Guiding principles

We help turn good software companies into great businesses. But we are not for everyone. We have some guiding principles in our investment decisions that are core to us.

We typically invest in software businesses with the following characteristics

B2B software
Mission critical solutions
50%+ recurring revenue
Growing market
Ability to scale internationally
Superior Tern knowledge/expertise within sector to create value

Ownership

We seek significant ownership or board representation in order to align our interests with entrepreneurs or management.

Geography

We invest in businesses in the UK, Ireland and Netherlands. We will selectively invest in businesses based in other countries in Western Europe where we are able to add value.

Transaction types

We are open to any type of transaction from an outright sale, MBIs, buy-and-builds and carve-outs. More specifically, the businesses we see typically fall into one of these buckets.

Buy & Build

  • £0.5-4M ARR
  • £0.5-3M EBITDA
  • Public sector, retail, media and communication verticals

Carve-Outs

  • £1-4M ARR
  • £0.5-3M standalone EBITDA
  • Non-strategic assets of a corporate

Scale-up

  • £1M+ ARR
  • No EBITDA requirement
  • Funding to drive growth

"Tern supported the management team to accelerate the transformation of our technology and increase the value of our business through a focus on a SaaS operating model and underlying sales and support infrastructure. The result was a carrier-grade, scalable SaaS solution with a large addressable market."

Bhavesh Parmar, CEO Telsis

"With their expertise, Tern has been very helpful in transforming our business from on-premise solutions to a full-scale SaaS business."

Graham Moore, Product Director Telsis

"Tern were incredibly quick in understanding our business, focusing on the right levers, putting the right systems and processes in place to accelerate our growth."

Simon Croft, VP Sales & Strategy Dragons

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