Seeking to access top-tier venture and growth equity companies through funds, secondaries and direct investments
Our venture and growth equity strategy focuses on concentrating capital into what we believe to be best-in-class, high-growth companies. We do this through fund investments with venture and growth managers, direct investments and solution-oriented secondaries. We leverage our long-standing relationships to gain access to what we have determined to be the most attractive opportunities at ideal stages and through efficient structures. This strategy is designed to produce an asymmetric return profile that limits losses, while capturing the attractive upside that venture and growth equity investments can provide.
- Less correlation to other strategies due to greater sensitivity to innovation cycle as opposed to financial markets
- Seeks an attractive risk/return profile driven by limited use of leverage and potential for outsized returns
- Provides a counterbalance to the disruption of incumbents from high growth, tech-enabled businesses
- Potential for high multiple contribution from long-term, compounding growth
Deal Spotlights
Cube.Dev
Who they are
A semantic layer middleware company that connects data sources with data applications, embedded analytics, BI tools, Large Language Models (LLMs) and more.
Why it matters
The Company is taking advantage of the market tailwind from the rise of generative AI, as semantic becomes foundational for building AI applications that require integrations and connections across backend databases/warehouses and frontend use cases like BI and analytics. With a strong open-source community of data engineers and developers, Cube continues to gain traction from enterprise clients. Since our investment in Cube, the Company announced a strategic investment from Databricks, which further strengthens our conviction in a future with AI-enabled data infrastructure.
Managing Director Matt Pellini dives deeper into the HL advantage in this video spotlight.
Project Lone Ranger
Description
An LP-led secondary deal of a diversified venture portfolio with ~200 companies.
Why it matters
The significant entry discount of ~70% provides meaningful downside protection as well as an attractive J-curve. The underlying investment portfolio is highly diversified, with ~200 companies across various sectors and stages of growth that range from Seed Stage to Series C. The GP of the underlying portfolio has co-invested with or had follow-on rounds led by top-tier venture firms, demonstrating its ability to access attractive companies early and position them for their next round of funding.
The HL advantage
Our expertise along with our relationship with both the LP and the GP led to an advantaged negotiation process during which the deal team was able to structure favorable terms while helping the seller achieve its objectives. The deal team was able to diligence and ultimately gain conviction in top assets in the portfolio through multiple GP relationships.
VAST Data
Who they are
A next-generation software infrastructure platform incorporating data storage, management, analytics and more.Why it matters
VAST is poised to become a critical component of the modern tech stack for enterprises seeking to manage large data assets and develop AI capabilities. The company provides a seamless layer that connects existing data storage assets, including on-premise, cloud, structured and unstructured databases, without the need for costly and disruptive data migrations. VAST’s software-only product results in high scalability, strong margins and attractive cash generation.The HL advantage
We secured allocation to a highly competitive round through our relationship with the lead investor. We also benefited from deep insights and perspectives through our relationship with other co-investors in the round.
As a committed venture and growth equity investor, we have developed deep relationships that help drive what we believe to be enhanced access to highly compelling venture and growth equity opportunities.
Managing Director, Fund Investment & Managed Solutions
Technology platform and access to data provide competitive advantage
Our continued investment in private markets technology solutions provides unparalleled access to information, including a database with over 21,200 funds, 14,000 unique managers, and 157,600+ companies. Further, each year the firm participates in over 1,300 meetings with general partners on average, and reviews 1,100+ PPMs. Together, these insights help enable us to be a more informed investor and a valuable strategic partner to managers, thereby providing access to unique opportunities.
As of March 31, 2024