SAN FRANCISCO – Invictus Growth Partners (“Invictus” or the “Firm”), a dynamic growth equity and buyout firm, has announced the successful closing of its debut fund, Invictus Growth Fund I, L.P. The fund was significantly oversubscribed, securing total commitments of $322 million, including its core fund and related co-investment funds. This milestone positions Invictus as a key player in providing growth capital to bootstrapped and capital-efficient enterprise cloud software, cybersecurity, and fintech companies.
Invictus distinguishes itself through its proprietary machine learning platform, Deal Intelligence Assessment Neural Engine (“Diane”). Diane is instrumental in sourcing prime investment opportunities and enhancing the operational efficiency of portfolio companies. Furthermore, Invictus is a majority minority-owned firm, co-founded by the seasoned investment professionals John DeLoche and William Nettles. Their 27-year professional relationship, which began at CS First Boston in 1995, underscores a foundation of deep industry experience and collaborative success.
Fund I itself closed at $216 million, exceeding its initial fundraising target of $200 million. An additional $106 million in co-invested capital was committed by institutional limited partners (“LPs”) as part of Invictus’ programmatic co-investment program. The diverse and robust LP base includes state and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, funds of funds, and family offices, reflecting strong institutional confidence in Invictus’ strategy and team.
“Our core mission at Invictus Growth Partners is to foster excellence – both within our portfolio companies and amongst our team,” stated John DeLoche, Co-founder and Managing Partner. “This commitment is driven by our foundational values: integrity, humility, teamwork, diversity, and strong relationships. We express our sincere gratitude to our team, our LPs, and our portfolio companies for their invaluable partnership.”
William Nettles, Co-founder and Managing Partner, added, “We adopt a partnership-oriented approach, bringing substantial operating expertise to support the scaling journeys of our portfolio companies. This includes leveraging our team’s deep knowledge, utilizing the Diane platform for machine learning-driven B2B operational improvements, and harnessing the collective expertise of the Invictus Guild.”
Invictus Growth Partners has already made seven platform investments within its core sectors of cloud software, cybersecurity, and fintech. The firm strategically targets companies demonstrating strong product-market fit and a trajectory towards profitability, specifically those with at least $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) that are bootstrapped or possess ARR exceeding their equity capital raised. Notably, five of Invictus’ initial seven investments were in bootstrapped companies, with the remaining two exhibiting recurring revenue surpassing prior equity funding.
Diane, Invictus’ machine learning engine, sourced five of these initial seven investments. Diane functions as a sophisticated outbound sales engine tailored for B2B applications, in Invictus’ case identifying exceptional investment opportunities within the lower middle market buyout and growth equity landscape. Every Invictus portfolio company gains access to Diane and the firm’s dedicated data science team, enabling them to enhance operational efficiencies and establish frameworks for accelerated and sustainable growth specific to their B2B needs.
Further amplifying the value proposition for portfolio companies is access to the Invictus Guild. This network comprises accomplished operating executives with proven track records at leading technology companies. Invictus Guild Members contribute across nine critical disciplines for scaling technology businesses, including sales, marketing, customer success, business development, corporate development, data science, human resources, product development, and finance. Guild members serve as mentors, operational advisors, and conduits for best practices and talent acquisition for Invictus portfolio companies. Significantly, they also personally invest in each portfolio company, aligning incentives and fostering deep commitment.
Moelis & Company LLC served as the exclusive placement agent for Invictus Growth Fund I, L.P.
About Invictus Growth Partners | www.invictusgrowth.com
Invictus Growth Partners is a San Francisco-based growth equity and buyout firm focused on investing in automation-enabled cloud software, cybersecurity, and fintech companies that are bootstrapped and capital efficient. Invictus provides these companies with the capital and strategic resources necessary to accelerate their growth and achieve market leadership.
Contacts
Heather Brien
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415.886.9837
