As investors, we’re entrepreneurs at heart partnering with founders and managers to generate exceptional growth in their companies.
Sharing our history, our vision, our knowledge and our strength - the Synova team.
Let’s talk about…
Our Story
Launching in 2007, we went straight in at the deep end.
At the time, we were younger than all our peers, and in the midst of unprecedented market turbulence. But we had a vision for a new, more personal type of partnership. So, in spite of everything, we threw ourselves – and everything we had – into the business.
Because we had a plan, and we believed in it.
Our Vision
We’ve had a “sleeves rolled up” approach to business from day one.
Our first £50m fund took several years to raise – during which time we took no salary and worked harder than we’d ever thought possible. We fought tooth and nail to turn our dreams to reality.
And this embodied our vision: to invest something more than just capital.
Our Success
Hard work has been key to our success – yielding over a decade of market-leading returns.
Synova is also proud to have received several industry awards and accolades, including Investor of the Year at the British Private Equity Awards for four of the previous seven years and UK Private Equity House of the Year at the 2020 and 2022 Private Equity Awards
By all metrics, what we’re doing is
working. But the journey continues.
Our Team
After many successful years, we know precisely where our strengths lie. It’s clear: people are our greatest asset.
We are at heart entrepreneurs and business-builders. Directed entirely towards growth, our team benefits from diverse backgrounds spanning finance and law to consulting and software engineering. So between us, we know what it takes to succeed not only as business owners, but as business strategists and builders too.
Come and meet the team.
Meet the team
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Angus Abbott
Portfolio M&A Director
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Tim Ashlin
Partner
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Laura Atterwill
Managing Director
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Johnny Battle
M&A Executive
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Charlotte Bell-Irving
Executive Assistant
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Oli Bevan
Partner
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Alex Bowden
Partner
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Harry Fitzpatrick
Investment Executive
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Mao Isobe
Investment Manager
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Sunil Jain
Partner
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Erato Kallitsa
Talent Researcher
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Fatih Karaagac
Investment Executive
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Jihea Kim
Senior Responsible Investment Manager
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Jonathan Lavers
Investment Director
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Tom Meacher
Assistant Director
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Katia Mendonca
Investment Manager
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David Menton
Managing Partner
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Mike Mullally
Investment Director
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Charlie Mundy
Investment Manager
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Adam Page
Assistant Director
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Jesper Rothe
Investment Executive
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Philip Shapiro
Managing Partner
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Daniel Silverton-Parker
CFO & Partner
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Ben Snow
Partner
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Chris Snow
Assistant Director
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Molly Timmis
Team Assistant
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Zachary Tsai
Partner
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Majid Tufail
Finance Director
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Thomas Usher
Managing Director
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Ellie Vaughan
Team Assistant
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Sally Wong
Fund Accountant
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Angus Abbott
Portfolio M&A Director
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Tim Ashlin
Partner
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Laura Atterwill
Managing Director
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Johnny Battle
M&A Executive
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Charlotte Bell-Irving
Executive Assistant
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Oli Bevan
Partner
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Alex Bowden
Partner
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Harry Fitzpatrick
Investment Executive
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Mao Isobe
Investment Manager
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Sunil Jain
Partner
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Erato Kallitsa
Talent Researcher
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Fatih Karaagac
Investment Executive
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Jihea Kim
Senior Responsible Investment Manager
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Jonathan Lavers
Investment Director
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Tom Meacher
Assistant Director
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Katia Mendonca
Investment Manager
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David Menton
Managing Partner
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Mike Mullally
Investment Director
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Charlie Mundy
Investment Manager
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Adam Page
Assistant Director
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Jesper Rothe
Investment Executive
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Philip Shapiro
Managing Partner
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Daniel Silverton-Parker
CFO & Partner
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Ben Snow
Partner
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Chris Snow
Assistant Director
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Molly Timmis
Team Assistant
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Zachary Tsai
Partner
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Majid Tufail
Finance Director
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Thomas Usher
Managing Director
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Ellie Vaughan
Team Assistant
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Sally Wong
Fund Accountant
Angus Abbott
Portfolio M&A Director
Angus joined Synova having previously been Head of Corporate Development & M&A for Small World Financial Services. He has experience working with growth companies, having helped establish a strategic growth and investment team for Barclays Bank. Prior to this, he worked in M&A advisory at Rothschild & Co and Gleacher Shacklock. Angus holds an MEng in General Engineering from Durham University.
Tim Ashlin
Partner
Tim joined in 2014 and has a broad range of investment experience across the UK mid-market. Prior to joining Synova, he was a Partner at Phoenix Equity Partners. Tim also spent several years advising and supporting companies whilst working for Close Brothers Corporate Finance and for PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Tim is a Non-Executive Director of Clyde Munro Dental Group, Chatsworth Schools, Oakland Care, Preventx and Learnlight.
