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All investor lists > PE firms
Connect with private equity firms that specialize in driving company growth, operational improvement, and strategic acquisitions.
Last update: June 9, 2026
List author: Shaun Gold
Shortlist investors, submit pitch decks, and get replies
Use code "OpenVC". Conditions apply.
A private equity firm is an investor that buys meaningful ownership in companies, usually ones that are already profitable, growing, or stable enough to scale. Most PE firms invest through structured funds and focus on operational improvements, margin expansion, or strategic growth before eventually exiting through a sale or IPO.
They’re not in the business of betting on ideas or chasing hype. They’re looking for cash flow, efficiency, and levers they can pull to increase enterprise value.
At OpenVC, we’ve seen founders approach PE when they’re well past MVP and ready to raise a larger round, often to fuel acquisitions, expand internationally, or support a management buyout. The playbook is different from venture capital, but if you’re ready to scale with precision, the right PE partner can help you unlock serious growth.
Next we’ll break down the top 10 private equity firms when it comes to assets under management (AUM).
Founded in 1985 by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman with $400,000 in seed capital, Blackstone has grown into the world's largest alternative investment firm. The firm backed Sara Blakely's majority sale of SPANX after she bootstrapped the company from $5,000 in savings, maintaining her as executive chair and bringing in celebrity equity partners, including Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon, as partners. Blackstone's portfolio spans over 250 companies and 12,500+ real estate assets globally, with recent heavy positioning in AI infrastructure and data centers where rents have grown over 100% in four years.
KKR pioneered the leveraged buyout model in the 1970s and went public on the NYSE in 2010, providing unusual transparency into private equity returns and deal-making. Major tech acquisitions include taking BMC Software and Epicor private, building deep expertise in enterprise software transformations.
The firm deploys KKR Capstone consultants who embed with portfolio private equity companies post-acquisition to drive operational improvements across sales, procurement, and technology infrastructure. KKR structures deals with earnout provisions and rollover equity that allow management teams to participate in value creation beyond the initial transaction price. Local teams across 20+ global offices make investment decisions rather than centralizing all dealmaking in New York.
Carlyle went public in 2012 with a $700 million IPO and trades on NASDAQ, making it one of the few mega-funds offering public market liquidity. The firm's Washington D.C. headquarters reflects decades of focus on government contractors, defense, and aerospace startups, where regulatory expertise creates competitive advantages in diligence and value creation. In 2005, Carlyle partnered with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Merrill Lynch on the $15 billion leveraged buyout of Hertz Corporation. Infrastructure and energy investments span renewable power, digital infrastructure, and transportation assets across 15+ years of sector-focused deployment.
Apollo is one of the biggest private equity funds, managing $840 billion in assets with $392 billion deployed in credit strategies. Founded in 1990 by Leon Black, Josh Harris, and Marc Rowan following their tenure at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Apollo pioneered distressed-to-control investing when traditional LBO financing dried up.
The firm operates 16 origination platforms staffed by nearly 4,000 professionals focused on asset-backed lending, specialty finance, and structured credit. Apollo recently formed an exclusive $25 billion private credit partnership with Citigroup and plans to double annual private credit origination from $100 billion to $200-250 billion within five years. Beyond traditional buyouts, Apollo's credit arm provides junior debt, preferred equity, and structured financing to growth companies that don't fit standard PE acquisition profiles.
Founded in 1994 by SEB, AEA Investors, and Investor AB, EQT went public on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2019. The firm employs a distinctive Troika governance model consisting of the portfolio company CEO, an EQT partner, and an independent industrial advisor who typically serves as board chairman. In the AMCS acquisition, EQT structured a private equity deal where the co-founder, existing management, and previous investors, like Insight Partners, retained minority stakes post-transaction. EQT maintains a network of over 700 industrial advisors, including former Fortune 500 CEOs who provide operational guidance and strategic introductions to portfolio businesses.
