We are pleased to announce The Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2020. This year marks the seventh anniversary since we first began publishing the awards list. Notably, over the years our process of evaluating nominees has evolved as the growth equity field has become more competitive and nuanced.
In addition to the formal nomination process where information on breadth of experience and performance metrics are reviewed, we also take into consideration third party feedback from CEOs and other executives. We find it most impressive when investors can achieve top tier returns while earning the respect, and in some cases, admiration from the CEOs they back.
Having worked closely with the growth equity and private equity industry for over twenty years, I have come to appreciate the incredible talent and skill required to be a successful growth investor. It not only requires business intellect and judgement, it also requires consistent work ethic, high emotional intelligence and a determination to push through the most challenging situations.
In many cases, investors are enabled and developed by the firms they operate in, fine-tuning how to think through, approach and execute on investment opportunities. It is not surprising that certain firms that have built exceptional platforms are represented by multiple investors. They include JMI Equity (4), Insight Partners (4), Providence Strategic Growth (4), Silversmith Capital Partners (3), Mainsail Partners (3), IVP (2), Summit Partners (2), Spectrum Equity (2), Susquehanna Growth Equity (2), and Volition Capital (2).
Please join us in recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of this year’s awardees.
– RJ Lumba
Managing Partner, GrowthCap
Somesh joined IVP in 2005. He focuses primarily on growth investments in Enterprise Software, Consumer and Mobile Internet, and Digital Health companies. He led IVP’s investments in Amplitude, Brex, Business Insider, Discord, Dropbox, Expanse, Humu, Lime, Lyra, Pindrop, Pure Storage, Qubole, Rubrik, SoundCloud, Tanium, Thrive Global, Uber, and Walker & Company, among others. Somesh was recognized by The New York Times and CB Insights in 2019 as one of the top 100 venture capitalists and by GrowthCap as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors in 2019. Somesh is currently a member of the Management Board at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business (GSB), the board of The Tech Interactive, and the Advisory Board of Malaria No More.
Somesh earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He began his career at Luxmi Capital, an early stage venture capital fund focused on digital media investments. He also worked for the Corporate Development Division of Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in Mumbai, India, and in the Corporate Finance Division of Credit Suisse’s Technology Investment Banking Group.
“IVP exclusively focuses on investing in high-growth technology companies and partnering closely with talented founders and management teams. Entrepreneurs come to IVP seeking the expertise to help build their company at the growth stage. It is incredibly rewarding to work with and support companies from their breakout hypergrowth to public company phase.” – Somesh Dash
Ryan joined Insight in 2004 as an Analyst. Currently a Managing Director on the Investment Committee, Ryan focuses on many deal types including growth equity, leveraged buyout, growth buyout, and platform roll-up transactions. Regardless of the structure, growth is the primary lever for value creation. His current and prior investments include such vertical and horizontal markets as collaborative work orchestration, supply chain visibility, technology training, mobile enablement, vertical ERP, industry-specific payment solutions, and many others. In all cases, Ryan is passionate about creating lasting relationships with the teams he supports. Having experienced multiple IPOs, trade sales, and sponsor exits, Ryan also enjoys positioning companies for their maximum potential beyond the Insight journey. In addition to his investment activities, Ryan works closely with Insight’s COO on internal operations, head of human capital on all junior recruiting and mentorship, and mid-level investment team colleagues on sourcing practices.
Ryan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Finance from The Wharton School and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
“I admire entrepreneurs for their extraordinary creations that start from nothing and become something powerful. I admire operators for managing the chaos of growth and navigating hiring, retention, product development, and go-to-market competition. It is such a privilege to get to work alongside both entrepreneurs and operators in articulating the strategic chessboard that describes current reality as we calibrate the future we seek to create. I am driven to support these types of decisions in creating even larger opportunities and outcomes. The best part is that we can only win if the teams we support win also – and that remains the most rewarding aspect of my Insight experience.” – Ryan Hinkle
Ann Chung is a Managing Director of Blackstone Growth (BXG) and is based in New York. Prior to joining Blackstone in 2020, Ann was a Principal at Fremont Private Holdings, the direct investment arm of the Bechtel family office. Previously, she was a Principal at J.H. Whitney Capital Partners where she led all consumer and consumer-impacted investments such as C.J. Foods and Accupac. Ann was also previously a member of the investment team at Swander Pace Capital where she was involved in the investments in Merrick Pet Care and gloProfessional. She has also held positions with DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Catterton Partners. Ann received her M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her B.S. from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.
“I’m honored to be recognized by GrowthCap in their annual 40 under 40 Growth Investors of 2020. This year has been unprecedented in many ways, but I am proud of my team at Blackstone Growth for continuing to invest in fast-growing companies and helping them expand their potential through the power of the Blackstone platform.” – Ann Chung
Suken joined JMI in 2012 and is focused on investment in B2B software businesses. He has completed 11 investments and successfully exited six during his time at JMI. He is currently a Board Director at Applied Systems, Arena Solutions, HackerRank, and Lytics. He also is a Board Observer at Code42 and Seismic Software. His experience includes several other notable investments, such as Adaptive Insights (acquired by Workday), Avecto (acquired by Bomgar), Campus Logic, Internet Brands (acquired by KKR), and Intradiem.
Suken graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Business Administration. He also holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in Morgan Stanley’s Financial Sponsors Group. Following banking, Suken worked as an Associate at Hellman & Friedman, where he was focused on software and digital media investments. He also worked as a Product Manager at Google, helping to build out the Google Chrome platform.
