Relevance Ventures has expanded its investment platform with the launch of Relevance Capital, a new growth equity strategy focused on established and profitable health companies, and named veteran private equity investor James Carey as Managing Partner.
Relevance Capital will operate through a funded independent sponsor model, extending the firm’s investment reach into the lower middle market while Relevance Ventures continues its existing venture capital strategy.
The new strategy will generally target companies generating approximately $1 million to $15 million of EBITDA, with established operations, revenue, profitability, and opportunities for continued growth. Relevance Ventures will maintain its focus on earlier-stage companies generating approximately $1 million to $10 million in revenue, with scalable solutions, large addressable markets, and identifiable paths to profitability.
Under the independent sponsor model, Relevance Capital will identify and underwrite transactions individually before assembling additional capital around selected opportunities. Relevance’s broader investor network can already commit a portion of the equity capital, which the firm believes will provide greater transaction certainty, execution speed, and flexibility.
The structure will also give Relevance’s limited partner network deal-by-deal access to later-stage co-investment opportunities, allowing investors greater discretion over which transactions they participate in.
Carey joins Relevance from Next Sparc Growth Partners, the single-family office of entrepreneur Len Pagon, where he served as Partner and Head of M&A. He brings more than 20 years of private markets experience spanning private equity, growth investing, transaction sourcing, and execution.
Earlier in his career, Carey spent significant time at H.I.G. Capital and developed relationships across the lower-middle-market private equity and intermediary communities. At Relevance Capital, he will lead investment activity and help companies pursue growth initiatives, acquisitions, and other strategic opportunities.
Carey will be based in South Florida, where Relevance plans to establish a physical presence in Miami. The expansion extends the firm’s geographic footprint beyond Nashville, Charlotte, and Denver and is intended to strengthen its position within South Florida’s private capital ecosystem.
Relevance Ventures manages more than $100 million and invests across personal health, community health, digital health, and financial health. The privately owned Native American venture capital firm was founded by Cameron Newton and Dean Newton, members of the Patawomeck Tribe of Virginia.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our venture strategy remains unchanged, but James gives us the experience and relationships to capitalize on lower-middle-market opportunities using an independent sponsor model. We’ve listened carefully to the market and to our LPs, and this is a natural evolution of the Relevance platform. At the same time, the independent sponsor structure gives our investors greater choice through select co-investments in businesses with established revenue, profitability, and operating histories.”
Cameron Newton, Managing Partner Of Relevance Ventures
“The lower middle market has always been compelling to me because you are working with real businesses at meaningful inflection points. These companies have established customers, revenue, and profitability, but often reach a point where the right capital partner can help accelerate growth, pursue acquisitions or enter the next phase of the business. Relevance Capital gives us the flexibility to find those companies first and build the right investment structure around each opportunity.
South Florida has become a very different investment market over the last five years. Miami is now the leading market in America for private capital, with private equity firms, family offices, hedge funds, entrepreneurs and operating companies continuing to build a presence here. I’ve spent my professional career in this market, and I’m excited to firmly cement Relevance into that ecosystem while executing Relevance Capital’s strategy on a national basis.”
James Carey, Managing Partner Of Relevance Capital
“This is an extension of something we have been doing naturally for years. James allows us to institutionalize our capabilities and take it into the broader lower middle market. What is particularly interesting is combining an established venture platform and LP network with the flexibility of the independent sponsor model. We think that is a differentiated place to operate and a unique value proposition.”
Dean Newton, Chairman And General Partner Of Relevance Ventures
