GrowthCap is pleased to announce The Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2023. In our tenth year conducting this awards process, we continue to be amazed at the talent and acumen representing the growth investing space.
The exceptional individuals being recognized this year have been at the forefront for years, playing lead roles in developing the world of growth equity and growth buyouts into what it has become today.
Growth investing requires a rare combination of skills across a broad range of areas including investment judgement, business strategy, operations, human capital, acquisitions, capital markets and beyond. It is arguably one of the most challenging segments of the private investment industry.
This was our most competitive year since inception and while we could not recognize all of the impressive investors who were nominated, we want to acknowledge their tremendous accomplishments and contributions to the field.
Our evaluation process involved reviewing feedback on nominees from their colleagues, peers, portfolio company CEOs and others on their various capabilities and performance over time.
Ultimately, awardees were selected based on the depth of their deal experience, ability to help the companies they invest in, collaborative work style, and progression towards firm and industry leadership roles, among other attributes.
Please join us in recognizing and celebrating the achievements of The Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2023.
Firm: Blackstone Growth
Title: Managing Director
Brian Dunlap is a Managing Director at Blackstone Growth (BXG) where he leads minority growth and growth-oriented buyout investments in software, cybersecurity, and RE/PropTech. He is based in San Francisco.
Since joining Blackstone in 2019 to help launch BXG, Brian has helped BXG deploy over $1B in equity across several investments, including ISN Software, Articulate, Vectra.ai, Cvent, Procore, Diligent and others.
Prior to Blackstone, Brian was a member of TPG’s software investment team spanning TPG Capital and TPG Growth, focusing on investments in horizontal and vertical applications, cybersecurity and EdTech. Additionally, he served as Head of Technology for TPG RISE, which was co-founded alongside Bono and Jeff Skoll.
Prior to TPG, Brian worked at JMI Equity, where he focused on investments in SaaS and cybersecurity. Before that, Brian worked at General Atlantic in New York, focusing on growth equity investments in enterprise software and financial technology. Half Peruvian and fluent in Portuguese, Brian moved from New York to São Paulo, Brazil in 2010 as an early member of GA’s LatAm investment team. Prior to General Atlantic, Brian worked in M&A at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Brian received a BA in public policy from Stanford University, an MA in international policy studies from the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by GrowthCap alongside many friends and investors I respect highly. I believe that BXG is bringing a unique approach to growth investing at scale across cycles and I am grateful to the special group of companies that have placed their trust in Blackstone as a partner.”—Brian Dunlap
Firm: Thoma Bravo
Title: Partner, Co-Head of Growth Equity
Ross Devor is a Partner at Thoma Bravo, one of the largest software investors in the world, with approximately $134 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. Ross co-heads Thoma Bravo’s growth equity platform, a dedicated fund focused on making minority investments in high growth software and technology companies.
As co-head, Ross leads investing and operational activities for the growth equity platform, playing a critical role in sourcing and successfully executing investments and applying Thoma Bravo’s long-established operational and strategic capabilities to drive profitable growth.
Key to Thoma Bravo’s tailored growth equity strategy, Ross leads the team’s close collaboration with founders and management teams to implement world-class operating principles and help realize their visions and growth potential. Ross holds a BA in economics from Northwestern University.
“On behalf of our growth team, it’s a great honor to be recognized for our contributions to fostering innovation and accelerating growth at the exceptional companies in our portfolio, who are delivering transformative technologies across industries. We look forward to leveraging our 20+ year history of investing in software and technology companies to continue helping founders undertake the challenges and embrace the opportunities ahead.”—Ross Devor
Firm: Sageview Capital
Title: Partner
Mike McClure is a Partner at Sageview Capital, a growth equity firm that backs high-growth, industry-leading software and tech-enabled businesses. In his role, Mike is responsible for helping lead the firm’s investment ideation, sourcing efforts, transaction activity, and post-investment value creation.
Mike joined Sageview in 2011 as an Associate and returned to the firm as a Principal in 2015 after completing his MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was promoted to Partner in 2020, becoming the youngest partner in the firm’s 18-year history. Mike focuses primarily on software and tech-enabled businesses in the customer experience and supply chain sectors.
Throughout his time at Sageview, Mike has been actively involved in seven investments, representing over $1.5 billion in total enterprise value and over $300 million deployed. Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors at Aceable, CallRail, Specright, and User Interviews and is a board observer at Demandbase and Pantheon. He was previously a board observer at Womply.
Before joining Sageview, Mike was at Trilantic Capital Partners, where he focused on investing in leading companies across North America. Mike holds a BA in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“It’s an honor to work alongside my talented colleagues at Sageview, the courageous entrepreneurs we support, and our incredible limited partners as we endeavor to build the category-defining businesses of the future. Growth equity is very much a people-centric business, and I feel very lucky to be surrounded by so many exceptional people on a daily basis.”—Mike McClure
Firm: Berkshire Partners
Title: Managing Director
Candice Corvetti is a Managing Director at Berkshire Partners, a 100% employee-owned, multi-sector specialist investor in private and public equity.
Candice is a key leader in Berkshire’s services and industrials sector, where she has partnered with several of the firm’s innovative, growth-oriented portfolio companies. These include Parts Town–one of the fastest growing parts distributors in the foodservice equipment industry—where she played a key role in generating a successful outcome for Berkshire’s original Parts Town investment and establishing Berkshire’s first single-asset continuation vehicle for Parts Town.
Candice also serves on the Board of Directors for Parts Town as well as for AHEAD, a leader in cloud, data, and digital engineering solutions. Other portfolio involvement includes Advanced Drainage Systems, which Berkshire Partners Private Equity successfully exited in 2023, and Asurion.
In addition to her investment contributions, Candice was part of the team that created “Berkshire Cares,” a firm-wide charitable matching program designed to encourage the firm’s employees at all levels to give back to their communities and support causes that are important to them. The program has been very successful, with well over half of Berkshire’s employees actively participating in the program by donating their time and resources.
Candice graduated magna cum laude from Williams College, where she earned a BA in mathematics and economics. She earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she was an Arjay Miller Scholar.
“It’s an honor to be recognized alongside so many talented investors. I love my job, and in particular, the opportunity to collaborate with the exceptional leadership teams at our portfolio companies as they seek to build best-in-class businesses. It is a true privilege. And I’m grateful to do this alongside the smart, capable, and humble team at Berkshire Partners.”—Candice Corvetti
Firm: Berkshire Partners
Title: Managing Director
Drew Walker is a Managing Director at Berkshire Partners, a 100% employee-owned, multi-sector specialist investor in private and public equity.
Drew is a leader within the firm’s the digital infrastructure team and has strong transaction experience that includes the firm’s successful investment in Teraco–Africa’s largest carrier-neutral data center and interconnection services provider. Other portfolio company experience includes Tract, Point Broadband, AHEAD, Lightower Fiber Networks, MedOne, and Opensignal.
