Houlihan Lokey Advises Fingerpaint

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Fingerpaint has received a strategic investment from Knox Lane, a leading middle-market investment firm. In conjunction with the transaction, Fingerpaint founder and Chief Executive Officer Ed Mitzen and the existing management team will be significant investors in the business and continue to lead the company in their current roles.

Since its founding by Ed Mitzen in 2008, Fingerpaint has leveraged an innovative and data-driven approach to providing integrated marketing services to a growing roster of healthcare clients, specifically in pharmaceutical, rare disease, and gene therapy, resulting in 12 straight years of significant revenue growth and expansion. In February 2020, Fingerpaint further enhanced its healthcare advisory capabilities through the acquisition of 1798, a market access and commercialization firm that specializes in healthcare consulting services, including patient and provider access services, financial impact analysis and analytics, competitive intelligence, and pull-through solutions. Today, Fingerpaint employs more than 400 individuals across its five offices in New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Jersey, and California.

Independent by design, with integrated talent across the United States, Fingerpaint is built on a foundation of empathy and, at its core, is committed to creating and executing meaningful brand experiences for healthcare providers, care partners, and patients.

In 2020, Fingerpaint acquired 1798, a market access and commercialization firm located in La Jolla, California, adding to its portfolio of services in support of biopharma customers. The agency also launched Photo 51, a gene therapy consultancy. Fingerpaint was named 2019 Agency of the Year by Med Ad News, and in 2018, it won the Heart Award from Med Ad News for its commitment to philanthropy and social causes. Additionally, it has been on Inc. magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies for the past seven years.

Formed in 2019 and based in San Francisco, Knox Lane is a middle-market investment firm led by and composed of a team of accomplished investors and operators with a shared work history and a strong track record of partnering with leading companies to accelerate transformational growth. Knox Lane employs an investor-operator mindset and seeks to provide support across a number of business components, including human capital, brand management, end-to-end digital transformation, sourcing, supply chain and logistics, strategic acquisitions, and business development.

Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Fingerpaint.