# Riverwood Capital
Riverwood Capital is a growth-equity investment firm founded in 2008, headquartered in [Menlo Park, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/menlo-park-california), that leads investments of roughly $25 million to $250 million in scaling technology and tech-enabled businesses, with a focus on North America, Latin America, and select emerging markets.[1](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/) The firm was founded by Jeff Parks and Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, both former members of KKR's technology investment team, and remains led by the two as Co-Founders and Managing Partners.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) • [3](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/team/) It is still an active adviser: its Form ADV amendment dated March 31, 2026 reported regulatory assets under management of $6.17 billion.[4](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p)
## Key facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 2008, by Jeff Parks and Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, both formerly of KKR's technology team[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) |
| Headquarters | 70 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California; offices also in Miami, New York, and São Paulo[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1898840/0001898807-22-000002.txt) • [6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) |
| Strategy | Growth equity without leverage, $25–250 million checks into companies with $10–100 million ARR[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) |
| Capital raised | Roughly $6.0 billion of distinct capital across four fund series plus Latam vehicles, per the Form D figures below; the raw sum of Form D filings (~$10 billion) double-counts parallel vehicles[4](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p) • [5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1898840/0001898807-22-000002.txt) |
| AUM | $6.17 billion regulatory AUM as of March 31, 2026[4](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p) |
| Portfolio and exits | 75+ investments and 40+ exits since 2008, including IPOs of Billtrust, Globant, GoPro, Nextdoor, and Vacasa, and the ~$2.3 billion sale of ForgeRock to Thoma Bravo[6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) |
| Latest fund | Fund IV and related vehicles closed at $1.8 billion in November 2023[6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) |
## History and people
Parks and co-founder Francisco Alvarez-Demalde were members of KKR's technology investment team before the global financial crisis, and launched Riverwood in September 2008.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) The firm's first fund, Riverwood Capital Partners L.P., a [Cayman Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/cayman-islands) private equity fund based at 70 Willow Road in Menlo Park, filed its Form D on March 2, 2010, reporting a $750 million offering with $560,495,000 sold in the current offering and $189,505,000 in prior sales; the filing was signed by Thomas J. Smach as director of the general partner, with Park Hill Group LLC as placement agent and 45 investors in the offering.[7](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1485534/0001485534-10-000001.txt) Financial-crisis conditions delayed the fundraising, and the firm closed its debut vehicle in 2011 on USD 780 million.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) The Fund IV amendment was signed on July 6, 2022 by Jeffrey Parks as director of the general partner.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1898840/0001898807-22-000002.txt)
The available record does not document the pre-Riverwood careers of Thomas J. Smach, Michael E. Marks, or Christopher E. Varelas, who appear in filings as related persons, nor any Flextronics connection; the sources also do not identify hires or departures on the partnership since 2023 beyond the two co-founders.[3](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/team/)
## Strategy
Riverwood is a growth-equity investor, not a buyout firm. It positions itself between venture capital and leveraged buyouts, targeting middle-market companies "too mature for venture capital but unsuitable for typical LBOs", and avoids leverage in favor of top-line growth.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) It typically invests $25 million to $250 million per company, with check sizes primarily in the $25–100 million range, in businesses generating $10 million to $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and targets 20 to 30 companies per fund cycle.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) • [6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) [Average](https://www.edgepedia.org/average) trailing-twelve-month revenue across the portfolio at entry is $52 million, and investments are held four to five years.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) According to co-founder Alvarez-Demalde, the firm's 75-plus portfolio companies grew revenues about 40% per year on average during the past decade.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) The firm's own site describes a "Scalability Playbook" offered to help high-growth companies through strategic or operational inflection points, a self-reported claim.[1](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/)
