Clearhaven Partners, an investor in software and technology companies, has held an oversubscribed and above target closing of its debut fund, Clearhaven Fund I LP, with $312 million of capital commitments.
Clearhaven’s first fund was raised entirely during the pandemic and was fully committed within six months from its first closing.
Limited partners in the new fund include endowments and foundations, insurance companies, pension funds and funds-of-funds; as well as industry executives, including senior executives of software companies that previously worked with Clearhaven professionals.
Boston-based Clearhaven was co-founded in 2019 by Managing Partner Michelle Noon and Operating Partner Kevin Wood and it invests in lower middle market software and technology companies with revenues of $20 million to $80 million. Clearhaven’s investment team is co-led by Managing Partner Christopher Ryan.
“We are humbled by the tremendous support from our limited partners who chose to partner with Clearhaven during a volatile macro environment and with many alternative choices,” said Ms. Noon. “We believe that our clarity of purpose – to invest exclusively in growing software and technology businesses who seek an operationally driven partnership with our team – matches not only our team’s experience and prior track record but also our limited partners’ investment preferences. Our team has come together united in Clearhaven’s mission and values, and we have never been as optimistic about the technology market opportunity as we are today.”
Clearhaven’s debut fund has already invested in two platforms with the buys of Engageware (formerly TimeTrade SilverCloud), a Massachusetts-based SaaS provider of customer engagement software used by financial institutions and mid-market companies; and Wowza Media Systems, a Colorado-based provider of software used to stream live and recorded video and other media.
M2O Private Fund Advisors was the placement agent for this fundraise and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services. The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners Katie St. Peters, Casey O’Brien and Jeffrey Kaplan, and associates Brigid Reardon and Alexander Straka, and also included regulatory partner Alpa Patel, and tax partners Daniel Meehan and Mike Greenberg.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | September 28, 2021