“It is an honor to join my JMI colleagues on this prestigious list of top growth investors. Building world class enterprise software companies is hard work, and it’s a privilege to partner with JMI’s current and prospective portfolio companies in this journey.” – Suken Vakil
David, who has been with JMI for more than 14 years, is focused on investing in growing software businesses across several vectors, including sales and marketing. He has completed 13 investments over the course of his career and successfully exited eight companies.
He is currently a Board Director of Businessolver, Bloomerang, Rain Focus, and Unanet. His investment experience also includes prior investments in automotive Mastermind (acquired by IHS Markit), CoreHR (Acquired by The Access Group), Intelex (acquired by Fortive), SiriusDecisions (acquired by Forrester Research), ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), and TC3 Health (acquired by Change Healthcare).
David graduated from Emory University with a B.B.A. in Finance and Accounting. He began his career as an associate at Cascadia Capital.
“My colleagues and I take great pride in helping our portfolio companies grow and achieve their strategic goals. Partnering with talented founder-owners and management teams in building world class businesses is what makes our work so fulfilling.” – David Greenberg
Holly began her growth equity career at Guidepost Growth Equity (fka North Bridge Growth Equity) in 2010. At Guidepost, Holly worked closely on sourcing and executing investments in software-based companies in the infrastructure, communications, human capital management, marketplaces, manufacturing, and digital media spaces. Since joining General Catalyst in 2017, Holly continues to focus on later-stage companies that have already achieved some success and have demonstrated capital efficiency prior to the firm’s involvement, like talent optimization platform Predictive Index and mental health platform SonderMind. Holly prides herself on a partnership and data driven, pattern recognition approach to assisting her portfolio company CEOs on successfully disrupting industries and creating meaningful value. Holly’s prior investment experience includes Dyn, WP Engine, erecruit, and Spoonflower.
“The best businesses offer customers something truly valuable, whether it’s mission-critical infrastructure, an amazing experience, or an application that simplifies processes. My philosophy as an investor is to bring entrepreneurs exceptional value through a trusted partnership — helping to scale their companies to the next level while further innovating, building unique cultures, and delivering an excellent customer experience.” – Holly Maloney
Sri joined Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015. At Silversmith, Sri focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services, including sales, marketing, customer service and ecommerce related technology companies. His investment experience at Silversmith includes investments in ActiveCampaign, Appfire, DistroKid, Impact, Microblink, PDFTron Systems, Validity and Webflow. Prior to Silversmith, Sri was Senior Director of Advertising Products at salesforce.com where he served in various roles to create and scale the Salesforce Marketing Cloud business unit after joining Salesforce through its acquisition of Buddy Media. Prior to Buddy Media, Sri was an Associate at TA Associates and an Analyst with Jefferies Technology Investment Banking group. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. from The Wharton School and a B.A.S. from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
“Silversmith was founded to partner with and support founder-led, growing, profitable technology and healthcare companies. Beyond simply providing capital, we believe in a long term oriented, domain focused, partnership driven approach to working with entrepreneurs. The opportunity to support incredibly talented teams that are making a meaningful impact on the world is a tremendous privilege.” – Sri Rao
Kyle Griswold is a partner at FTV Capital and leads investments in all of FTV’s sector focus areas: financial services, payments & transaction processing, and enterprise technology. His current portfolio companies include Centaur, Egress, Paddle, RapidRatings, ReliaQuest, Strata, Sysnet and True Potential. Select realized companies for Griswold include CardConnect (taken public and then acquired by First Data), Fleet One (acquired by Wright Express) and WorldFirst (acquired by Ant Financial). In total, Griswold has led or been a part of the deal team for 18 transactions. Throughout his time at FTV, he has developed a keen understanding of the business models, market opportunities and challenges, regulatory frameworks, and other aspects of these domains that enable him to provide strategic insight and operational know-how to his CEOs. Griswold has also been instrumental in guiding companies through exit planning and execution, leading to strong returns. Prior to joining FTV Capital in 2007, Griswold was an investment banking associate with Berkshire Capital Securities, focused on transactions in the financial services sector. Griswold received a B.A. in economics and mathematics from Trinity College and is a CFA charterholder.
“Throughout my years at FTV Capital, I have been honored to partner with smart, forward-thinking CEOs to help scale innovative businesses and drive growth. It has been an exhilarating period to be a growth equity investor focused in and around financial services and technology, as the pace of change and the opportunity to leverage domain expertise to help build market leaders has accelerated.” – Kyle Griswold
Rajeev Dham joined Sapphire Ventures in 2013, bringing with him broad technology investing experience. Rajeev’s investment focus is split between SaaS businesses as well as category-defining innovators in financial technology and healthcare. Since joining Sapphire, Rajeev has been involved in 20+ investments and dozens of boards. Rajeev has led investments in and supports the boards of ActivTrak, Adverity, Catchpoint, Highspot, LeanData, Livongo (NASDAQ: LVGO), Monday.com, Outreach, Pendo, Podium and Reltio. Rajeev’s previous investments at Sapphire include Alteryx (NYSE: AYX), Cloudhealth (acquired by VMWare) and Krux (acquired by Salesforce). Rajeev also led the firm’s investment in Attentive, Braze, Moveworks, Segment, and Transferwise, and he worked on investments in Clari, Looker (acquired by Google), Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), Square (NYSE: SQ), Localytics (acquired by Upland Software), Punchh, and PubNub amongst others.
Previously, Rajeev worked for Silver Lake, a technology-focused private equity firm, where he evaluated middle-market and growth equity investments across the software and internet sectors. Prior to his private equity career, Rajeev worked for the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs. Rajeev holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and received a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Southern California, where he graduated magna cum laude.
