Del Monte Capital Named to Inc.’s 2024 List of Founder-Friendly Investors
HOUSTON, October 29, 2024 – Inc., the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future, today announced its sixth annual Founder-Friendly Investors list, honoring the private equity, venture capital firms, and lenders with a track record of backing founder-led companies. This year’s list recognizes Del Monte Capital among 269 firms nationwide. Del Monte Capital has the additional distinction of being the only private equity firm in Texas to be included in its founding year.
The prestigious list celebrates the investors that believe in backing founder-led businesses and helping them thrive. All companies on the list have successful track records of collaboration and remaining actively involved with the businesses they invest in.
“It has been a complicated few years for growth companies and the companies that fund them,” said Mike Hofman, editor-in-chief of Inc. “So we are happy to share with our readers the best, latest guidance on which venture capital firms, private equity firms, and growth-capital lenders have the track record and reputation of being especially good partners to founders and CEOs.”
“On behalf of the many great founders we’ve worked with, we are very pleased to accept this recognition,” said David Hartland, managing partner of Del Monte Capital. He continued, “That transition time arrives for every business, and we tend to shine when founders want to thoughtfully pass the baton to those managers and employees going the extra distance. We focus on partnering with exceptional companies, so instead of imposing rigid, external strategies that may or may not work, we’re focused on ensuring the culture is preserved and the next generation of management is empowered”
The Del Monte Capital team has successfully supported numerous founder-led companies across many industries. These partnerships have delivered strong returns for all stakeholders, reinforcing their position as a trusted partner for leading middle market businesses. Del Monte Capital’s recent investment in Integrity Elevator Solutions (IES), a leading elevator service provider, highlights their founder-first approach. Del Monte partnered with the IES founder to retain both his ownership as well as remain the leader of the company while expanding the company’s reach. By creating a thoughtful recapitalization plan and executing on an acquisition identified by the founder, Del Monte enabled IES to accelerate further growth while still preserving the founder’s original vision.
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.
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.
About Inc.
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, digital, print, video, podcasts,newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com
About Del Monte Capital
Founded in 2023, Del Monte Capital is a Texas-based private equity firm focused on lower middle-market companies. The firm specializes in providing capital and strategic resources to support growth, recapitalizations, management buyouts, and company successions. With a focus on industrial services, building products, specialty construction, and other infrastructure-related industries, Del Monte Capital is committed to partnering with exceptional businesses and their leadership teams. For more information, please visit www.delmontecap.com.
