In This Section

Growth Equity

Overview

Harbert Growth Partners (“HGP”) seeks to generate attractive returns for our investors by identifying and investing in promising emerging growth stage technology companies.

We seek to invest in what we believe are attractive technology ecosystems outside of Silicon Valley and the Northeast, areas with a vibrant entrepreneurial community, leading research universities and significant startup and early-stage investment activity. The HGP team combines substantial investment, advisory, and operating experience with capital and an extensive network to support great entrepreneurial teams in successfully executing their growth plans.

Investment Team

Wayne L. Hunter
Managing Partner

Wayne L. Hunter is the Managing Partner of HGP and co-founder and head of HMC’s Growth Equity investment strategy. Mr. Hunter joined HMC in 2002 and previously led the HGP Funds’ investments in and was a board member of exited portfolio investments MapAnything (sold to Salesforce), Unitrends (sold to Insight Venture Partners), and Yap (sold to Amazon).

Mr. Hunter also serves on the board of the Florida Venture Forum and previously served on the boards of North Carolina’s Council for Entrepreneurial Development, Venture Atlanta, and Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology. Prior to joining HMC, Mr. Hunter was founding Managing Director and Head of Wachovia’s (and predecessor firms First Union Securities’ and Wheat First Butcher Singer’s) Technology Investment Banking Group. In addition, Mr. Hunter was a member of Wachovia’s Private Equity/Venture Capital Fund Investment Committee and served on Wachovia’s Investment Banking Management Committee. Mr. Hunter has more than thirty years of experience working with leading entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Mr. Hunter holds a degree in law (J.D.) from the University of Alabama School of Law and a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from Auburn University.

LinkedIn

Brian C. Carney
General Partner

Brian Carney is a Partner with HGP, and joined HMC in 2007, where he has over fifteen years of experience investing in high growth companies. He currently serves on the boards of HGP portfolio companies including, Apkudo, Inc., Graylog, Inc., Healthcare Interactive, Inc., and TemperPack Technologies, Inc.

Mr. Carney previously served on the boards of several exited portfolio investments including Envera Health (sold to Access Healthcare), Clinipace Worldwide (sold to dMed Global), SafeGuard Cyber (exited via secondary sale) and worked on the firm’s successful investments in Clarabridge (sold to Qualtrics), Kaleo (sold to Marathon Asset Management), Shipt (sold to Target), and Wellcentive (sold to Philips).  In the community, Brian serves as a member of the St. Catherine’s School Board of Governors where he is Chair of the Finance Committee and is also past President of the St. Catherine’s School Foundation Board.  Brian previously served on the Board of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development in Durham, North Carolina. Before joining HMC, Mr. Carney was an investment professional with Morgan Stanley Venture Partners where he executed growth equity investments.  He began his career with Morgan Stanley as a financial analyst in the Investment Banking Division.

Mr. Carney holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with honors from Washington & Lee University.

LinkedIn

Thomas D. Roberts III
General Partner

Thomas D. Roberts III is a General Partner with HGP and joined HMC in 2002 as a founding member of the Investment Team. He currently serves on the boards of ConnectBase, Crunchy Data Solutions, Ledbury, PlaceMaker and ThreatX, and manages HGP’s investment in Quartile.

Mr. Roberts previously led the HGP Funds’ investments in and was a board member of exited portfolio investments Agility Healthcare (sold to GE Healthcare), Clarabridge (sold to Qualtrics), Cloud Elements (sold to UiPath), JackBe (sold to Software AG), Invincea (sold to Sophos), Mobile Posse (sold to Digital Turbine), Stella Connect (sold to Medallia), Two Six Labs (sold to The Carlyle Group), and Voci Technologies (sold to Medallia). He is a member of the board of the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation, which allocates grants for collaborative bioscience research on behalf of the Virginia state government. He is also a former member of the Executive Committee of the board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (“MAVA”).

He holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia.

LinkedIn

Alison G. McKinney
Senior Associate

Alison G. McKinney is a Senior Associate with HGP. Ms. McKinney joined HMC in August 2022 to assist with financial analysis, investment due diligence, deal sourcing, and portfolio company monitoring.

Ms. McKinney holds a dual Master’s degree in Global Commerce from the University of Virginia and Global Strategic Management from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. Ms. McKinney received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Business Administration and Hispanic Linguistics.

LinkedIn
Investment Criteria

HGP seeks to identify and invest in emerging companies with high growth potential. We seek to invest with experienced entrepreneurs building emerging growth stage companies with defensible positions in large and growing markets. HGP typically invests $5.0 million to $10.0 million initially and continues to invest and build value through the growth of our portfolio companies. We typically seek board representation in our investments and provide constructive, strategic, operating and networking support to our portfolio companies.

We concentrate our investment focus on opportunities that, in our view, demonstrate the following characteristics:

  • Experienced management teams
  • Large and growing addressable markets
  • Recurring revenue business models
  • Scalable operating platforms

Information Technology:

  • Enterprise Software
  • Cybersecurity
  • Financial Technology
  • Real Estate Technology
  • Healthcare IT
Portfolio

Current Portfolio

Active Companies

Information Technology

Apkudo provides supply chain automation solutions spanning the entire lifecycle of connected devices. From certifying new devices for launch, to optimizing liquidation of refurbished products, Apkudo’s Hive software platform and warehouse robotics technology provide a seamless operating system and significant cost savings to stakeholders across the device reverse supply chain. The Company integrates its Hive platform with warehouse and in-store retail hardware to connect key device data points throughout the reverse supply chain lifecycle, driving automated decisioning for customers seeking to answer the question, “what do I do with this device, right now?” Apkudo is the only platform designed by and for electronics reverse logistic stakeholders.Baltimore, MD
www.apkudo.com
Ceterus provides “done-for-you” accounting and benchmarked performance reporting solutions to small businesses and franchise owners in markets such as fitness, health and wellness, restaurants, retail, and education. Ceterus’ platform includes automated data entry, access to a professional accountant, and niche-specific financial reports and dashboards that provide business owners with valuable insights into how their business is operating month-to-month and how it compares to other franchises within the same brand family. Ceterus’ cloud-based solution, known as Edge, provides a dashboard that is custom made for a specific franchise brand or industry. The Company also offers tax planning, preparation, and filing through Ceterus Tax, enabling the Company to offer a comprehensive solution for entrepreneurs.Charleston, SC
www.ceterus.com
Connectbase provides sales enablement software built for the network connectivity industry that automates critical network buying and selling workflows and enables carriers and their partners to increase sales and more efficiently compete for new prospect opportunities. The Company’s core platform, known as The Connected World, is a map interface powered by a unique, proprietary dataset that includes curated data on more than 350 million commercial buildings, 5,800 network routes, and 16 million enterprise tenants. Connectbase has positioned itself as the Industry Cloud for Connectivity and serves the top 10 fiber infrastructure providers and multiple systems operators in the U.S.Westborough, MA
www.connectbase.com
Crunchy Data offers an enterprise data management platform built on PostgreSQL (“Postgres”), an open-source, relational database platform with a reputation for reliability and a history of over 30 years of active development. Crunchy Data brings the power and efficiency of open-source Postgres to security-conscious organizations to eliminate expensive proprietary database costs for both public and private sector customers. The Company’s newest product, Crunchy Bridge, is a fully managed Postgres-as-a-Service offering available in AWS and Azure environments.Charleston, SC
www.crunchydata.com
Developed on an open source foundation and deployed in more than 50,000 installations worldwide, Graylog is an award-winning centralized log management solution built for speed and scale in capturing, storing, and enabling real-time analysis of terabytes of machine data. Purpose-built for modern log analytics to deliver a better user experience with a more cost-effective and flexible architecture, Graylog enables hundreds of thousands of users to explore their data every day to solve security, compliance, operational, and application development issues.Houston, TX
www.graylog.org
Hello Alice is a free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow. A Latina-owned company, Hello Alice believes in business for all by providing access to all owners including women, people of color, U.S. military veterans, and everyone with an entrepreneurial spirit. With a community of more than 500,000 business owners located in all 50 U.S. states and across the globe, Hello Alice is building the largest network of owners in the country and becoming the primary platform for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to access capital. The Company’s enterprise customers and partners include large corporations, government agencies, and institutions looking to serve SMB owners to ensure increased revenues and promote scale.Houston, TX
www.helloalice.com
Ledbury is a rapidly growing e-commerce shirtmaker and menswear brand. Ledbury focuses on the design and innovative marketing of luxury men’s shirts, clothing and accessories. The Company’s vertically integrated e-commerce platform is low-cost, high-margin and scalable. This model allows the brand to deliver signature quality, value and convenience to customers that is unmatched by traditional retail. Where retailers typically offer 2-4 collections a year, Ledbury offers more than 20. The Company also has the ability to test small collections, avoiding the high fashion risk of traditional retail.Richmond, VA
www.ledbury.com
Netsertive’s digital marketing intelligence platform empowers brands and local businesses to work together to win local customers. The Company’s two complementary solutions, MarketWise™ for Brands and StreetWise™ for Local Businesses, enable cooperative marketing and resource sharing between brands and their local business partners. Both are powered by Netsertive’s proprietary learning engine, which combines the Company’s deep industry experience with the collective intelligence of its extensive network of automotive, IT technology, major appliance, furniture, consumer electronics, dental and eye care clients to deliver unprecedented campaign speed, performance and value.Morrisville, NC
www.netsertive.com
Placemakr is a flexible hospitality living platform, property manager, and real estate investor. Its tech-enabled operating platform allows the company to blur the line between hospitality and home, delivering the best experiences of both in a single building. Placemakr's curated spaces in hand-picked neighborhoods allow its guests and residents the flexibility to stay for a night, a year, or anywhere in-between. Washington, D.C.
www.placemakr.com
Quartile is an artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered ad optimization platform for leading e-commerce marketplace sellers, such as Amazon, Walmart.com, and Instacart. Quartile’s advertising technology uses proprietary technology and six patented algorithms to make real-time decisions based on accurate data for improved performance and growth. The Quartile platform is an easy-to-use dashboard that equips sellers with the tools to manage their retail media in every marketplace, enabling them to optimize campaigns at the product level to maximize sales, lower the advertising cost of sale, and improve margins. Quartile acquired HGP portfolio company Sidecar in December 2021.New York, NY
www.quartile.com
SafeGuard Cyber enables social collaboration to create competitive advantage while overcoming regulatory compliance challenges, legal threats, and security risk exposure. SafeGuard Cyber is an award-winning and industry leading solution for social risk management in use by leading companies in the pharmaceutical, retail, consumer and financial services industries.Charlottesville, VA
www.safeguardcyber.com
Snag is a human capital management (“HCM”) software company with a technology platform that assists employers in hiring, training and retaining employees. The Company’s technology platform consists of three products on the market today, On-boarding, Learning Management and Performance Management, and several other products currently in development. The Company believes a significant opportunity exists to bring an affordable HCM solution and the necessary functional and regulatory training content to the underserved small to medium-sized business market.Glen Allen, VA
www.snagajob.com
Springbot provides an eCommerce marketing platform to small and midsized eCommerce retailers that combines the power of marketing automation and marketing analytics. The cloud-based offering integrates and simplifies the data, content, and multi-channel marketing tools (social media, online, email, etc.) eCommerce website owners need to drive more traffic, conversions, and revenue. Springbot’s platform integrates with eCommerce retailers using Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce shopping carts to leverage marketing and purchasing behavior data to help customers grow their revenue by taking smarter, data-driven marketing actions.Atlanta, GA
www.springbot.com
TemperPack designs, manufactures, and distributes sustainable, thermal packaging products for customers in the perishable food and life sciences industries. The Company’s most innovative product, ClimaCell, is certified for curbside recyclability and allows customers to protect temperature sensitive shipments while reducing packaging waste. TemperPack’s products can be used to replace expanded polystyrene (“EPS”) foam coolers and other plastic liners.Richmond, VA
www.temperpack.com
ThreatX is managed API and application protection that lets you secure them with confidence, not complexity. It blocks botnets and advanced attacks in real time, letting enterprises keep attackers at bay without lifting a finger. Trusted by companies in every industry across the globe, ThreatX profiles attackers and blocks advanced risks to protect APIs and applications 24/7. Boston, MA
www.threatx.com
Unitrends specializes in data protection and rapid recovery appliances, providing business systems continuity for small and middle market enterprises. The core of the Company’s solution is file-level backup/restore, Bare Metal Recovery and Block-Based Replication. The Company’s software is integrated into a backup device known as a Data Protection Unit (“DPU”), which is available in a variety of form factors and storage capacities. DPU’s can be deployed locally and also replicated to an offsite vault for offsite disaster recovery.Columbia, SC
www.unitrends.com

HEALTHCARE

Caidya is a full-service Clinical Contract Research Organization (CRO) who aspires to be a next-generation clinical development partner, empowering customers to deliver innovative solutions to patients worldwide. The company has served clients helping firms leverage and integrate into China's new regulatory framework and capitalize on the rapid internationalization of clinical trials. Caidya acquired U.S. based Target Health in 2019, as its first step in expanding globally. dMed acquired HGP portfolio company Clinipace in April 2021.Morrisville, NC
www.caidya.com
A hands-on engagement services organization, Envera Health offers a complete continuum of solutions to empower the Company’s provider partners to succeed in delivering consumer-driven healthcare. Envera Health’s solutions cover what the Company believes are primary sources of issues in healthcare: growth, access, care coordination and network development. Envera Health’s engagement services are designed to create seamless connections for providers and patients and enable the Company’s healthcare partners to succeed in balancing both clinical and financial performance. By offering a complete continuum of solutions strategically designed together with Envera Health’s partners, the Company empowers providers to deliver better, more connected care.Richmond, VA
www.enverahealth.com
Healthcare Interactive focuses on consuming massive amounts of healthcare data from existing systems in order to present this information, along with analytic measures, in an actionable way. Using patented technology and flexible architecture, the Company empowers insurance companies, health systems, and third-party administrators in processing complex benefit designs.Glenwood, MD
www.hciactive.com