“At Sapphire Ventures, we partner with visionary teams building companies of consequence. I am particularly focused on a range of B2B software businesses, as well as disruptors across financial technology and digital health. I am inspired by the entrepreneurs and teams I work with, and we at Sapphire seek to empower them with our expertise and network. It’s an honor to be recognized by GrowthCap!” – Rajeev Dham
John joined Spectrum Equity in 2009 as an Associate. Now a Managing Director, John has been involved in 11 transactions, representing approximately $550 million of invested capital. John has completed a wide range of growth investments ranging from minority investments to full buyouts. He has been most active in the education technology, consumer internet, online marketplace, and SMB software sectors. John worked on Spectrum’s investments in Ancestry (acquired by financial sponsor), ExamSoft (acquired by Turnitin ), Finalsite (acquired by financial sponsor), GoodRx (IPO) and Grubhub (IPO). He currently works with Teachers Pay Teachers, Jimdo, Kajabi, Headspace, Prezi and DataCamp.
John graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Political Economy. He began his career as an Analyst within Credit Suisse’s media and telecommunications group in New York City.
“Playing a role in helping teams and companies realize their full potential is an incredible privilege and responsibility. We embrace our role as partners and empower management teams to lean-in and invest in their growth initiatives. Our stage, business model and sector focus afford us clarity of purpose and unique capabilities to help our companies define the categories in which they operate. Ultimately, there is nothing more rewarding than playing some small part in helping our teams and companies achieve their goals.” – John Connolly
Ross joined Insight in 2013. He spends time across the enterprise software landscape with specific expertise in application and infrastructure software companies. His investment experience includes control, public market take-privates, and growth equity transactions across North America, Europe and Israel. Since joining the firm, Ross has completed numerous platform and follow-on transactions, and helped build Insight’s efforts in buyout transactions. Ross currently sits on the board of, or oversees, the following investments: ABAX (acquired Automile), Diligent, E2open, Hotschedules (acquired Fourth), Interfolio, Optibus, project44, TaxJar, Veeam, Within3, and WorkForce Software.
Ross graduated from Northwestern University and began his career as an Analyst in Morgan Stanley’s M&A Group. Before Insight, Ross also worked as a member of Thoma Bravo’s investment team.
“I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with talented management teams and bring Insight’s deep resources to help them change the trajectory of their businesses. Insight’s platform provides access to many resources, but it’s the combination of these resources and the close collaboration and management-friendly approach to investing that makes Insight unique. It’s incredibly rewarding to help a team and company reach the next level of growth and success, and I’m lucky to work for a firm that is energized by this mission. It has been a tremendous experience working alongside the talented group of people at Insight, and it’s a privilege to support our existing portfolio and what will hopefully be the next generation of globally impactful software and technology companies.” – Ross Devor
Matt joined PSG in 2015 and is focused on supporting the firm’s mission to partner with entrepreneurs of lower middle market software and technology-enabled service companies across sectors to help them navigate transformational growth. Throughout his more than13-year career, he has worked on 18 platform investments and over 60 add-on acquisitions. Matt is currently on the board of eight PSG portfolio companies: Abacus Next, Assembly, FluentStream, Formstack, Lumaverse Technologies, Netsurion, Next Glass and Shoot Proof. He aims to encourage strong communication and idea sharing among the portfolio company management teams he works with in an effort to leverage the unique experiences of others to help navigate challenges that high-growth software companies can encounter. Prior to joining PSG, Matt was a Vice President with Monitor Clipper Partners, where he focused on investments in the technology-enabled services, consumer and healthcare services sectors. Matt earned a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia.
“I take pride in being a key thought partner and friend to my management teams. We take our word and our reputation very seriously at PSG – we say what we are going to do and do as we say. We want to work with founders and executive teams who maintain both high performance as well as high integrity, and we hold ourselves to the same standard. I’m very fortunate to be a part of PSG and have the opportunity to work with world-class teams across our portfolio.” – Matt Stone
Vinay is a Partner at Mainsail Partners. He has spent nearly fifteen years investing in fast growing, founder-owned software companies. Vinay has an understanding of the issues facing bootstrapped software entrepreneurs and has developed significant specialization in vertical SaaS and financial technology. While at Mainsail, Vinay has worked on more than ten investments in founder-owned software companies and currently sits on the board of PlanHub, Fullbay, GTreasury and Nexus Systems. Vinay graduated from Bowdoin College with an A.B. in Economics and International Relations and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Vinay started his career at Deloitte Consulting and prior to Mainsail, worked at Summit Partners in the firm’s Boston and London offices.
“I’m proud of the work we did this year supporting our management teams during some of the most complex challenges of our lifetime. I believe this year was a validation of our strategy of investing in mission critical software companies led by strong founders and management teams. It was very rewarding to help our companies deliver even greater value to their customers when they needed it the most.” – Vinay Kashyap
Tom joined IVP in 2015. He focuses on investing in later-stage, high-growth consumer and enterprise companies. Tom currently serves as a Board Director or Observer for Attentive, Coinbase, HashiCorp, NerdWallet, and Podium. He was actively involved in sourcing, executing, and managing investments in Amplitude, Datadog (DDOG), GitHub (MSFT), IEX, OnDeck (ONDK), and Tanium. Forbes Magazine recognized Tom as one of venture capital’s up-and-comers by his inclusion in the 2019 Midas Brink List. GrowthCap recognized him as one of the Top 25 Software Investors of 2020 and one of the Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors in 2019.
