Digital Product Engineering Leader Sparq Receives Strategic Investment from Harvest Partners Ascend

Partnership Will Strategically Expand Company's Geographic Footprint and Digital Service Offerings

ATLANTA and NEW YORK, June 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sparq (or the "Company"), a leading U.S.-based provider of outsourced digital engineering for technology driven and Fortune 1000 companies, today announced that funds managed by Harvest Partners Ascend, LP ("Harvest Partners Ascend") have acquired a majority stake in the Company. The partnership will allow Sparq to further scale its operations and digital service offerings and create high-quality technology career opportunities in places where they otherwise might not exist. Bain Capital Double Impact, Sparq's current investment partner since 2019, will remain an investor in the Company. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2004 and based in Atlanta, Georgia, Sparq empowers agile and experienced software engineering teams across the country with a disciplined, product-oriented approach and the collaborative infrastructure to meet and exceed customer needs. The Company offers a growing suite of software engineering capabilities including product strategy and design, digital engineering, application modernization, artificial intelligence solutions and data and analytics services. Sparq will continue to operate under the current management team, who remain significant investors in the business.

"We've been impressed by the Harvest Partners Ascend team's industry knowledge, expertise, and record of success, and believe we've found the right partner to help us scale the business to the next level," said Monty Hamilton, CEO of Sparq. "This partnership will help to drive our expansion into new geographies and add new high-value digital and product engineering capabilities as we continue to build Sparq into a leading provider of outsourced digital engineering for technology driven and Fortune 1000 companies. We are grateful to Bain Capital Double Impact for their support and partnership to date."

Digital transformation, through fully outsourced product engineering, is a long-term investment theme for the Harvest Partners Ascend team, and the firm views Sparq as a highly attractive platform to accelerate growth through a buy and build strategy. "We look forward to supporting Sparq as it executes its strategic roadmap of investing in next-generation digital capabilities and technology talent," said Justin Lipton, Partner and Co-Head of Harvest Partners Ascend. "Sparq's unique culture and client first approach will continue to be the foundation of the Company in the future. We are excited to partner with Monty and the Sparq management team on its next phase of growth."

"Since inception, Sparq has been deeply committed to enabling economic opportunity by creating high-quality technology careers in communities outside of traditional technology corridors," said Iain Ware, a Partner at Bain Capital Double Impact. "It's been a privilege to partner with Monty and the management team to significantly scale Sparq's mission over the past four years, and we are pleased to continue to support the Company's growth trajectory alongside our new partners at Harvest Partners Ascend."

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. served as financial advisor and Morris, Manning, & Martin LLP provided legal representation to Sparq. William Blair served as financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP represented Harvest Partners Ascend.

About Sparq

Sparq is a leading provider of outsourced digital engineering to build, deploy and support digital applications, products, and experiences. Sparq's unique U.S.-centric, 100% remote delivery model accesses untapped and underleveraged technology talent, and eliminates the obstacles of distant time zones, language, and geopolitical risks. Scrum-as-a-Service^®, Sparq's unique engagement framework for Agile software engineering, provides rapid and flexible deployment of multidisciplinary teams via an elastic consumption model and predictable monthly pricing. The Company provides world-class solutions for technology-driven and Fortune 1000 clients across various industries including Logistics and Transportation, Healthcare, High-Tech and Financial Services. For more information, please visit www.teamsparq.com.

About Harvest Partners Ascend

Harvest Partners Ascend was launched by Harvest Partners, LP in 2022 to act on compelling platform investment opportunities at the lower end of the middle market. It focuses on investments in lower middle market companies in the business and technology services sectors. Founded in 1981, Harvest Partners, LP is an established New York-based private equity investment firm that focuses on investments in middle-market companies in the business services & industrial services, consumer, healthcare, industrials and software industries. For more information, please visit www.harvestpartners.com

About Bain Capital Double Impact

Bain Capital Double Impact is the impact investing strategy of Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm. Bain Capital Double Impact leverages deep industry experience and an active, value-added approach to build great companies that deliver both competitive financial returns and meaningful, measurable social and environmental good. Bain Capital Double Impact partners with companies across three themes – health & wellness, education & workforce development, and sustainability to create long-term value and meaningful social impact at scale. For more information, visit www.baincapitaldoubleimpact.com

Media Contacts:

Sparq
Tyler Pearson
404.722.2222
tyler@high-iron.com

Lambert
Lisa Baker
[email protected]
603.868.1967
Or
Beth Wiegard
[email protected]
616.258.5777

SOURCE Sparq