TPG operates multiple specialized funds including TPG Capital for traditional buyouts, TPG Growth for minority investments, and TPG Rise for impact-focused deals. The leading private equity firm went public on NASDAQ in January 2022, becoming one of the last mega-funds to list publicly.
Growth equity investments in Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify at pre-IPO stages demonstrated willingness to back high-growth companies without taking control positions. The TPG Growth firm writes minority checks between $25M-$500M without requiring board control, targeting companies with $50M+ in revenue and clear paths to profitability.
CVC is a global private equity firm, completing over 700 investments since its founding and operating 26 offices across the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The firm structures deals across the capital spectrum from minority growth investments to full buyouts, providing flexibility in how much equity founders and management teams retain post-transaction. High-profile investments span beyond traditional industrial companies into sports franchises, media properties, and consumer brands. European headquarters in Jersey and London position CVC as a bridge for companies expanding between the U.S. and European markets.
Thoma Bravo raised $24.3 billion for its 15th fund, which Preqin called the largest tech-focused buyout fund raised by an independent private-equity firm. The firm has completed over 440 software deals since 2000, when it pioneered the software buyout model following the dot-com crash. In June 2025, Thoma Bravo completed a $34.4 billion fundraise across three funds, with each significantly exceeding its target.
Recent mega-deals include the $12.3 billion take-private of Dayforce and $10.7 billion acquisition of Anaplan. Portfolio companies generating approximately $30 billion in combined annual revenue benefit from proprietary playbooks covering sales efficiency, pricing optimization, and R\&D resource allocation developed across decades of software-only investing. The private equity teams typically remain post-acquisition with Thoma Bravo providing operational resources rather than immediate leadership changes.
Advent has invested in private equity since 1984 and completed over 400 transactions across 42 countries spanning North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The firm targets mid-to-large cap companies with enterprise values between $500M-$5B, sitting below mega-funds chasing $10B+ deals but above middle-market firms limited to sub-$1B transactions. Sector-focused investment teams are dedicated exclusively to specific verticals rather than generalist partners evaluating opportunities across all industries.
CD\&R operates with a partner-led model where each partner typically leads 2-3 active investments simultaneously, providing concentrated attention rather than spreading across 15+ portfolio startups. The firm targets businesses with $500M+ in revenue requiring operational restructuring, strategic repositioning, or management transitions rather than financial engineering alone.
CD\&R maintains a bench of operating partners and experienced C-suite executives who can step into interim or permanent leadership roles post-acquisition. Successful turnarounds include revitalizing underperforming divisions of larger corporations after carve-outs and repositioning family-owned businesses for institutional-grade operations. The firm completed the acquisition of Epicor from Apax Partners in 2016, then sold it to KKR in 2021, demonstrating value creation through operational transformation rather than market timing.
Private equity firms are writing larger checks to fewer companies. Global private equity investment hit $1.5 trillion through Q3 2025, while deal count dropped nearly 10% year over year. Q3 alone saw $310 billion deployed across 156 deals, with six exceeding $10 billion such as Electronic Arts at $54.6 billion.
What this means if you're raising: PE firms are being selective and concentrating private capital in proven private companies with clear value creation opportunities. If you're sub-$50M revenue or still figuring out unit economics, you're likely too early for most traditional PE attention. But if you've crossed $20M ARR with strong margins and a path to operational scale, this is actually a favorable environment. Mega-funds have dry powder to deploy and are actively hunting for quality deals across the private equity space.
Technology, media, and telecom captured $469 billion in PE investment through Q3 2025. Infrastructure and transportation pulled in $126.3 billion, far ahead of the prior two years combined, driven almost entirely by AI-related buildouts. Data centers, power generation, and compute infrastructure supporting AI workloads are seeing unprecedented capital deployment.
This wave of infrastructure investing is pulling in both buyout capital and private debt. If you're building in infrastructure, energy tech, or data center operations, PE appetite is strong right now.
