broad functionality necessary for our customers to scale from dozens to thousands of employees,” said Mr. Provost. “Ascentis serves a large and growing market with a robust solution. I’m delighted to partner with Summit and lead Ascentis in its next phase of growth.”

With more than two decades of executive leadership experience in rapidly growing SaaS technology companies, Mr. Provost joins Ascentis from Summit Partners’ Executive-in-Residence (EIR) program. Previously Mr. Provost served as President and CEO of Convey Compliance, a tax compliance SaaS company acquired by Sovos Compliance. Prior to Convey, Mr. Provost served as Chief Operating Officer of Gelco Expense Management, a SaaS-based provider of travel expense management solutions acquired by Concur Technologies. In addition, he served in leadership roles at several prominent companies including Wizmo, Inc., Norstan Communications (acquired by BlackBox), and ColorSpan (acquired by Hewlett Packard).

“Over his impressive career, Brian has earned a strong reputation for his distinct understanding of growth stage software businesses,” said Peter Rottier, a Managing Director with Summit Partners, who has joined the Ascentis Board of Directors. “With Brian’s background driving growth at SaaS-based companies focused on HR, compliance, tax and expense management, Ascentis is a perfect fit for his talents. We are thrilled to work with Brian and we are delighted to welcome Ascentis to Summit’s software portfolio.”

“We believe Ascentis is one of the few software providers that delivers a truly integrated HCM solution to mid-market enterprises,” added Len Ferrington, a Managing Director with Summit Partners who has also joined the Ascentis Board of Directors. “As these organizations seek to modernize and optimize their approach to workforce and knowledge management, we believe Ascentis is well positioned to accelerate its already impressive growth trajectory.”

In addition to Mr. Rottier and Mr. Ferrington, Summit Partners Vice President J.P. Sanday has joined the Ascentis Board of Directors, serving alongside current board members Walter Turek, a former Paychex senior executive with significant HCM market expertise, and Bradley Palmer, Palm Ventures’ Chairman and Founder.

In 2007, Palm Ventures acquired a majority interest in Ascentis and structured and funded the company’s acquisition of EBS On-line, a San Mateo, California-based payroll processing company. In 2012, growth equity firm Catalyst Investors invested and became the largest shareholder in the company. Following Summit’s recapitalization, Catalyst will exit its investment and Palm Ventures will continue to hold a minority position in the company.