Drew has also helped advance Berkshire’s responsible investing efforts, having overseen the implementation of broad-based employee equity plans at MedOne and Opensignal, consistent with Berkshire’s role as a founding member of Ownership Works. In addition, he was part of the team that implemented a 2050 net zero target for Berkshire Partners private equity, and a 2040 target for Berkshire Partners’ digital infrastructure strategy.
Drew graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College with a BA in economics and environmental studies, and he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
“It’s an honor to be featured on this year’s GrowthCap list, which is a direct reflection of the outstanding mentorship I’ve received over my 12+ years at Berkshire. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from a wide range of colleagues and portfolio company leadership teams throughout my time here, all of whom have had a big impact on my development as an investor.”—Drew Walker
Firm: Left Lane Capital
Title: Managing Partner
Dan Ahrens is a Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, a New York based firm that invests in high-growth consumer and internet technology companies driving the digitization of the global economy. As a co-founder of the firm, Dan has helped lead Left Lane’s overall operations, investment evaluation and portfolio value add. He has led investments across consumer and small business technology sectors, including fintech and marketplaces.
He currently serves on the board of M1 Finance, Wayflyer, Moove, Clerkie, Arc Technologies, Exo Freight, and others. Dan started his career at the Boston Consulting Group before joining Insight Partners as an Associate on their Onsite team in 2016. He graduated from Duke University where he received a BS in economics.
“I am honored to be a recipient of the GrowthCap 40 Under 40 award this year alongside so many talented investors. Since Left Lane’s founding in 2019, we’ve focused on partnering with high-growth internet and consumer tech leaders that are driving the digitization of the global economy. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with these founders who are transforming their industries and proud of the Left Lane team who strives to make a positive impact and provide value during every step of the investment process.”—Dan Ahrens
Firm: Bain Capital Private Equity
Title: Partner
Max de Groen is a Partner at Bain Capital and focuses on supporting the growth of cutting-edge cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and horizontal application businesses.
He is focused on accelerating growth across the firm’s tech portfolio and currently serves on the boards of Nutanix, ExtraHop, EDB, and Rocket Software. These four companies, at various stages of maturity, represent the varied expertise Bain Capital brings across its private equity technology platform.
Max has also played significant roles at a number of other Bain Capital technology investments which have had successful exits including BMC Software, Symantec (Gen Digital), and Viewpoint Construction Software.
Max captains the North American private equity recruiting process at Bain Capital as a reflection of his dedication to nurturing talent and promoting growth within the industry. Under his leadership, the team has significantly accelerated overall hiring efforts, including via its “Pathway into Private Equity” program, which began in 2021. Max joined Bain Capital in 2011, following his tenure as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group.
“Partnering differently—with colleagues across our Bain Capital technology platform, with founders and entrepreneurs building category disruptors, and the management teams scaling their companies to international leaders, is a rewarding hallmark of our approach. I’m honored with every chance we get to support growing technology companies, and the opportunities to mentor the next generation of thinkers at Bain Capital.”—Max de Groen
Firm: Bain Capital Tech Opportunities
Title: Partner
Scott joined Bain Capital Tech Opportunities in 2019. He co-leads the team’s investments across application software and information services, most notably focusing on vertical SaaS, SMB platforms and B2B marketplace investments.
Scott’s investment experience at Bain Capital represents a range of minority and majority growth investments including Buildertrend, Hudl, Mixpanel, and Ren.
Scott has been characterized by founders and entrepreneurs as a steadfast believer in their vision, who offers the strategic insights, unwavering support, and collaborative spirit to help realize their goals. He partners differently and works alongside company leadership to empower and amplify the ambition of employees across the organization.
Prior to Bain Capital, Scott was a senior investment professional with TCV where he invested in Avetta, CCC, Siteminder, and Xero. Scott graduated from Santa Clara University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
“Bain Capital has a unique opportunity to invest in category leading software companies from seed to scale. We launched Tech Opportunities in 2019 with a vision of being highly concentrated and deeply committed to partnering with the best growth focused founders and management teams. I am grateful that I get to learn from such talented co-workers and executives every day.”—Scott Kirk
Firm: Summit Partners
Title: Partner
Sophia Popova is a Partner on Summit Partners’ Technology Team. She joined the firm in 2017 as a Vice President and was promoted to Partner in January 2023. Over the course of her tenure, Sophia has distinguished herself as a smart and thoughtful technology investor.
She has played an active role in eight Summit investments, representing more than $1.6 billion in invested capital. Her current board and investment experience includes Invicti Security, Klaviyo (completed IPO in 2023, NYSE: KVYO), Markforged (completed IPO in 2021, NYSE: MKFG), Mavrck, Vensure Employer Services (formerly PrismHR), Sifted, StackAdapt and Ylopo.
Sophia’s investment acumen is strengthened by her extensive technical knowledge acquired through product management and business development positions at multiple startups, including Contactive (acquired by Fuze in 2015) and Recombine (acquired by CooperSurgical in 2016). While at Harvard Business School, Sophia was an investment partner at the Dorm Room Fund, where she advised numerous student-founder-led startups.
Sophia holds a BA in economics and mathematics from Yale University and an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School.
“As a growth investor at Summit, I have the privilege of working alongside innovative leaders whose vision and tenacity are helping to transform the technology landscape. It is truly an honor to be a part of these growth journeys.”—Sophia Popova
Firm: TCV
Title: Partner
Mike has over a decade of experience investing in European technology companies, and focuses on investments in the fintech, consumer and enterprise software sectors. He is currently involved with investments in Allica Bank, Believe, Brillen, Flix, Mambu, Miro, Qonto, Redis, Revolut, Sportradar, TourRadar, and Trade Republic. He was formerly involved with an investment in Siteminder.
Mike rejoined TCV in 2017 from SiteMinder, where he was Head of Business Operations. Prior to TCV, he was an investor with Summit Partners, where he focused on sourcing, evaluating, and executing investments across the technology and healthcare sectors. Mike graduated cum laude from Harvard University, where he received an AB in social studies. He also holds an LLB from the University of Law.
“TCV has long been at the forefront of technological innovation and partnering with category leading technology companies as they scale. Building relationships with entrepreneurs and teams that are constantly innovating and improving technology solutions across the world has given us a front row seat to what the future can look like, and we feel fortunate for the opportunity to be part of their growth journey.”—Michael Kalfayan
Firm: Brighton Park Capital
Title: Partner
Jeff Machlin is a Partner and a member of the Investment Committee at Brighton Park Capital (“BPC”), where he helps lead the firm’s technology, financial technology, and tech-enabled services investing efforts. At BPC, Jeff has led investments in DarkTrace (LSE: DARK), SheerID, MathCo, Coralogix, Impartner, and XSOLIS.
