Invictus Growth Partners, a middle-market growth equity firm with more than $1 billion in assets under management, has added former Litmus chief executive Erik Nierenberg as a partner, a move the firm said will strengthen its ability to help portfolio companies accelerate growth and drive long-term value creation across enterprise cloud software, cybersecurity, and financial technology.
Invictus said Nierenberg will work directly with current and future portfolio companies to scale go-to-market execution and support value creation initiatives, building on his prior involvement with the firm through the Invictus Guild and board roles. The firm also announced it is expanding the Invictus Guild, its network of operating advisors, by adding four experienced B2B executives: Stacey Epstein, Barry Zwarenstein, Nate Peace, and Gordon Mackintosh.
The appointments follow what Invictus described as a transformative year, during which it more than doubled assets under management after raising oversubscribed new funds totaling $574 million dedicated exclusively to enterprise cloud software, cybersecurity, and fintech businesses seeking both capital and operating support to scale.
Nierenberg brings more than two decades of leadership experience in B2B software across sales, marketing, product, strategy, operations, business development, and M&A. Most recently, he served as chief executive of Litmus for eight years and, according to the announcement, led the company through significant scale, including profitable direct sales growth and rising profitability. During his tenure, Litmus expanded beyond a single-product, single-channel business into a multi-product enterprise platform and was acquired by Validity in April 2025.
Earlier in his career, Nierenberg held strategy, product, and go-to-market roles at Salesforce during a period of rapid growth. He also served as SVP and general manager at Lynda.com, which LinkedIn acquired, and previously worked at Bain & Company. Invictus said he has also advised founders and CEOs at a range of technology companies and currently serves on the boards of Channelscaler and CYPHER Learning.
In parallel, Invictus said the four new Invictus Guild operating advisors will support portfolio company value creation in key functional areas. The firm highlighted Epstein’s experience scaling SaaS brands through growth and exits, Zwarenstein’s capital markets and CFO background guiding companies through scaling and public market milestones, Peace’s customer success and operational expertise to drive retention and expansion, and Mackintosh’s channel and partner ecosystem leadership intended to accelerate revenue through indirect go-to-market strategies.
Invictus said its portfolio companies also gain access to DIANE, the firm’s AI-driven value creation platform, which it said can improve direct sales conversion and facilitate introductions to prospective customers. The firm said it typically makes majority investments with equity checks ranging from $30 million to more than $100 million.
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“The pace of innovation in cloud software and applied AI continues to accelerate, creating massive opportunities for companies that can scale into market leaders,” said Erik Nierenberg. “I have worked with the Invictus team for years as part of the Invictus Guild and as a Board Director. Invictus combines deep operating and investing expertise with a unique data-science platform to help companies capture those opportunities. I’m excited to join the Invictus team and partner with companies to drive scale and growth.”
Erik Nierenberg, Partner, Invictus Growth Partners
“Erik is a world-class operator who has already driven transformational impact for our portfolio as part of the Invictus Guild,” said John DeLoche, Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “We’re thrilled to welcome him as a Partner to extend that value creation more broadly across the firm.”
John DeLoche, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Invictus Growth Partners
“Erik shares our values and our mission to Empower Excellence,” added William Nettles, Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “His leadership has strengthened our value creation efforts, and we’re excited to have him on the full-time team.”
William Nettles, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Invictus Growth Partners