Notable Exits

Agility provides business process optimization solutions targeted at hospitals and other acute care facilities. The company combines its proprietary software and implementation services with RFID and other location-tracking technologies to provide significant ROI for hospitals in transforming their enterprise patient care management and operational workflow. Sold to GE Healthcare in 2008.Richmond, VA
Clarabridge is a leading Software as a Service provider of customer experience analytics software. The Company’s Content Mining Platform provides marketing and operations executives access to customer sentiments by mining and exposing actionable customer experience feedback buried in text-based survey responses, web postings and support calls. In October 2021, Clarabridge was acquired by Qualtrics International, Inc., a leading experience management provider that was spun-out of SAP in early 2021.Reston, VA
Cloud Elements, Inc., headquartered in Denver, CO, is an Application Programming Interface Integration Platform, purpose-built to connect SaaS and Digital Business Apps with the applications used by end users. In March 2021, Cloud Elements was acquired by UiPath, Inc., a New York City-based global software company that is considered the market leader for enterprise robotic process automation.Denver, CO
ControlScan is an emerging provider of Payment Card Industry (“PCI”) security compliance solutions focused exclusively on small- and medium-sized businesses (“SMBs”). PCI data security standards have been adopted by the major credit card brands to alleviate security vulnerabilities and protect cardholder data for all merchants that handle cardholder data. ControlScan is the only provider focused exclusively on SMB merchants, which are defined as merchants processing fewer than 1 million brand transactions. The Company has uniquely tailored its services to meet SMB merchants’ needs for easily-implemented and cost-effective PCI compliance solutions. Merged with EchoSat, a leading provider of payments security, managed firewall, and managed network solutions, in 2017.Atlanta, GA
Invincea is an innovative emerging cybersecurity anti-malware software company that has developed a patent-pending, revolutionary desktop security software suite and threat intelligence network appliance for protecting enterprise, government and home users from Internet attacks. Sold to Sophos in 2017.Fairfax, VA
JackBe delivers real-time business intelligence software that empowers organizations to create, customize, and collaborate through enterprise mashups for faster decision-making and better business results. JackBe’s Presto platform provides dynamic solutions that leverage internal and external data while meeting tough enterprise security and governance requirements. Sold to Software AG (DAX – SOW AG) in August of 2013.Chevy Chase, MD
kaléo is a medical device drug delivery company focused on the design and development of prescription pharmaceutical devices utilizing its proprietary, state-of-the-art technology platforms. The Company’s first product, Auvi-Q, is an innovative auto-injector device designed to deliver epinephrine during allergic emergencies known as anaphylaxis. The product is designed to be smaller, safer, and more user-friendly than existing treatments for anaphylaxis. The Company’s mission is to provide demonstrably superior medical products that empower patients and caregivers to confidently take control in potentially life-threatening situations. kaléo believes patients and caregivers are the experts on how their medical condition impacts their lives, and are an integral part of our product development process. Each kaléo product combines an established drug with an innovative delivery platform with the goal of achieving superiority and cost effectiveness.Richmond, VA
MapAnything provides a SaaS-based mapping and geo-analytics solution built on top of the Salesforce platform. The Company’s goal is to become the world’s leading business platform for “Where” software. MapAnything recently extended its product suite to be compatible with the ServiceNow platform, creating another large market opportunity for the Company’s products. MapAnything’s solution dramatically improves the productivity of sales and service teams in the field by providing real time geo-location, route optimization, schedule planning, territory management, and powerful analytics for sales management. MapAnything is a Salesforce Gold App Innovation Partner and a ServiceNow Technology Partner.Charlotte, NC
MaxCyte is a clinical stage cell therapeutics company with a pipeline of product development partnerships in cell-based therapies. The Company’s platform technology utilizes flow electroporation (brief pulses of electric current used to permeate cell membranes) to break down the barriers to ex-vivo cell loading and the manufacture of viral vectors.Gaithersburg, MD
Mobile Posse is the leading provider of next-generation mobile advertising and mCRM solutions for the active home screen. Using proprietary patent-pending technology, Mobile Posse enables advertisers, content providers and wireless carriers to proactively reach consumers through the prime real-estate on the mobile phone.McLean, VA