He works closely with founders and management teams, supporting them in scaling their business, thinking through key challenges and opportunities, and navigating evolving technology and competitive landscapes. Currently, Jeff serves on the boards of SheerID, MathCo, Impartner, and Relatient.
Prior to joining Brighton Park Capital, Jeff was a Vice President at General Atlantic where he led and managed investments across technology and tech-enabled services companies including HireRight (NYSE: HRT), General Information Services, Automation Anywhere, SAIC (NYSE: SAIC), and EN Engineering.
Earlier in his career, Jeff was an Investor at TA Associates where he covered several sectors including information services, financial services, and financial technology and was involved in multiple investments including ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: ZI) and Russell Investments. Jeff began his career in Citigroup’s investment banking division where he focused on mergers and acquisitions for asset managers and financial technology companies.
Jeff received an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from The University of Miami with a BBA in finance with honors.
“At Brighton Park Capital, I have the privilege of working with an exceptional team of investors and senior advisors who are dedicated to adding value and building deep relationships with each of our management teams. It’s an incredible honor to work shoulder-to-shoulder with and learn from exceptional executives and entrepreneurs as they build the next generation of innovative technology companies around the world.”—Jeff Machlin
Firm: B Capital
Title: Partner
Adam Seabrook is a Partner at B Capital, a global multi-stage venture firm backing disruptive technology companies. Adam joined B Capital in 2015 as a Senior Associate shortly after the firm’s founding and focuses on healthcare technology, digital health, tech-enabled services, and new healthcare payment models.
He has invested in and works closely with Evidation Health, SilverCloud Health, Atomwise, Centivo, PicnicHealth, Positive Development, Notable Labs, and others. Outside of investing, Adam is the Chair of B Capital’s ESG Committee.
Prior to joining B Capital, Adam worked at Imaging Advantage, an early-stage telemedicine company that managed onsite and virtual care services. He also worked in a medical biophysics lab developing new imaging techniques while obtaining a BS in biomechanical engineering from Cornell University. In addition, he holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an MA in economics from the University of Western Ontario.
“I’ve had the incredibly good fortune to work with great founders, management teams, and colleagues during my time at B Capital. I’m excited about the work that we do because I believe in the ability of each one of the companies we work with to dramatically improve patient care, lower healthcare costs, bring new and innovative therapies to market or improve access. It’s an honor to work with each team to try to make healthcare better.”—Adam Seabrook
Firm: JMI Equity
Title: General Partner
Larry has been part of the JMI team since 2010. He is a General Partner and is responsible for sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities as well as providing strategic and operational support to portfolio companies. Larry is currently a director of Apptegy, Bloomerang, ChurnZero, Incident IQ, RainFocus, and Raptor Technologies.
Prior to joining JMI, Larry was an Analyst in the multi-industries group in the investment banking division at Merrill Lynch & Co. Larry graduated from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in economics.
“My colleagues and I take great pride in helping our portfolio companies grow and achieve their full potential. It’s a huge privilege to collaborate with talented founders and management teams to build world class software businesses.”—Larry Contrella
Firm: Insight Partners
Title: Managing Director
Henry is a Managing Director at Insight Partners and joined the firm in 2016. He focuses on investments in growth-stage and scaled software businesses, particularly in vertical and horizontal application software in North America and Europe.
Henry has worked closely with many Insight portfolio companies, including Afresh, AMCS, Camunda, Exactera, Exclaimer, Gamma, Gelato, Inky, Jama, Jedox, Lakeside, Nuvolo, PayCargo, Portside, PrecisionLender, Sanas, and TriTech.
At Insight, Henry has been involved in over $1.8 billion of new equity investments, and he specializes in helping growing companies build and scale their organizations, source and execute M&A, and navigate the capital markets.
Prior to Insight, Henry was an investor at TA Associates focusing on vertical software and started his career as an investment banker at Credit Suisse. Henry graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with a BA in economics.
“At Insight Partners, our mission is to find, fund, and support the next generation of transformational software companies. I’m thankful for the opportunity to partner with amazing founders and executives to help accelerate their ambitions using Insight’s scale advantages, deep operational resources, and specialist expertise from a 28-year track-record of backing what we believe are the best software companies.”—Henry Frankievich
Firm: Spectrum Equity
Title: Managing Director
Parag joined Spectrum Equity in 2012 as an Associate. Now a Managing Director, Parag is head of the firm’s recently launched London office, where he leads a team focused on investments in European software and data services businesses.
Parag has been most active in enterprise software, cybersecurity, and financial technology. Most recently, he played a key role in Spectrum’s investment in Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a UK-based company that specializes in pricing, data and intelligence in the lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle supply chain. He also led Spectrum’s investment in the cybersecurity company Netcraft.
Previously, he was involved in the firm’s investments in BATS Global Markets (acquired by CBOE), RainKing (acquired by DiscoverOrg/ZoomInfo), Verafin (acquired by Nasdaq), and Quantile (acquired by London Stock Exchange Group plc). In addition to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and Netcraft, he currently serves on the boards of Bitly, Offensive Security, and OurFamilyWizard.
Parag graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in mathematics and economics. He began his career as an Analyst with J.P. Morgan’s Restructuring Group in New York City.
“For over three decades, Spectrum Equity has focused on helping founders of software and information services companies achieve their growth ambitions. I’ve been so fortunate in my career to work alongside these leaders, provide them with the support to navigate growth-stage challenges, and help them build category-defining companies.”—Parag Khandelwal
Firm: Vista Equity Partners
Title: Managing Director
Abhay Puskoor is a Managing Director in Vista Equity Partners’ Endeavor Fund where he invests in high-growth enterprise software companies with $10 to $30 million ARR. Abhay has been instrumental in advancing Endeavor’s commitment to investing in companies that are at a meaningful inflection point in their journey and unlocking opportunities that help leadership achieve growth at scale.
Since joining Vista in 2021, Abhay has sourced and led four new platform investments for Endeavor, comprised of MedTrainer, Benchmark Gensuite, Resilinc and Gatekeeper.
Endeavor announced three exits in 2023 with the partial sales of Fusion Risk Management, Tripleseat and Zapproved. At Zapproved, Abhay and the Endeavor team helped the company to establish category leadership through product expansion and enhanced customer success and go-to-market functions.
Prior to joining Vista, Abhay focused on growth and buyout investments of software and technology-enabled businesses at FTV Capital and spent time in investment banking advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and capital-raising transactions in the asset management, insurance, and financial technology sectors.
