Navigant Capital Partners

What Navigant Capital Partners does

Navigant Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm founded in 2021 by Scott Leffler and Philip Taub after the two had worked together for approximately a decade at prior institutions including Cerberus Capital Management, Tower Three Partners, Gemspring Capital, and Staple Street Capital. The firm is headquartered in New York (817 Broadway, 3rd Floor) with a secondary office in Coral Gables, Florida (1116 Obispo Ave), and targets middle market companies with under $5 million in EBITDA — a segment that traditional private equity firms typically avoid. Its strategy centers on what the firm terms "platform business building": making first-round private equity investments into small, often undercapitalized companies and scaling them through hands-on operational involvement, organic expansion, and high-velocity add-on M&A.

The firm's founding platform investment was VIVE Collision, a collision repair operator built from scratch that has grown to 50+ locations across nine states. VIVE Collision subsequently attracted growth capital from Garnett Station Partners in 2022 and underwent a growth recapitalization led by Greenbriar Equity Group in 2023, validating Navigant's platform thesis. In August 2025, Navigant made a significant growth investment into Marketplace 4 Insurance (M4I), a Southeast-based independent insurance brokerage that has completed eight fully-integrated acquisitions since 2019 — marking Navigant's entry into the insurance services vertical. The firm differentiates itself through operational involvement including board-level participation, direct support for development of institutional processes, and a willingness to provide first-round PE capital and first third-party credit facilities to early-stage platforms.

The investment team is intentionally lean, comprising two co-founders/managing partners and a Private Equity Associate (Brendan Lawlor, joined 2025 from Piper Sandler's Financial Services Group). The firm generates returns through equity ownership in portfolio companies alongside management teams, with eventual liquidity via recapitalizations, strategic exits, or other standard PE events. No management fees, AUM, fund size, revenue, or limited partner composition is publicly disclosed, and the firm operates without a disclosed parent company, institutional backing, or public listing. There are no proprietary technology products, software platforms, or AI/ML capabilities associated with the firm.

Name

Navigant Capital Partners

Legal name

Navigant Capital Partners

Website

https://navigantcp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Navigant Capital Partners is a private equity firm founded in 2021 investing in middle market companies with under $5 million EBITDA. The firm builds platforms by providing first-round equity capital and hands-on operational support, scaling them through organic growth and high-velocity add-on M&A.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Middle-Market Lending (FSANADAI)

Keywords

• Private equity investments
• Middle market investing
• Platform business building
• Growth equity capital
• Portfolio company management

Headquarters

HQ city

Coral Gables

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Private Equity Returns: Generates returns through equity investments in middle market companies, building platforms from scratch or acquiring undercapitalized businesses, growing them through organic expansion and M&A, and eventually exiting for returns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Navigant Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm that makes direct equity investments in middle market companies with under $5M EBITDA, building "platform" businesses from scratch or acquiring undercapitalized businesses and scaling them through organic expansion and high-velocity M&A. The firm provides hands-on, operationally driven portfolio company support, including board-level participation, development of institutional processes, and partnership with management teams to drive transformational growth.

Product overview

Navigant Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm, not a technology product company. The firm offers investment services focused on 'platform business building' — a strategy of starting small with businesses under $5M EBITDA and scaling them through hands-on operational support and high-velocity M&A. The firm does not offer discrete software products, modules, or technology platforms; its core offering is investment capital and operational partnership. Key investments include VIVE Collision (collision repair operator with 50+ locations across 9 states) and Marketplace 4 Insurance (Southeast-based independent insurance brokerage with eight fully-integrated acquisitions since 2019).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Built VIVE Collision from scratch to 50+ locations across 9 states
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Marketplace 4 InsurancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 August 2025Navigant Capital Partners made a significant growth investment into Marketplace 4 Insurance (M4I), a leading Southeast-based independent insurance brokerage platform. Navigant's investment will support M4I's aggressive M&A strategy which has included eight fully-integrated acquisitions since the Company's inception in 2019.

Scale indicators4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tower Three Partners: Lower middle-market PE firm investing in operating businesses with operational improvement opportunities. Comparable given co-founder Phil Taub's prior tenure and similar deal size focus.
• Trinity Hunt Partners: Lower middle-market PE firm investing in founder-owned businesses with operational scaling theses. Comparable target deal size, founder-led focus, and operational value-add approach.
• Staple Street Capital: Middle-market PE firm targeting founder-led businesses with operational improvement theses. Direct peer based on co-founder track record and shared hands-on operational investment style.
• Gemspring Capital: Lower middle-market PE firm making control investments in founder-led businesses. Highly comparable given previous affiliations of both Navigant co-founders and similar platform-build investment approach.
• Gen Cap America: Lower middle-market PE firm focused on small-cap acquisitions and platform building. Highly comparable given similar deal size range and buy-and-build investment strategy.
• Greenbriar Equity Group: Middle-market PE firm focused on industrials, business services, and consumer-facing services. Co-invested with Navigant in VIVE Collision's 2023 recapitalization and operates in a similar middle-market deal size range.
• Garnett Station Partners: New York-based principal investment firm managing approximately $1B that invests in middle-market companies. Direct peer given shared focus on lower middle-market PE and prior co-investment with Navigant in VIVE Collision.
• Gridiron Capital: Lower middle-market PE firm investing in founder-, family-, and management-led businesses. Comparable size and approach with hands-on operational support.

Broad incumbents

• Wynnchurch Capital: Established middle-market PE firm with larger AUM focused on operational value creation. Comparable investment style (operationally driven platform building) but operates at a larger scale than Navigant.
• NewSpring Capital: Middle-market private equity firm making control investments in lower middle-market companies. Comparable target company profile and growth-oriented investment approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/navigant-capital-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Navigant Capital Partners