Laura Atterwill
Managing Director
Laura joined Synova in 2024 and has overall responsibility for supporting the talent agendas of our portfolio companies including executive hiring and organisational design. Laura was previously at Fidelity where she helped to build their strategic investment arm and supported a range of high-growth, founder-led portfolio companies with their people strategies. Prior to this Laura worked at Eight Roads where she supported portfolio value creation and built out the investor and functional talent for the platform. Laura’s early career was at Spencer Stuart, the global executive search firm. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2007 and is a Meyler Campbell accredited executive coach.
Johnny Battle
M&A Executive
Johnny joined Synova in 2024 from EY, where he worked in the private equity Financial Due Diligence team and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc in Economics.
Charlotte Bell-Irving
Executive Assistant
Charlotte was previously at Savills for 4 years before joining Synova in November 2021 as an Executive Assistant. Charlotte provides support for the Managing Partners. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in French.
Oli Bevan
Partner
Oli joined Synova as a Partner in 2023. He has 17 years’ experience of investing in and supporting UK mid-market businesses, sitting on the Boards of 12 companies. Prior to Synova, Oli was a Partner at Dunedin and led Waterland’s UK business. He started his career in management consulting, before spending two years in industry. Oli is a Non-Executive Director of Mecsia and co-leads Synova’s strategy in the Tech Enabled Services sector.
Alex Bowden
Partner
Alex joined Synova during 2011. He has over 17 years’ experience of successfully investing in and supporting UK mid-market companies. Prior to joining Synova, Alex spent a number of years at Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) and 3i plc investing in businesses across the UK. Alex is a Non-Executive Director of Pacifica, Orbis Protect, Fairstone, Unity5 and Mecsia and oversees Synova’s strategy in the Tech Enabled Services sector.
Harry Fitzpatrick
Investment Executive
Harry joined Synova in 2021 as an Investment Executive. Prior to joining, Harry worked for Colmore Capital, a UK-focused real estate investor, having started his career as a Global Markets Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Harry holds a MChem from the University of Oxford.
Mao Isobe
Investment Manager
Mao joined the Synova team as an Investment Executive in 2020. Prior to joining, Mao worked at Silverfleet Capital, where she was an Origination Executive and at Strategy& where she was a Senior Associate in the strategy consulting team. She holds a MChem from the University of Oxford.
Sunil Jain
Partner
Sunil joined in 2019 and has 20 years’ experience of investing in growth companies and supporting financial services companies. He has served on 15 investee company Boards and has experience across the Financial Services, FinTech, Tech Enabled Services and Education sectors. He holds a MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and has also studied at MIT. Sunil is a Non-Executive Director of DM Financial, 3173 and Synectics Solutions.
Erato Kallitsa
Talent Researcher
Erato joined Synova in 2024 as Talent Researcher to support the coordination of the talent agendas of Synova’s portfolio companies. Erato was previously at Blackwood Group where she focused on hiring Private Equity executives across levels. She holds a degree in Law, having graduated from the University of Bristol.
Fatih Karaagac
Investment Executive
Fatih joined Synova as an Investment Executive in 2024. Before joining, he spent four years at Jefferies in London and Frankfurt working in M&A advisory. Fatih holds an MSc in Finance & Investments from Rotterdam School of Management and a BSc in Economics and Management from the University of Hannover.
Jihea Kim
Senior Responsible Investment Manager
Jihea joined Synova in February 2024 and is responsible for driving change and value creation through ESG engagement in the portfolio and across the firm as part of our responsible investment strategy. Prior to joining, Jihea was part of Bridgepoint’s PE ESG team and worked at PwC as a Sustainability and Climate Change consultant. She graduated from The London School of Economics in 2016 and Warwick Business School in 2017. Jihea is a board member of the Southeast and East Asian Centre, a community organisation providing support services to the ESEA community in the UK.
Jonathan Lavers
Investment Director
Jonathan leads Synova’s origination function. In this role, he has overall responsibility for sourcing new investment opportunities, as well as overseeing our thematic research efforts into various sub-sectors. His primary sector focus is in Software & Data and Tech Enabled Services. Jonathan joined Synova as an Investment Manager in 2017. He previously worked at the global organisational consulting firm, Korn Ferry, and began his career at Skillcapital, a boutique advisory firm to the private equity industry. He graduated from the University of Bristol in 2011.
Tom Meacher
Assistant Director
Tom joined Synova in 2023 and has over 10 years of investment and operational experience. Prior to joining Synova, he co-founded a FinTech in London having previously worked at Bain Capital where he focused on Financial Services and Healthcare private equity investments. He started his career as a member of the Private Equity Group at Goldman Sachs working in both London & New York. He holds an BA in Mathematics from the University of Oxford.
Katia Mendonca
Investment Manager
Katia joined the Synova team in 2021. Prior to joining, Katia worked as an Investment Executive at Mobeus Equity Partners where she focussed on growth-stage technology investments, having started her career at venture-backed Fintech, Cleo AI. Katia holds a BA in History from University College London.
