Growth Investor with GrowthCap‘s RJ Lumba

In this episode, we speak with Eric Dawson, Founder and CEO of RIVET, which channels the collective economic power of young people to fund their work as social innovators. Young people control over $3 trillion of spending power and are hungry for authentic avenues to express their values.  Meanwhile brands are hungry to connect to young consumers.  Combine those two facts and add in the tremendous...

In this episode, we speak with Kristin Gunther, a Partner at Revolution Growth which has more than $1 billion in assets under management and backs category-defining companies. Revolution is a D.C.-based investment firm founded by AOL cofounder Steve Case in 2005. Through its family of funds – The Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Revolution Ventures, and Revolution Growth – Revolution partners with foun...

In this episode, we speak with Kevin Frick, Co-Founder and Partner of Serent Capital, a leading lower-middle market private equity firm focused on investing in high growth service and technology businesses. Serent’s portfolio includes more than 60 founder-led, industry-changing companies that it partners with who are scaling up by using Serent’s toolkit of growth resources. Kevin has a long track...

In this episode, we speak with Rajeev Shah, the Co-Founder and CEO of Celona, the enterprise 5G company that enables a new generation of AI-powered business critical apps in the enterprise and helps organizations accelerate their digital transformation journey. Before founding Celona, Rajeev was the VP of product management and marketing for Federated Wireless, where he launched the industry’s fir...

In this episode, we speak with Vivek Sunder, CEO of Cuemath, an online supplemental learning platform. Cuemath started in India in 2013 with a mission to transform the way children learn math. The company started as an offline tutoring center with a small group of students but is now the world's leading online math education platform. Backed by marquee investors such as Google and Sequoia, Cuemath...

In this episode, we speak with Jim Carlisle, Managing Director of THL Partners, a private equity firm investing in middle-market growth companies across financial technology and services, healthcare, and technology and business solutions. Jim is the Head of the Technology & Business Solutions vertical, the Automation Fund and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Leading a team to develop t...

In this episode we talk about value creation, which is critical to how growth investment firms consistently succeed in transforming their portfolio holdings into category leading expansion companies built for the long term. Firms and groups such as Blackstone Growth, Great Hill Partners, Insight Partners and Vista Equity shared with GrowthCap on the Growth Investor podcast how they think about val...

In this episode, we speak with Maxim Melamedov, the CEO of Zesty, which has developed the next generation of cloud management solutions. Maxim came to Zesty from a prior career in homeland security and is a veteran of the Israeli Air Force. Zesty helps cloud engineering teams to slash cloud costs, maintain perfect app performance, minimize the hassle of managing infrastructure, and fully realize t...

In this episode, we speak with Ned Gilhuly and Scott Stuart, the founding partners of Sageview Capital, which is a private investment firm with over $2 billion in assets under management focused on enduring software and tech-enabled businesses. Ned and Scott founded Sageview in 2006 after their nearly two decade careers at KKR. Ned joined KKR in 1986 in San Francisco and rose to establish and over...

In this episode we speak with Saar Safra, CEO and Co-Founder of Beewise. 75% of all the fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts that we consume around the globe are pollinated by bees. We’re talking for 8 billion people. Beewise’s mission is to help beekeepers pollinate and produce honey by saving their bees, utilizing modern technology. The company has redesigned the beehive with today’s technology pro...

In this episode, we speak with Pawan Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO of Fashinza, a next generation supply chain and a fashion marketplace for brands and manufacturers. The platform supports everything from design to delivery, with end-to-end production and merchandising support. It provides direct access to vetted suppliers, real-time production tracking, digitized assembly lines, and data driven quali...

In this episode, we speak with Matt Schwartz, Co-Founder and CEO of Afresh. Afresh is on a mission to reduce food waste globally by transforming the fresh food supply chain. The company builds AI-powered solutions that meet fresh food’s many challenges to optimize grocery retail forecasting, ordering, and operations. Matt co-founded Afresh in 2016 while pursuing his MBA at Stanford.  He began his...

