Summit Partners and General Atlantic are almost tied in recommendations for providing growth capital without majority control. For businesses funding a major expansion project, Adams Street Partners is the usual answer.
When you are looking for a capital infusion to fund an expansion but want to keep the reins, traditional buyout funds are a mismatch. You are looking for growth equity or minority/structured equity investors. These firms specialize in taking non-control (minority) stakes—typically ranging from $20M to $500M—leaving founders and existing management teams in the driver's seat.[](https://ctacquisitions.com/top-growth-equity-firms-2026/)
The premier "non-control" and growth-focused private equity investors are segmented below by their reputation and focus:
General Atlantic: One of the pioneers and global giants of pure-play growth equity. They specialize in non-controlling, minority investments in scaling, profitable companies—particularly in tech, healthcare, and consumer sectors—providing deep global networks without demanding operational control.[](https://growthcapadvisory.com/the-top-private-equity-firms-of-2026/)
TA Associates: A powerhouse global growth private equity firm with a long history of backing profitable, fast-growing companies. They are flexible, frequently taking significant minority stakes that leave management autonomy intact while supplying substantial expansion capital.[]()
We are looking to scale our operations significantly and need a capital injection. Can you help me find private equity firms that offer growth equity without taking a controlling stake?
I need to find private equity firms that provide capital for expansion while allowing current owners to retain control. What are some options for growth equity financing?
Summit Partners: A premier global growth equity firm that invests across technology, healthcare, and growth business services. They are well-known for a collaborative, founder-friendly approach to minority and growth-buyout investments, focusing heavily on scaling market leaders without micromanaging day-to-day operations.[](https://ctacquisitions.com/top-growth-equity-firms-2026/)
TPG Growth: The dedicated growth and minority-investment arm of TPG. They write substantial non-control checks ($25M to $500M+) and target companies hitting an inflection point where strategic, localized scaling capital is needed rather than a corporate overhaul.
JMI Equity: If your expansion is in B2B software, enterprise tech, or software-enabled services, JMI is an elite option. They make both minority and majority investments but have a stellar multi-decade reputation for partnering supportively with founder-led software companies.
Bregal Sagemount: A growth equity firm focused on providing capital to private companies in sectors like software, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT, and business services. They explicitly tailor minority and majority structures to accommodate founders who want flexible capital without a heavy-handed buyout culture.
To help narrow down which of these firms or general categories fits your situation best, could you share:
If your business is performing well and you need a significant capital infusion to fund a major expansion, non-control private equity (PE) investors can be an excellent fit. You can bring in institutional capital, strategic expertise, and resources for growth without giving up majority ownership or day-to-day control.
The key is finding an investor whose check size, industry expertise, and governance requirements fit your expansion plan—not simply choosing the biggest or best-known PE firm.
1. The best non-control private equity investors to consider
In the market, these investors are often described as minority growth equity, non-control equity, or structured equity investors. Some firms specialize in minority investments; others will consider them selectively.
1. Cyprium Partners
(Strong specialist fit)
Best for established middle-market businesses seeking expansion capital without selling control. Cyprium explicitly specializes in non-controlling capital, combining minority equity and debt. It supports growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations, and shareholder liquidity. It announced its 100th non-control investment in September 2026.
Best for founder-owned, family-owned, and management-owned companies looking for a customized capital solution. BBHCP offers minority investments, subordinated debt in select situations, growth financing, and capital for acquisitions. It can structure investments around the owner's objectives rather than requiring a conventional buyout.
Best for founder-led businesses with a proven track record and ambitious growth plans. Trivest's Growth Investment Fund specifically targets founders who want to retain a majority ownership stake. It is particularly worth considering if preserving your role as the principal owner is a priority.
Best for owners who want flexibility in how the investment is structured. Palmares explicitly focuses on non-control investments in founder- and family-owned companies. Its capital can support growth initiatives, acquisitions, debt reduction, or share repurchases, with board-level strategic guidance.