David Menton
Managing Partner
David co-founded Synova in 2007 having previously advised corporate clients from a subsidiary of WPP and a prominent European family investment office. He leads the Financial Services and FinTech sector team, working closely with owners and managers across the portfolio to support their growth ambitions. He is a Non-Executive Director of JMG Insurance, DM Financial and 3173.
Mike Mullally
Investment Director
Mike Mullally joined Synova as an Investment Manager from Alantra (formerly Catalyst Corporate Finance), where he spent three years focused on mid-market M&A transactions across a variety of sectors. Mike qualified as a Chartered Accountant with EY and holds a MEng in Civil Engineering from Loughborough University.
Charlie Mundy
Investment Manager
Charlie joined Synova in 2023 as an Origination & Research Executive in the Software and Data team. Prior to joining, Charlie worked as a strategy consultant at Armstrong, focusing on Pan-European mid-market Software and Technology Services companies, having started his career at Analysys Mason. Charlie holds an MA in Economics from the University of St Andrews.
Adam Page
Assistant Director
Adam joined Synova as an Investment Manager from GP Bullhound, a tech focussed investment bank, where he spent several years advising on M&A and fundraising transactions with a focus on software and tech-enabled services. Prior to this, Adam qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte and is a graduate from the University of Exeter.
Jesper Rothe
Investment Executive
Jesper joined Synova as an Investment Executive in the Software & Data team. Prior to joining, Jesper worked at GP Bullhound, a tech-focussed investment bank, where he spent several years both in Berlin and London advising on M&A and fundraising transactions. Jesper holds a master’s degree in Finance & Investments from the Rotterdam School of Economics.
Philip Shapiro
Managing Partner
Philip is an experienced investor into technology companies. Prior to co-founding Synova in 2007, Philip worked at Phoenix Equity Partners. Prior to this, he advised some of the UK's leading mid-market technology companies whilst working at UBS and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. Philip is a Non-Executive Director of Expana, NEG and Synectics Solutions. Philip Chairs Synova's Investment Committee and leads the Software & Data sector.
Daniel Silverton-Parker
CFO & Partner
Prior to joining, Daniel spent four years at Zouk Capital, a private equity and infrastructure fund manager, where he served as Finance Manager & Head of Compliance. He previously worked at Samena Capital and Man Group Plc, both investment managers. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Ernst and Young, where he spent five years in the investment management team.
Ben Snow
Partner
Ben oversees Synova's portfolio operations, as well as leading on debt and capital markets strategy. He joined Synova in 2020 with over 15 years of experience successfully investing in, and leading value creation in private equity backed businesses across the UK and Europe.
Ben serves on both the Responsible Investing, and Risk and Compliance committees, and is currently a non-executive director of Pacifica and Orbis.
Chris Snow
Assistant Director
Chris joined Synova as an Investment Manager from Horizon Capital, a tech focused private equity investor, where he focused on Tech Enabled Services. Prior to this, Chris worked in investment banking at Torch Partners and EY, providing M&A and fundraise advice to high growth companies and entrepreneurs across the B2B SaaS and Internet Infrastructure landscapes. Chris qualified as a Chartered Accountant at EY and is a graduate from the University of Nottingham.
Molly Timmis
Team Assistant
Molly joined Synova in October 2024 as a Team Assistant. Prior to joining, Molly worked in Major Donor fundraising at Shelter. She graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in History.
Zachary Tsai
Partner
Zac joined Synova during 2013. Prior to joining, Zac advised private equity houses and UK mid-market companies on company sales, acquisitions, management buy-outs and growth capital fundraising whilst working at global investment bank, Alantra, and in the M&A division of PwC. He holds a Masters in Software Engineering and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Zac is currently a Non-Executive Director of Expana, Mallcomm and Oakland Care and previously, Tonic Games Group and 4Ways Diagnostics.
Majid Tufail
Finance Director
Majid joined Synova as Financial Controller during 2014. Prior to joining, Majid worked at Augentius Fund Administrators, where he managed a portfolio of private equity funds. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over nineteen years of experience in financial reporting and fund accounting.
Thomas Usher
Managing Director
Thomas joined Synova from US growth investor, Summit Partners, where he invested in European technology companies and assisted with their expansion into the US market. Prior to joining Summit, Thomas worked for Boston based growth equity firm, Volition Capital, which specialises in Software and Tech Enabled Services. At Synova he focuses on supporting Software & Data sector companies with their US market entry strategies and currently serves on the boards of NEG and Synectics Solutions, and was previously on the boards of Avantra and Tonic Games Group. Thomas is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
Ellie Vaughan
Team Assistant
Ellie joined Synova in February 2024 as Team Assistant providing support to the Value Creation and wider Synova teams. Prior to joining, Ellie was a Personal Assistant at the University of Warwick.
Sally Wong
Fund Accountant
Sally joined Synova in July 2023 as a Fund Accountant. Sally joined Synova from Langham Hall where she managed a portfolio of Private Equity clients as a Fund Accountant for 3 years. Prior to that, Sally worked in Practice at an accountancy firm based in Mayfair for 5 years, providing her with exposure to auditing, tax preparation and financial reporting.