In this episode we speak with Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain. Founded in 2014, Fountain started with a vision to transform the hiring of hourly workers. The company’s purpose-built solution is designed to help companies hire high volumes of workers, faster by combining the power of automation with a data-driven applicant tracking system. The company is backed by B Capital Group, Softbank, DCM Ventures...

In this episode, we speak with Jonathan Winer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP). SIP was formed in 2019 and is backed by Alphabet, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and StepStone Group as its anchor partners. SIP’s mandate is to transform infrastructure by harnessing the power of technology. Jonathan has led three private equity platforms and personally led investments...

In this episode, we speak with Jon Korngold, Global Head of Blackstone Growth (BXG) and Global Co-Head of Technology Investing.  We chat about the macro growth equity picture, BXG’s focus areas and its key developments over the last two years. I’ve met hundreds of private equity and growth equity investors over the past two decades and Jon is someone truly unique, not just because of his professio...

In this episode, we speak with Mark Machin, Co-Founder and CEO of Opto Investments. Opto Investments’ platform provides financial advisors with expert insights and tools to help them discover, execute, and service private investment strategies, such as private equity, real estate, and venture capital, that help their clients build long term wealth. The company is backed by Tiger Global, 8VC, and M...

In this episode, we speak with Sonya Brown, General Partner and Co-Head of Growth Equity at Norwest. Norwest is a leading venture and growth equity investment firm managing more than $12.5 billion in capital. Since its inception, the firm has invested in more than 650 companies and currently partners with over 200 active companies in its venture and growth equity portfolio. Sonya is focused on gro...

In this episode, we speak with Agam Khare, Founder and CEO of Absolute, a bioscience company leveraging the best of nature, science and innovation to build a better future for people and the planet. The company’s AI-driven operating system can be implemented across vertical farms, greenhouses, open farms, and other areas, enabling farmers to grow crops without using synthetic enzymes and GMOs. Bas...

In this episode, we speak with Chris Miller, CEO of Everside Health, one of the largest direct primary care providers in the U.S., operating over 375 health centers in 34 states. Chris is a recognized leader and entrepreneur known for building and scaling companies. He offers a unique blend of business acumen, strategic vision and service delivery to achieve organizational success. Everside Health...

In this episode, we speak with Warren Valdmanis, Partner at Two Sigma Impact, the impact investing business of Two Sigma exclusively focused on workforce impact. Two Sigma Impact combines active, principled ownership and data science with the goal of achieving superior returns and positive social outcomes. It invests in industries that rely heavily on human capital such as education and training,...

In this episode, we speak with Don Muir, Co-Founder and CEO of Arc Technologies. Founded in 2021, Arc provides a better way for software startups to raise capital without incurring costly dilution and risky debt.    Arc converts a startups’ future revenue into upfront capital, provides a cash management account to store, manage and spend funds, and delivers financial analytics to drive growth.   ...

In this episode, we speak with Bryan Mistele, Co-Founder and CEO of INRIX, the global leader in connected car services and mobility analytics. The Company is at the forefront of connecting cars to smarter cities in more than 60 countries around the world. Founded in 2004, INRIX pioneered the practice of managing traffic by analyzing data not just from road sensors, but also from vehicles. Prior to...

In this episode, we speak with Albert Nieto Riera, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Seedtag. Seedtag is the leading contextual advertising company in Europe and Latin America. With AI technology based on machine learning algorithms, the company powers the most relevant and engaging communications in a privacy-first world through contextual advertising. The company has raised over $300 million dollars from...

In this episode, we speak with Steve Pierson, Managing Partner at Lovell Minnick Partners. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, Steve was at UBS where he served as Head of Financial Institutions Investment Banking Americas and Global Head of Financial Technology & Services. Lovell Minnick Partners is a middle market private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, financial technolo...

In this episode, we speak with Alexandre de Vigan, Founder and CEO of nfinite. nfinite is the leading e-merchandising platform for online merchants to create, display and manage product visual experiences to increase their online sales. The company has raised over $100 million dollars from leading investors including Insight Partners and U.S. Venture Partners. nfinite is all about helping the worl...