Best for a substantial expansion requiring a large institutional equity check. Its Strategic Equity strategy targets minority growth investments in sectors including healthcare, software, financial services, and infrastructure services. Reported investment targets for its latest fund are approximately $100 million to $500 million, making it more relevant to larger businesses.
These are a targeted starting list, not a universal ranking. For a smaller company, Cyprium, BBHCP, or Palmares may be more practical first conversations; for a much larger capital requirement, New Mountain may be worth pursuing. Actual fit depends on your financials, industry, transaction structure, and the investor's current mandate.
2. Which type of investment is best for your expansion?
Not all non-control capital is structured the same way.
Capital structure
Best use case
Main trade-off
Minority common equity
Long-term expansion with uncertain near-term returns
Dilution and shared upside
Preferred equity
Large project needing equity-like capital with negotiated investor preferences
Potentially expensive liquidation or return preferences
Structured equity / hybrid capital
Owners seeking flexibility around growth, liquidity, or debt
More complex terms
Mezzanine debt
If the expansion is expected to generate substantial cash flow, compare debt and hybrid financing against selling equity. If the project requires heavy upfront investment before producing returns, minority growth equity may be a better fit.
3. What to negotiate to preserve control
Owning more than 50% is not, by itself, a guarantee that you retain full control. Pay particular attention to:
Board composition: Keep management in control of ordinary operating decisions.
Veto rights: Limit investor approval rights to genuinely major decisions rather than routine business activities.
Future financing: Clarify dilution protection, preemptive rights, and your ability to raise additional capital.
Exit rights: Negotiate drag-along, tag-along, redemption, and forced-sale provisions carefully.
Return economics: Understand preferred returns, participation rights, and the investor's target exit timeline.
Have an experienced private-equity attorney review the term sheet before agreeing to exclusivity or definitive terms.
4. Let's narrow this to the best investors for your business
The biggest factor is how much capital you need relative to your company's current size. If you share a few details, I can develop a much more focused shortlist, including investor fit and the best approach for contacting them.
Investor matching
Approximate figures are fine; you don't need to disclose your company's name.
Industry / business type
[Input placeholder: e.g. manufacturing, healthcare, SaaS] (Current value unavailable.)
Annual revenue
Under $10 million
$10–50 million
$50–250 million
Over $250 million
Annual EBITDA (if known)
Under $2 million
$2–10 million
$10–25 million
Over $25 million
Not sure / not applicable
Capital required
Under $5 million
$5–15 million
$15–50 million
$50–100 million
Over $100 million
Preferred ownership structure
Sell a minority stake and retain majority ownership
Flexible structure, provided I retain operating control
Open to debt, preferred equity, or common equity
Primary use of capital
New facilities, locations, or capacity
Acquisitions
Equipment or major capital expenditure
Geographic or international expansion
General growth capital
[Find my best-fit investors]
With those details, the goal is to identify investors that actually make non-control investments at your required check size—not firms that primarily acquire majority stakes and only occasionally consider minority deals.
When scaling operations without giving up control, you want to target dedicated growth equity or minority-focused private equity firms. These investors specifically provide expansion capital in exchange for a non-controlling (minority) stake, leaving founders and existing management teams at the helm.
Top-tier firms that routinely execute minority growth investments include:
General Atlantic : A premier global growth equity firm focusing exclusively on late-stage and growth-oriented investments, partnering with companies to scale globally without seeking majority control.[](https://wvcapital.com/)
Summit Partners : A prominent global growth equity investor that routinely acquires minority stakes or makes growth-buyout investments while keeping executive teams empowered.
TA Associates : A long-established growth private equity firm that targets profitable, high-growth companies across technology, healthcare, and financial services, operating comfortably as either a majority or minority partner.
Insight Partners : Specializing in software, tech, and scale-ups, they frequently lead minority growth equity transactions to help fuel acceleration and go-to-market expansion.
Thoma Bravo : Features a dedicated growth platform specifically structured to make minority investments in high-growth software and technology businesses.
Accel-KKR : A middle-market, tech-focused firm offering flexible equity solutions that include minority growth investments alongside hands-on operational support.