## Funds by the numbers
The Form D lineage, per aggregated filing records, runs as follows: the flagship Fund I reported $390 million on March 7, 2011, alongside parallel vehicles of $139 million (Parallel-A) and $175 million (Parallel-B); Fund II reported $955 million on November 13, 2014; Fund III reported $1.16 billion on March 26, 2020; Fund IV reported $1.48 billion on July 6, 2022; and Riverwood Capital Partners Latam II L.P. reported $1.72 billion on July 18, 2023.[4](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p)
The raw sum of filings overstates distinct capital because parallel vehicles duplicate the flagship amounts. The Fund IV Form D states explicitly that its $1,478,033,333 total includes sales made by Riverwood Capital Partners IV (Parallel - A) L.P., Riverwood Capital Partners IV (Parallel - B) L.P., Riverwood Capital Partners Latam II L.P. and the general partner's commitment.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1898840/0001898807-22-000002.txt) Aggregating the per-fund figures yields roughly $6.0 billion of distinct capital, consistent with the firm's regulatory AUM of $6.17 billion as of March 2026 and its self-reported "over $6 billion AUM."[4](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p) • [1](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/)
In headline terms, the firm's fund sizes grew from a debut vehicle reported at $780 million in 2011 (versus roughly $704 million across the 2011 Form D filings, a gap the sources do not reconcile) to $1.4 billion of total commitments raised in 2020, and then to $1.8 billion announced in November 2023, its first fundraise since 2020.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) • [6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/)
## Portfolio and exits
Riverwood reports more than 75 investments and over 40 exits since 2008.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) Companies from its portfolio that went public include Billtrust, Globant, GoPro, Nextdoor, and Vacasa.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/) ForgeRock raised $275 million through a [New York Stock Exchange](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-stock-exchange) offering in September 2021, but Riverwood's ultimate exit came through [Thoma Bravo](https://www.edgepedia.org/thoma-bravo), which took the company private a year later in an all-cash deal worth $2.3 billion.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) In November 2023 the firm made a partial exit from Singapore-headquartered marketing technology business Insider as part of a $500 million expansion round.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/)
The firm's own team page lists VTEX, Nutanix, Netshoes, QuintoAndar, BigID, SpyCloud, Hyperproof, and Legion among its portfolio, alongside the public companies above.[3](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/team/) Early investments from the 2023-vintage fund included SpyCloud, Hyperproof, One Model, and Logcomex.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/)
## Recent developments
Fund IV and its related vehicles closed on $1.8 billion in 2023 and were 30% to 40% deployed as of 2024, on a roughly four-year deployment cycle of five to ten deals per year.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) New deals since the close include a $50 million round for Legion Technologies in May 2024, a $70 million round for Australian construction-safety software developer HammerTech in July 2024, and a $45 million round for San Francisco-based security validation business Picus Security in September 2024.[2](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/) The adviser remained active well past the 2022 fund filings, with the March 31, 2026 Form ADV showing $6.17 billion in regulatory AUM.[4](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p)
## References
1. [Riverwood Capital — firm website](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/)
2. [Riverwood sees opportunity in fast-evolving enterprise software landscape as it deploys fourth fund – GP Profile (ION Analytics/Mergermarket)](https://ionanalytics.com/insights/mergermarket/riverwood-sees-opportunity-in-fast-evolving-enterprise-software-landscape-as-it-deploys-fourth-fund-gp-profile/)
3. [Our Team | Riverwood Capital](https://www.riverwoodcapital.com/team/)
4. [Riverwood Capital Management L.P.: Form ADV / Form D record (formds.com)](https://www.formds.com/investment-advisers/riverwood-capital-management-l-p)
5. [SEC Form D (amended) — Riverwood Capital Partners IV L.P., filed 2022-07-06](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1898840/0001898807-22-000002.txt)
6. [Riverwood Capital closes $1.8B fund (TechCrunch, 2023-11-20)](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/riverwood-capital-closes-1-8b-fund-says-opportunity-in-latam-has-never-been-greater/)
7. [SEC Form D — Riverwood Capital Partners L.P. (Fund I), filed 2010](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1485534/0001485534-10-000001.txt)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Venture capital and private equity › Private equity and buyout firms of the Americas › Growth equity firms*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license