Glade Brook Capital Partners

Concentrated bets on a small number of private technology companies are the signature of this investment manager, which calls itself a global growth equity firm focused on internet and software. It also describes itself as an alternative asset manager that invests in public and private companies across technology, media, telecommunications and consumer sectors, so its reach is wider than the private growth stage alone.

Two strategies

The firm works through growth equity and private credit. Growth equity is its main activity: high-conviction positions in leading private technology companies, held from the growth stage through an initial public offering and beyond. Private credit lets it offer tailored, creative capital to enduring private technology businesses as they grow and change. The firm says its method rests on knowledge of the sectors, careful research, operating discipline and a wide set of industry contacts, with the aim of encouraging value creation at some of the most promising technology companies in the world.

Working with founders

According to the firm, it works hand in hand with founders and executives to speed growth and raise the long-run value of their shares. It says its global perspective, relationships across the technology ecosystem and experience in corporate finance and capital markets are what it brings to a board table. It also claims a strong history of spotting big ideas early, drawing on investment experience, thought leadership and industry contacts.

How the team is organized

The firm says its greatest competitive advantage is its team, and it describes a collaborative culture built on diverse experience. A founding partner serves as chief investment officer and has led every investment effort since the beginning. An investment team of analysts and associates concentrates on research, due diligence, evaluating and executing deals and supporting the companies the firm owns.

Alongside them sit operating partners who are themselves experienced technology executives and founders, with backgrounds in software for physical security data, financial technology and payments, and online marketplaces and advertising. Their role is to add practical help to portfolio companies. A separate business team covers operations, finance, compliance, accounting and investor relations, and the chief operating officer has been with the firm since before its launch in 2011.

Reading the portfolio

The site lists many of the private investments made since the firm began and notes that two earlier private investments, made before 2015, are left off because the firm does not regard them as typical of its growth equity strategy. It also states that the portfolio shown is not a complete record and that past performance does not predict future results.

Glade Brook Capital Partners is a growth equity investor that takes concentrated positions in private technology companies, with a focus on internet and software businesses. The firm invests globally and works closely with founders and management teams from the growth stage through to a public listing and beyond.

What Glade Brook Capital Partners offers

• Growth equity: investments in fast-growing private technology companies.
• Private credit: debt-based capital for technology businesses.
• Public and private investing: positions across technology, media, telecommunications and consumer companies.
• Portfolio support: research, due diligence and hands-on help for the companies it backs.

Who it serves

Founders and management teams of established private technology companies, particularly in internet and software.

Key facts

• Founder: Paul Hudson, founding partner and Chief Investment Officer
• Focus: internet and software
• Strategies: growth equity and private credit