If you'd like to narrow down the options, please share:
Your industry/sector (e.g., B2B software, healthcare, consumer, manufacturing)
Your approximate revenue or growth rate
The capital check size you are looking to raise
I can help tailor this list to the firms most active in your specific space.
Summit Partners – A premier global growth equity firm with a long history of taking minority positions in profitable, growing businesses across technology, healthcare, and consumer sectors without staging a takeover.
TA Associates – Focuses on scaling profitable companies in technology, healthcare, financial services, and consumer sectors. They frequently structure transactions as significant minority investments to back existing management teams.
When you approach these firms, you'll want to ask about specific mechanisms that protect your autonomy:
Governance & Protective Provisions: Ensure that while they get standard minority protections (like anti-dilution or approval rights on major things like selling the company or changing the core charter), day-to-day operational control and budgeting stay with you.[](https://umbrex.com/resources/private-equity-glossary/minority-investment/)
To help narrow down which of these partners might fit best, tell me:
What industry or sector is your company in?
What is your approximate annual revenue or growth rate?
If your goal is to fund business expansion without giving up control of the company, I would focus on private equity firms that specialize in minority growth equity, non-control private equity, and founder-friendly recapitalizations.
Unlike a traditional buyout, these arrangements allow you to raise capital for hiring, acquisitions, new locations, product development, or geographic expansion while retaining majority ownership and, potentially, day-to-day decision-making authority. The key is to negotiate governance rights as carefully as the investment amount.
1. Private equity firms worth exploring
Here is a starting shortlist of firms with investment strategies relevant to owners who want growth capital while retaining control.
For a bootstrapped, founder-owned business, the type of investor you’re looking for is usually a minority growth-equity investor or a private equity firm that does founder liquidity / partial recapitalizations.
The goal is to sell a portion of your shares, take some cash off the table, and continue owning and operating the business—rather than sell 100% of the company or take on venture capital with an expectation of hypergrowth.
There are three related deal structures worth exploring:
Minority secondary investment: The investor buys some of your existing shares directly. The proceeds go to you, not the business.
Partial buyout / founder recapitalization: An investor buys a stake in the company, often combining founder liquidity with new capital or a reorganization of ownership.
Majority recapitalization with rollover equity: The investor acquires control, you take substantial liquidity, and you retain a meaningful stake in the next phase of growth.
For a profitable, bootstrapped company, the distinction matters: some investors specialize in minority investments, while others will only provide founder liquidity if they acquire control.
10 firms to put on your shortlist
I focused on U.S.-oriented investors whose published strategies indicate they work with founder-owned businesses, provide owner liquidity, or consider minority investments. These are not all interchangeable: some are genuine non-control investors, while others typically want majority ownership.
1. Best starting points for a founder who wants to retain control
Profitable business with predictable cash flow to service financing
Interest costs and potential equity participation
Emigrant Capital
Principia Growth — $5M–$25M late-stage growth investments, including minority positions.
Cohere Capital — “influential minority” investments in middle-market companies.
CHW Capital — active minority equity, starting around $500K.
If you give me your industry, annual revenue/EBITDA, amount of capital needed, and location, I can narrow this to the 10–15 most relevant firms and their typical check sizes.
Insight Partners – Primarily focused on software and technology-enabled growth, they routinely execute both majority and minority investments depending on what the founder prefers to accomplish.
JMI Equity – Focused specifically on software and tech-enabled service companies, JMI offers flexible minority (and occasional majority) investment options explicitly tailored to help bootstrapped or scaling companies accelerate.
Sageview Capital – Targets lower-middle-market and growth-stage companies in tech, financial services, and business services, focusing heavily on strategic minority stakes to fund expansion or acquisitions.
(Strong fit for founder-owned businesses)
Trivest's Growth Investment Fund specifically targets fast-growing businesses whose founders want to retain a majority stake. This is one of the most direct matches for an owner seeking expansion capital without selling control.
Best for: Founder- and family-owned businesses in the lower middle market.
