Growth Investor with GrowthCap‘s RJ Lumba

In this episode, we speak with Raghu Ravinutala, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow.ai, a global leader in generative AI-powered customer service automation. Raghu co-founded the company with a vision to make customer and enterprise interactions more effective and effortless. Since its inception, Raghu and his team have successfully expanded Yellow.ai’s presence across the U.S., Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Australia and Latin America with over 1,000 customers in over 85 countries. Previously, Raghu worked for 16 years with leading tech companies such as Texas Instruments, and Broadcom across leadership roles in engineering, product management and business development both in the Bay Area and India. Raghu was recently recognized as one of the Top 50 SaaS CEOs of 2023 by The Software Report.  The company is backed by Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, WestBridge Capital, and other notable investors. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Rodrigo Liang, the Co-Founder and CEO of SambaNova Systems. Customers turn to SambaNova to quickly deploy state-of-the-art generative AI capabilities within the enterprise.  Its purpose-built enterprise-scale AI platform is the technology backbone for the next generation of AI computing. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the company was founded in 2017 by industry luminaries and is backed by investors including SoftBank, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Intel Capital, Google Ventures, and other notable investors. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Princeton Equity Group Co-Founder and Managing Partner Jim Waskovich.  The firm is among the most experienced franchise and multi-unit investors in the United States, having sponsored investments in some of the most admired, growth-oriented brands in the consumer, healthcare, and business services industries. Jim co-founded Princeton Equity Group, co-leads its investment activities, and sits on the Firm’s investment committee. Prior to co-founding the firm, Jim spent nearly 20 years as a private equity investor at Summit Partners, ABS Capital, and Princeton Ventures, which he founded in 2006.  Jim is also the Founder and Chairman of Princeton Medspa Partners, a leading consolidator and franchisor in the noninvasive medical aesthetics industry. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to follow.

Ernesto Aguilar, President and CEO of Ardurra, talks about the rapid growth and backing of Ardura, their strategy for growth through acquisitions, and his experience in private equity. They also discuss building a tech company, reflecting on their career, and their passion for raising awareness about Alzheimer's.

In this episode, we speak with Tom Livne, CEO and Founder of Verbit, a provider of live captioning and transcription services. The company uses voice AI, integrations and professional transcribers to help businesses provide accessible, compliant meetings and events for a host of industries. A leader in the $30 billion transcription industry, Verbit has raised $360 million to date after closing its Series E funding round. A former lawyer, Tom founded Verbit knowing how much money was being spent on transcription. He saw that many more industries could benefit from access to accurate transcripts. He has expertise in enterprise software, as well as tech-enabled and SaaS businesses, and is an active investor in promising tech companies. Tom supports Keshet. To know more about the organization click here. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

In this episode, we speak with Ross Hiatt, Head of H.I.G. Growth, the dedicated growth capital affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a global alternative investment firm with nearly $60 billion in assets under management. The firm is a multi-industry investor with a primary focus in growing, technology-oriented businesses across sectors including SaaS, Cloud & Data, Software, FinTech, and Technology-Enabled Services. Ross was named one of GrowthCap’s Top Software Investors of 2023. He oversees all day-to-day activities of H.I.G. Growth. Prior to joining H.I.G., Ross was a technology investor at TPG. He also lived and worked in Asia, for a combined 10 years in Hong Kong and Tokyo, with both Goldman and TPG. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Daphne Dufresne from GenNx360 Capital Partners shares insights on value creation in private equity, leveraging technology in traditional sectors, and the influence of hard work and frugality on life and investments.

In this episode, we speak with Adam Harris, Co-founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, a leading cloud-based hospitality management system provider. Its software combines solutions for front desk, revenue management, distribution, guest acquisition, and guest engagement in a single unified system. The company has been through four financing rounds, acquired multiple companies, and driven billions in revenue for tens of thousands of properties. Today, Cloudbeds is in more than 157 countries. The company has raised over $240 million from investors such as Softbank, Viking Global, PeakSpan and other notable investors. Adam co-founded Cloudbeds in 2012 after finding it difficult to book local accommodation while traveling in Brazil. He and co-founder Richard Castle envisioned a platform that would allow any property, no matter their size, type, or location, to run their lodging business successfully. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

In this episode, we speak with Katie Storer, a Managing Director with Blackstone Growth. Katie was recently recognized by GrowthCap as a Top Woman Leader in Growth Investing of 2023. Katie focuses on investments in the consumer sector and was a leader of the all-female investment team for Spanx, the revolutionary womenswear brand founded by Sara Blakely. Katie has also been a leader in BXG’S Talent & Development committee, which focuses on the growth of employees and cultivating that pool of talent. Blackstone Growth is Blackstone’s dedicated growth equity investing platform. It is backed by the scale, operating expertise, and global reach of the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Katie supports Delivering Good. To learn more about this organization click here. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

In this episode, Srikanth Velamakanni, co-founder of Fractal, discusses the different businesses under Fractal and their usage of AI-driven strategies to help Fortune 500 companies. They explore the implementation of AI in various sectors, raising capital for rapid growth, the importance of client centricity, and the influence of Jeff Pizzos on their organization. They also touch upon the significance of education and entrepreneurship for India's success.