Toronto’s Define Capital has completed its fourth acquisition, snapping up Mississauga-based student credential verification software company Synergy Gateway Verified (SGV).
Define founder and CEO Narbe Alexandrian shared the news in an exclusive interview with BetaKit. He did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, which closed during the second quarter. SGV’s 13-person team has joined the permanent capital investment firm.
Define founder and CEO Narbe Alexandrian described SGV as “the plumbing in the wall.”
Define buys, optimizes, and holds established and profitable niche, business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) firms. SGV fits that bill. The bootstrapped company, which was founded in 2003 by former CEO Kapil Gupta, has been selling compliance software to Canadian postsecondary institutions for a long time.
Today, SGV caters to more than 40 colleges and universities across the country, processing over two million documents and 100,000 transactions annually.
Alexandrian said Define was attracted to SGV’s high client retention rate and strong presence within medical programs, where it helps schools ensure students meet requirements—such as medical assessments, police checks, and training certifications—before entering clinical and field placements. He claimed SGV has captured 60 percent market share in Canada. The Define CEO described SGV as “the plumbing in the wall.”
“They’ve been around for a long period of time, they’re part of the workflow of [these organizations], and it’s very hard to rip them out if you wanted to … And when customers say they don’t want to, it’s even better,” Alexandrian said.
As part of this transaction, former SGV vice-president of operations Shaila Gupta has transitioned to CEO. Define plans to expand SGV’s sales and marketing capabilities, advance its use of AI, and support its expansion across Canada and abroad.
Alexandrian, a former OMERS Ventures and RIV Capital employee, spun up Define in early 2023 after identifying room to follow in the footsteps of fellow Toronto firm Constellation Software, which follows a similar business model but at a much larger scale. Define became a software consolidator at a time when many older owners are looking to sell their businesses.
Montréal-based Valsoft Corporation and Toronto’s Beacon Software are also deploying similar playbooks with an eye towards AI.
In 2024, Define raised $20 million CAD to finance its acquisition strategy from undisclosed, local, high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and strategic investors with backgrounds in tech, entrepreneurship, and finance. Last year, the investment firm topped up its coffers with a $27.7-million debt facility from Scotiabank.
Define has used this capital to purchase three other Ontario firms: a pair of Newmarket-based municipal government software companies specializing in property tax arrears in Realtax and Ontario Tax Sales, and Mississauga-based healthcare analytics provider 3terra.
Alexandrian claimed Define’s portfolio is profitable and now generating close to $20 million CAD in annual recurring revenue across 46 employees, including eight on the core Define team and 38 across its portfolio companies.
The vertical-agnostic acquirer targets sticky, well-established Canadian B2B software companies that serve large clients in difficult-to-break-into markets with few competitors.
“We love boring industries,” Alexandrian said. “An industry that isn’t sexy enough for [venture capital] is an industry for us.”
Feature image courtesy Define Capital.