Its Strategic Equity strategy invests in minority, non-control positions in founder-backed and sponsor-backed businesses. In January 2026, it announced a $1.2 billion second Strategic Equity fund, focused on middle-market companies in selected growth sectors.
Best for: Established middle-market companies seeking substantial growth capital.
This firm offers minority growth investments, structured secondary transactions, and flexible capital solutions for software, AI, and technology-enabled services companies. Its published focus includes businesses with $10 million or more in revenue.
Best for: Technology businesses funding product development, sales expansion, or scaling.
Sunstone invests in growth equity and majority buyouts in North American technology businesses, including sizable minority investments. You would need to specify that you are seeking a minority, non-control transaction.
Pawar Capital describes recapitalization investments that provide owners with liquidity while allowing them to retain significant ownership and day-to-day operational control. Its strategy also includes mezzanine debt. Confirm whether a proposed transaction would be a minority investment or another structure.
Best for: Profitable, closely held U.S. businesses seeking growth capital or an ownership transition.
2. Which financing structure best protects your control?
The right investor is only half the equation. The deal structure determines how much ownership, decision-making authority, and future upside you keep.
Minority growth equity
An investor buys a minority stake, and the business receives capital for expansion. You retain majority ownership, subject to negotiated governance and veto rights.
Best starting point if maintaining control is your priority.
Growth debt or subordinated debt
You raise capital without issuing ordinary equity. Payments, interest, covenants, and potentially warrants or other equity features apply.
Best when cash flow can support repayments and minimizing dilution matters.
Minority recapitalization
An investor purchases existing shares, injects new capital into the company, or does both. Owners can receive partial liquidity while continuing to operate the business.
Best if you want expansion capital plus some personal liquidity.
Structured equity or preferred equity
The investor receives a negotiated return, distribution preference, or other protections. This can limit ordinary-share dilution but may create more complex economics.
Best when investor and owner needs don't fit a standard minority investment.
These structures can be tailored to the transaction; none automatically guarantees that owners retain full operating control.
3. What to negotiate before accepting capital
When approaching firms, focus on these five points:
Ownership: Target a minority investment that leaves existing owners with majority equity.
Board control: Retain the ability to appoint a majority of directors, if feasible.
Reserved matters: Limit investor vetoes to specific major decisions rather than routine operations.
Management: Preserve your authority over hiring, pricing, budgets, and ordinary business decisions.
Exit rights: Review drag-along provisions, forced-sale rights, redemption terms, and any required exit timeline.
An investor can own less than 50% and still have substantial control through board composition or contractual rights. Have an experienced corporate attorney review the terms before signing.
4. Let’s narrow the list to the best-fit investors
The most useful next step is to match the firm's investment criteria to your company's size, industry, and capital needs.
Share whatever you know; approximate figures are fine.
Industry
Business services
Manufacturing or distribution
Healthcare
Software, technology or AI
Consumer products or services
Other
Annual revenue
Under $5 million
$5M–$10M
$10M–$25M
$25M–$100M
Over $100 million
Annual EBITDA (approximate operating earnings)
Under $1 million
$1M–$2M
$2M–$5M
$5M–$15M
Over $15 million
Not sure / not applicable
Capital you want to raise
Under $2 million
$2M–$5M
$5M–$15M
$15M–$50M
Over $50 million
Primary use of funds
Organic growth, hiring, or new locations
Acquisitions or a buy-and-build strategy
Equipment, facilities, or capacity
Working capital or balance-sheet support
Owner liquidity plus business expansion
Preferred ownership structure
Minority investment only; owners retain control
Debt or non-dilutive capital; avoid selling equity
Open to structured equity or a creative financing arrangement
Geography
United States
United States and Canada
International / other
[Find matching investment firms]
With those details, I can build a more targeted shortlist with investment-size ranges, relevant portfolio experience, official websites, and contact links, prioritizing firms that explicitly pursue non-control investments rather than conventional buyout firms.
Profile: Founder-owned, lower-middle-market companies across industries.
Size: $2–25 million in earnings or free cash flow; $5–75 million equity investments.
