Trivest Partners

What Trivest Partners does

Trivest Partners is a private equity investment firm founded in 1981 and headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, with regional offices in Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto. The firm is exclusively focused on investing in founder-led and family-owned businesses across the United States and Canada, operating four distinct fund strategies: the Mid-Market Fund (control investments in the lower middle market), the Trivest Growth Investment Fund or TGIF (non-control investments in companies with EBITDA greater than $4 million), the Discovery Fund (small companies in fragmented industries), and the Recognition Fund (larger scaled family-owned companies). Trivest employs its proprietary 'Path to 3x' value creation methodology across portfolio companies and explicitly does not use an operating partner model, instead serving as active board members while founders retain operational control.

The firm has completed more than 400 investments totaling approximately $7 billion in transaction value, with 180+ new investments and exits over the past three years. Trivest manages approximately $6.1 billion in assets under management across 13 institutional private equity funds, with the most recent fund (TGIF III) closing at $730 million in capital commitments in October 2024. The firm generates revenue through management fees on committed capital plus carried interest on investment gains, with capital sourced from endowments, corporate pensions, insurance companies, funds of funds, family offices, and individuals. Distribution occurs via direct business development outreach through six regional offices, investment banking intermediaries, portfolio company referrals, and an annual CEO and Investor Conference.

Recent platform builds span vacation rental management (VueStay, ~4,500 homes across eight states), residential garage door services (Wheelhouse), early childhood education (Lunchline Youth Brands), residential roofing (Canopy Services), and AI/engineering services (Algoworks). The team comprises more than 95 professionals led by five Managing Partners, each heading a fund strategy, with a senior team drawn from PwC, Credit Suisse, ADP, Morgan Lewis, Lehman Brothers, Hamilton Lane, and GE. The firm has been recognized as a BluWave Top PE Innovator for four consecutive years (2022-2025) and has appeared on Inc. Magazine's Founder-Friendly Investors List for four consecutive years.

Name

Trivest Partners

Legal name

Trivest Partners Corporation

Website

https://trivest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Trivest Partners is a private equity firm founded in 1981 and headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, exclusively focused on founder-led and family-owned businesses in the United States and Canada. The firm operates four fund strategies (Mid-Market, Growth/TGIF, Discovery, Recognition) and manages approximately $6.1 billion in AUM across 13 institutional funds, using its proprietary Path to 3x value creation methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity Fund Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity (FSANACAO)

Keywords

• Private equity investing
• Founder-owned businesses
• Family business investment
• Lower middle market
• Growth capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Coral Gables

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Private Equity Fund Management: Trivest generates revenue through management fees charged on committed capital across its four investment funds, plus carried interest (performance fees) on investment gains. The firm manages approximately $6.1 billion in assets under management across institutional private equity funds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Trivest Partners is a private equity firm that invests in founder-led and family-owned businesses through four distinct institutional fund strategies. The Mid-Market Fund makes control/majority investments in lower middle market companies, the Growth Investment Fund (TGIF) makes non-control investments allowing founders to retain majority stake, the Discovery Fund targets small companies in fragmented industries, and the Recognition Fund invests in larger scaled founder/family-owned businesses.

Product overview

Trivest Partners is a private equity firm offering multiple distinct investment fund strategies for founder and family-owned businesses. The firm's product offerings consist of four investment funds: the Mid-Market Fund (control investments in lower middle market), Growth Investment Fund/TGIF (non-control investments for fast-growing businesses with EBITDA > $4M), Discovery Fund (investments in small companies in fragmented industries), and Recognition Fund (investments in larger scaled companies). The firm also builds and manages portfolio company platforms across various industries including garage door services (Wheelhouse), vacation rentals (VueStay Vacations), early childhood education (Lunchline Youth Brands), and residential roofing (Canopy Services).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Trivest Growth Investment Fund (TGIF): Non-control investment fund for fast-growing businesses with founders looking to retain majority stake
• Trivest Discovery Fund
• Trivest Mid-Market Fund
• Trivest Recognition Fund

Products and services

• Trivest Mid-Market Fund A private equity fund that makes control, or majority, investments in founder and family-owned businesses in the lower middle market. For investors and founders seeking full or majority ownership transitions with active board-level involvement from Trivest.
• Trivest Growth Investment Fund (TGIF) A non-control fund that invests in fast-growing businesses with founders looking to retain a majority stake in their company, targeting companies with EBITDA greater than $4 million. Provides capital and strategic guidance while founders retain operational control and majority ownership.
• Trivest Discovery Fund A fund that invests primarily in small, successful companies within fragmented industries that have enormous potential to scale. Targets companies that are too small for traditional lower middle market buyout funds but show strong growth potential.
• Trivest Recognition Fund A fund that invests in larger, successful founder and family-owned companies that have already begun to scale. Serves the upper end of the firm's target market with larger founder/family-owned businesses seeking institutional capital partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 180+ new investments and exits completed over the past three years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Portfolio Company EcosystemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of 180+ portfolio companies across various sectors including home services, transportation, food manufacturing, restoration services, and more, that benefit from Trivest's investment and operational support.
• Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Legal Advisor)minorOthersServed as legal advisor to both Total PowerGen Solutions and Trivest Partners.
• Kirkland & Ellis LLPminorOthersServed as fund counsel for TGIF III.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Atlantic Street Capital: Lower-middle-market PE firm focused on founder and family-led businesses with a partnership-oriented approach. Directly comparable to Trivest on founder-friendly positioning and check size.
• Sun Capital Partners: Middle-market private equity firm making control investments in founder and family-owned businesses across diversified sectors. Sun Capital and Trivest compete for the same lower-middle-market founder-owned companies with comparable control-buyout structures.
• HIG Capital: Global alternative investment firm with extensive middle-market PE activity including control and non-control investments. Competes with Trivest for lower-middle-market founder-owned deals across multiple sectors.
• Audax Group: Middle-market PE firm focused on building platforms via add-on acquisitions. Audax is a direct competitor and has been a buyer of Trivest portfolio companies (e.g., Total PowerGen Solutions), illustrating deal-flow overlap in the same middle-market niche.
• Carousel Capital: Charlotte-based PE firm investing in founder and family-owned lower-middle-market businesses. Direct competitor with a comparable regional, founder-focused approach and similar fund size.
• Centre Partners: Middle-market PE firm historically focused on control investments in founder/family-owned consumer and services businesses. Closely comparable to Trivest on thesis (founder-led businesses) and execution style.
• Shore Capital Partners: Chicago-based lower-middle-market PE firm focused on micro-cap founder-owned healthcare and non-healthcare services companies. Comparable to Trivest Discovery in target size and founder-friendly approach.
• Cortec Group: Middle-market PE firm that invests in founder/family-owned businesses, frequently partnering with management to execute buy-and-build strategies. Direct thesis overlap with Trivest's Mid-Market and Discovery funds.

Broad incumbents

• Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe: Large healthcare-and-technology focused PE firm that also invests in services and consumer. Larger and more diversified than Trivest, with overlapping interest in founder-led lower-middle-market platforms.
• Main Street Capital: Publicly traded BDC/PE hybrid making primarily non-control debt and equity investments in lower-middle-market companies. Comparable to Trivest TGIF in non-control lower-middle-market positioning, though Main Street is principally debt-oriented and publicly listed.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/trivestpartners
• Facebookfacebook.com/trivestpartners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trivestpartners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A9 records

Investments46 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Trivest Partners