Jacob Voorhees
Managing Director
Jacob co-founded Navagant in 2023 as a boutique sell-side M&A firm dedicated to the Education and Training industry, after founding and leading the Education and Training practice at Capstone Partners for 20 years.
He has been nominated for over 50 M&A deal of the year awards, winning 20 of them, and was named Investment Banker of the Year in 2021.
Background
Jacob is from a small dairy farm in Iowa, the son of hippie runaways, who both were the first in their families to go to college. By the age of five years old, he was waking up at 4 AM to milk and feed cows before school and again after school from 3-8 PM. Consequently, the values of a good education, independence, responsibility, work ethic, and the importance of family were repetitively taught from a very young age. Much to his parents’ chagrin, he enrolled at Cornell University to become a large animal veterinarian or a college professor but got sidetracked with finance classes resulting in an unpaid internship with Rabobank, a Dutch multinational bank in New York City. He worked on mergers and acquisitions in South and Latin America, specifically focusing on dairy and agriculture.
A couple of years later, in a moment of brilliance and foresight, he moved to Boston and accepted a job with Arthur Andersen in their M&A technology practice as the tech bubble was bursting and Andersen was being brought down by Enron. Realizing that corporate America wasn’t the best place for an individual with an independent streak, in 2003, he co-founded Capstone Partners. From the onset, he founded, led, and developed the Education and Training practice at Capstone.
Over the next 20 years, he was instrumental in growing the firm from two to over 200 people, successfully helping lead the Company through its sale to Huntington Bank in June 2022. During his tenure at Capstone, he was nominated for over 50 M&A deal of the year awards, winning 20 of them, and being named an Emerging Leader in his early 30s and Investment Banker of the Year in 2021 at age 44. However, the entrepreneurial bug bit again, and in early 2023, he and the rest of the Education and Training practice left Huntington to found Navagant, a boutique sell-side M&A firm dedicated to the Education and Training industry.
In his limited free time, he and JJ love going on nature hikes, traveling the world, becoming “master” home improvement experts, and golfing poorly. He barely tolerates a massive inter-family Boston vs. Pittsburgh sports rivalry and tries to get to Cape Cod to visit his folks as much as possible.
Selected Transactions
View All Navagant TransactionsSelected transactions involving Jacob. Includes experience at prior firms.
Deal Recognition
Recognition for transactions involving Jacob and the team.
2026
Corporate/Strategic Deal of the Year
Global Educators acquired by CEA CAPA Education Abroad. The M&A Advisor Awards.
Read the Announcement2026
Recapitalization Deal of the Year
Legacy Swim Group recapitalized by Main Street Capital Corporation. 16th Annual Americas M&A Atlas Awards.
Read the Announcement2026
EducationInvestor Awards Finalist
Financial Advisor of the Year and Consultant of the Year, Deal-Making. Navagant was also a finalist in 2024 and 2025.
Read the Announcement2025
M&A Deal of the Year
Atlantis acquired by Infinedi-owned CEA CAPA Education Abroad. 16th Annual International M&A Advisor Awards.
Read the Announcement2025
Regional Deal of the Year, Oceania
RAIN Group acquired by Alchemist. 16th Annual International M&A Advisor Awards.
Read the Announcement2025
Boutique M&A Investment Bank of the Year
Navagant named Boutique M&A Investment Bank of the Year, USA Middle Markets, at the 16th Americas M&A Atlas Awards.
Read the Announcement2025
USA Private Equity Deal of the Year
Heavy Equipment Colleges of America recapitalized by Argosy Capital. Americas M&A Atlas Awards.
Read the Announcement2025
M&A Advisor Awards Finalist
Atlantis, RAIN Group and Elsmere Education, plus Mid Size Boutique Investment Banking Firm of the Year, at the 24th Annual M&A Advisor Awards.
Read the Announcement2024
M&A Deal of the Year
Hawkes Learning recapitalized by Golden Vision Capital Americas. 15th Annual International M&A Awards, The M&A Advisor.
Read the Announcement2024
Advisor of the Year
The M&A Source, awarded to the deal maker with the highest combined purchase price of completed deals in 2023.
Read the Announcement2024
USA Deal of the Year
Neuroscience Education Institute acquired by HMP Global. 15th Annual Americas and Global Markets M&A Atlas Awards.
Read the Announcement2024
M&A Advisor Awards Finalist
Eleven nominations across Envisage International, Hawkes Learning, Heavy Equipment Colleges of America and NEI, plus Mid Size Boutique Investment Banking Firm of the Year.
Read the Announcement2023
M&A Deal of the Year
APEX Anesthesia Review acquired by TrueLearn. The M&A Advisor Awards.
Read the Announcement2023
Education Deal of the Year
APEX Anesthesia Review acquired by TrueLearn. M&A Atlas Awards, USA Middle Markets.
Read the Announcement2023
Deal of the Year
Yardstick Management acquired by Diversified Search Group. M&A Atlas Awards, USA Middle Markets.
Read the Announcement2023
M&A Advisor Awards Finalist
Six nominations across APEX Anesthesia Review and Yardstick Management.
Read the Announcement2022
Education Services Deal of the Year
Rosh Review’s acquisition by Blueprint. Completed before Navagant’s founding.
View Transaction2021
Investment Banker of the Year
Named Investment Banker of the Year at age 44 while leading the Education and Training practice at Capstone Partners.
BackgroundNews & Insights
View All InsightsResearch and market commentary with contributions from Jacob.
Industry Reports
Monthly Market Updates
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Co-founder of Navagant, a boutique sell-side M&A firm dedicated to the Education and Training industry.
Managing Director
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