Why consider them: Explicitly offers owner liquidity and is comfortable with minority ownership. Its evergreen, family-office capital base also gives it flexibility on investment structure and holding period.
Profile: Family-, founder- and management-owned companies.
Why consider them: Their published approach explicitly combines partial founder liquidity with growth capital, acquisitions or debt reduction. They offer both control and non-control investments and often act as a company's first institutional equity partner.
Profile: Founder-led and owner-managed lower-middle-market companies.
Size: Published criteria start at $1 million in EBITDA.
Why consider them: They specifically describe flexible capital, recapitalizations and significant minority investments designed to provide owner liquidity while allowing the founder to participate in future growth.
Size: $5–25 million EBITDA; $15–75 million equity investments.
Why consider them: They specifically identify founder-owned and privately owned sellers as target partners and consider both majority and structured minority ownership.
Size: $1–5 million EBITDA and $2–25 million revenue.
Why consider them: They explicitly advertise minority and majority investments, flexible deal structures, and partial or full founder liquidity. One caveat: they describe an operator-oriented approach, so clarify how much day-to-day involvement they expect.
Profile: Founder-owned vertical enterprise software and AI-oriented businesses.
Size: $5 million or more in core ARR.
Why consider them: They explicitly discuss founder liquidity without a full sale, with a stated minority equity structure of 10–30%. This is a particularly relevant specialist if you're a software company.
2. Worth approaching if you're open to selling control
These firms are relevant if your objective is primarily personal liquidity, even if you retain a substantial minority stake afterward.
Focuses on founder-entrepreneurs and majority recapitalizations, with a published minimum of $2 million in annual EBITDA. Its stated model allows entrepreneurs to gain liquidity while partnering for future growth.
Targets founder- and family-owned B2B and industrial companies, typically with $3–12 million EBITDA and $10–50 million invested capital. It considers control-oriented and significant minority positions.
Focuses on majority acquisitions of lower-middle-market founder- and family-owned companies, with founders and management retaining equity and participating in future upside. Better suited if you're willing to share control.
A Charlottesville-based firm focused on founder- and family-owned U.S. businesses. Its published structures include majority recapitalizations and growth capital, making it a potentially relevant regional contact if you're in the Mid-Atlantic. Its stated structures do not establish that it will buy a non-controlling stake.
How I'd narrow this down
For your specific goal—taking chips off the table without giving up the business you bootstrapped—I would start with Copley Equity Partners, BBH Capital Partners and Amadeo Global, then consider Rainier and Northgate depending on your size and willingness to share control. For a software business, add Roswell Growth Partners.
Before approaching anyone, get clear on three deal parameters:
How much personal liquidity? For example, $3 million, $10 million or $25 million.
How much ownership are you willing to sell? For example, 15–25% versus a 51% controlling stake.
What is the business worth today? Investors will generally focus on EBITDA, revenue quality, growth, customer concentration and industry.
One important distinction: if you want to sell existing shares, make that explicit. A firm offering “growth capital” might invest new money into the company without providing much cash directly to you.
Let's make the list much more targeted
I can narrow this to investors whose deal sizes and ownership preferences match your business, rather than sending you a generic private equity list.
Share whatever you know; approximate answers are fine.
1. What industry are you in?
Software / SaaS
Business services
Manufacturing / distribution
Consumer / ecommerce
Healthcare
Other / diversified
2. Annual revenue
Under $5M
$5M–$10M
$10M–$25M
$25M–$50M
$50M+
3. Approximate annual EBITDA
Under $1M
$1M–$2M
$2M–$5M
$5M–$10M
$10M+
Not sure / not applicable
4. How much cash do you want to take off the table?
Under $2M
$2M–$5M
$5M–$10M
$10M–$25M
$25M+
5. What ownership structure would you accept?
Retain control; sell a minority stake
Open to selling control but retaining equity
Either, depending on valuation and terms
6. Where is the business based?
United States
Canada
UK / Europe
Other / international
[Find matching investors]
With those answers, the next shortlist can focus on firms that actually fit your size, likely transaction value, and desired level of control—and include the right contact or submission page for each.