Tom holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management, where he was an Austin Scholar, and a B.A. from Stanford University, where he graduated with Distinction. He began his career at Goldman Sachs in technology, media, and telecommunications investment banking. Following Goldman, he joined RRE, a leading early-stage venture firm, based in New York. Tom’s involvement in RRE portfolio company Drobo led to him joining the company full-time for a period where he led marketing.
“At IVP, we are experts in later-stage growth and help companies in the consumer and enterprise sectors to scale and achieve breakout success. I am deeply committed to our portfolio companies and look forward to continuing to partner with remarkable founders and teams to help build enduring companies in the future.“ – Tom Loverro
Matt joined Summit Partners in 2005 and is a Managing Director on the firm’s Growth Products & Services team. Matt’s current board and investment experience includes Engage Smart, Excelerate Brands, FORMA Brands, Patriot Growth Insurance Services, Quay Australia, Salient Partners, SnapFinance and Vestmark. His prior investments and directorships include Flow Traders (Euronext:FLOW), Focus Financial Partners (acquired by KKR and Stone Point Capital), Progressive Finance (acquired by Aaron’s) and Telerik (acquired by Progress Software). Prior to Summit, Matt worked for Senator Olympia Snowe in the United States Senate. Matthew holds a B.A. in economics, summa cum laude, from Colby College.
“Summit seeks to invest in founders and entrepreneurs who are working to build enduring, global companies. We look for teams pursuing large markets with capital efficient business models, and we provide access to resources to help those teams scale more rapidly. Over more than 15 years as a growth investor with Summit, I’ve had the opportunity to partner with numerous founders and leaders, helping them to execute on their vision and achieve impressive results.” – Matt Hamilton
Martin Angert joined SGE in 2014 as a Partner. SGE’s single-LP fund structure allows Martin to be exceedingly flexible in working with entrepreneurs on their timeline, check size, and deal structure. His current investments include ActiveCampaign, WhiteSource Software, and Allocadia. Martin primarily focuses on infrastructure and application software companies with other areas of expertise including fintech and vertical-focused businesses. His previous investments include Workfront (acquired by Adobe), XebiaLabs (acquired by Digital.ai), Wix (IPO), New Relic (IPO), Cvent (IPO, acquired by Vista Equity), TeamViewer (acquired by Permira, IPO), LogicNow (acquired by Solarwinds), DrillingInfo (acquired by Genstar), SmartBear (acquired by Francisco Partners), AirWatch (acquired by VMware), Veeam, Kaseya, and Lytx (acquired by GTCR).
Martin graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Finance from Wharton and a B.A.S. in Computer Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He began his career at Insight Partners before joining Susquehanna Growth Equity.
“I’ve worked with enough founders and operators to have seen how hard it is to build software companies at scale. We’ve grown SGE over the past 15 years with one goal in mind: how can we be the best partners to the entrepreneurs who choose to work with us. With that in mind, we’ve cultivated networks, growth hacks, and countless resources meant to help our teams see around corners and learn from the experience of others. SGE was founded (and funded) by entrepreneurs who understand the ups-and-downs of operating a business and we bring that patience and flexibility to every one of our investments.” – Martin Angert
Ramzi joined SoftBank’s Vision Fund in 2018 and helps lead the firm’s focus on enterprise software. Over the course of his career, Ramzi has focused on late-stage growth investments across both the consumer internet and enterprise software verticals. He led SoftBank’s investment in Automation Anywhere. Prior to SoftBank, Ramzi has been a board member or investor in companies including Zillow, SeatGeek, Varsity Tutors, Rover, Ion Trading, Wall Street Systems, and Avvo, among others. He began his investing career at TA Associates. Prior to SoftBank, Ramzi was an investor at TCV (Technology Crossover Ventures) covering the consumer internet and software sectors. He started his career at Citigroup as an Investment Banking Analyst in the M&A Group. Ramzi received his B.S. in Business Administration (Finance and Entrepreneurship) from Carnegie Mellon University and graduated with university and college honors. He completed his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
“We are in a special time for growth investing. Companies are scaling faster than ever, and working with the entrepreneurs behind these world-class businesses is inspiring. I feel privileged to be a small part of this ecosystem.” – Ramzi Ramsey
Joanne co-leads the investment team at Turn / River Capital, a firm that offers liquidity, growth and acquisition capital for growing B2B software companies and helps them drive additional scale through optimizing marketing, pricing, sales, and renewals. Joanne led the investments in and serves on the boards of Invicti Security, a leading web application security company encompassing the Acunetix and Netsparker brands, and CoSoSys, a data loss prevention software company. She has been an investor for nearly a decade in asset classes ranging from seed stage venture capital at Cowboy Ventures to late stage private equity at Hellman & Friedman. Her early stage investments in companies like Guild Education and Branch.io have added over $2 billion of value since investment.
“At Turn / River, our in-house software sales, marketing, customer success and talent leaders comprise the majority of our firm and work side by side with our investment team and companies. This collaborative, down-to-earth focus produces consistent results: 3x organic revenues in three years, on average. Our close operational partnership has made me a better investor and a better advisor to our portfolio companies. I am truly excited about the differentiated value we can provide to companies that choose to partner with us.” – Joanne Yuan
Kareem is a Founding General Partner of Arrowroot Capital, which was originally launched in early 2014 by Founder/Managing Partner, Matthew Safaii. Now on Fund IV and its 21st platform investment, Arrowroot focuses exclusively on up to $50 million growth equity checks into enterprise software companies at an inflection point. Most notably, Kareem led the firm’s investment into SocialChorus (acquired by Sumeru Equity Partners earlier this year), and was also instrumental in prior investments 4tell (acquired by Rubicon Technology Partners), Embotics (acquired by Snow), and Evergage (acquired by Salesforce). Kareem currently sits on the board of Agilence, ParkHub, KeyedIn, ServiceAide, and ICIX. Kareem graduated with a B.S. in Finance and International Business from USC. He also holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and M.A. from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. He began his investing career in TMT merchant banking (now a part of Drake Star Partners) and subsequently OpenGate Capital on the North and Latin America team.
