AUSTIN, TX & SAN FRANCISCO, CA | October 31, 2023 — Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm recognized for its dedication to bootstrapped software companies, proudly announces it has been named on Inc. Magazine’s 2023 Founder-Friendly Investors list, for the fourth consecutive year. This recognition reaffirms Mainsail’s commitment to providing support for software entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses.
“We are always honored and humbled to be included in Inc.’s Founder-Friendly Investors list,” said Taylor McKinley, Partner at Mainsail Partners. McKinley reflected on the firm’s journey: “We’ve been supporting bootstrapped founders for more than 20 years and take great pride in our approach to working with entrepreneurs who have built something special with their own sweat equity and are now entrusting us to help them be successful in the next phase of growth,” McKinley added. “Our mission is to enhance the pillars of their success as we help them scale.”
Mainsail Partners’ reputation among founder-friendly investment firms is marked this year by numerous achievements and substantial growth, including the completion of four new platform investments, all of which were spearheaded by innovative founders.
To support the firm’s growing portfolio, Mainsail has continued investing in its Operations Team, expanding the team to 24 dedicated professionals who focus on partnering with founders and management teams to scale their companies. The firm highlighted a number of achievements year-to-date in support of its portfolio companies, including the successful completion of 108 projects across the portfolio, support in the hiring of 51 key executives, and sourcing and executing on 9 strategic add-ons to complement organic growth. Collectively, these achievements affirm Mainsail Partners’ ongoing commitment to fostering growth and success within its portfolio.
Ben Hodson, Co-Founder and CEO at JobNimbus, a current Mainsail portfolio company, spoke to the importance of a “founder-friendly” partnership: “‘Founder-friendly is the Holy Grail that every founder looks for in an investment partner—someone who is collaborative, there to help in any way, and who takes responsibility with you for things that go well and things that don’t. It should be a team effort, and Mainsail does a great job at being a collaborative partner every step of the way.”
In addition to the firm’s operational support and collaborative approach to working with founders, the team at Mainsail has respect for the importance of culture at growing software companies and goes to great strides to support founders in nurturing company culture as the organization grows.
Learn More about Why Founders Choose to Partner with Mainsail
This is the fourth consecutive year that Mainsail has been included on Inc.’s list of Founder Friendly Investors. To see the complete list, go to: https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors/2023
About Mainsail Partners
Mainsail Partners is a growth equity firm that partners with founders of bootstrapped software companies to help them realize their potential. For 20 years, Mainsail has been helping management teams navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with rapidly scaling a software company. The firm includes women and men who are former software company operators who have seen these challenges first-hand. Mainsail offers assistance across various functional areas, including talent, finance, customer success, sales and marketing, product management, and R&D. With offices in Austin and San Francisco, the firm has raised over $2.2 billion in committed capital and invested in more than seventy companies. For more information, visit www.mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.
Certain statements about Mainsail Management Company, LLC (“Mainsail” or “Mainsail Partners”) made by portfolio company executives herein are intended to illustrate Mainsail’s business relationship with such persons, including with respect to Mainsail’s facilities as a business partner, rather than Mainsail’s capabilities or expertise with respect to investment advisory services. Portfolio company executives were not compensated in connection with their participation, although they generally receive compensation and investment opportunities in connection with their portfolio company roles, and in certain cases are also owners of portfolio company securities and/or investors in Mainsail-sponsored vehicles. Such compensation and investments subject participants to potential conflicts of interest in making the statements herein.
The 2023 Founder-Friendly recognition presented herein is awarded by Inc. Magazine, a third-party that is not affiliated with Mainsail Partners or an investor in Mainsail Partners-sponsored vehicles, and was awarded on 10/31/23 for 2023. Inc. Magazine independently assessed nominees based on responses to questions on Inc. Magazine’s nomination form and discussions with CEO references. The number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Mainsail, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognition, cannot be disclosed herein. Inc. Magazine’s recognition is based on its own evaluation and opinion and is not indicative of Mainsail Partners’ future performance and does not reflect the experience of, or any rating by, Mainsail investors. Mainsail Partners paid an application fee to participate in the recognition process. The receipt of compensation influences, and is likely to present a potential material conflict of interest, relating to the rating. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For more information regarding this recognition, please see the linked publication.