Gridiron Backs the Back Office Behind Biotech

Gridiron Capital has acquired van den Boom & Associates (VDB), a provider of outsourced finance, accounting, and back-office services to life sciences companies. Gridiron’s investment was made in partnership with founder Esther van den Boom, who will continue to lead the business.



VDB's services include finance and accounting, human resources, contract management, regulatory compliance, and information-technology management, along with specialized technical accounting and transaction support such as implementing the financial controls that public companies must maintain. VDB’s clients range from early-stage, venture-backed startups to publicly traded biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, more than 160 of which it currently serves.

In practice, VDB functions as an outside back office. It can run a client’s accounting close and financial reporting, manage payroll and benefits, administer contracts, and provide the technical accounting help needed for events such as audits, financings, and acquisitions. By outsourcing these functions to a specialist, a small life sciences company can meet the reporting and compliance demands of investors and regulators without hiring a full internal staff, keeping its own people focused on research.

San Diego-headquartered VDB was founded in 2014 by Ms. van den Boom and has grown to more than 150 professionals. The firm has additional offices in Boston, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, and the Philippines. Gridiron’s investment in VDB is the company’s first institutional capital.

[caption id="attachment_239474" align="alignright" width="120"] Scott Harrison[/caption]

“VDB solves a real problem for companies whose success depends on staying focused on the science. For more than a decade, the VDB team has earned the trust of life sciences companies by giving them the operational leverage to grow. We see meaningful opportunity ahead as the business adds new services and invests in its people and technology, and we are excited to be their partner,” said Scott Harrison, a managing partner and chief operating officer of Gridiron Capital.

Outsourcing of business functions by life sciences companies has grown as drug developers, especially smaller venture-backed ones, lean on outside specialists rather than building large internal staffs. The global life sciences business-process outsourcing market was valued at roughly $494.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow about 8.7% a year to about $742.8 billion by 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence, with North America accounting for more than 40% of revenue; a separate estimate from SNS Insider puts the long-run growth rate at a similar 8.6%.

The sector’s demand is fed by the rising cost and complexity of drug development and by a wave of venture-backed biotechnology companies — a group expanding at roughly 8.4% a year — that prefer to outsource finance, accounting, and compliance expertise rather than hire it. Finance and accounting, in particular, has become a common early outsourcing decision as young companies confront investor reporting and regulatory requirements.

[caption id="attachment_239468" align="alignright" width="120"] Esther van den Boom[/caption]

“Since founding VDB, our focus has been on giving life sciences companies the turn-key back office and operational support they need so they can focus on improving patient outcomes and lives. In Gridiron, we found a partner that will enable us to continue being best in class, while expanding our offerings to serve more client needs. We are confident this next chapter will benefit both our clients and our people,” said Ms. van den Boom.

VDB has grown consistently since 2014 and retained its clients, evidence of the recurring, embedded relationships that make outsourced back-office work difficult to displace.

“vdB&A sits at the intersection of two durable trends, the growth of venture-backed life sciences companies and their increasing preference for specialized partners to manage core operations. The company’s consistent growth and client retention reflect the strength of that position. Gridiron will support its continued expansion through investments in leadership, new service offerings, and technology,” said Aaron Stoppelmann, a principal at Gridiron.

Gridiron Capital invests in companies with enterprise values between $75 million and $600 million and EBITDA from $10 million to $60 million. The firm’s sectors of interest include business services, consumer products and services, and industrial growth.

Gridiron is currently investing from its fifth fund, which closed above target in October 2023 with $2.1 billion in capital. Fund V is Gridiron’s largest fund to date, significantly surpassing its fourth fund, which closed in December 2020 with $1.35 billion. The firm was co-founded in 2005 by managing partners Tom Burger and Kevin Jackson and is headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Houlihan Lokey and Guggenheim Securities were the financial advisors to Gridiron Capital, and Clearsight Advisors was the financial advisor to van den Boom & Associates.