“It is an honor to partner with founders and executive teams to achieve their company vision. Vista’s team of investors and operators brings decades of experience singularly focused on enterprise software businesses. We are energized to work alongside our management teams to establish the foundation for scale, accelerate sustainable growth and deliver consistent outcomes for all stakeholders.”—Abhay Puskoor
Firm: Guidepost Growth Equity
Title: General Partner
Chris joined Guidepost Growth Equity in 2015. At Guidepost, Chris focuses on investments in application software and data services. He is currently sits on the Board of Directors at Atheneum, Atlas Technology Solutions, dscout, Mineral, Tractive, and WP Engine, and formerly served on the Board of Directors at Lucid (acquired by Cint), Spoonflower (acquired by Shutterfly), and Leapfrog (acquired by Dentsu).
Prior to Guidepost, Chris was a Vice President at Great Hill Partners and an Analyst in Citigroup’s Consumer & Retail Investment Banking group. Chris earned a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame.
“At Guidepost, we are focused on partnering with bootstrapped, entrepreneur-led enterprise software and technology-enabled businesses demonstrating significant organic, profitable growth and typically $10-$50 million of revenue scale. We build trusted minority or slight majority partnerships with our management teams through impactful strategic, financial, and operational assistance entirely at this stage of growth. The expertise of our Value Creation Group (“VCG”) is a key differentiator in our segment of the market, where Guidepost’s relationships with executives in our core industry groups provides crucial functional assistance in the areas that are often underdeveloped for growth stage companies and that are required to build to $100M+ of revenue scale.”—Chris Cavanagh
Firm: Charlesbank Capital Partners
Title: Managing Director
Mayur Desai is a Managing Director at Charlesbank Capital Partners, where he leads investments in growing software companies. Mayur initially joined Charlesbank in 2009 on its flagship private equity team before helping launch the firm’s technology opportunities strategy in 2019.
Mayur has over a decade of technology investing experience and has played a critical role in over $1 billion of capital deployed in software companies. He was instrumental in recent investments such as PakEnergy, Titan Cloud, Ivanti and ImageQuix. Mayur has been active in business building across a number of Charlesbank investments by developing organic growth initiatives, executing numerous follow-on acquisitions and recruiting talented senior leaders. Mayur is known for building lasting relationships with executives built on integrity, accountability, and a shared desire to see each company reach its full potential.
Mayur previously worked at Bain & Company, Audax Group, and Vector Capital. He earned a BS in physics and a BS in electrical engineering & computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
“I love being part of a firm that fosters meaningful, long-term relationships with founders and management teams. It’s a privilege to collaborate with my colleagues each day to support these talented executives in growing innovative and durable businesses.”—Mayur Desai
Firm: Optum Ventures
Title: Managing Partner
Laura Veroneau is a Managing Partner and founding team member of Optum Ventures, the independent venture fund of UnitedHealth Group that invests stage agnostically across the healthcare ecosystem. Under Laura’s guidance and leadership, Optum Ventures—now with 60+ portfolio companies and over $1 billion in AUM—is gaining recognition as a leading platform in healthcare investing.
Laura has played an instrumental role in the fund’s activity and success, leading notable investments such as AbleTo, Dispatch Health, Equip, Garner, and Unite Us, among others. Prior to Optum Ventures, Laura’s experience ranges from a healthcare startup to UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, and Transformation Capital—enabling Laura to develop a deep understanding of the healthcare system, with an eye on how innovation can integrate into and transform the overall industry.
Today, Laura also sits on the Board of Overseers for Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Laura received her undergraduate degree in economics and legal studies from Williams College and received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
“Optum Ventures was created to develop a comprehensive and strategic presence in the startup landscape in anticipation of increased healthcare innovation at this stage. In this role, we are fortunate to work with passionate innovators across the healthcare ecosystem—from large market players to early-stage startups—all working towards making the healthcare system more affordable, accessible, efficient, and equitable for all. Cross-industry partnerships have the power to move innovation forward and through this lens, I am incredibly proud of OV’s progress to date and even more excited for what the next ten years will bring.”—Laura Veroneau
Firm: Health Enterprise Partners
Title: Managing Partner
Ezra is a Managing Partner at Health Enterprise Partners, a HCIT and services-focused growth equity firm, whose investors include some of the largest health systems and health plans across the country. Prior to joining the team in 2010, Ezra was a Senior Analyst at the Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ: ABCO), providing best practice consulting and research services to hospitals and health systems.
After leaving the Advisory Board Company, Ezra served as a Senior Consultant in the health care practice of Booz Allen Hamilton focusing on engagements in the provider space.
Ezra is currently on the Board of Directors of The Intermed Group, Wildflower Health, Kno2, Proven Behavior Solutions, Family First Adolescent Services, and Aware Recovery Care. He previously served on the Board of Directors of AxiaMed (acquired by Bank of America), Applied Pathways (acquired by AIM Specialty Health, a division of Anthem, Inc), CenterPointe Behavioral Health System (acquired by Acadia Healthcare), InDemand Interpreting (acquired by Stratus Video/AMN Healthcare), Jvion (acquired by Lightbeam Health Solutions) and Twistle (acquired by Health Catalyst).
He sits on the Harvard School of Public Health’s Health Policy and Management Executive Council. He is on the faculty of Columbia Business School, where he has co-taught the Healthcare Private Equity and Venture Capital course for the past 8 years. He was recognized as a Top 25 Healthcare Investor by GrowthCap in 2021 and 2022.
Ezra holds a BA cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
“The magnitude of challenges affecting our healthcare system corresponds to a similarly outsized set of opportunities for the companies who can solve them; the companies who are awarded with the most rewarding financial outcomes are frequently the ones who have the most profound impact in improving patient care. For the past 13 years, I have been privileged to partner with a set of entrepreneurs so committed to improving our fractured system, and a dedicated team of pragmatic company building colleagues at HEP. I am excited for what the future holds.”—Ezra Mehlman
Firm: One Peak
Title: Partner
Christoph is a Partner at One Peak. He was the firm’s first hire, joining in 2014 shortly after its founding, and playing a key role in One Peak’s ascent as the largest specialist B2B software growth investor in Europe and Israel, with $2 billion in assets under management.
Christoph partners closely with the firm’s founders, supporting them as a value-add partner on their growth journeys. Over the past decade, he has invested in a number of category-leading scale-ups such as Neo4j, Docplanner, and PandaDoc. Today, he holds board level roles in Spryker, DataGuard, Orgvue, emnify, and Paysend.
Prior to joining One Peak, Christoph worked in investment banking at Citi and Goldman Sachs, advising their German clients in a variety of transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, and other equity and debt capital markets financings.
As a passionate teenage coder and quant enthusiast, Christoph was primed to lead One Peak’s initial building of what has become PULSE, One Peak’s proprietary scale-up monitoring and market mapping data platform.
Christoph holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a Master’s degree in finance from London Business School, where he graduated with Distinction.
