5 Oct 2021

Riverwood Capital Named in Inc.’s 2021 List of Founder-Friendly Investors

Press Releases

Leading Global Technology Investor Identified by Founders for Track-Record of Successfully Partnering to Drive Scalability and Accelerate Growth

Riverwood Capital, an  investor in high growth technology companies, today announced it has been named to Inc.’s third annual Founder-Friendly Investors list, honoring selected private equity and venture capital firms with a track record of success backing and supporting entrepreneurs.

Investing for more than a decade, Riverwood Capital has $4.88 billion AUM* and a concentrated portfolio of high growth technology companies that seek to be category leaders, spanning the globe from Menlo Park, New York, and Miami to Brazil and Singapore.  Riverwood has invested in over 60 companies, becoming an active shareholder in order to support business scalability.

“Since day one, we have consistently focused on the large and exciting sub-$100 million private technology investing market, partnering with founders and amazing teams to scale their business from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue,” said Jeff Parks, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital. “We are proactive and highly selective in identifying founders and companies that parallel our team-oriented mentality, have a culture of hard work, and who seek long-term growth in order to build long-lasting companies that benefit from secular technology adoption trends across cycles. This alignment ensures a highly productive and enduring partnership, and we are fortunate to collaborate, support, learn from, and earn the trust of some of the most innovative, ambitious, and successful technology leaders in the world.”

Riverwood Capital’s portfolio has experienced a 48% weighted average revenue CAGR since 2014 and in the last nine months alone, six Riverwood portfolio companies have IPO’d or SPAC’d.

“As our first institutional investor, Riverwood Capital has been an incredible partner along our journey,” said Mike English, Founder and Executive Chairman, Forecast5 Analytics. “The relationship with Riverwood was a defining moment that fast-tracked our growth, increasing our revenue more in two years than the first six that we were in business. But even more important to me as a founder was the mutual trust we established and over time it became obvious that they went beyond the role of a financial backer and were truly committed to helping us execute our vision which was unique and meaningful for the success of the partnership and our future.”

“Riverwood Capital is not only there for celebrations or to observe, but as a firm and Board member they are most present during challenging times, leveraging their experience and network to support the execution of our vision and to help navigate the decisions that all high growth companies face. They know how to deal with a company with a global footprint and headquarters out of the US.” Mariano Gomide de Faria, Founder and co-CEO, VTEX (NYSE:VTEX).

Riverwood Capital’s investment professionals speak the language of founders and management due to a distinctive 360-degree combination of sought-after skills in investing, operations, and technology. Spread across four offices in Menlo Park, Calif., Miami, New York, and São Paulo, and with significant experience in the global technology markets, Riverwood’s team of more than 50 professionals are homegrown with senior investment team members having worked an average of +12 years together.

“We are an active partner with a concentrated portfolio, and a clear playbook for growth acceleration and profitable scalability, supporting transformational initiatives in revenue acceleration, operating leverage, human capital building, and corporate development,” said Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital. “We are very grateful to the incredible teams at over 60 companies with whom we have partnered during the past decade with the objective of building multi-billion-dollar category leading enterprises that can benefit all of their constituencies. We aim to not just be investors, but business builders that support amazing companies in their scalability journey.”

Inc.’s 2021 list of Founder-Friendly Investors recognizes firms that entrepreneurs can trust and collaborate with while receiving the financial support they need to help accelerate growth. Honorees have a successful track record of remaining actively involved in the businesses after their investment.

“Supporting an entrepreneur’s vision and driving growth is more than just a financial investment. It’s about building a relationship and supporting the founders beyond that initial year. These private equity firms treat the founders like partners,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. media.

To compile the list, Inc. asked private equity and venture capital firms to complete a short application and provide references from founder-led companies that the firm has supported.  Inc. reached out to the founder(s) directly to ask about their experiences partnering with the firms and for data on how their portfolio companies have grown during these partnerships.** To see the complete list or learn more about the selection process, go to: http://www.inc.com/private-equity.

About Riverwood Capital
Riverwood Capital invests in high-growth companies in the technology and technology-enabled industries. Riverwood offers a unique combination of operational, strategic, technology, and financial insight to portfolio companies that typically need growth capital and expertise to scale on a global basis. The firm seeks to invest in established businesses with a proven technology and business model, and the proper fit in terms of culture and values. Riverwood has offices in Menlo Park, CA; New York, NY; São Paulo, Brazil; and Miami, FL.

About Inc.
The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community they need to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

*RAUM as of June 30, 2021
** All applicants were required to submit a fee along with their application.  Receipt of such award is not indicative any individual client or investor’s experience with Riverwood or of Riverwood’s future performance.