Profile

H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a global alternative investment firm founded in 1993 with $60 billion of equity capital under management. Focusing on the small-cap and mid-cap segments of the market, H.I.G. Growth invests in growing, technology-oriented businesses across sectors including SaaS, cloud & data software, technology, media & telecommunications, fintech, consumer, healthcare, and technology-enabled services. The firm makes both majority and minority investments throughout North America, Europe and Latin America.

H.I.G. Growth leverages the resources of its parent organization, including over 500 investment professionals, 19 office locations, and over 100 active portfolio companies. Its extensive network and resources include a portfolio operating team that create value in partnership with portfolio companies, accelerating their growth in areas including talent, go-to-market, digital transformation, FP&A, and M&A. The firm values a collaborative, inclusive culture focused on mutual respect, curiosity, and partnership which is evidenced by strong relationships across the firm and portfolio organizations.

www.higgrowth.com

Awards

2023 Top Growth Equity Firms

2023 Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Eunji Chung, Albert Koh

2023 Top Software Investors, Ross Hiatt

2023 Top Private Equity Firms

2023 Best Growth Investment Firms

2022 Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Patrick Conroy

2022 Top 25 Private Equity Firms

2013 Top 15 Growth Equity Investors

Key People

Brian Schwartz Co-President, H.I.G. Capital

Brian is Co-President of H.I.G. Capital. He joined the firm in 1994. In his current position, along with Rick Rosen, he directs the day-to-day operations of the firm and sits on the investment committees for all H.I.G. funds, including H.I.G. Growth.

Brian began his career with the investment banking firm of Dillon, Read and Co. where he split his time between the corporate finance group and the private equity funds. 

Brian earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BS with honors from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ross Hiatt, Head of H.I.G. Growth Partners

Ross has over two decades of investing and finance experience, and focuses on consumer internet, B2B and B2C marketplaces, digital media and entertainment, fintech and enterprise technology. 

Before joining H.I.G., he was a senior member of the technology investment team at TPG Capital and was responsible for all aspects of investment sourcing, execution and oversight. Prior investment and board experience includes Calm.com, Dream11, Goal.com, Age of Learning (ABCmouse) and Pray. 

Before TPG, Ross spent ten years at Goldman Sachs where he worked with some of the world’s leading technology companies. Ross began his career in the leveraged finance group at J.P. Morgan. Ross earned a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, both with honors.

Patrick Conroy, Managing Director

Patrick has over a decade of investing and advisory experience across a broad range of industries and business models including consumer subscription, digital media & gaming, prop-tech, online marketplaces, and vertical SaaS. Prior investment and board experience includes Clear, Orchard, Curbio, Convene, Talkspace, BigCommerce, and Cava. 

Prior to joining H.I.G., Patrick was a Partner at Revolution Growth, a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm focused on minority growth equity investments in the technology sector. Patrick began his career at Morgan Stanley on the Technology Investment Banking and Equity Capital Markets teams. 

Patrick graduated from Brown University with a BA in commerce, organizations, and entrepreneurship. While at Brown, Patrick was a team captain on the varsity football team and earned Academic All-American honors.

Hans Sherman, Managing Director

Hans Sherman is a Managing Director at H.I.G. Growth Partners and is based in the Boston office, where he focuses on growth equity investments focused primarily on infrastructure and application software. Hans is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including originating, structuring, financing and executing post-closing growth and operational strategies. 

Hans has over 15 years of investing experience across a broad range of industries including cloud infrastructure, cyber security, horizontal and vertical SaaS, and internet and digital marketing. Prior investment and board experience includes BioCatch, A Cloud Guru, Revenue.io, Knowbe4, Persado, Tastemade, ScienceLogic, and AvePoint. 

Prior to joining H.I.G., Hans was a Partner at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities and a Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division. Hans began his career at Summit Partners, a growth equity firm in Boston. 

Hans earned a BA in economics and history from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from UCLA Anderson.

Funds Raised

H.I.G. Growth Partners was founded as the dedicated Growth Capital fund of H.I.G. Capital, a leading $60 Billion AUM global alternative assets manager. H.I.G. Growth Partners has grown at an impressive clip, nearly doubling its $500M 2012 vintage fund with a subsequent 2019 vintage fund which closed at approximately $1B. This growth was enabled by the early successes of Fund II, with several investments made in the first few years of the fund quickly delivering strong performance.

