Australia's Glow seeks $222m for debut fund

The founders are currently pitching prospective LPs on a strategy focused on e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, digitally-enabled consumer brands, and technology-enabled business products and services, according to a source close to the situation. Glow declined to comment on fundraising.

It adds to the trickle of sector specialists emanating from Australia’s middle market. Potentia Capital, which concentrates on software, closed its debut vehicle at the end of last year on A$400 million. Last week, Genesis Capital secured commitments of $190 million for a healthcare fund. Both managers worked on a deal-by-deal basis prior to launching blind pools.

Ryan departed Quadrant earlier this year, having most recently served as managing partner responsible for the firm’s lower middle-market growth fund. Adore was one of the first investments made under the strategy and the company went on to complete a domestic IPO in October 2020. It now has a market capitalization of A$489 million and generated A$179 million in revenue last year.

E-commerce became a prevalent theme for Quadrant Growth, offering insights into the speed of digitization and disruption of traditional business models. Ryan claims to have been intrigued by the scope for Australian companies to go global – and aware of a gap in the market for local investors targeting consumer-related opportunities and providing growth capital.

Several Australia and New Zealand-based companies fitting this profile have been snapped up by US-based private equity firms. Notably, Summit Partners-backed AKA Brands acquired fashion boutique Princess Polly – a deal Quadrant’s main fund passed on – and fashion brand Culture Kings.

“There was an opportunity to do something much more future-focused and better match-fit for emerging entrepreneurs. Venture capital is thriving in Australia, and buyouts have done well too. But they come from different worlds, and I think there is space in the middle around growth,” Ryan told AVCJ last month, explaining what led to the launch of Glow.

Glow will make 7-10 investments across Australia and New Zealand, writing equity checks of A$20-50 million for companies with enterprise values in the A$30-120 million range. Its point of entry will be the cusp of breakout growth, when business models and unit economics are proven, technology risk is minimal, and valuations are based on core financial metrics, including profitability.

The firm has pledged to create a gender-balanced team at the executive level to attract female entrepreneurs and to help foster more gender diversity in portfolio management teams.

Deal sourcing will be based on a combination of thought leadership, founder referrals, a group of successful founders who will also act as mentors, and an existing e-commerce ecosystem.

At the start of COVID-19, Morris launched an e-commerce leaders’ network, bringing together several hundred industry leaders on a Slack channel to share insights. Smart phone mount supplier Quad Lock reached out to Morris through the group, and she introduced the company to Quadrant, which led to the private equity firm making an investment. Morris also contributed capital.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Fundraising
• Growth
• Consumer
• Technology
• Australia
• Glow Capital Partners
• Quadrant Private Equity