Driven, passionate,
and looking for more

Dirty Dogs, an operator of express car washes in the Southeastern United States, aimed to become industry leaders by having a laser-focus on customer service and philanthropy in every community they serve.

President and CEO Martin Emmett was seeking an investor relationship that would be exceptionally supportive without imposing new difficulties. He hoped to find a partnership in the truest sense of the word, to help Dirty Dogs clean up in its field without losing the scent of its core mission and purpose.

At Cynosure, we saw the value in Martin’s focus on a single brand with community ties, rather than multiple brands that make it challenging for an organization to maintain a cohesive message. This approach builds customer awareness and loyalty, which are especially important at a scale where the margins between good and great can be razor thin.

Martin was pleased at how collaborative every conversation became with Cynosure, and was excited to roll 100% of his equity into crafting a pipeline of new locations. His focus on building new sites organically by planning out 24-36 months in advance—as opposed to the industry-wide focus on mergers and acquisitions—made us big believers in his high-growth business.

Visible Supply Chain, a B2C fulfillment and parcel solutions company, wanted to distinguish themselves from the competition by incorporating their market insights into software that would allow e-commerce to ship better.

But, as Casey Adams (President) says, they needed an investment partner that could help strategically, support M&A, and provide the two main owners with partial liquidity. The combination of all three had the ability to take Visible to the next level.

We at Cynosure recognized that Visible was trying to accelerate in a space with massive tailwinds. Not only was it an opportunity to support the institutionalization process and be a strategic contributor for growth, but there was also a meaningful opportunity to support M&A and the eventual exit process.

We found Casey and the Visible team to be creative, likable, smart, and relentless in their desire to win, which made them an ideal investment candidate for us. Fortunately, the feeling was mutual. As Casey says, with Cynosure, “the trust and respect are very high.”

The teams set up informal Friday-evening calls to discuss the business in a low-key setting that proved ideal for brainstorming, problem-solving, and collaboration. These calls, and the fact they took place on Friday evenings, highlighted the mutual enjoyment of the relationship between Cynosure and Visible.