Profile

Level Equity is a middle-market private investment firm focused on providing growth capital to rapidly growing software and technology-enabled businesses. Level invests thematically, with broad flexibility to pursue a variety of transaction types and structures—from control buyouts to minority growth and credit investments—and utilizes its full-stack value team of operating experts, NextLevel Operations, to help its companies enhance and sustain growth, innovation, and efficiency. Level Equity currently manages over $6.4 billion, has made over 125 investments since its inception, and has offices in New York, NY, and Greenwich, CT.

Awards

2026 Top Healthcare Investors

2025 Top Private Equity Firms, Top Women Leaders, Top Software Investors, Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Top Growth Equity Firms

2024 Top Growth Equity Firms

2023 Top Growth Equity Firms

2022 Top Growth Equity Firms

2015 Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors

Features

Driving Growth and Value: Level Equity’s Co-Founder & CEO Ben Levin

GrowthCap’s RJ Lumba spoke with Ben Levin on December 10, 2025. Ben is Co-Founder and CEO of Level Equity, a private investment firm focused on software and technology-enabled businesses. He founded the firm in 2009, and it has raised over $4.5 billion and completed more than 125 investments.

Next Level Growth Investing: Level Equity’s Ben Levin

GrowthCap’s RJ Lumba spoke with Ben Levin on August 4, 2023. Ben is Co-founder and CEO of Level Equity, a private investment firm focused on software and technology-driven businesses, and brings decades of experience investing in high-growth companies, including prior experience as a Managing Director at Insight Partners.

Key People

Benjamin Levin, CEO

Ben is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Level Equity. Ben has been an investor in rapidly growing private companies since 1997 and one of the first institutional investors in numerous category-defining software and technology businesses. Prior to co-founding Level, Ben spent over six years at Insight Partners, most recently as a Managing Director. Ben is a graduate of Harvard College.

Sarah Sommer, Partner

Sarah co-founded and is a Partner with Level Equity. She is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Joseph Wharton Scholar. She has been investing in growth-stage software and technology businesses since 2003. Prior to co-founding Level, Sarah was a Senior Associate at Insight Venture Partners. Sarah recently won a growth cap award for “Top Women in Growth Equity” and in 2021, Sarah was profiled in Buyouts “Insider’s Women in Private Equity” feature article as one of ten standout women in private equity.

Charles Chen, Partner

Charles is a Partner at Level Equity where he works with entrepreneurs and management teams to build rapidly growing software, internet, and data services companies across a wide range of industries. Charles has spent his entire career in the technology vertical, advising and investing in technology companies since 2005. Prior to Level, Charles was an investor at TCV, where he originated, evaluated, and executed growth equity investments in software and internet businesses. He started his career as a member of the Technology Investment Banking Groups at Bank of America Securities and Morgan Stanley. Charles received his BS in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gautam Gupta, Partner

Gautam is a Partner at Level Equity where he works with entrepreneurs and management teams to build rapidly growing software, internet, and data services companies across a wide range of industries. Gautam has been advising and investing in technology companies since 2006. Prior to Level, Gautam was a Vice President at Vista Equity Partners, where he originated, evaluated, and executed investments in enterprise software businesses and helped launch the firm’s debut credit fund. He also previously served as a member of Merrill Lynch’s Technology Mergers & Acquisitions team. Gautam received his BS in mathematics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Barry Osherow, Partner 

Barry is a Partner at Level Equity and manages the firm’s structured capital business, which provides creative debt and non-control senior equity solutions to growth-oriented businesses. Barry joined Level Equity in October 2016 and was most recently at Enhanced Capital Partners where he served as Managing Partner/Investment Committee Member of the firm’s $225M SBIC fund. Previously, Barry was at Technology Investment Capital Corp (NASDAQ: formerly TICC; now known as Oxford Square Capital Corp, NASDAQ: OXSQ), where he led the firm’s direct lending practice focused on technology businesses, Wit Capital (now SoundView Technology Group), where he was an investment banker for technology companies and part of the founding team, Spring Street Brewing Company where he was involved in conducting the world’s first public offering via the use of the Internet in the mid-90’s, and Lehman Brothers. Barry is a graduate of Babson College and holds a BS with a concentration in international business.

Nick Berardo, Partner

Nick is a Partner at Level Equity, where he manages growth-stage technology investments. Prior to Level, he was an investor at Summit Partners, focusing on software and healthcare businesses. He also worked in Investment Banking at Barclays and in Business Development at The RealReal. Nick holds a B.S. from Boston College and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Chris Issac, Partner

Chris is a Partner at Level Equity, where he invests in and supports the management teams of growth-stage software, internet, and tech-enabled services companies. He has been with Level for over a decade and previously worked at Updata Partners. Chris holds a B.S. in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Nate Linn, Partner, Chief Operating Officer

Nate is a Partner and the Chief Operating Officer at Level. He is responsible for managing Level’s operations, including fund structuring and administration, new investment and portfolio management, and tax and regulatory compliance.

Before joining Level, he was Chief Financial Officer of Thiel Capital, where he was responsible for managing Peter Thiel’s personal investments, as well as Chief Financial Officer of Valar Ventures. Prior to that, Nate served in various legal capacities at PayPal and eBay and represented technology companies and investors at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Nate is a graduate of Stanford University and the Northwestern University School of Law, and is a member of the California bar.

Funds Raised

Level invests across the capital structure in rapidly growing, privately held, capital-efficient software businesses. The firm sources most deals internally by cold calling tens of thousands of companies to create proprietary investment opportunities and leverages its deep technical stack to source and track opportunities.

NextLevel Operations, Level’s operating partner and value-add strategic group, works to develop world-class management teams and improve financial sophistication, M&A capabilities, and exit readiness for its portfolio companies. The firm seeks to realize strong returns in reasonably priced, commonly occurring exits across market conditions with a low loss ratio.

Key Investments

CloudCheckr: Invested March 2017, exited November 2021
Sector: Software & Data Services

CloudCheckr provides a SaaS-based platform for governance and performance monitoring of public cloud environments to enterprise and managed service provider customers. Acquired by NetApp.

Fusion: Invested December 2014, partially exited May 2017, September 2019, and May 2023
Sector: Software & Data Services

Fusion Risk Management provides business continuity management (BCM) solutions through a web-based software platform built on the Salesforce Force.com platform. Recapitalized by Catalyst Investors, Vista Equity Partners, and Great Hill Partners.

HVR Software: Invested February 2019, partially exited September 2021
Sector: Software & Data Services

HVR sells a cross-platform data integration software that allows enterprises to replicate databases in real-time across a number of database types. Acquired by Fivetran.

Instaclustr: Invested April 2019, exited, May 2022
Sector: Software & Data Services

Instaclustr provides managed service provider for open-source databases with a focus on Apache Cassandra. Acquired by NetApp.

Onit: Invested October 2016, exited November 2018
Sector: Software & Data Services

Onit provides enterprise legal management software (ELM) to Fortune 5000 organizations and law firms.  Acquired by K1.

Optimere: Invested April 2019, partially exited, June 2022
Sector: Software & Data Services

Optimere provided cloud-based social media archiving, risk management, and analytics solutions. Optimere was acquired by CivicPlus

Planet DDS: Invested July 2019, partially exited July 2022
Sector: Software & Data Services

Planet DDS Provides a dental practice management software platform to single office and enterprise dental practices. Recapitalized by Aquiline Capital Partners.

simPro: Invested September 2016, partially exited January 2021
Sector: Software & Data Services

simPro provides cloud-based job management and field service software for trade contractors such as HVAC technicians, IT personnel, and electricians. Recapitalized by K1 Capital.

Tripleseat: Invested June 2017, partially exited February 2020 and June 2023
Sector: Software & Data Services

Tripleseat is a private dining and event management software application for restaurants and hotels. Merged with Gather Technologies (portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners) and recapitalized by General Atlantic.

Wombat: Invested July 2014, exited February 2018
Sector: Software & Data Services

Wombat provides cyber-security awareness and training tools delivered via a SaaS model, which aims to improve enterprise security by way of employee behavior. Acquired by Proofpoint.

Capital Responsibility

Level Equity appreciates that environmental, social, and governance issues can have a material impact on financial performance and the communities in which both Level Equity and its portfolio companies operate. Level Equity is committed to working with its portfolio companies to integrate responsible investing considerations into business practices.

The firm believes that it is the responsibility of each of its partners, officers, and employees to act at all times in a manner consistent with the applicable regulations governing the protection of human rights, occupational health and safety standards and labor, environmental and business practices of the jurisdictions in which it conducts business.

CEO Reviews

Eric Giesecke, CEO, Planet DDS

“Level has been a great partner to Planet DDS from the beginning. The firm is filled with high-integrity people whose actions have always followed their words. The team at Level has a keen understanding of what motivates CEOs, allowing executives the room to solve problems while providing the support necessary to increase the likelihood that those decisions are correct. It’s been a ton of fun working with Level these past several years.”

Joseph Ferrara, CEO, Wombat Security Journey

“Level is a great partner because they’re excited to help and highly capable of doing so, but also happy to give you space to execute as a CEO. There’s a reason I chose to work with Level in back-to-back companies: they amplify success but with a low-ego, partnership approach.”

Todd Gibby, CEO, Board Effect

“Partnering with Level was transformative for BoardEffect. They offered invaluable support, deep insights, and a true partnership, allowing us to focus on our vision. Their shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration made them an exceptional ally on our journey.”

Eric Elfman, Co-founder & CEO, Onit

“Working with Level Equity was an incredible experience. Their deep expertise in maturing companies of our size was vital to our growth and eventual sale. Their founder-friendly ethos made every step of the process collaborative and supportive.”