“We continue to see a critical gap in the growth equity landscape for software companies looking to emerge from the grind of establishing product/market fit to the next marathon of reaching sustainable unit economics. As the market turns from the larger, iconic platforms to more niche, verticalized solutions, we have found that a deeper look is always warranted when scouting for the next breakout star. Our greatest goal is partnering with management teams who already knew they had something special.” – Kareem El Sawy
Matt Gatto joined Insight as an Analyst in 2010. He focuses on high-growth software and SaaS businesses across infrastructure and cyber (Tenable, Darktrace, Checkmarx, AirWatch), healthcare (Kinnser, CentralReach), commerce (Shopify, Commercetools), and enterprise applications (Bizzabo, SmartRecruiters, Fenergo), leading both minority and control transactions for the firm.
Matt graduated with high honors from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School.
“It’s been a true privilege to be a part of the Insight team the past 10+ years and to have the opportunity to work with world-class entrepreneurs and leadership teams across our portfolio. 2020 has brought on a host of new challenges, both for our firm and our portfolio companies. Our portfolio companies have looked to us to help them chart a course in what has been a tremendously challenging year. I’m proud of our firm’s commitment to providing counsel, thought leadership, and resources to not only our portfolio but also the broader software ecosystem.” – Matt Gatto
Tom Davis joined Centana in 2017 and is one of its Partners. Tom has spent over 10 years investing in financial technology, financial services and related enterprise software. He currently serves on the board of Centana portfolio company True Link Financial and as a board observer at Ease and Sentieo, and was named one of GrowthCap’s Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors in 2019. Prior to Centana, Tom spent 9 years at General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity investment firm with $40 billion in assets under management, where he focused on investments in the financial services sector. During this time, Tom was a key member of the team that led General Atlantic’s investment in First Republic Bank. He also worked closely with the firm’s investment in Mu Sigma.
Tom began his career in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley in New York, where he worked with clients in the commercial banking, asset management, and specialty finance sectors. He also spent time in the firm’s San Francisco office, working with financial sponsors clients on leverage finance transactions. He also worked for the San Francisco 49ers on a range of strategic projects, including the successful bid by the San Francisco Bay Area and the 49ers to host the 50th Super Bowl. Tom is involved in a number of non-profit organizations in the Bay Area, including the San Francisco Day School, where he served on the Board of Trustees from 2012-2018. He received a B.A. in Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“At Centana, we partner with innovative entrepreneurs and management teams across the financial services ecosystem, including fintechs and enterprise software companies. My colleagues and I have been focused on financial services for the entirety of our careers, and we have been fortunate to work with companies through many cycles as they scale, and navigate the complexities and regulatory nuances of the ever evolving financial services sector.” – Tom Davis
Andrew joined Summit Partners in 2008, and he focuses primarily on the technology sector with an emphasis on software. His current investment and board experience includes Jamf, NinjaRMM, Output, Podium Corporation, Red Canary, RiskIQ and Striim. Andrew’s prior experience includes InfoArmor (acquired by Allstate Corporation), NetWitness (acquired by EMC Corporation), Reverb.com (acquired by Etsy), Uber (NYSE: UBER), Ubiquiti (NYSE: UI, formerly Ubiquiti Networks), Wildfire Interactive (acquired by Google) and Winshuttle (acquired by Symphony Technology Group). Prior to Summit, Andrew worked as an investment banking analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at Banc of America Securities. Before that, he worked for ABN Amro Financial Services in Chicago. Andrew holds a B.S. in finance from Miami University.
“One of the most exciting parts of my job as a growth investor is having the opportunity to work alongside incredibly dedicated entrepreneurs who are transforming their industries – whether that’s through developing pioneering technology, executing innovative go-to-market strategies, or building passionate communities. I’m continually inspired by the vision and tenacity of these leaders – and I consider it a privilege to be a part of their growth journeys.” – Andrew Collins
John joined the firm upon its inception in 2014. At PSG, he focuses on investments in payments, vertical ERP, infrastructure software, compliance, supply chain visibility and healthcare technology. The companies John has partnered with have been particularly active in driving inorganic growth, executing over 150 add-on acquisitions to expand their product sets and enhance the ultimate value delivered to their end customers. He is currently on the board of five PSG portfolio companies: Ever Commerce, Inhabit IQ, Logic Monitor, NXTsoft and Sovereign Sportsman Solutions. Prior to joining PSG, John worked in investment banking at Needham & Company, and earned a B.S. from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.
