Riverwood Capital: $1.8 Billion Closed For Global Technology Growth Funds

By Amit Chowdhry • Dec 10, 2023

Riverwood Capital – one of the leading investment firms solely dedicated to technology growth and scalability – recently announced it closed approximately $1.8 billion in new capital commitments to invest in high-growth technology businesses globally. The closing coincided with Riverwood’s 15th anniversary.

The firm has reached $7.3 billion of value across all investments since inception by executing a consistent investment strategy focused on actively partnering with established technology companies as they seek capital and expertise to scale their customers, products, and global footprints.

Riverwood has led investments in over 75 companies, each benefiting from secular technology trends like digitalization, cloud, SaaS, AI and automation, big data, and analytics and selected for their differentiated business, human capital, and platform across several key sub-sectors, including cybersecurity, fintech, enterprise IT, sales and marketing tech, HR tech, edtech, etc.

The firm’s dedicated investment strategy and active partnership model have generated consistent performance throughout economic cycles. Riverwood portfolio companies have grown revenue by about 40% annually on average during the firm’s hold period.

Riverwood’s fourth generation of funds exceeded their targets with a strong re-up rate – counting investments from leading institutions and prominent new investors, including some of the largest and most well-known pension and hospital systems, foundations, university endowments, global fund of funds, insurance companies, family offices, and other world-class investors.

KEY QUOTES:

“Since 2008, we have been focused on a very attractive and expanding market opportunity for mid-size, high-growth technology companies in which we can invest between $25 and $100 million and provide world-class operational resources and expertise to scale those businesses without the limitations and leverage risks associated with traditional buyout strategies. Having a concentrated portfolio of proven companies also allows us to take advantage of the upside of a high-growth profile while aiming to avoid venture risks, such as investing in untested business models and speculative product market fit.”

“We would like to express gratitude to our investors who have recognized and continue to see value in Riverwood’s disciplined approach, and to the firm’s entire team and portfolio who have been instrumental in executing our vision to create long-lasting category-defining companies.”

— Jeff Parks, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital

“We have been exclusively focused on business fundamentals and scalability from day one—through the recent peak of the market in 2021, or as we look to deploy fresh capital in this next chapter, Riverwood has led with a different approach and value proposition than momentum-driven investors. Our overall track record and decades of proprietary knowledge and scalability experience across the technology, financial, and operational needs of growth stage companies have solidified Riverwood as a partner of choice for our investors and portfolio companies. We are grateful for the support we have received from our investors since the beginning as we close out our largest fundraise to-date.”

“The acceleration of tech transformation globally is undeniable, and we see a growing set of opportunities to partner with amazing teams to build fundamentally strong companies as we enter a balanced new era of technology growth.”

— Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital