October 30, 2024

Gauge Capital Named to Inc.’s 2024 List of Founder-Friendly Investors

Southlake, TX – Inc., the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future, today announced its sixth annual Founder-Friendly Investors list, honoring the private equity, venture capital firms, and lenders with a track record of backing founder-led companies. Once again, this year’s list recognizes Gauge Capital as a top investor for Founders.  

The prestigious list celebrates the investors that believe in backing founder-led businesses and helping them thrive. All companies on the list have successful track records of collaboration and remain actively involved with the businesses they invest in.

“It has been a complicated few years for growth companies and the companies that fund them,” said Mike Hofman, editor-in-chief of Inc. “So, we are happy to share with our readers the best, latest guidance on which venture capital firms, private equity firms, and growth-capital lenders have the track record and reputation of being especially good partners to founders and CEOs.”

“We are honored to be recognized by Inc as a leading Founder-Friendly investor for the 5th year in a row,” said Tom McKelvey, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Gauge. “While Gauge continues to grow and raise larger funds, our identity of investing in and supporting founder-led businesses will remain constant.”

“Gauge continues to take pride in our track record of successful partnerships with such passionate and collaborative founders. Partnering with strong founders is at the forefront of our investment considerations, just as much as the business and industry themselves,” said Drew Johnson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Gauge.
 
Gauge Capital partners with founders, owners, managers, and equity stakeholders of successful companies to maximize their potential. In early 2024, Gauge Capital closed Fund IV at $1.4B and represents ~25% of the committed capital, making the internal team the largest investor in the fund, which creates strong alignment between Gauge and its partners. Gauge Capital's primary aim is long-term, sustainable value creation through transformational change, as well as organic and strategically acquired growth.
 
To compile the list, Inc. went straight to the source: entrepreneurs who have sold to private equity and venture capital firms. Founders filled out a questionnaire about their experiences partnering with private equity, venture capital, and debt firms and shared data on how their portfolio companies have grown during these partnerships.
 
To see the complete list, go to: https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors/2024 
 
Introduced in 2019, the Founder-Friendly Investors list quickly established itself as one of Inc.’s most resourceful franchises. It has become a go-to guide for entrepreneurs who want to grow their companies while retaining an ownership stake. 
 
The November 2024 issue of Inc. magazine is available online now at https://www.inc.com/magazine and will be on newsstands beginning October 29.

About Inc. 
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, digital, print, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com

About Gauge Capital 
Gauge Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in Southlake, Texas. Gauge invests in five key sectors: business services, food & consumer, government & industrial services, healthcare, and technology. The Firm manages more than $3.0 billion in capital. For more information, please contact Andrew Peix, Partner, Business Development at apeix@gaugecapital.com.

 

The “Founder-Friendly Investors” award is a program designed by Inc. Magazine to help founder-led companies accelerate growth and create revenue.  Private equity, venture capital firms and lenders that have exited U.S.-based, founder-led portfolio companies are eligible to apply.  For investments to qualify, portfolio company founders must have remained actively involved in their business for at least one-year post-investment.  Winning firms are selected based upon their track record, reputation, leadership and founder references.  Gauge Capital is not aware of the number of advisers also surveyed for the award. Like all entrants, Gauge Capital paid a fee to be considered for this award and pays a fee to Inc. Magazine to use the collateral associated with the use of the award and logo. This award is not to be construed as indicative of Gauge Capital’s future performance. Reference to an award is only one piece of information relevant to an evaluation of an investment adviser such as Gauge Capital.  Finally, this award represents information as of a specific date and time and may not reflect important information related to an evaluation of the investment adviser which has occurred prior to, or subsequent to, the award.  Gauge Capital is not affiliated with Inc. Magazine. Gauge Capital received this award in 2024. More information about the Founder-Friendly Investors award is available at https://incprivateequity50.secure-platform.com/