Founder Friendly

A collaborative partner for ambitious founders

For us, partnership is all about fostering an open, transparent, and honest relationship.

Hear from founders why they chose to partner with Mainsail.

“As a founder, bringing in your first investor is one of the hardest and most important decisions you'll make. We were fortunate to get it right when we partnered with Mainsail. Their help in recruiting talent has been instrumental in scaling our organization and continuing our growth trajectory. This is one of many areas they've exceeded our expectations.”
Mark Tipton
Founder & CEO, Aspire
➔ Read the Aspire Case Study
“The Mainsail experience is significantly different. I have chosen to work with Mainsail at four different companies because of the people and the quality of the experience. They care about people and are focused on not just preserving, but enhancing, the culture that makes founder-led companies work.”
Cameron Darby
CEO, Teamfront
"What made me feel good about the decision to partner with Mainsail is they understood our industry, invested the time to research Nexus beforehand, and, most importantly, understood the DNA of a bootstrapped founder. I had peace of mind that they would “get” us. In fact, many times during our time together, they were so in lockstep sync with us they could have been a seamless extension of the Nexus team."
Jennifer Coolidge
Co-Founder & President, Nexus
➔ Read the Nexus Case Study
“We have a special team and culture, and many amazing clients and partners that depend on us. The best part was that Mainsail was on the same page. They didn’t reinvent our company; they optimized it, allowing us to remain a product-first, customer-centric organization that was suddenly empowered to do more."
Greg Gonzalez
Founder & CEO, SentryOne
“Choosing Mainsail as Boostlingo’s investment partner was one of the best decisions we have made along our journey. Mainsail’s operational experience has helped us uncover new market opportunities, they have a strong talent team that has helped us bring on seasoned executive leaders, and they have an extensive network that has given us access to new partnership opportunities. Mainsail’s founder- friendly approach has provided the support and guidance we needed to scale.”
Bryan Forrester
Co-Founder and CEO, Boostlingo
➔ Read the Boostlingo Case Study
Hear How Mainsail Helped
“They have the values that respect and appreciate the bootstrap culture. They are willing to allow that to sustain while introducing the necessary changes at the same time.”
Dan Kerpelman
Founder & CEO, Bio-Optronics
“Founder-friendly is the Holy Grail that every founder looks for in an investment partner—someone who is collaborative, there to help in any way, and who takes responsibility with you for things that go well and things that don’t. It should be a team effort, and Mainsail does a great job at being a collaborative partner every step of the way.”
Ben Hodson
Co-Founder and CEO, JobNimbus
➔ Read the JobNimbus Case Study
“Because of Mainsail’s focus on niche ERP products from bootstrapped founder-led companies like us, the collaboration and cross-learning among portfolio companies has been fantastic. We all care so deeply about our industries and know the impact that can be made when customers have the right systems and processes in place. We knew that we could help more customers thrive if we had a partner like Mainsail.”
Paul Van Metre
Founder, ProShop
“Mainsail breaks the PE mold by being truly growth oriented and aligning with founders on a long-term vision for the business. They bring serious resources to the table to help you achieve that vision, including recruiting, M&A, and financing. They build their relationships based off mutual respect and a real eye-to-eye partnership.”
Jonah Chilton
CEO, ServiceCore
➔ Read the ServiceCore Case Study
“As a Co-Founder and executive of a Mainsail Partners portfolio company, Inspect Point, I cannot think of a better partner to help us grow and take the company to the next level. We are not only focused on achieving outstanding business growth but also on cultivating a strong, collaborative culture that empowers our team members and fosters innovation. With Mainsail Partners by our side, we are confident in our ability to enhance our culture and achieve our business goals.”
Jennifer Doyle
Co-Founder and Chief Culture Officer, Inspect Point
“When we set out to choose an investment partner, we were careful to find the right team that understood the long-term vision we aimed to build. That’s why we selected Mainsail, a founder-friendly company that truly understands and supports what we’re trying to do.”
Caleb Frankel
Founder & CEO, Instinct Science

While awards and accolades aren’t the focus of our work, we’re proud to receive recognition for our shared success.

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The 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors recognition presented herein is awarded by Inc., a third-party that is not affiliated with Mainsail Partners or an investor in Mainsail Partners-sponsored vehicles. The recognition was awarded on 10/28/25 for the period 2025. Inc. assessed the nominees based on written responses to questions on Inc.’s nomination form and CEO responses to Inc.’s questionnaire. The number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Mainsail, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognition, cannot be disclosed herein. Inc.’s recognition is based on its own evaluation and opinion and is not indicative of Mainsail Partners’ future performance, and does not reflect the experience of, or any rating by, Mainsail Partners’ investors. Mainsail Partners paid an application fee to participate in the process as well as a fee to use the logo. The receipt of compensation influences, and is likely to present a potential material conflict of interest, relating to the award. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For more information regarding this recognition, please refer to the publication.