“At PSG, I am fortunate to work alongside world-class management teams disrupting different areas of the economy with technology. Our management-friendly approach aims to support and enhance entrepreneurs’ visions with access to resources across PSG. Given our focus on software, I’m able to leverage pattern recognition across companies to serve as a guide to entrepreneurs and management teams through scenarios they’re encountering for the first time in their journey, and arm them with insights garnered from relevant past experiences. I’m proud to be part of PSG and, even more so, proud of the high-quality businesses our team of talented entrepreneurs have built and continue to grow.” – John Marquis
Stew focuses on investments across a wide range of sectors at Norwest including information technology, business services, software, media and consumer. Stew’s current investments include Galvanize, Jolyn, Junk King, SmartSign, VanMoof, and Vuori. Stew was previously involved with Norwest’s investment in The Learning Experience (acquired by Golden Gate Capital) and Turnitin (acquired by Advance). Prior to joining Norwest, Stew worked at SurveyMonkey, where he managed several products and helped with business and corporate development efforts. Prior to SurveyMonkey, Stew was an associate at Spectrum Equity Investors for three years, where he originated, evaluated and executed software, IT and online media investment opportunities of $25-$100 million. He was a member of the deal team that completed the Ancestry.com transaction in December, 2007.
Earlier, Stew spent three years as an Associate Consultant at L.E.K. Consulting, where he advised healthcare, media and financial services companies on a range of strategic issues. Stew holds an M.B.A., with honors, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a double major in finance and entrepreneurial management and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Stanford University.
“It has been a privilege to be part of the Norwest growth equity team for the past 8 years. We have the opportunity and privilege to work with entrepreneurs who might not have considered institutional capital prior to our involvement. Working alongside our founders is humbling – they have already achieved great success, and we are fortunate to help them in their journey. Our collective success is a testament to the efforts of our executives and entire Norwest team to create value for all stakeholders.” – Stew Campbell
Teddie joined Insight in 2017 as a Principal. He is primarily focused on investments in high-growth software and internet companies. Since joining the firm, he has been promoted to Managing Director and has led or worked on over 15 new investments. His current investments include 6sense, LeanIx, SingleStore, Sentinelone, Papaya Global, Contentstack, Staffbase, Armis Security, Detectify, Hinge Health, Pipedrive, project44, SalesLoft, Showpad, Sisense, Templafy, and Tractable.
Teddie graduated with a B.S. in Finance and Computer Science from Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland. He also holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Teddie began his career as the Co-Founder and CTO of Nervogrid, which was acquired by ALSO, Europe’s largest IT distributor. Following the sale of Nervogrid, Teddie worked at Dawn Capital, an early-stage investment fund based in London. He was also a Partner at Atomico, one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe.
“Insight Partners’ focus from inception has been on software, and the firm’s 20 plus years of experience investing in the category grants unparalleled knowledge and infrastructure to help our portfolio companies scale. We are passionate about using our platform to help entrepreneurs build industry-defining technology companies. After beginning my investing career in Europe, it was this genuine drive from the Insight team that made me want to be part of this story. I feel grateful to be working with inspiring founders and CEOs who are building next generation software companies. Insight’s focused approach allows us to support them with in-depth operational expertise and the best scale-up insights to grow even faster.” – Teddie Wardi
Bill joined PSG in 2016 and focuses on adding value to the portfolio companies he works with by supporting recruiting efforts to build talented teams, incorporating data-driven benchmarking to identify areas for improvement and value creation, and driving growth through assistance with customer acquisition best practices. In addition, Bill applies his significant experience in strategic M&A to help entrepreneurs and management teams accelerate the growth of their vision. Throughout his career, Bill has worked on 11 platform investments and over 25 add-on acquisitions. He is currently on the boards of 2nd Wave Software, Propertybase and Tribute Technology. Prior to joining PSG, Bill was a Vice President at General Catalyst Partners, where he focused on investments in the software and technology-enabled service sectors. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College.
“At PSG, our approach to working with our portfolio companies is to always be a helpful, trusted partner. As a firm, we do not believe that a one-size-fits-all (or fits most) formula works. We like to take a pull not push approach while working with our portfolio companies, meaning that PSG is always there when they need resources or counsel, never showing up to tell entrepreneurs and management teams how to run the business that they have built. It is important to keep in mind that we, as investors, are there to be a partner and a resource, but PSG’s entrepreneurs are the ones who are doing the really hard work and deserve the credit.” – Bill Skarinka
Larry joined JMI in 2010 and is focused on investment in B2B software businesses. He has completed 11 investments and successfully exited seven during his time at JMI. He is currently a Board Director at Bloomerang, Higher Logic, RainFocus, and Raptor Technologies. He also is a Board Observer at Benevity and Level Access. His experience includes several other notable investments, such as automotiveMastermind (acquired by IHS Markit), Double Verify (acquired by Providence Equity Partners), and Schoology (acquired by PowerSchool).
Larry graduated from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics. He began his career as an analyst in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch & Co.
“We’ve built our firm around partnering with founders and executives to help them scale their software businesses. I can’t think of a more fun and rewarding job. I’m fortunate for the opportunity to work with so many talented entrepreneurs.” – Larry Contrella
Amara joined TA Associates in 2010. She has been focused on investments in business, technology-enabled and other services companies. Amara is currently a member of the boards of Backstage, a leading online subscription talent platform, PurposeBuilt Brands, a portfolio of category-leading, efficacy-driven specialty cleaning and disinfection brands serving consumer and commercial end-markets, and OMNIA Partners, a group purchasing organizations serving public agencies, educational institutions and corporate clients across North America. She began her career in investment banking with Morgan Stanley, where she was an analyst in the power, utilities and clean technology group. Amara earned an A.B. in economics and finance from Princeton University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Braden joined Updata Partners in 2014 and is now a Principal. At Updata, Braden leads the firm’s sourcing efforts, evaluates new investment opportunities, and also works closely with portfolio companies. He presently works with Adthena, Glassbox, Homesnap, Interactions, Pulsepoint, and Netwrix (recently recapitalized with TA Associates). He formerly worked with Bridge2Solutions, iSheriff, and Mashable, which have all been realized.