“At One Peak, I’ve had the incredible privilege of working with a number of exceptional software entrepreneurs over the past decade. I’m honored to partner with founders to realize their full potential with the help of our team’s sector expertise, global network, and value creation platform.”—Christoph Mayer
Firm: Five Elms Capital
Title: Partner
Ryan Mandl is a Partner at Five Elms Capital, a leading growth equity firm that invests in high-growth, B2B software businesses globally. Joining in 2010, Ryan has spent his entire career investing in software businesses at Five Elms.
As a member of the firm’s Investment Committee, his biggest strengths span across the deal and company lifecycle, making him a valuable asset to the firm and a trusted partner to the companies he works with. Ryan has helped lead 17 investments and numerous exits, including the recent recapitalization of Apptegy with JMI Equity and the sale of Tagger to Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT). Other notable successful exits Ryan has been a key influence on include Service Fusion to Evercommerce (Nasdaq: EVCM), OnBoard to JMI Equity, and MemberClicks to Personify.
Ryan currently serves on the boards of seven Five Elms portfolio companies: Apptegy, AskNicely, ContractSafe, Field Agent, Playvox, SingleOps, and Skedda. When he is not focused on new deal generation, Ryan spends significant time on value creation efforts with each of his companies, helping to identify and execute significant growth levers including, product innovation, go-to-market initiatives, pricing and packaging, and M&A among others.
“At Five Elms, we believe the key to any successful SaaS business is its people. Our unique culture and partnership approach to investing has allowed us to earn the trust of more than 60 software companies over the past 17 years. I am honored to be recognized by GrowthCap along with so many highly respected investors.”—Ryan Mandl
Firm: OMERS Private Equity
Title: Managing Director
Dmitry Yashnikov is a Managing Director and Head of GreenTech at OMERS Private Equity, based in London, UK. Dmitry’s investing background lies in direct infrastructure investments, both at OMERS and in investment banking.
Dmitry focuses on originating and executing opportunities to invest in leading businesses active across the industrial decarbonisation and clean technology space. Within this strategy OMERS seeks to provide patient capital to fund next stages of growth or specific projects of these companies over time.
Prior to OMERS Private Equity, Dmitry was part of OMERS Capital Markets and OMERS Infrastructure and executed on multiple acquisitions across the utilities and transportation sectors as well as leading on financing and lender relationships in Europe. Prior to that he was a member of Citigroup’s Transportation and Infrastructure M&A team. Dmitry holds a BSc (Hons) in economics from the London School of Economics.
“Thank you to GrowthCap for this recognition. Throughout my career I have been fortunate to partner with inspiring management teams and colleagues who are working to build a better tomorrow. It’s incredibly rewarding to have the opportunity to invest in the Greentech space and support companies that are leading the transition to a lower carbon economy. I look forward to continuing this important work in service of OMERS’ 600,000 members.”—Dmitry Yashnikov
Firm: Volition Capital
Title: Partner
Jim Ferry is a Partner at Volition Capital with deep experience evaluating and executing new investment opportunities focusing on ad tech, consolidation platforms, marketplaces, and other internet transactional businesses. Jim has been an integral part of the Volition team since joining the firm in 2014 after graduating as the top business student at Providence College with a BS in finance.
He has built his credentials as a board member for Aditude, Connatix (acq. Court Square), Doing Things, Dragonfly, and Rounds, as well as a board observer for Grove Collaborative (NYSE: GROV), Automatiq, ButterflyMX, Duffl, and Revi.
“It’s an honor to be recognized alongside this list of talented individuals who are passionate about investing in companies that are transforming their industries. Volition Capital has always prioritized creating meaningful impact above and beyond a financial investment and being named as a Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investor speaks to the unrelenting commitment we have to the success of our founders and their businesses. I am proud to further that mission alongside my peers who will continue to champion meaningful innovation.”—Jim Ferry
Firm: Centana Growth Partners
Title: Partner
Matthew Alfieri joined Centana in 2017 and is a Partner on the investment team. He currently serves on the board of Eventus Systems and serves as a board observer at Beacon, Plooto, Sayari Labs, SpyCloud and Zesty.ai.
Matthew leads Centana’s investment professional recruitment efforts and plays a key role in driving engagement and connectivity with Centana’s Advisory Board. Matthew was named one of GrowthCap’s Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors (2022) and was named one of Business Insider’s Rising Stars of Wall Street (2019).
Prior to Centana, Matthew spent nine years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as a Vice President with the Principal Strategic Investments (PSI) team working in London and New York. Matthew gained experience investing in financial technology and enterprise software companies.
He led eight investments and served on the boards of six of the companies; his investments included Barefoot Networks (acquired by Intel), Vapor IO and Unbound Tech (acquired by Coinbase). Prior to PSI, Matthew was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. He received a BA in business administration in the Financial Analyst Honors Program from the University at Albany.
“At Centana Growth Partners, we partner with rapidly growing companies within the financial services ecosystem and tailor our investments based on their unique needs to sustain or accelerate their growth. Over the last 12 years, I’ve had the privilege to work alongside and help support many great entrepreneurs who have transformed the financial services industry. I believe Centana’s consistent and time-tested approach to growth equity investing will allow us to continue to deliver exceptional results for all of our stakeholders.”—Matthew Alfieri
Firm: TA Associates
Title: Director
Jessica Gilligan is a Director in TA’s Boston office, where she focuses on investments in consumer products and services companies across North America. Jessica has more than 10 years of experience in consumer private equity, focused on partnering with emerging and market-leading brands and companies to drive growth and create lasting shareholder value.
Throughout her time at TA, Jessica has been actively involved in eight firm investments and has co-sponsored TA’s investments in Advantice Health, Death Wish Coffee, Mid America Pet Food, Petcurean, Stonewall Kitchen and Thermacell.
Jessica currently serves on the Board of Directors of Death Wish Coffee, Mid America Pet Food and Stonewall Kitchen. Prior to joining TA as an Associate in 2012, she worked in the M&A Group at Sagent Advisors Inc. Jessica received a BS degree, magna cum laude, in finance, economics and international business from Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
“At TA, we pride ourselves on the depth of industry knowledge, experience and resources we leverage to scale growth and unlock value in exceptional companies. It is a privilege to collaborate closely with inspiring management teams, founders, and entrepreneurs, and I am deeply thankful to GrowthCap for this recognition.”—Jessica Gilligan
Firm: H.I.G. Capital
Title: Principal
Eunji is a Principal at H.I.G. Growth Partners and is based in the Boston and New York offices. She focuses on growth equity investments in the software sector.
Eunji brings over a decade of investing experience across a broad range of industries, including horizontal and vertical application software, data and information services, cloud infrastructure, internet and digital media, and cybersecurity. Prior to joining H.I.G., Eunji was a Vice President at Summit Partners, where she sourced, executed, and managed investments in high-growth software companies.