nContact is a cardiovascular medical device company that is developing a complete minimally-invasive surgical platform for treating Atrial Fibrillation (“AF”). The Company’s technology uses radiofrequency (RF) ablation devices that enable active contact and engagement between flexible, conformable electrodes and cardiac tissue, providing predictable and effective cardiac tissue ablation.Morrisville, NC
NovaMin is establishing its proprietary oral healthcare technology as the next generation active-ingredient foundation for consumer oral healthcare and professional dental products. NovaMin addresses rapidly growing, unmet oral care needs by amplifying the natural biological defenses and repair mechanisms of the mouth. Sold to GlaxoSmithKline in 2009.Alachua, FL
Payzer provides an end-to-end Field Service Management platform that helps contractors run their business, grow sales, and simplify back-office operations. The Payzerware platform provides complete business management software including scheduling and dispatching, invoicing, sales proposals, and maintenance agreements. The platform also enables a full range of payment and financing solutions, which further help contractors decrease outstanding balances, generate more revenue per job, and allocate more time to generating new sales. Payzerware is distributed with Payzercare, an industry-leading customer service offering that serves as the foundation of Payzer’s company culture and core values.Charlotte, NC
Shipt has developed a rapidly growing technology-enabled services business powered by a proprietary app, which allows subscribers to buy groceries online, from their preferred local grocery outlet, and receive their orders in as little as one hour. The app matches Shipt shoppers with customer orders in a manner similar to the Uber model. Shipt opened its first market in Birmingham in May 2015 and is now operating in more than 60 markets throughout the Southeast, Midwest, Texas, and Arizona, and is rapidly expanding into new markets given strong demand from the Company’s grocery partners. Shipt has delivery partnerships with Costco, Whole Foods, Meijer, H-E-B, Harris Teeter, and ABC Fine Wine and Spirits.Birmingham, AL
Stella Connect offers a SaaS-based people success platform built specifically for customer service teams. Through real-time customer feedback, recognition, and rewards, Stella Connect allows customer service teams to identify areas for improvement, enabling on-the-spot micro-coaching and driving friendly competition through features like leaderboards. With the loss of each contact center agent costing a brand up to $15,000, as well as the high costs of scaling a contact center, Stella Connect can have a dramatic bottom-line impact by keeping agents happier and helping contact centers grow with fewer resources. The Company serves an impressive list of more than 200 customers, including well-known brands such as Williams Sonoma, Neiman Marcus, Postmates, LuLuLemon, Moen, Walmart, Quicken Loans, Warby Parker, Nestle, and Mercedes-Benz, among others.New York, NY
Two Six Labs invents, prototypes and engineers breakthrough technologies for government and industry, with broad commitments in multiple areas of technological innovation. Two Six Labs’ projects range from situational awareness interfaces for cyber operators to distributed sensor networks, to machine learning models that learn to reverse engineer malware, to embedded devices that enable and protect our nation’s warfighters.Fairfax, VA
Voci offers speech recognition software that allows enterprises to make informed decisions based on actionable insights extracted from their voice data. Voci offers speech intelligence solutions that meet business requirements for customer experience, call center operations, compliance and risk management, eDiscovery, and additional transcription applications. The Company’s hardware-accelerated technology was spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2007. Voci’s solutions provide customers with data and insights used to: (i) prevent customer churn, (ii) optimize Quality Assurance efficiency, (iii) boost sales effectiveness, (iv) monitor employee compliance, and (v) prepare for audits and lawsuits.Pittsburgh, PA
WellCentive offers a comprehensive set of Web-based patient registry, modular Electronic Health Record (EHR) and other HIT solutions for preventive care, chronic disease management, and health information exchange programs. Sold to Royal Philips NV in 2016.Atlanta, GA
Yap creates and markets voice-enabled software that converts speech into text for multiple applications for mobile devices. For example, users can send emails, text messages, and access web services such as search, via a unified client interface on their mobile devices. Yap also offers fully automated voicemail transcription services. Sold to a Fortune 100 technology company in 2011.Charlotte, NC
News
Contact
HARBERT GROWTH PARTNERS

5702 Grove Avenue, Suite 200
Richmond, VA 23226
804.782.3800