Prior to Updata, Braden worked in the Software & Systems and Aerospace, Defense, and Technology groups at Sagent Advisors, a middle market investment banking firm. He focused on providing M&A and other financial advisory services to clients. Braden graduated from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce with a B.S. in Commerce, with Concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
“Updata stands out as a growth equity firm founded and still run by software industry veterans. The firm’s collective operating experience is unique and valuable when actively partnering with our management teams. Our sole focus on capital-efficient, B2B software companies gives us the necessary pattern recognition to successfully collaborate with Founders and CEOs from day one. I am fortunate to be aligned with teams that go above and beyond and importantly are committed to doing things the right way. It is an honor that our portfolio companies have entrusted us to support the next phase of growth and increase the likelihood of success, something that motivates us each and every day.” – Braden Snyder
Brian joined Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015. At Silversmith, Brian focuses on investments across the firm’s two core verticals, Healthcare IT & Services and SaaS & Information Services. His investment experience at Silversmith includes Centauri Health Solutions, Iodine Software, LifeStance Health, Market Access Transformation (MAT), Net Health, Nordic Consulting, and Sound Physicians. Prior to Silversmith, Brian was a Vice President at Sterling Partners and an Associate at Metalmark Capital. Brian began his career as an Analyst in Lazard’s Healthcare group. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.B.A. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and received his M.B.A. with honors as a Palmer Scholar from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.
“At Silversmith, we focus on doing just a few things really well, including partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs of rapidly growing, capital efficient companies in our core areas of expertise of Healthcare, SaaS, and Information Services. I’ve been fortunate to work with many of our Healthcare IT and Services companies and am proud of Silversmith’s ability to find under-the-radar businesses and entrepreneurs and work tirelessly to support them as they accelerate their growth.” – Brian Peterson
Sureel has been part of the JMI Team since 2010 and is focused on investment in B2B software businesses. He has completed six investments and successfully exited one company during his time at JMI. He is currently a Board Director at Healthx and Jvion and a Board Observer at PointClickCare and Clio. His experience includes several other notable investments, such as Adaptive Insights (acquired by Workday), Capsule Tech (acquired by Qualcomm), and Halogen Software (IPO; TSX: HGN, Acquired by Saba Software).
Sureel graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Economics and Human Biology and received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He began his career in sales operations and business development at mobile software company DoubleDutch and was a business analyst at McKinsey & Company prior to joining JMI.
“Our team at JMI Equity focuses on partnering with software businesses and their leadership teams as they scale into market-leading technology companies. Software companies, at their core, are people businesses – we aim to match the passion and innovation of the teams we back with a collaborative and empathetic approach. It’s an honor to be included on this impressive list of growth equity investors, including several of my teammates at JMI.” – Sureel Sheth
Jessie Cai is a Vice President at General Atlantic and focuses on investments in the Technology sector. She is currently a board member of Kiwi.com. She also helps co-lead the firm’s thematic sourcing program. Prior to joining General Atlantic in 2018, Jessie was a Growth Equity Investment Associate at Summit Partners and a 2017 summer MBA Intern at General Atlantic. Before that, Jessie was an Investment Banking Analyst at Citigroup. She earned a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Northwestern University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Nikhil joined Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015. He focuses on investments across the firm’s two core verticals, Healthcare IT & Services and SaaS & Information Services. His investment experience at Silversmith includes Appfire, Centauri Health Solutions, LifeStance Health, MediQuant, Panalgo, Partners Surgical, Upperline Health and Within3. Prior to Silversmith, Nikhil was an Associate at TA Associates where he focused on growth equity investments in healthcare IT and services. Prior to TA Associates, he was an Analyst at Evercore Partners in the Technology M&A group. He received a B.S., magna cum laude, in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“At Silversmith, we differentiate by providing entrepreneurs with personalized support that is configured to their specific business needs and by having a deep understanding of our target markets – SaaS & Information Services and Healthcare IT & Services. It’s a tremendous honor to work with companies that are solving meaningful problems for their customers and with colleagues who are team-oriented and put entrepreneurs at the center of everything we do.” – Nikhil Marathe
Parag joined Spectrum Equity in 2012 as an Associate. Now a Principal, Parag has been involved in nine transactions, representing approximately $675 million of invested capital. Parag has been most active in the enterprise software, financial technology, education & certification and sales enablement sectors. He has been involved in Spectrum’s investments in BATS Global Markets (acquired by CBOE), RainKing (acquired by DiscoverOrg/ZoomInfo) and Verafin (pending acquisition by Nasdaq). He currently serves on the boards of Bitly, Digital Marketing Institute, Offensive Security, Origami Risk and Our Family Wizard.
Parag graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics. He began his career as an Analyst with J.P. Morgan’s Restructuring Group in New York City.
“Spectrum Equity’s focus on internet-enabled software and information services companies has enabled us to invest in an incredibly dynamic category over the last decade. I’m grateful to have built deep relationships and work hand-in-hand with successful entrepreneurs that are innovating and reshaping many sectors of our economy. Every company I’ve had the opportunity to work with in the Spectrum Equity family has exhibited a distinctive business practice that defies traditional norms and allows them to innovate and disrupt their incumbent markets. I’m fortunate to apply those learnings to be a better partner to founders and management teams.” – Parag Khandelwal
Tomy joined Volition Capital in 2012. He focuses on growth-stage investments in B2B software and technology-enabled services, with a particular focus on highly regulated industries including cyber security, compliance, and supply chain. Tomy currently serves on the board of Pramata. His current and former board observer roles include Assent Compliance, Insite Software (Acquired by Episerver), Recycle Track Systems, and Securonix, and also works closely with Volition portfolio companies Connatix and Burst Oral Care. Tomy graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. in Economics.