The Top Growth Equity Firms of 2025 recognition presented herein is awarded by GrowthCap, a third-party that is not affiliated with Mainsail Partners or an investor in Mainsail Partners-sponsored vehicles. The recognition was awarded on 2/11/26 for the period 2025. GrowthCap assessed nominees based on written responses to questions on GrowthCap’s nomination form. The number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Mainsail, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognition, cannot be disclosed herein. GrowthCap’s recognition is based on its own evaluation and opinion and is not indicative of Mainsail Partners’ future performance, and does not reflect the experience of, or any rating by, Mainsail Partners’ investors.  In connection with the announcement of award results, Mainsail Partners paid a fee to GrowthCap that covered publishing, copyright, distribution of award results, use of the logo, and inclusion of Mainsail and select firm news in certain GrowthCap publications. The receipt of compensation influences, and is likely to present a potential material conflict of interest, relating to the rating. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For more information regarding this recognition, please see the linked publication.

The Top Private Equity Firms of 2025 recognition presented herein is awarded by GrowthCap, a third-party that is not affiliated with Mainsail Partners or an investor in Mainsail Partners-sponsored vehicles. The recognition was awarded on 8/19/25 for the period 2025. GrowthCap assessed nominees based on written responses to questions on GrowthCap’s nomination form. The number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Mainsail, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognition, cannot be disclosed herein. GrowthCap’s recognition is based on its own evaluation and opinion and is not indicative of Mainsail Partners’ future performance, and does not reflect the experience of, or any rating by, Mainsail Partners’ investors. In connection with the announcement of award results, Mainsail Partners paid a fee to GrowthCap that covered publishing, copyright, distribution of award results, use of the logo, and inclusion of Mainsail and select firm news in certain GrowthCap publications. The receipt of compensation influences, and is likely to present a potential material conflict of interest, relating to the rating. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For more information regarding this recognition, please refer to the publication.

The Top Private Equity Innovators recognition presented herein is awarded by BluWave, a third-party that is not affiliated with Mainsail Partners or an investor in Mainsail Partners-sponsored vehicles. The recognition was awarded on 03/04/26 for the period 2025. BluWave independently assessed candidates in consultation with limited partners, investment bankers, industry thought leaders, and service providers in the private equity ecosystem. The exact number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Mainsail, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognition, cannot be disclosed herein. BluWave’s recognition is based on its own evaluation and opinion and is not indicative of Mainsail Partners’ future performance and does not reflect the experience of, or any rating by, Mainsail investors. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For more information regarding this recognition, please see the linked publication.

The 2026 Top 50 PE Firm for Founders in the Middle Market recognition presented herein is awarded by Grady Campbell Incorporated (GCI), a third-party that is not affiliated with Mainsail Partners or an investor in Mainsail Partners-sponsored vehicles. The recognition was awarded on 1/26/26 for the period 2025. GCI assessed nominees based on written responses to questions on GCI’s nomination form. The number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Mainsail, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognitions, cannot be disclosed herein. GCI’s recognitions are based on its own evaluation and opinion and is not indicative of Mainsail Partners’ future performance, and do not reflect the experience of, or any rating by, Mainsail Partners’ investors. Mainsail Partners paid an application fee to participate in the 2026 Top 50 PE Firm for Founders in the Middle Market process as well as a fee to use the logo. The receipt of compensation influences, and is likely to present a potential material conflict of interest, relating to the rating. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For more information regarding this recognition, please see the linked publication.

Certain statements about Mainsail Management Company, LLC (“Mainsail” or “Mainsail Partners”) made by portfolio company executives herein are intended to illustrate Mainsail’s business relationship with such persons, including with respect to Mainsail’s facilities as a business partner, rather than Mainsail’s capabilities or expertise with respect to investment advisory services. Portfolio company executives were not compensated in connection with their participation, although they generally receive compensation and investment opportunities in connection with their portfolio company roles, and in certain cases are also owners of portfolio company securities and/or investors in Mainsail-sponsored vehicles. Such compensation and investments subject participants to potential conflicts of interest in making the statements herein.

The portfolio companies identified do not represent all of the investments made or recommended by Mainsail and were not selected based on the performance of such investments. These investments are meant to show a portion of the Mainsail portfolio and are not intended to be representative of any current or future investments. There can be no assurance any fund managed by Mainsail will be able to consummate investments with the same or similar characteristics to the portfolio companies described herein, or that, if consummated, such investments will be profitable. For more information on Mainsail’s portfolio companies, please refer to the Portfolio page.