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Vanara Capital, a new growth-stage investment firm with big-name backers like CalPERS and TPG, is looking to offer more "flexible" investment options in AI and software, co-founders Neil Kamath and Hayden Lekacz tell Axios Pro.

Why it matters: It has been difficult for emerging managers to get traction due to a lack of liquidity in the current market and proven firms raising larger and larger funds.

Driving the news: Vanara is said to be leading a $100 million round in AI startup Invisible Technologies, at a more than $2 billion valuation.

Zoom in: The firm will look to write checks between $10 million to $50 million for 10 to 12 growth-stage companies per year.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

In a market that is tough for emerging managers, why leave TPG?

Kamath: "We wanted to look for opportunities to build our own shingle, and as we're looking at the market, we thought that the growth equity markets have been lacking sort of the creative capital solution world that we were able to develop at TPG.

"Earlier stage growth firms are still using cookie-cutter venture capital type docs, and we want to provide more solutions and evolve our approach in the growth equity markets to meet the new flavor of growth equity companies — which are increasingly more bootstrapped, more profitable, and have faster product velocity."

What are the different types of capital solutions you are looking to offer?

Lekacz: "The way the growth equity market has worked for the past 50 years is you kind of state a price and offer it to the company, and they kind of choose the highest equity price that they receive. But the way businesses scale has changed dramatically over the past 30 years.

"Maybe something a little more mezzanine-esque where it's a bit more of a fixed return, but offers some relative downside, or maybe some sort of common secondary type deal that maybe you sit below the prop, but at a discounted price. Really just having the flexibility to invest across all of those different parameters."

The Invisible deal is your first announced deal. How did that come about?

Lekacz: "It started at a dinner where they weren't even raising capital, but (CEO Matt Fitzpatrick) was thinking about bringing on some new, higher-level talent. We were able to kind of come to an agreement with him, just first understanding what he wanted to do and where he wanted to invest, which I think is just a little bit more differentiated in this market."

Lekacz: "We have another opportunity that we're looking at right now, where it's more of a bootstrap company that's scaled to about $20 million to $25 million in top-line and has been profitable throughout its history. The two founders there, they've taken a $100,000 salary for each of the past eight years.

"For the two founders, it's a chance to take a breath, get liquidity for 5%, 10%, 15% of their business, bring on an institutional-grade partner, and then go for a much bigger exit in 4 to 6 years. We'll do those types of secondary deals as well."

Kamath: "Within the software ecosystem, verticalized SaaS businesses. It's very much the operating system type stuff that we go after, and then data and infrastructure businesses. 

On the internet side, we'll spend more time in consumer internet companies, so not consumer brands but really just be sort of the internet ecosystem around that.

"The app layer within the AI ecosystem I think is early and is volatile. We're definitely interested in that ecosystem more broadly, but we are looking to support a lot of that growth for that ecosystem."

TPG-backed Vanara Capital plots new growth-stage playbook

The firm led Invisible Technologies' new $100 million round.

Photo illustration of Neil Kamath and Hayden Lekacz, with colorful rectangles and a pattern of Vanara Capital logos between them.

Vanara Capital co-founders Neil Kamath, left, and Hayden Lekacz. Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photos: Courtesy of Vanara Capital

Vanara Capital, a new growth-stage investment firm with big-name backers like CalPERS and TPG, is looking to offer more &quot;flexible&quot; investment options in AI and software, co-founders Neil Kamath and Hayden Lekacz tell Axios Pro.Why it matters: It has been difficult for emerging managers to get traction due to a lack of liquidity in the current market and proven firms raising larger and larger funds.

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TPG-backed Vanara Capital plots new growth-stage playbook

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