Elsewhere Partners is a growth-stage venture capital firm that invests in Elsewhere Outliers, which are business-to-business software companies that are located outside of traditional venture capital hubs and have achieved substantial customer traction and revenue growth without significant outside funding. Plus, Elsewhere Partners combines transitional capital with transformational expertise to help companies achieve exit readiness on their own terms.
To learn more about the firm, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Elsewhere Partners vice president John Doyle and founder and partner Chris Pacitti.
John Doyle’s Background
Doyle spent the bulk of his career focused on partnering with growth-stage software companies at both Frontier Growth and Vista Equity Partners. While at Frontier, Doyle led the investment sourcing efforts and worked closely with several portfolio companies on strategic M&A initiatives. Before Frontier, Doyle worked in business development and deal execution roles at Vista and at JPMorgan, respectively.
“I’m excited to pull different learnings from each of those experiences to help the Elsewhere Partners platform continue to scale, and am thrilled to join the team,” said Doyle.
The Right Fit
Why is Elsewhere Partners the right fit for Doyle?
“Elsewhere Partners’ focus on the human element of building software companies really resonated with me. The team has a track record of partnering up with founders that have already built a great product and attracted loyal customers, but are looking for some scaling help to reach their full potential,” Doyle explained. “That often involves helping recruit exceptional leaders to build out key functional areas that have been previously under-resourced, such as the go-to-market and finance teams. That people-first focus, along with Elsewhere’s approach to pragmatic, sustainable growth line up well with my values.”
Differentiation From Other Firms
What differentiates Elsewhere Partners from other firms? Doyle informed me that the Elsewhere Operating Advisor (OA) network is a unique differentiator that provides deep sector expertise in our core areas of focus, which includes the IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and DevOps spaces.
“Our OAs have been multi-time C-level executives at growing software companies, and they’ve faced many of the same specific challenges that the Elsewhere portfolio company founders are going through,” Doyle pointed out. “They get involved as board representatives, advisors, or even full-time executives within the portfolio, depending on the needs of the company. That combination of both sector and functional expertise is rare in the early-stage investment space, and it’s a core driver of our success as a firm.”
Elsewhere Partners’ Thesis
I asked Pacitti about the firm’s thesis and whether it has evolved over time.
“Our core thesis has not changed since inception. As the name implies, we look elsewhere (outside of major VC hubs) to find capital-efficient software companies. Beyond providing primary and secondary capital to founding teams, Elsewhere adds value through its unique and significant group of Operating Partners and Advisors who can help transform and scale these companies for the next stage of growth,” Pacitti noted.
Biggest Milestones
What have been some of Elsewhere Partners’ biggest milestones?
“Raising Fund II during COVID was a huge accomplishment for our team and a testament to the proof of concept we established in Fund I,” Pacitti pointed out. “The exceptional performance of the entrepreneurs and executives in our portfolio was the core reason we were able to achieve this fund raise milestone during challenging times.”
AUM And Investments
Since 2016, Elsewhere Partners has invested approximately $220 million across 15 unique companies. The firm closed Fund II in May 2022 at the $175 million target.
