Profile

Founded in 2007, Long Ridge Equity Partners is a specialist growth equity firm focused on the financial and business technology sectors. Leveraging deep sector knowledge and an extensive network of industry resources, Long Ridge serves as a value-added partner to high-growth businesses. Since its founding, Long Ridge’s principals have sponsored some of the most successful growth companies in the financial and business technology sectors, providing leading management teams with partnership, strategic resources, and capital to drive profitable expansion. The firm manages over $1.75 billion of committed capital.

In partnering with bootstrapped, founder-led businesses, Long Ridge has a demonstrated focus on value creation through growth, margin enhancement, and professionalization of its portfolio companies. Long Ridge seeks to add value by providing active, board-level, strategic support centered on growth acceleration (sales and marketing, pricing initiatives), inorganic growth levers (M&A), and enhancement of executive teams and boards.

Awards

2023 Top Growth Equity Firms

2023 Best Growth Investment Firms

2022 Top 25 Growth Equity Firms

2022 Best Growth Investment Firm

2021 Top 25 Private Equity Firms for Growth Companies

2020 Top 25 Software Investors, Angad Singh

2015 Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Kevin Bhatt

Key People

Jim Brown, Founder and Managing Partner

Jim Brown, Founder and Managing Partner at Long Ridge, brings over 25 years of experience investing in and supporting high-growth companies in financial and business services, as a board member and advisor to some of the most successful and innovative players in the financial and business services sectors. At Long Ridge, Jim leads the overall strategy and direction of the firm, in addition to leading deal teams focused on the sourcing, evaluation, and management of the firm’s portfolio companies. Prior to establishing Long Ridge, he held key roles at TH Lee Putnam Ventures and GE Equity. Jim’s investment experience and board responsibilities include: Ametros, AuthenticID, BlueTarp, Carson Group, FXCM, Liquidnet, NinjaTrader, Portware, Provana, RFG Advisory, Stonegate Mortgage, Structured Portfolio Management, TradAir, and Proof.

Kevin Bhatt, Managing Partner

Kevin is a Managing Partner at Long Ridge and leads the overall strategy and direction of the firm. In addition to managing deal teams focused on the sourcing, evaluation, and management of Long Ridge’s portfolio companies, Kevin has served on the boards of numerous public and private financial services and business services companies. Before Long Ridge, Kevin was a Vice President with AEA Investors, a private equity firm with over $10 billion of committed capital. Kevin’s investment experience and board responsibilities include: Acqueon, Avetta, Broadway Technology, BROWZ, Carson Group, Drawbridge, EQIS, Portware, ProcessUnity, Ripjar, SALI Fund Services, Stonegate Mortgage, and TRUE.

Angad Singh, Partner 

Angad Singh has been a Partner at Long Ridge since 2012. Beyond his investment responsibilities, he plays a key role in the firm’s development, including recruiting and mentoring junior members of the investment team. Prior to his tenure at Long Ridge, Angad held roles at Alinda Capital Partners and McKinsey & Company, where he focused on infrastructure investments and growth strategy projects in the financial services and energy sectors, respectively. Angad’s investment experience and board responsibilities include: Ametros, BlueTarp, Carson Group, MessageGears, Neighborhoods, Oritain, Portware, Provana, Stonegate Mortgage, and TradAir.

Andrew Cedar, Partner

Andrew Cedar assumed the role of Partner at Long Ridge in 2022 and has been an integral part of the investment team since 2016. Andrew previously held roles at McKinsey & Company, where he reported directly to the Global Managing Partner and was a consultant advising companies in the U.S., Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Andrew also worked on the Obama Administration’s national security and foreign policy team, as Senior Director for Global Engagement at the White House National Security Council, an advisor at the State Department, and on the Obama-Biden transition team in 2008. Andrew’s investment experience and board responsibilities include: Acqueon, Ametros, Carson Group, Oritain, and RFG Advisory.

Jason Melton, Partner

Jason joined Long Ridge in 2014 and serves as a Partner. Prior to joining Long Ridge, Jason worked at Barclays in the Financial Institutions Group, offering strategic advice to financial technology and services companies on M&A and capital markets transactions. Jason’s investment experience and board responsibilities include: AuthenticID, Avetta, Broadway Technology, BROWZ, Drawbridge, NinjaTrader, ProcessUnity, SALI Fund Services, and Ripjar.

Funds Raised

Since raising Fund I in February 2012 with $96 million in commitments to the recent close of Fund IV in 2023—a milestone marking its largest fund yet at $730 million in total commitments—Long Ridge has consistently demonstrated its ability to collaborate with world-class founders in building industry-leading companies. The firm has maintained a consistent investment strategy: pursuing majority or significant minority interests in growth-stage, lower middle-market companies within the financial and business technology segments. 

Most recently, Long Ridge Equity Partners IV (“Fund IV”) closed on July 20, 2023 at $730mm of total commitments. After three months of fundraising, the significantly oversubscribed fund held a single close at its hard cap of $650mm of Limited Partner commitments plus an additional $80mm of commitments from the General Partner and the firm’s network of executives and advisors.

New and returning investors in Fund IV include leading endowments, foundations, public pensions, asset managers, insurance companies, wealth managers, and family offices. 100% of the institutional investors in Long Ridge Equity Partners III returned as investors in Fund IV.

Key Investments

Broadway Technology: Exited February 2020
Sector: Capital Markets Technology

Broadway Technology powers fixed income and foreign exchange trading for the largest global banks, with customers executing over $100 trillion of annual volume through the Broadway platform. The company provides front-office trading applications and enterprise solutions to address mission-critical trading needs for banks, brokers, and asset managers.

Carson Group: Exited July 2021
Sector: Wealth / Asset Management

Carson Group provides market-leading wealth management tools and services to financial advisors and direct clients. Carson’s flagship partner program offers an integrated technology platform for advisors, offering services including asset management, research, marketing, and compliance. Carson also runs a nationally recognized registered investment advisor for retail clients and offers expert coaching, practice management, and national conferences to advisors.

RFG Advisory: Invested September 2023
Sector: Wealth / Asset Management

RFG provides a turn-key integrated platform that provides independent wealth management advisors with tools and resources to manage and grow their practices. The platform includes cutting-edge technology, institutional-caliber investment management, marketing, compliance, business consulting and operational support.

MessageGears: Invested November 2022
Sector: Marketing Technology

MessageGears is a data-connected customer engagement platform built for enterprise brands, delivering advanced customer segmentation and message personalization and delivery that outperforms other enterprise marketing clouds and data platforms.