Today, H.I.G. Growth Buyout & Equity Fund III focuses primarily on growing, technology-oriented businesses.

Key Investments

Fidelity Payments: Invested June ’17, Exited July ’22
Sector: FinTech

Fidelity is a fully integrated, innovative technology and payment processing provider. Through its end-to-end platform, proprietary omni-channel payment gateway and technology platform, Fidelity seamlessly integrates with a wide variety of POS systems, ERP software, eCommerce, and mobile solutions to provide partners the flexibility to customize their payment processing solution for an enhanced merchant and customer experience.

Eruptr: Invested September ’18, Exited February ’23
Sector: Internet

The Eruptr platform provides a full suite of digital marketing and patient engagement solutions, including SEM, SEO, and Social Media marketing. Eruptr campaigns increase awareness, visitors and conversions for healthcare providers, local/national businesses, political, advocacy and non profits. Eruptr targets and engages online users at the exact moment they are seeking information, solutions and treatment.

JumpCloud: Invested December ’20
Sector: SaaS, Cloud & Data Platforms

JumpCloud is reimagining the on-prem directory as a cloud-based platform that secures identities, manages devices, and provides safe access to all types of IT resources—on-prem, in the cloud, across Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Corelight: Invested September ‘21
Sector: SaaS, Cloud & Data Platforms

Corelight’s network detection and response platform protects enterprises from advanced cybersecurity threats. Corelight is the only commercial vendor to enable the deployment of Zeek & Suricata, two leading open-source network data platforms, at-scale. Their platform is purpose-built for the most complex enterprise networks that need to analyze network traffic data at the wire and application layers to enable security teams to find, assess, and remediate threats in real-time. The company is trusted by some of the largest enterprises, government agencies, and universities globally.

MyKaarma: Invested April ‘22
Sector: SaaS, Cloud & Data Platforms

myKaarma is a rapidly growing provider of innovative, end-to-end software and payments solutions for franchise automotive dealerships across the United States and Canada. Built upon an industry-leading communications and payments platform, myKaarma is an integrated, end-to-end service lane and fixed operations solution that includes scheduling, communications, payments, pickup and delivery, video MPI, BDC solutions, and reporting.

ProsperOps: Invested February ‘23
Sector: FinOps

ProsperOps is the leading FinOps automation platform. Founded in 2018, ProsperOps provides an intuitive, autonomous cloud cost optimization experience that automatically manages discount instruments to maximize computer savings and minimize commitment risk. ProsperOps is a Founding and Premier member of the FinOps Foundation and a FinOps certified platform, AWS Cloud Management Tool Competency & ISV-Accelerate Partner, and 2021 Gartner Cool Vendor in Cloud Computing.

Capital Responsibility

H.I.G. Capital is committed to prioritizing environmental, social and governance factors in its investment activities. Acting as a responsible steward of its investments is the responsibility of each and every one of its employees.

The firm recognizes that companies with strong ESG practices attract better talent, have fewer business risks, and ultimately deliver better long-term value for all stakeholders. ESG considerations are evaluated, integrated and monitored at all stages of the investment process, from initial due diligence, to post closing engagement. 

Dozens of current H.I.G. Capital portfolio companies have active ESG initiatives, including H.I.G. Growth Partners portfolio companies Everlaw, Parachute Home and CarltoneOne, and H.I.G. is proud to be a UN PRI signatory.

CEO Reviews

Bob Youakim, Founder and Chairman, Passport Labs

“We had several potential investors interested in our rapidly growing business. Ultimately, we selected H.I.G. Growth because of the team’s cultural fit, partnership orientation and deep operational understanding in scaling world-class companies.”

Ryan Caldwell, Founder and CEO, MX Technologies

“It’s a pleasure working with investor partners who have such deep appreciation for – and understanding of – SaaS and FinTech platforms.”

Gregg Johnson, CEO, Invoca

“H.I.G.’s support in refining our go-to-market strategy and positioning have helped drive measurable logo growth across segments. Their network as well as helpful, pragmatic approach has been invaluable.”