Announcing the sale of a founder-led company brings us tremendous satisfaction – helping them realize their vision and scale to new heights while delivering returns to our Limited Partners. It’s also sad to come to the end of a journey that involved so much collaboration to reach our mutual goals. Vista will continue to hold a minority stake in the go-forward business, but we’re experiencing those conflicting feelings this week as we announced the sale of Zapproved to Exterro.

We initially met Founder and CEO Monica Enand in 2016. She had steadily grown Zapproved for nearly a decade as a disruptor in e-discovery software for corporate legal teams and was in search of an investment partner that could offer more than capital during a critical time of growth for her business. Monica was looking for a partner that knew how to scale an organization in a way that created long-term, sustainable growth. After exploring several options, Monica found the synergy between Zapproved and Vista’s core operating values, combined with our vast knowledge and resources to drive the Company forward, to be the best fit. “I could come to them with any problem, and they would have a Vista Best Practice or methodology that’s proven to work and work quickly,” said Enand.

Executive talent, recruitment and advancing a strong company culture were top priorities. Leveraging the Vista ecosystem, Monica found the right candidates to grow her leadership team while making great strides to foster a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are proud that Zapproved was recognized with numerous workplace culture awards during our partnership, including multiple placements on the Portland Business Journal’s list of Oregon’s Most Admired Companies (#3 in 2022). In 2021, Monica was nominated for Vista’s first-ever portfolio DE&I award and, as of the first quarter 2023 – the time of the announcement of the sale to Exterro – the majority of Zapproved’s board was comprised of women and people of color.

Through Vista’s partnership, Zapproved experienced significant growth, twice ranking on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ list. Vista value creation efforts helped Zapproved establish category leadership through product expansion, enhanced customer success and further investment in go-to-markets efforts.

“Founder relationships have driven Vista investment strategies for more than two decades,” said Rachel Arnold, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Vista’s Endeavor Fund. “Our partnership with Monica and the Zapproved team over the past five years has been fruitful – the business has grown while preserving the Company’s position as a preferred employer in the Portland, Oregon community. We are especially proud of the fact that Zapproved has been a leader in our portfolio for advancing diversity and inclusion as part of their operating culture.”

We are grateful to Monica for her authentic and passionate leadership, are proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to the Company’s success in this next chapter with Exterro.