“Volition Capital is laser-focused on partnering with founding teams of high-growth technology businesses. We are firm believers that people are at the core of every business and strive to be partners both inside and outside the boardroom. We want to help founders pursue their dreams without risking them. I am fortunate to be part of the Volition team partnering with exceptional management teams of category-defining companies.” – Tomy Han
Dave Joined Volition in 2010 as an Associate, subsequently going on to develop his investment approach at the Wolfson Group and Catalyst Investors before returning to Volition in 2018 to help lead the software and tech-enabled services team. Dave has investment experience with the following Volition Portfolio companies: Arteza, BondPro, G5, and GRAX. His prior investment experience includes Fusion Risk Management, WeddingWire, Reputation Institute, and Xplornet. Dave began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Jefferies & Company. He holds a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from NYU and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
“It’s an honor to be included in this list alongside so many great growth stage investors. At Volition, we are singularly focused on backing scrappy, relentlessly driven entrepreneurs that have aspirations to dominate their respective categories – they are the driving force behind the success we’ve had collectively as a firm and as individual investors. It’s a privilege to get to work closely with these entrepreneurs and play even a small role in supporting their growth journey.” – Dave Gordon
Chris joined PSG in 2015 and has since worked on ten platform investments and 28 add-on acquisitions, building strong relationships with entrepreneurs and management teams along the way. He most notably supports PSG’s portfolio companies through capital structure initiatives, financial planning and analysis, acquisitions and executive recruitment. Chris currently serves on the boards of Skybox Security, Tentacle and Vehlo. Prior to joining PSG, Chris worked for Providence Equity Partners on the Valuation and Strategic Analysis team. Chris earned a M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Economics from Fairfield University.
“At PSG, we believe the key to successful investments is a strong working relationship with company leadership. I consider myself a partner and resource to portfolio company management teams and, whenever possible, leverage experiences and perspectives I’ve gained to help management accomplish objectives and overcome challenges. I am grateful to work for an organization that emphasizes the value of partnerships, as it has given me the opportunity to witness and work alongside high-caliber, talented entrepreneurs as they scale their businesses.” – Chris Andrews
David has been investing in fast growing, bootstrapped software companies for nearly a decade. As a Principal at Mainsail, David has an understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing bootstrapped software entrepreneurs and has developed significant specialization in helping companies grow from $5 to $50 million of revenue. While at Mainsail, David has worked on more than ten investments in founder-owned software companies. He currently sits on the boards of three Mainsail portfolio companies, including SourceScrub and Bio-Optronics. He previously served on the board of FairWarning, which was acquired by Imprivata, and Zen Planner, which was acquired by Daxko. Other investments David has worked on include nCourt, Novus Biologicals, and Brilliant Earth.
David graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Accounting. David started his career in investment banking at Houlihan Lokey and Wells Fargo Securities where he spent most of his time working on software M&A.
“I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with great people and to support management teams as they rapidly scale their software businesses. The most rewarding part of my job is partnering with software company founders and helping them to achieve their goals. Mainsail was purpose-built to help founders and management teams who have bootstrapped their way to $5 or $10 million in annual recurring revenue, but who want help scaling their business to $50 million and beyond.” – David Farsai
Jason has been at Mainsail for seven years and exclusively invests in bootstrapped vertical SaaS businesses. Jason believes vertical SaaS is still in the early innings of adoption, and bootstrapped founders with deep industry experience make for great partners to capitalize on this trend. In 2018, Jason served as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of GTreasury (a Mainsail portfolio company) – during his tenure, the company expanded into Europe and acquired Australia-based Visual Risk. While at Mainsail, Jason has worked on more than ten investments in founder-owned software companies and currently sits on the board of Aspire, Fullbay, PlanHub, Gtreasury, and ResMan. Jason graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Economics. Jason started his career at Raymond James as an investment banker.
“Partnering with bootstrapped founders is incredibly rewarding, and we have a team of 30+ passionate and capable women and men to help them execute on their visions. Mainsail has a seventeen year track record of supporting these founders and helping them scale into market leaders.” – Jason Frankel
Aaron joined Susquehanna Growth Equity in 2016. He focuses primarily on software for large enterprises and slow-adopting industries. His sector focus includes automation in the supply chain, the real estate industry, and back office functions, as well as vertical software and payments broadly. Aaron’s investments include Buildout, HighRadius, Macropoint (acquired by Descartes), OrderMyGear, Phorest, Real Capital Analytics, Realync, and one undisclosed investment. Before joining SGE, Aaron co-founded Gravy, a tech-enabled gifting company; prior to that he was a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. Aaron graduated with honors from Williams College with a B.A. in Philosophy.
“SGE exists to support high growth software businesses on their scaling journey, and to do it on the entrepreneurs’ terms. Every business we meet is different – the founding story, the people, the product, the industry focus. That diversity is energizing and makes our work deeply rewarding. We’re tremendously grateful to the entrepreneurs who’ve welcomed SGE as a partner and endlessly optimistic about the next generation of category-defining software businesses.” – Aaron Flack
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Copyright: The Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2020 publication is copyrighted material, produced and published by GrowthCap, LLC. For information pertaining to content permissions, please refer to GrowthCap’s award usage regulations.
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