What Mainsail Group does

Mainsail Group is a privately held healthcare partnership advisory firm founded in 2013 and headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. The firm operates at the intersection of healthcare and commercial partnerships, offering three core services: (1) beverage pouring-rights negotiation, its flagship practice; (2) brand-partnership structuring that applies sports-marketing methodology to health-system facilities; and (3) sports-sponsorship advisory covering contract audits, benchmarking, and renewal strategy for health systems holding professional or collegiate sponsorships.

The firm's underlying technology is a proprietary benchmarking database that tracks and indexes deal terms—rates, sponsorship values, volume commitments, and contract structures—across more than $200M in healthcare pouring-rights agreements it has negotiated. This data engine is the foundation of its competitive positioning and is operationalized through the Partnership Value Assessment (PVA), a free 4–6 week revenue diagnostic (typically a $60K–$110K investment absorbed by Mainsail) delivered to health-system prospects as the entry point to an engagement.

Mainsail operates a success-based revenue model: the firm absorbs the cost of the initial assessment and earns advisory or transaction fees only when measurable revenue is delivered to the client. Distribution is anchored by strategic GPO partnerships with Vizient and Premier, which collectively represent 60%+ of U.S. staffed hospital beds, supplemented by direct enterprise field sales targeting large health systems (5+ hospitals) and a growing dual-perspective go-to-market aimed at consumer brands (apparel, beverage, entertainment, financial services, wellness) seeking access to healthcare's captive, high-trust audience. The company was founded and continues to be led by Ronn Hollis, MMHC (Vanderbilt), who brings 33+ years of executive experience across PGA TOUR, Nashville Predators (NHL), HealthSouth, and St. Thomas Health Services (Ascension). Mainsail has raised $850,000 from Harpeth Capital in April 2015 and has otherwise operated without disclosed institutional capital.

Name

Mainsail Group

Legal name

Mainsail Group, LLC

Website

https://mainsail-group.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Mainsail Group is a healthcare partnership advisory firm that negotiates beverage pouring-rights, brand partnerships, and sports-sponsorship agreements for large U.S. health systems and consumer brands, leveraging Vizient and Premier GPO relationships covering 60%+ of U.S. hospital beds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brentwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic Advisory Services: Success-based advisory fees where Mainsail earns when clients earn measurable revenue. The Partnership Value Assessment (typically $60K-$110K investment) is provided free to clients—Mainsail absorbs the upfront cost and earns fees only upon delivering results. Revenue is derived from structuring and negotiating beverage deals, brand partnerships, and sports sponsorship advisory services for health systems.
2. Beverage Pouring Rights: Negotiating exclusive pouring rights agreements for health system cafeterias, vending areas, and break rooms. Deals generate hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per year in recurring revenue for health systems, with Mainsail earning success-based fees.
3. Brand Partnership Structuring: Identifying B2C brands that benefit from reaching captive healthcare audiences, structuring partnerships, and managing ongoing relationships. Creates new non-organic revenue streams for health systems.
4. Sports Sponsorship Advisory: Contract audit, competitive benchmarking, renewal strategy, and ROI measurement for health systems that sponsor professional or collegiate teams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mainsail Group is a healthcare-focused strategic advisory firm that helps large health systems unlock non-organic revenue and helps consumer brands access healthcare's captive, high-trust audience. Its three core practices are Beverage Deals (pouring rights negotiation), Brand Partnerships (B2C brand integration into healthcare facilities), and Sports Sponsorship & Strategy (contract audit, benchmarking, and renewal advisory). Every engagement starts with a free Partnership Value Assessment that benchmarks the client's existing agreements and produces a facility-by-facility revenue roadmap.

Product overview

Mainsail Group is a strategic advisory firm operating at the intersection of healthcare and commercial partnerships. The company offers three core advisory services: Beverage Deals (pouring rights negotiation), Brand Partnerships (applying sports marketing strategy to healthcare), and Sports Sponsorship & Strategy Advisory (for health systems with existing sports sponsorships). Every engagement begins with a free Partnership Value Assessment (PVA) — a 4–6 week analysis delivering a facility-by-facility revenue-opportunity map and actionable roadmap. The PVA is offered at no cost to clients, with Mainsail earning success-based fees only when measurable revenue is delivered. The firm connects health systems (representing 60%+ of U.S. hospital beds through GPO partners Vizient and Premier) with consumer brands seeking access to healthcare's captive, high-trust audience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Beverage Deals (Pouring Rights Advisory)

Quantifiable outcome

• Single large health system generates 126M+ annual impressions—3.1x the NFL and NBA combined
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 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.

• VizientcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorStrategic GPO partnership with Vizient—one of the two largest GPOs in America—providing Mainsail access to thousands of health systems representing over 60% of U.S. hospital beds.
• PremiercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorStrategic GPO partnership with Premier—one of the two largest GPOs in America—providing Mainsail access to thousands of health systems representing over 60% of U.S. hospital beds. Together, Vizient and Premier represent more than 60% of U.S. hospital beds.
• Ronn HolliscoreOthersRonn Hollis, MMHC, is the Founder of Mainsail Group. He holds a Master of Management in Health Care from Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management. Prior experience includes executive roles at PGA TOUR, Nashville Predators (NHL), HealthSouth, and St. Thomas Health Services (Ascension). 33+ years at intersection of sports marketing and healthcare.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Chartis Group: Pure-play healthcare strategic advisory firm serving health systems on strategy, operations, and revenue growth. Closest comparable to Mainsail in terms of buyer profile (large health system CFOs/COOs) and engagement model (project-based advisory work).
• ECG Management Consultants: Healthcare management consultancy focused on health system strategy, financial advisory, and operations. Highly comparable buyer profile (large hospitals and health systems) and similar mid-sized, specialty advisory positioning to Mainsail.
• BDC Advisors: Boutique healthcare strategy consulting firm serving health system leadership on growth, partnerships, and strategic transactions. Comparable in size, niche focus on health systems, and advisory engagement model.
• Kaufman Hall: Healthcare-specialized consulting firm providing financial planning, strategy, and partnership advisory to hospitals and health systems. Directly comparable buyer base and focus on revenue growth and partnership structuring for health systems.
• Health Management Associates (HMA): National healthcare research and consulting firm serving health systems, government agencies, and payers. Comparable in that it advises health system leadership on strategic and operational initiatives, with similar size and specialty focus.
• The Lewin Group: Healthcare policy and consulting firm advising health systems, government, and associations. Comparable advisory services to health system clients on strategic and revenue-side questions, including partnership and growth engagements.

Broad incumbents

• Octagon: Large global sports marketing agency representing brands, properties, and athletes on sponsorships, endorsements, and partnerships. Comparable in the sports sponsorship advisory component of Mainsail's practice, though it serves the buy-side (brands) rather than health systems.
• Huron Consulting Group: Large diversified consulting firm with a substantial healthcare practice serving health systems on operational, financial, and strategic initiatives. Comparable in advisory scope, though it is much larger and broader than Mainsail's niche focus.
• Optum Advisory (formerly The Advisory Board Company): Healthcare advisory and analytics business within UnitedHealth/Optum, serving health system and provider clients on strategy, operations, and growth. Comparable in serving large health system decision makers, though part of a much larger enterprise.

Emerging players

• Sg2 (a Vizient company): Healthcare intelligence and advisory firm (now part of Vizient) serving health systems with data-driven strategic insights on growth, service line strategy, and partnerships. Comparable in serving health system strategy and growth functions, with overlap into the GPO distribution channel that Mainsail also uses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mainsail-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Mainsail Group