Eunji co-founded Boston Women in Private Equity (BWPE) in 2014. The non-profit entity’s mission is to support the recruiting, development, and long-term retention of pre-MBA female professionals in the Boston PE/VC community and has since grown to 100+ active members.
Eunji earned an AB in economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School.
“I’m grateful to work at a firm that prioritizes building long-term partnerships with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and management teams. At H.I.G. Growth we take pride in our custom approach and deep domain experience, which allows us to bring the full resources of the H.I.G. Capital platform to bear. I look forward to continuing my work alongside these leaders as they build best in class companies.”—Eunji Chung
Firm: H.I.G. Capital
Title: Principal
Albert is a Principal in the San Francisco office where he focuses on software growth equity investments. Albert has nearly a decade of investing experience across a broad range of industries including infrastructure software, application software, and cybersecurity.
Prior to joining H.I.G., Albert helped lead the software growth equity practice at Blue Owl Capital. Prior investment and board experience includes Algolia, Carta, CircleCI, Coherent Global, JumpCloud, Remitly (NASDAQ: RELY), Replicated, Salesloft (acq. by Vista), and UserZoom (acq. by Thoma Bravo). Before Blue Owl, Albert held investment professional roles at Charles River Ventures (CRV) and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).
Albert graduated, magna cum laude, with a BA in economics from the University of California, San Diego.
“I’m proud to work at H.I.G. Growth, where I have partnered with many experienced founders, CEOs, and management teams to support them as they achieve their full potential. At H.I.G. Growth, we believe a collaborative approach to partnership, coupled with deep operational experience, is a true differentiator and I’m honored to be named to this list.”—Albert Koh
Firm: Vista Equity Partners
Title: Senior Vice President
Aaron Gupta is a Senior Vice President in Vista Equity Partners’ Foundation Fund where he invests in middle-market enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled companies. Aaron has been an active dealmaker at Vista, building relationships and partnering with founders and management teams to help their companies accelerate growth.
Additionally, Aaron has been instrumental in leading Vista’s recruiting, training, and development programs. Aaron also spent a year building out the sales operations and value selling function at LogicMonitor, a high growth Foundation Fund platform investment.
Aaron currently serves on the boards of ARCOS, FLASH and Poppulo. Since joining in 2014, he has also been actively involved with Vista’s investments in Allocate, Bullhorn, Lone Wolf, Main Street Hub, PowerSchool, Regulatory DataCorp, and Upserve. Prior to joining Vista, Aaron worked at Irving Place Capital and Greenhill & Co.
Over the past 12 months, Vista’s Foundation Fund has completed 14 transactions, including platform investments in TRG Screen and Energy Exemplar, as well as monetizations of Aptean and Cvent.
“Enterprise software is constantly evolving, driving transformative change across industries. At Vista, we are fortunate to work alongside talented management teams who are solving problems through software that have a true impact on our community. It’s a privilege to help these founders and executives scale their businesses to new heights.”—Aaron Gupta
Firm: Silversmith Capital Partners
Title: Principal
Nikhil Marathe joined Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015 and is currently a Principal focused on investments across the firm’s two core verticals, healthcare IT & services and SaaS & information services. His notable investment experience at the firm includes Appfire, AMS, Centauri Health Solutions, LifeStance Health, MediQuant, Panalgo, and Upperline Health.
Prior to Silversmith, Nikhil was an Associate at TA Associates where he focused on growth equity investments in healthcare IT and services, and previously served as an Analyst at Evercore Partners in the Technology M&A group. He received a BS, magna cum laude, in economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Since our founding, Silversmith has had the privilege to be growth partners to founders and CEOs who have built companies focused on delivering products and services that provide real and measurable value. It is a privilege to work alongside and support the growth of exceptional entrepreneurs and companies across the healthcare ecosystem, all with the goal of driving down costs, optimizing care quality and maximizing patient satisfaction.”—Nikhil Marathe
Firm: Great Hill Partners
Title: Principal
Joe Germanese is a Principal at Great Hill Partners, where he has been responsible for originating, evaluating, and managing investments in companies across the financial technology, business services and software sectors since 2011. Over the course of his private equity career, Joe has participated in 13 investments and nine exits.
Joe helped shepherd Great Hill’s investments in several companies for which he is now a board member, including Enumerate (a provider of software and payment solutions to communities, homeowners’ associations and other vertical markets), Vanco (a payment processing software company) and Versapay (an accounts receivable software company).
He also played an active role in the firm’s investments in NMI (payments processing platform), Chrome River (travel and expense management software provider), Affinipay (legal/professional services-focused payments company), Reward Gateway (employee engagement platform), Accelerated Payment Technologies (payments solutions company), and Freightquote (transportation management software for freight shipping).
Joe supported Great Hill’s exits/additional transactions and served on the boards of several companies, including Connexeo (a provider of education management and payments software merged with Great Hill portfolio company Vanco), Confirmation.com (a provider of audit confirmation services acquired by Thomson Reuters), and PayChoice (a payroll provider company acquired by Sage North America).
Prior to joining Great Hill, Joe worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the healthcare investment banking group. He also briefly played professional soccer for the New England Revolution. He earned a BS from Duke University in economics.
“It is an honor to work for a firm that serves as a true partner to its portfolio companies and has the opportunity to make an impact on the next generation of leading software companies bringing disruptive products to market. We’re thrilled to continue our efforts in supporting and growing software companies in the years ahead.”—Joe Germanese
Firm: Great Hill Partners
Title: Principal
Chris Govey is a Principal at Great Hill Partners, where he has been responsible for originating, evaluating, and managing investments in companies across the enterprise software and tech-enabled services sectors since 2017. He has spent his career working with growth-oriented technology businesses and management teams, collaborating closely to design and execute strategies with a long-term focus in mind.
Having spent nearly a decade in the private equity industry, Chris has played a significant role in helping to lead five investments and two exits at Great Hill. Recently, he spearheaded the sale of Examity (an online proctoring and authentication solutions provider) with Meazure Learning, after managing Great Hill’s initial investment into Examity in 2019. He has also been instrumental in leading Great Hill’s investments in Fusion Risk Management (a provider of operational resilience and risk management software), Domino Data Lab (an enterprise-focused data science operations platform), and eloomi (a provider of SaaS-based corporate learning management software).
Chris is a board member at Fusion Risk Management and board observer of eloomi and Meazure Learning. He previously served as a board member at Reflexis Systems before its sale to Zebra Technologies in 2020, as well as Examity prior to its sale to Meazure Learning in 2023.
Prior to joining Great Hill Partners, Chris worked as an Associate at Polaris Partners and began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Jefferies. He earned a BA from Amherst College in economics and an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
“There are many roads you can take to arrive at the doorstep of success. What I love about growth investing is carefully evaluating these options alongside exceptional management teams, and then moving forward with determination toward a common goal.”—Chris Govey
Firm: PSG
Title: Principal
Rich Zajeski has been a major player in driving investment and operational success at PSG, having led several key investments for the firm and quickly rising from a Senior Associate to Principal in just over four years.
