For The First Time, UK & Japan Firms Crack The Top 10 Of HEC Paris-Dow Jones Growth Capital Ranking

HEC Paris has released its 2024 Dow Jones Growth Capital Performance Ranking, and for the first time, firms from the United Kingdom and Japan have broken into the coveted top 10.

At No. 2, UK-based Apis Partners made a dramatic entrance to the list, followed by fellow British firm Sprints at No. 7. Japan’s Whiz Partners entered at No. 8, a first for an Asia-based firm. The shift marks a significant moment in what has been a U.S.-dominated list — though U.S. firms still account for 14 of the top 20 ranked companies.

“This year’s results show both continuity and evolution,” says Professor Oliver Gottschalg, who developed the ranking at HEC Paris. “While the top position remains stable for the third year, the reshuffling just below and the growing international presence signal an increasingly competitive and globalized growth capital market.”

2024 GLOBAL RANKING: TOP 20 GROWTH CAPITAL FIRMS 

SOURCE: HEC PARIS

3 OF TOP 5 ARE CLIMBERS OR FIRST-TIMERS

Now in its third edition, the HEC Paris-Dow Jones Growth Capital Performance Ranking highlights the private equity firms that deliver the strongest returns to limited partners. Drawing on data from 278 firms and 505 growth capital funds raised between 2011 and 2020, the ranking’s methodology combines relative and absolute return measures across vintages.

The analysis spans an aggregate $329 billion in equity volume, using data from Preqin and direct firm disclosures.

The top spot in the 2024 list remains with Ampersand Capital Partners, which has now held the No. 1 ranking for three years in a row. U.S.- and Ireland-based Stripes (No. 3), The Raine Group (No. 4), and Spectrum Equity (No. 5) round out the top five — with the latter all climbing or debuting after two years of relative stasis in the upper ranks.

2023 GLOBAL RANKING: TOP 20 GROWTH CAPITAL FIRMS 

SOURCE: HEC PARIS

RANKING REWARDS CONSISTENCY

While U.S. firms continue to dominate the list, the rise of Apis, Sprints, and Whiz underscores how investor outperformance is no longer bound by geography. The results also highlight that scale is not necessarily a hindrance: Insight Partners, which boasts an average fund size 17 times that of its peers, maintains a top-10 presence for the third year. Insight is based in New York City.

The ranking’s methodology rewards consistency over time, not one-off wins. And while several firms on the list specialize in sectors like healthcare and technology, the majority are generalists, suggesting that versatility is still highly rewarded in today’s volatile capital markets.

Gottschalg, a professor of Strategy and Business Policy at HEC Paris, says the aim of the ranking is to offer investors a more holistic view of which growth capital firms consistently deliver across vintages, sectors, and fund sizes.

2022 GLOBAL RANKING: TOP 20 GROWTH CAPITAL FIRMS 

SOURCE: HEC PARIS

DON’T MISS U.S. FIRMS DOMINATE HEC PARIS RANKING OF TOP GROWTH CAPITAL FIRMS

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