Firms & Funds

Guidepost Growth raises $160m so far for debut fund

Despite a slowdown in private equity fundraising, Guidepost was able to attract capital initially from existing relationships Guidepost partners had at their former firm, North Bridge.

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Guidepost Growth Equity raised about $160 million so far for its debut fund that is targeting $400 million, a person with knowledge of the firm told Buyouts.

Guidepost Growth Equity I has been in market since December, according to a Form D fundraising filing with the SEC. Despite a slowdown in private equity fundraising, Guidepost was able to attract capital initially from existing relationships Guidepost partners had at their former firm, North Bridge, the person said.

Guidepost is working with FocusPoint Private Capital Group as placement agent on the fundraising.

No one at Guidepost responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Guidepost rebranded in 2017 from North Bridge Growth Equity. The firm makes later stage investments in businesses with $40 million to more than $100 million in revenue, targeting technology companies disrupting large markets in business services, communications, infrastructure, software and healthcare IT.

Check sizes range from $20 million to $75 million, with $35 million to $45 million being a typical amount.

Guidepost, as North Bridge Growth, started as an affiliate of Boston’s North Bridge Venture Partners. It was set up as a separate business with its own management company and investment team, Buyouts previously reported.

Doug Kingsley, co-founder and managing partner at Guidepost, co-founded North Bridge Growth in 2007, prior to which he spent 15 years at Advent International. Other senior executives at Guidepost are managing partners who have been with the firm since 2007: Roshen Menon, Mike Pehl and Russ Pyle.

In January, the firm announced promotions of Chris Cavanagh and Eugene Nogi to general partner. Cavanagh is co-head of the firm’s information and data services team and helped lead investments in Lucid and ThinkHR.

Nogi co-heads Guidepost’s communications and infrastructure team and helped lead the firm’s investments in ActiveViam and Traction on Demand.

Action Item: Check out Guidepost’s Form ADV here: https://bit.ly/3dvHhH2