Since joining PSG in 2019, Rich has had a leading role on 9 platform investments and 25 add-on acquisitions. Specifically, Rich has led investments in middle-market software companies with a focus on helping their management teams capitalize on transformational growth. He sits on the board of seven PSG portfolio companies, including: 4me, Code Climate, LivTech, SchoolStatus, Semarchy, Transit Technologies and Xenia.
Rich is involved in PSG’s operations and is focused on building the next generation of junior talent. He oversees resourcing of PSG’s investment team, while also championing the firm’s summer internship and analyst programs. Rich received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Harvard University.
“Thank you to GrowthCap for this recognition. It is an honor to be included among this exceptional group of investors, and at PSG, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with inspiring founders and business leaders. I’m looking forward to continuing my work partnering with excellent teams and companies.”—Rich Zajeski
Firm: Silversmith Capital Partners
Title: Principal
Danielle joined Silversmith in September 2020 and was promoted to Principal in early 2023. Her investments at the firm focus on the SaaS & information services sectors, with a particular interest in developer & IT tools, security, and vertical applications. Investments Danielle has helped lead and currently serves in a board role at include Gearset, GiveCampus, Proven Optics and Worldly.
Prior to Silversmith, Danielle was a private equity investor at Vector Capital and an Investment Banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley. Her passion for technology stems from her first job at MongoDB in operations. Outside of investing, Danielle is passionate about working with organizations focused on fostering career growth for women in business and helping to positively impact her broader community.
Danielle graduated from Brown University with a degree in history and received an MBA with second year honors from Harvard Business School.
“The best part of my role as an investor is having the opportunity to partner with talented and tenacious founders who are building software products that their customers truly love and to support them as they accelerate their growth.”—Danielle Waldman
Firm: Turn/River Capital
Title: Principal
Matthew Amico is a Principal at Turn/River Capital, a leading software investment firm made up of operators and investors, that provides flexible capital alongside operational expertise in software go-to-market.
Throughout his career, Matt has shown a unique ability to identify and partner with exceptional software businesses and support their growth both organically and inorganically alongside his colleagues at Turn/River. Matt is a trusted partner to the CEOs & CFOs of Turn/River’s portfolio companies, where he focuses on helping the team and Board think through systematic and repeatable paths to profitable growth.
Matt has led the firm’s investments in, and serves on the boards of, Tufin, Redwood Software, ActiveBatch, JSCAPE, Tidal, Cerberus and ActiveState (sold to Vertu Capital). Throughout his career at Turn/River, Matt also worked with Mailgun/Pathwire (sold to Thoma Bravo & subsequently Sinch), Huddle (sold to Ideagen) and Commio platforms. Prior to joining Turn/River, Matt graduated from Tufts University, and began his career at Goldman Sachs in New York.
“At Turn/River we organize ourselves, and our thinking, to look more like a software company than a traditional investment firm. This approach gives our investment team a unique lens on value, and provides us with a compelling framework to partner with the next generation of software companies. Our expert operators partner with management teams to drive structural and process improvements across sales, marketing, customer success and recruiting functions. We are fortunate to work closely with such talented management teams day in and day out as we constantly seek to expand our go-to-market playbooks. As a result, we have been able to help our companies systematically increase revenue growth rates, while also driving gains in profitability.”—Matt Amico
Firm: PSG
Title: Senior Vice President
Kate is a Senior Vice President at PSG, where she identifies high-growth potential middle market software businesses to invest in and supports portfolio companies to augment their product offerings, expand their geographic coverage, and achieve their strategic growth goals both organically and through add-on acquisitions.
Since joining PSG full time in June 2020, Kate has demonstrated her strong ability to lead through her work supporting PSG’s deal activity and through her role as a mentor. In the last 3 years, Kate has worked on 5 platform investments and 20 add-on acquisitions, and currently sits on the board of 5 portfolio companies where she works with management teams on projects such as acquisition integration, hiring C-suite executives, building out financial systems and processes, and other strategic initiatives.
Kate’s also taken on additional culture and leadership roles at PSG. As a former PSG MBA intern, Kate plays a key role in the development of the firm’s talent pipeline by overseeing the firm’s MBA internship program. She’s also a mentor to junior deal team members and sits on PSG’s Philanthropy Committee.
Kate received her bachelor’s degree in English literature at Dartmouth College and her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
“I’m honored to be recognized by GrowthCap on the 40 under 40 list this year. At PSG, we believe that people are a critical component behind building successful growth-stage businesses, and it is a privilege to work alongside so many incredible investors and management team members. I couldn’t be prouder of what we have been able to achieve together.”—Kate Nimmo
Firm: JMI Equity
Title: Principal
Mac joined JMI in 2016 and focuses on investments in enterprise software businesses. He is responsible for sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities as well as providing strategic and operational support to portfolio companies. Mac currently serves as director at OnBoard, Higher Logic, and Raptor Technologies, and is also closely involved in the firm’s investments in AlertMedia, Apptegy, Huntress, Ontic, and UKG.
Prior to joining JMI, Mac worked at Tiger Veda Management, New Mountain Capital, and Lazard. Mac graduated from Princeton University with a degree in public and international affairs, and a minor in finance.
“At JMI, it’s a privilege to work alongside world-class software founders and entrepreneurs to help generate long term sustainable growth. I’m honored to be recognized by GrowthCap alongside so many talented investors.”—Mac Williams
Firm: Advent International
Title: Director
Douglas Hallstrom is a London-based Director at Advent International, where he is a member of the Advent Tech team. He is responsible for sourcing and executing investments in the software and fintech spaces. Douglas is particularly involved in helping Advent portfolio companies accelerate product development, expand their go-to market offerings in domestic and international markets, and enhance strategic value.
Douglas has actively worked on or supported a number of investments and facilitated strategic add-on transactions within Advent’s portfolio. Recently, Douglas helped Advent secure a minority stake in Medius, a global leader in AP automation, B2B payments, sourcing and procurement software where he also serves as a board member. Additionally, Douglas contributed to Advent’s investment in Planet, a provider of integrated digital payment services, and helped secure Advent’s lead investment in Shift Technology’s $220 million Series D funding round.
Douglas was also instrumental in Advent’s creation and launch of Xplor Technologies, a company that brought together two Advent portfolio companies (Clearent and Transaction Services Group) to establish a global platform integrating SaaS solutions, embedded payments, and commerce accelerating technologies to help businesses succeed.
He also served on the board of Unit4, a software business in the enterprise resource planning category, and led its exit in 2021. Douglas previously worked at Bain & Co. He received a B.Sc. with First Class Honors from the University of St Andrews.
