Sprout is excited to announce that Recognize, a private equity firm focused on investing in digital services businesses, has made a majority investment in the company. New Capital Partners, an investor in Sprout since 2019, will continue as a minority investor.
Shelly Li, Chief Executive Officer of Sprout, said, “Recognize’s specialization in the digital services sector, along with a strong alignment with our team on our North Star, made them an obvious partner for Sprout in our next phase of growth. We are thrilled to continue aggressively investing in our people, clients, and business together.”
The investment from Recognize will accelerate Sprout's innovations and service offerings in the circular supply chain.
“Increasing regulation and scrutiny around secure data destruction and ESG creates a significant and growing need for Sprout’s services,” commented Charles Phillips, Managing Partner at Recognize. “Sprout is uniquely positioned in a market that is currently at an inflection point as advancements in compute and demand for GenAI applications are necessitating increasing infrastructure spending and hardware refreshes within the enterprise. We look forward to partnering with Shelly and the Sprout management team to continue their rapid growth trajectory by investing in technology, expanding the solution into related areas and pursuing M&A opportunities.”
The transaction closed on December 23, 2024. Robert W. Baird & Co. served as financial advisor and Maynard Nexsen PC and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisors to Sprout. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal advisor to Recognize.
About Sprout:
Founded in 2014, Sprout is the emerging leader of global ITAD solutions, specializing in the retirement of complex hardware portfolios from the endpoint to the cloud. The company’s proprietary software platform—embedded within the supply chain systems and processes of the world’s largest, most privacy-obsessed enterprises—enables Sprout to deliver end-to-end services that drive measurably superior data security, sustainability, and total-cost-of-ownership outcomes. More than 200 at-scale and hyperscale enterprises utilize Sprout’s ITAD solutions in over 40 countries across 6 continents through a global network of processing centers. For more information, visit: www.sproutup.com.
About Recognize:
Recognize is an investment platform exclusively focused on the digital services industry. The firm provides operational expertise, industry insights and strategic capital to innovative companies in this sector. To learn more, visit www.recognize.com.
About New Capital Partners:
New Capital Partners (NCP) is a private equity firm comprised of former operators headquartered in Birmingham, AL. NCP makes investments in niche, tech-enabled services companies in the healthcare, financial and business services industries. Leveraging its extensive operational experience, NCP helps create value in portfolio companies by cultivating true partnerships with management teams and focusing on one core goal: Building Great Companies. For more information, visit: www.newcapitalpartners.com.