Private equity investor backing search fund entrepreneurs
Trilogy Search Partners
- HeadquartersMercer Island, WA S5
- Founded2014 S1
- Websitetrilogy-search.com
- Last verifiedOctober 20, 2026
At a glance
| Deal types | Platform S2 |
|---|---|
| Sectors | Software & SaaS, Healthcare Services, Environmental & Waste, Landscaping, Transportation & Logistics |
What Trilogy Search Partners buys
Trilogy Search Partners backs search fund entrepreneurs: people, often early in their careers, who raise money to find one established private company, buy it and then run it as chief executive. Trilogy stays involved from start to finish. It helps shape the searcher's thesis and fundraising, supports deal sourcing with research and feedback, works on valuation, diligence and negotiations, and joins the board after closing. It says it takes part in more than 80 percent of the acquisitions closed by the searchers it backs, and it also invests with self-funded searchers who arrive with a deal already in hand.
Founded in 2014, with offices on Mercer Island near Seattle and in San Francisco, Trilogy reports more than $240 million of committed capital and more than 90 completed transactions. Most deals fall in software, healthcare and healthcare IT, tech-enabled services and traditional business services, though it says finding a great business matters more than the industry. It publishes no size range. An owner will almost always meet Trilogy through a searcher it backs.
Portfolio by sector
From the firm's portfolio page S3.
B2B Services
- Canyonlands Camps
- CITTA Brokerage Co.
- CSW
- DriveSafe
- Kind Behavioral Health
- Meridian Title
- Metabolic Solutions, Inc.
- MeterNet
- OneShield
- Radiation Detection Co
- Spivey Services
- Sterling Labs
- Sunscape
Healthcare
- Abound Health
- EndoscopyMD
- Ennoble Care
- IntellaTriage
- Pando Home Care
- Woven Care
Software
- Advanced Aircrew Academy
- BP Logix
- Bridge Insure
- BroadPeak Partners
- Clariti
- Critical Path Security / Léargas Security
- Crystal Practice Management
- FleetFlo
- Growth99
- ISI
- ITpipes
- Message Digital
- Omatic
- Performio
- TASKRAY
- Transifex
- TrueMed LIS
Tech-Enabled Services
- ACES Monitoring
- ASI Group
- BSU Electronics
- ExpensePoint
- Greenback Expat Tax Services
- Premier World Discovery
- PtEverywhere
- Reliable Premium Management
- Upper Hand
- Wayleadr
Past investments: Ascend Software, Automotive Business Solutions, BEX Realty, Botanical Designs, Castle Tire, Cerbo, Contact Centers Dominicana, Crown Health, Dragonfly Pond Works, Dynamic Growth, Efficient Hire, Emporos, Ethos, Extended Care Professional (ECP), Falcon, FieldEdge, Fraxion, FSI, Icon, Market Equipment, Morningside, Nuqleous, Pacific Fertility, PrecisionMed, Remarkable Health, RMC, SuperSalon, Utility Cloud
Greymont’s take
How Trilogy Search Partners fits a seller
Trilogy fits an owner who wants to hand the business to a single new chief executive rather than to a large company or a traditional buyout fund. In a search fund deal the searcher moves into the top job, so the seller steps back from running the company, usually after a handover period. In Trilogy's BSU Electronics case study, the former owner says he wanted a buyer who would protect the team and keep growing the company, and that he was able to step away smoothly once the new CEO took over.
Because the buyer is one person backed by a group of investors, owners should ask what operating experience the searcher brings, who else is in the investor group, how the purchase will be financed, and whether any of the price is deferred or tied to future results. Trilogy publishes no size criteria, so ask early whether your company's earnings fit what the investor group will fund.
Questions owners ask
What does Trilogy Search Partners do in a search fund deal?
It invests in the searcher and helps at every stage: shaping the fund and thesis, setting up the search, sourcing companies, valuation and diligence, and then serving on the board or as an advisor once the searcher runs the business.
Which industries does Trilogy invest in?
Its portfolio leans toward traditional business-to-business services plus software, healthcare and tech-enabled services. Trilogy says its job is to help the searcher find a great business, whatever the industry, so it is not limited to those areas.
Does Trilogy only back searchers who raised a traditional search fund?
No. It supports traditional search funds from the fundraising stage, but its case studies also describe self-funded searchers, such as the buyers of Clariti and BSU Electronics, who brought Trilogy in once they had found a company.
How much capital does Trilogy have?
Its website reports more than $240 million of committed capital, an eleven-person team focused on entrepreneurs, and more than 90 completed transactions since 2014.
Sources
- S1Trilogy Search Partners home page Accessed October 20, 2026
- S2Trilogy Search Partners: Approach Accessed October 20, 2026
- S3Trilogy Search Partners: Portfolio Accessed October 20, 2026
- S4Trilogy Search Partners: Team Accessed October 20, 2026
- S5Trilogy Search Partners: Contact (office addresses) Accessed October 20, 2026
- S6Trilogy Search Partners case study: BSU Electronics Accessed October 20, 2026
- S7Trilogy Search Partners case study: Clariti Accessed October 20, 2026
Compiled by Greymont Advisors from public sources, including the firm’s own website and press releases. Greymont is not affiliated with Trilogy Search Partners. Figures are as reported on the dates shown and may have changed. Request a correction