“Technology is the economic theme of our generation, and software is still early in its full potential impact on the world. As an investor, I try to marry a long-term vision of what is possible, with a near-term focus and priority on people and partnerships. I’ve learnt over and over again that people and culture create success, that’s it. I’m very fortunate to be working with a distinctively partnership-oriented firm, as well as great partnership-minded entrepreneurs and executive teams throughout our portfolio.”—Douglas Hallstrom
Firm: Susquehanna Growth Equity
Title: Vice President
Aneesha Raghunathan joined Susquehanna Growth Equity in 2021 and is currently a Vice President partnering with CEOs and management teams building within software, data, and information services. Since joining SGE, Aneesha has helped lead 5 new investments and deployed close to $250M of new equity touching on verticals within healthcare, supply chain and compliance. Her global portfolio where she is an active board member or board observer includes companies such as Sievo, ZenQMS, Medispend and Livebarn.
Prior to joining SGE, Aneesha spent nearly a decade investing in technology companies, beginning her career as a VC investor at Bessemer Venture Partners, and then at TA Associates in Boston. Following her time in private equity, Aneesha served as the first-ever Operator-In-Residence at Kevin Ryan’s incubator fund AlleyCorp. Aneesha has actively mentored numerous up and coming investment professionals and founders through her career. She also applies her mentorship behind her passion for increasing access to capital for women and underrepresented minority entrepreneurs.
“At SGE, we are dedicated to being patient, focused and entrepreneur-centric technology investors who roll up our sleeves and help our companies continue to scale. I am incredibly grateful to have been able to partner with many CEOs and management teams tirelessly building cutting-edge companies and learn from so many inspiring investors and entrepreneurs along the way.”—Aneesha Raghunathan
Firm: Bregal Sagemount
Title: Principal
Will Breskman is a Principal at Bregal Sagemount and is responsible for originating and underwriting investments in high growth technology and technology enabled services businesses. Prior to joining Bregal Sagemount, he was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Peter J Solomon Company. Will received a BA in economics magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Sagemount’s uniquely flexible platform allows us to work with inspiring entrepreneurs and executives across a wide range of transaction situations (majority and minority equity, credit). We bring a true partnership mentality, sector expertise, and our unique Growth Factors platform to each investment, which has generated stellar relationships and returns to date. Throughout the ups and downs of an investment lifecycle, we are fortunate to have built meaningful, lifelong relationships with our executives.”—Will Breskman
Firm: WestCap
Title: Principal
Ryan Benevides is a Principal at WestCap, a strategic operating and investing firm, which focuses on technology-driven, asset-light marketplaces in industries such as fintech, experience tech, health tech, real estate tech and cybersecurity. Ryan leads WestCap’s investment activity in the cybersecurity space and views cyber attacks as one of the most pressing issues facing our generation.
Ryan has led WestCap’s investments in HUMAN Security, Bishop Fox, and Dragos, and has helped these management teams navigate critical stages of growth and uncover new market opportunities. Post investment, Ryan specializes in corporate development and capital structure advisory. Ryan’s hands-on approach with teams has created tremendous value for our portfolio companies who are, in turn, helping to shape the future of the industry.
Prior to joining WestCap in 2021, Ryan spent five years at Blackstone, where he was responsible for investments in the software and financial services sectors. It was during his tenure at Blackstone, where Ryan was specializing in distressed credit opportunities, that he saw first hand how quickly technology can disrupt legacy business models. This viewpoint sparked Ryan’s passion for investing in technology disruptors, versus the disrupted. Ryan started his career at J.P. Morgan after graduating from Rice University, where he studied mathematics and economics and played Division I golf.
“It is an honor to be recognized by GrowthCap alongside so many talented investors. At WestCap, we are committed to building the growth platform of choice for the next generation of cybersecurity founders. We take inspiration from the mission-driven builders in this category working hard to protect our communities.”—Ryan Benevides
Firm: Revolution Growth
Title: Vice President
Nancy Hilliker is a Vice President at Revolution Growth, where she sources, diligences, and executes deals across regulated industries, including healthcare, commerce, and fintech. In 2023, she helped spearhead investments in a company leveraging AI to improve patient outcomes and a startup using machine learning to streamline e-commerce delivery.
She currently serves as a board observer for Meati and Optoro, and played an instrumental role in developing the disposition strategy for several exits, including BigCommerce, Clear, DraftKings, Sweetgreen, and most recently, CAVA—2023’s first major consumer IPO.
During Nancy’s previous tenure at Citigroup and Wells Fargo, she researched a wide range of retailers and supported transactions such as Tapestry’s acquisition of Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, Michael Kors’ acquisition of Jimmy Choo, and a series of acquisitions by Hanesbrands and VF Corp.
Outside of work, Nancy is passionate about furthering youth financial literacy and entrepreneurship. She is a CFA charterholder, holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated from Canisius College with a BS in finance.
“Revolution prides itself on taking a hands-on approach to supporting companies transforming their industries. I’m grateful to be a part of a fund that empowers me to cultivate long-term, meaningful relationships with entrepreneurs and support them in their growth journey.”—Nancy Hilliker
Firm: Alpine Investors
Title: Principal
Jacob Zodikoff is a Principal at Alpine Investors and co-leads the firm’s services sector investment team, where he evaluates, executes, and supports investments in mission-critical services markets where there is the opportunity for asymmetric upside through organic and inorganic growth. Jacob spends time across the education, professional, industrial, consumer, residential, and healthcare verticals, and has been involved in the closing of 12 acquisitions in the last year, including the launch of three new platforms.
During his career with Alpine, he has closed 30 acquisitions across services and software, completed six debt raises, and completed two exits. At Alpine itself, Jacob is fiercely focused on building great culture within the services vertical and on the investing team at large, striving to make Alpine the best place to work for exceptional people. He is always exploring ways to maintain and improve Alpine’s culture of empowerment, collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation.
Jacob currently serves as a board member of Cobalt Service Partners, AlpineX, Riverside Insights and Optima Dermatology, and was previously on the board of Innovative Systems, Comlinkdata, and Avitru. He graduated with distinction from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, where he studied quantitative finance and economics.
“I am grateful to have built my career at a place like Alpine, where we focus on building enduring, purpose-driven companies in a values-led way. I appreciate each founder partnership so far and look forward to many new partnerships in the near future.”—Jacob Zodikoff
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Copyright: The GrowthCap’s Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2023 publication is copyrighted material, produced and published by GrowthCap, LLC. For information pertaining to content permissions, please refer to GrowthCap’s award usage regulations.
Disclaimer: The data provided in this publication is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, endorsement, nor recommendation. GrowthCap believes the information in this publication to be accurate but does not verify its accuracy independently and does not warrant or guarantee that it is accurate or complete. GrowthCap has no obligation to provide any updates or changes to the information. No investment decisions should be made using this information.
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