Blue Sea Capital, a leading private equity firm focused on partnering with and investing alongside talented founders, announced today that it has been named a 2023 Founder Friendly Investor™ by Inc. In naming Blue Sea Capital to its list, the Founder Friendly Investor™ recognizes the firm as a private equity investment partner with a track record of success backing entrepreneurs and earning their trust to drive growth.
“Now more than ever, founder-led companies need financing partners that offer guidance, expertise and understanding—not just capital. These are the firms that have founders’ backs when it comes to accelerating growth,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. Business Media.
J.R. Davis and Rick Wandoff, Managing Partners of Blue Sea Capital, commented, “Backing and supporting talented entrepreneurs and their special businesses to achieve ‘next level performance’, and building enduring, market-leading companies in the process, is what gets us out of bed in the morning. It’s why we exist. Naturally, we are both humbled and honored to be recognized as a 2023 Founder Friendly Investor™ by Inc.”
Since its founding approximately ten years ago, Blue Sea Capital has invested in 121 businesses, 95% of which were founder-owned, with a demonstrated track record of growth and performance. The firm recently announced the raise of Fund III with $619 million of committed capital, exceeding its target and 40% larger than Fund II. In total, Blue Sea Capital has $1.4 billion in assets under management to partner with founders and leaders of special, growth-oriented middle-market companies in industries where it has deep experience: healthcare, industrial growth and aerospace & defense. Focused, committed and impactful, the firm delivers strategic and operational value-add that seeks to drive growth acceleration, industry outperformance and business transformation.
About Founder-Friendly Investors™
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. 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. Blue Sea Capital paid a fee to be eligible and use the associated trademarks for this award.
About Inc.
The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community they need to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.
About Blue Sea Capital
Blue Sea Capital is a private equity firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida that invests in growth-oriented, lower-middle-market companies with EBITDA of up to $30 million. The firm has $1.4 billion in assets under management and invests across three industry verticals: aerospace & defense, healthcare and industrial growth. Blue Sea Capital’s strategy is to partner with talented leaders and differentiated companies, typically as the first or second institutional investor, and deliver strategic and operational value-add that drives growth acceleration, industry outperformance and business transformation. For more information, visit www.blueseacapital.com.