According to EY data, PE exit value reached $832 billion through Q3 2025, nearly matching all of 2024. More importantly, IPO exit value hit $198.7 billion, the highest since 2020. Public equity markets are reopening for PE-backed companies after years of muted activity.
Average holding periods stretched to 6.4 years as firms delayed exits during the downturn rather than sell at depressed valuations. That patience is paying off now as exit multiples recover. If you're acquired by PE in the current environment, expect them to hold longer than the traditional 4-5 year timeline, especially if you need operational work to maximize value.
Raising from a PE firm is more structured and longer-cycle than a typical VC raise. Here’s a high-level look at the process:
This process is standard across the private equity industry, especially when capital is being deployed by the largest firms. For a detailed breakdown of how to map out your raise, check out this fundraising strategy guide.
Private equity isn’t one-size-fits-all. And as a founder, not every private equity fund will be interested in your business.
Here’s what you need to know:
Private equity and venture capital are both forms of private market investing. But, they target different stages, use different deal structures, and bring different expectations to the table.
Private equity firms typically invest in mature or later-stage companies, often taking majority ownership and playing a hands-on role in operations. Their goal is to optimize profitability, improve efficiency, and drive toward a successful exit, whether through acquisition or IPO. They write larger checks, often in the tens or hundreds of millions, and expect operational discipline from day one.
Venture capital firms, on the other hand, back early-stage startups with high growth potential. They usually take minority stakes, bet on founders and vision, and accept a higher failure rate in exchange for the possibility of outsized returns. VC firms are more focused on speed, innovation, and scalability than on profitability in the short term.
In short: VC is about building fast, PE is about refining and scaling with precision.
Pitching PE investors are looking for you to demonstrate a scalable, profitable business model with clear levers for value creation.
General strategy tips:
Private equity often overlaps with adjacent categories and funding sources. You may find relevant investors under:
Whether you’re raising $5M for expansion or exploring a buyout, OpenVC gives you access to a curated private equity firms list with powerful search tools:
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OpenVC is a free startup fundraising platform that helps founders find the right investors and manage their entire raise. Search 20,000+ verified investors, including venture capitalists, angel investors, family offices, accelerators, and more. Build your target list, send your pitch deck, and track your pipeline all in one place.
Founders raise with OpenVC because it is designed to cut through the noise and get founders in front of the right investors, fast. With built-in tools for CRM, analytics, and warm intros, it helps you stay organized and improve your chances of getting a reply.
OpenVC is for early-stage startup founders who want to raise capital efficiently. Find investors from dozens of industries including SaaS, AI, fintech, biotech, and more. Whether you’re pre-seed, seed, or Series A, OpenVC helps you find and pitch aligned investors without paying intro fees, aimlessly cold-emailing, or scraping databases.
To start pitching investors on OpenVC, create a free account and submit your pitch deck directly through our startup funding platform. Investors receive a unique link to view your deck, and you get analytics on who opens it and how long they spend on it. No cold emails, no guesswork. For more info, check out our complete guide to fundraising on OpenVC.
Absolutely, OpenVC is designed for early-stage fundraising. You’ll find thousands of angel investors, pre-seed VCs, accelerators, incubators, and family offices who are actively backing startups across sectors and geographies. Use OpenVC’s filters to narrow your search and find the right investors for your startup.
Some examples of startups that successfully secured funding through OpenVC include Mobly (2.5M seed), Paxum ($1.2M seed), and Laennec AI ($400k pre-seed). OpenVC startups have gone on to raise more than $1 billion from top venture capital firms like YC, Sequoia, Google Ventures, and M12.
OpenVC was created by Stephane Nasser and Lucas Roquilly—two founders building tools to make startup fundraising more transparent and accessible. We launched OpenVC to help founders find investors, get replies, and raise smarter. The platform is bootstrapped, community-driven, and built with a lot of heart.
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