Synova capital

When you get Synova on board, you’ll be working with people who are driven by success.

We’re in business to make a difference. We don’t just stand by and observe. We act fast to get things done. We have the knowledge and expertise to help management teams make the right strategic decisions and the energy and drive to help our portfolio companies achieve their goals. Select a team member to find out more about our experience.

David Menton
MANAGING PARTNER
David co-founded Synova during 2007 having previously worked both within a subsidiary of WPP plc and at a prominent European family office. He covers the Financial Services and FinTech sectors, working closely with management teams across the Synova portfolio to support their growth plans. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of AllClear Insurance, Stackhouse Poland and Fleetway. David was recently featured in the prestigious Dow Jones-Financial News '40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Private Equity'.

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Philip Shapiro
MANAGING PARTNER
Philip is an experienced investor in growth companies. Prior to co-founding Synova in 2007, Philip worked at Phoenix Equity Partners. Prior to this, he advised private equity houses and mid-market companies on UK acquisitions whilst working at UBS and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. Philip is a Non-Executive Director of Mintec Global, Defaqto and MeritSoft. He oversees the Technology sector.

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Alex Bowden
PARTNER
Alex joined Synova during 2011. He has over 17 years’ experience of successfully investing in and supporting UK mid-market companies. Prior to joining Synova Capital, Alex spent a number of years at Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) and 3i plc investing in businesses across the UK. Alex is a Non-Executive Director of MK Test, Fleetway, Vistair and Fairstone Group and oversees Synova’s strategy in the Business Services sector.

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Tim Ashlin
PARTNER
Tim joined Synova in 2014 and has a broad range of investment experience across the UK mid-market. Prior to joining Synova, he was a Partner and Head of Healthcare & Education at Phoenix Equity Partners. Tim also spent several years advising and supporting companies whilst working for Close Brothers Corporate Finance and for PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Tim is focused on the Healthcare and Education sectors and is a Non-Executive Director of 4Ways Healthcare, Clyde Munro Dental Group and Oakland Primecare.

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Daniel Parker
CFO & PARTNER
Prior to joining, Daniel spent four years at Zouk Capital, a private equity and infrastructure fund manager, where he served as Finance Manager & Head of Compliance. He previously worked at Samena Capital and Man Group Plc, both investment managers. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Ernst and Young, where he spent five years in the investment management team. Daniel is currently a serving member of the BVCA's Legal & Accounting Committee.

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Matthew Charman
INVESTMENT MANAGER
Matthew joined Synova as an Investment Manager during 2015. Prior to joining the team, he worked at M&A boutique, McQueen, advising mid-market private equity houses and corporates on transactions across the Consumer sector. Previously, Matt spent 4 years at KPMG where he worked across a range of business lines, latterly within the Restructuring Group, where he focused primarily on the Financial Services sector. Matt holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Nottingham and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Matt is a Non-Executive Director of AllClear Insurance and Fairstone Group.

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Farieha Altaf
INVESTMENT EXECUTIVE
Farieha joined the Synova team during 2016 having completed a Master of Chemistry (MChem) at the University of Oxford. Prior to joining, she worked as an Equities Analyst at a London based investment management firm.

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Zachary Tsai
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR
Zac joined Synova during 2013. Prior to joining, Zac advised private equity houses and UK mid-market companies on company sales, acquisitions, management buy-outs and growth capital fundraising whilst working in the M&A team at Catalyst Corporate Finance and in the investment banking division of PwC. He holds a Masters in Software Engineering from Birmingham University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Zac is a Non-Executive Director of 4Ways Healthcare and Oakland Primecare.

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Majid Tufail
FINANCIAL CONTROLLER
Majid joined Synova as Financial Controller during 2014. Prior to joining, Majid worked at Augentius Fund Administrators, where he managed a portfolio of private equity funds. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over nine years of experience in financial reporting and fund accounting.

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Cat Stevenson
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Cat has joined the Synova team during the early part of 2015 having previously worked as a Team Assistant in a property advisory firm. She is responsible for providing administrative support to the Investment Team and the Finance Team.

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Scott Fairlie
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR
Scott joined Synova during 2013. Prior to joining the team at Synova, Scott spent 6 years at KPMG working on a number of transactions in the retail, consumer and technology sectors. He is a Non-Executive Director of MK Test, MeritSoft and Vistair. Scott holds a BA in Finance, Accounting and Management from the University of Nottingham and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

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Sunil Jain
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR
Sunil joined Synova from Sovereign Capital, where he spent seven years investing in UK growth companies. Prior to this he was an investor with Blenheim Chalcot and worked in financial services consulting with Oliver Wyman. Sunil has experience across the Financial Services, FinTech, Business Services, Healthcare and Education sectors. He holds a MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and has also studied at MIT.

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Charles Dale
INVESTMENT MANAGER
Charles joined Synova as an Investment Manager during 2014. Prior to joining, Charles worked as an Analyst at Gresham Private Equity, where he focused on lower mid-market UK buy-outs. Charles holds a Masters in Finance and Investment and a BA in Business Economics, both from the University of Exeter.

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Alice Higdon
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Alice joined Synova at the beginning of 2018 having previously spent 5 years as an Executive Assistant at Lyceum Capital. She oversees office management as well as providing support to the Managing Partners. Alice graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Sociology.

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Steve Butterworth
SENIOR US ADVISER
Steve joined Synova during 2017 to develop and implement US market entry strategies for companies across the portfolio. Prior to joining, Steve was based in Chicago and led the expansion of private equity backed legal software provider, BigHand, Since his successful exit from BigHand, Steve has worked with and advised a number of high growth UK tech businesses with US sales ambitions.

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Thomas Usher
INVESTMENT MANAGER
Thomas joined Synova from US growth investor, Summit Partners, where he invested in and assisted European technology companies with expansion into the US market. Prior to joining Summit, Thomas worked for Boston based growth equity firm, Volition Capital, which specialises in software and tech-enabled services. At Synova he focuses on supporting Technology sector companies with their US market entry strategies. Thomas is also a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

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Emily Bullman
INVESTMENT EXECUTIVE
Emily joined Synova as an Investment Executive during 2018. Prior to this, she spent three years in the Financial Sponsors team at HSBC Bank, where she focused on providing financing solutions for mid-market private equity backed transactions. Emily graduated from the University of Bristol in 2014, achieving a First class Honours degree in History.

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Jonathan Lavers
INVESTMENT MANAGER
Jonathan joined Synova as an Investment Manager in 2017. Prior to this he spent a number of years at Korn Ferry, where he focused on Board-level mandates in the technology sector, and Skillcapital, a boutique advisory firm to the private equity industry. At Synova, Jonathan is responsible for coverage of the Technology sector. He graduated from The University of Bristol.

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Mike Mullally
INVESTMENT MANAGER
Mike Mullally joined Synova as an Investment Manager from Alantra (formerly Catalyst Corporate Finance), where he spent three year focused on mid-market M&A transactions across a variety of sectors, including Healthcare and Education. Mike qualified as a Chartered Accountant with EY and holds a MEng in Civil Engineering from Loughborough University.

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