Firm closes on $216 million Mainsail Partners III fund in less than 5 months
San Francisco, CA (June 19, 2012) – Mainsail Partners (www.mainsailpartners.com), a leading growth equity and buyout firm focused on investing in bootstrapped companies, today announced it has raised $216 million for its latest fund, Mainsail Partners III, L.P. Prominent institutions, endowments and entrepreneurs joined return investors in the fund, which took less than five months to close and was heavily oversubscribed. With the new fund, Mainsail will continue its successful strategy of investing in exceptional entrepreneurs who have built growing businesses without prior institutional capital, often known as bootstrapping.
“We are excited to have additional capital to continue partnering with founders and management teams to build great companies,” said Jason Payne, co-founder of Mainsail. “Raising this fund is an important part of the process, but the capital we provide is only one part of the value we deliver. Our strategy of making a limited number of investments per year allows us to get actively involved with each company at both a strategic and a tactical level.”
Mainsail leverages extensive company-building experience and a dedicated in-house Operations Team to help bootstrapped entrepreneurs scale their businesses and overcome the many challenges faced by fast-growing companies. Mainsail collaborates with founders and management teams on critical initiatives, including recruiting key hires, implementing technology infrastructure, building sales organizations and optimizing marketing channels. Mainsail also leverages a vast network of CEOs, executives and industry thought-leaders to advise management teams and identify partnerships for Mainsail’s portfolio companies.
“Mainsail has a great deal of respect for bootstrapped entrepreneurs. We understand the discipline and commitment it takes to build a great product or service and grow a large customer base without using outside capital,” said Gavin Turner, co-founder of Mainsail. “But scaling a company from $5 million to $50 million or more in revenue requires an additional set of skills and resources. This is where Mainsail excels. We have the experience and resources to help bootstrapped companies overcome the challenges of sustained growth.”
Prominent investors in Mainsail Partners III include Adams Street, Dartmouth College, Private Advisors and RCP Advisors, as well as highly respected returning investors such as Grove Street Partners, Regis Management Company and Shea Ventures. “We are excited to partner with Mainsail again on their third fund,” said John Morrissey, Managing Director at Shea Ventures. “Shea Ventures has a great appreciation for Mainsail’s approach to creating value. More and more firms are representing themselves as value-added partners to their portfolio, but Mainsail has the strategy, the team and the results to back it up.”
About Mainsail Partners
Mainsail Partners is a San Francisco-based growth equity and buyout firm focused on investing in successful “bootstrapped” businesses and building them into great companies. Mainsail partners with entrepreneurs and management teams to accelerate growth through operational expertise and targeted capital investments. Three of Mainsail’s portfolio companies were ranked on the 2011 Inc. 500|5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. For more information, go to www.mainsailpartners.com.