Orkila Capital

Growth equity at the meeting point of media and consumer brands

Formed in 2013, Orkila Capital is a growth equity firm that concentrates on the overlap between media, entertainment and consumer businesses. Its site says the principals bring more than twenty years of experience and a wide network, and that they look for growth platforms with differentiated brands, intellectual property, assets or content. The partners it wants are growth-stage companies with strong management teams, compelling brand stories and plenty of room to build value.

How it invests

The firm takes minority or control positions and works in North America and Europe. It limits each fund to roughly five investments, so every holding gets deep attention, and it concentrates on proprietary opportunities that it finds itself rather than ones that arrive in an auction. Its stated approach is to follow long-term secular trends in industries it knows well and to stay hands-on, offering strategic, financial and operational support to the companies it backs. It says it wants to generate good returns for investors while contributing to the wider ecosystem around its holdings.

Companies it has backed

Material on its older pages profiles a range of holdings, which gives a sense of the mix. They include Club Brugge, a Belgian professional football club founded in 1891 that has won the national league many times and has played in European finals. They also include Oatly, the Swedish plant-based food business that began from university research on enzyme technology and sells oat milk and related products in around twenty countries, and the IRONMAN Group, which describes itself as the largest operator of mass participation sports events, with hundreds of events across more than fifty-five countries.

Music and live events

Other profiled holdings sit in music: Antares Audio Technologies, the software company behind the Auto-Tune pitch correction product, and Down the Drain, a Scandinavian independent festival and promotion business that owns the Northside and Tinderbox festivals, co-founded a three-day music and arts festival in Copenhagen, promotes over a hundred concerts and shows a year and also runs festival equipment rental.

A note on scale

The firm's own material gives a cheque range for each investment, which is not repeated here, and its principals previously worked at large investment firms focused on media and technology.

Orkila Capital is a growth equity firm formed in 2013. It invests in companies at the crossroads of media, entertainment and consumer products, looking for strong management, distinctive brands and room to grow. It works closely with the businesses it backs.

Services

• Growth equity: takes minority or control positions in chosen companies.
• Hands-on support: offers strategic, financial and operational help to portfolio companies.
• Focused portfolios: each fund holds around five investments, so each gets close attention.
• Proprietary sourcing: concentrates on opportunities it finds itself.

Who it works with

Growth-stage media, entertainment and consumer businesses in North America and Europe. Examples on its site include Club Brugge, Oatly and the IRONMAN Group.

Key facts

• Founded: 2013
• Regions: North America and Europe
• Sectors: media, entertainment and consumer