Harbert Growth Partners

Growth equity for technology companies outside the usual venture hubs is the focus of this investment group, which sits inside a larger asset manager as one of its several strategies. The group describes its aim as generating returns for investors by backing emerging growth-stage technology businesses that have already shown traction.

Where the firm looks for companies

Rather than concentrating on Silicon Valley or the Northeast, the group says it seeks technology ecosystems with an active entrepreneurial community, strong research universities and a steady flow of startup and early-stage investment. Its stated regional focus is the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast and the Southwest of the United States.

What a target company looks like

The group's own criteria are specific. It wants experienced management teams, scalable operating platforms, recurring revenue models and large, growing markets in which the company holds a defensible position. Among the sectors it names are healthcare IT, real estate technology, financial technology, cybersecurity and enterprise software, and it treats each as a field where scalable platforms can win.

How it works with portfolio companies

Capital is only part of the offer. The firm says its team combines investment, advisory and operating experience, and that it typically asks for a board seat so it can help management refine strategy. Beyond that seat, it describes three kinds of support: strategic advice on planning and growth, operational help with execution, and introductions through a wide network of contacts. Its older materials describe initial investments in the range of several million up to ten million dollars, followed by further funding as the company grows, though the current site does not restate those figures.

Place within the parent organization

The group sits within Harbert Management Corporation as that company's growth equity strategy, and the parent's other strategies, listed on the same site, include real assets, real estate, credit, and absolute return approaches. That parent structure gives the growth team a larger institutional platform behind its funds.

Harbert Growth Partners is the growth equity arm of Harbert Management Corporation. It invests in emerging technology and tech-enabled companies that have already found traction and want to scale. The firm looks outside Silicon Valley and the Northeast, at regions with active founder communities and strong universities.

Products and services

• Growth capital: funds companies with large addressable markets and defensible positions.
• Strategic advice: works with founders on planning and how to grow.
• Operating support: helps management teams with practical execution.
• Board involvement: takes an active seat to help refine strategy.
• Network access: introduces companies to its wider contacts.

Clients

Early growth-stage companies with scalable platforms, recurring revenue and experienced management. Named focus areas are enterprise software, cybersecurity, financial technology, real estate technology and healthcare IT.

Key facts

• Regions: Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest United States
• Parent: Harbert Management Corporation
• Strategy: growth equity, one of several investment strategies at the parent