What Newlight Partners does

Newlight Partners is a New York-based private investment firm focused exclusively on private equity. The firm was established in October 2018 through the spin-out of the Strategic Investments Group team from Soros Fund Management, where the principals had invested together since 2005. Its stated mandate is to partner with entrepreneurial management teams to build market-leading businesses across industries, with investment activity spanning de novo concepts, platform companies, and growth-stage opportunities. The firm operates from a single headquarters at 320 Park Avenue in Manhattan and is staffed by 11-50 employees, including co-founders David Wassong and Ravi Yadav, Chief Development Officer Alex Fridlyand, and Managing Director / CFO Ruairi Grant.

The firm's core product is private equity investment management services delivered through a single fund vehicle (Newlight Partners LP). Its model combines active, engaged partnership with the deployment of patient capital over extended holding periods, supporting both organic growth initiatives and opportunistic M&A within portfolio companies. Revenue is generated through standard alternative asset management economics—management fees and carried interest on capital deployed for institutional limited partners—with no public disclosure of fee structures, fund size, or vintage terms.

The firm distributes its investment services through direct, relationship-based origination rather than broad marketing campaigns, emphasizing partnership over transaction in its deal sourcing. Cumulatively, the team has deployed $9B+ in invested capital across the Soros era (2005-2018) and the independent Newlight era (2018-present). The firm has no disclosed subsidiaries, public technology platform, AI/ML capabilities, or external partnerships beyond its historical relationship with Soros Fund Management.

Name

Newlight Partners

Legal name

Newlight Partners LP

Website

https://newlightpartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Newlight Partners is a New York-based private equity firm that partners with entrepreneurial management teams to build market-leading businesses through patient capital and active engagement across industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Emerging Manager / Seeding Platforms (Multi-Manager) (FSANAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Emerging Managers / Seeding Platforms (FSAHAKAI)

Keywords

• Private equity investment
• Alternative investment management
• Portfolio company building
• Management team partnerships
• Growth capital investing

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Equity Investment Management: Newlight Partners generates revenue through private equity investment management, including management fees and carried interest (performance fees) from fund investments. The firm invests capital on behalf of limited partners and generates returns through active engagement with portfolio companies, organic growth, and opportunistic M&A over long-term holding periods.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Newlight Partners is a private alternative investment manager that provides private equity capital to management teams to build market-leading businesses across industries. The firm invests via partnerships with entrepreneurial management teams in de novo concepts, platform companies, or growth-stage businesses, supplying patient capital over time to fund organic growth and opportunistic M&A while remaining an engaged partner in long-term value creation.

Product overview

Newlight Partners is a single, unified private equity investment management firm. Their core offering is alternative investment management services focused on private equity, where they partner with management teams to build market-leading businesses. The firm was established in October 2018 following the spin-out of the Strategic Investments Group team from Soros Fund Management, continuing that group's approach to investing. Their model combines active engagement with flexible capital, providing management teams with capital over time to invest prudently in organic growth and opportunistic M&A.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Private Equity Investment Management Services Alternative investment management services focused on private equity, partnering with management teams to build market-leading businesses that deliver durable, long-term value across industries via patient capital for organic growth and opportunistic M&A.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Broad incumbents

• KKR: KKR is a global alternative investment manager with a large private equity franchise that partners with management teams across industries. As a much larger and more diversified firm, KKR overlaps with Newlight's generalist PE approach but at meaningfully greater scale.
• TPG: TPG is a major global alternative asset manager with a sizable private equity business that partners with management teams to scale businesses. TPG competes with Newlight for similar partnership-driven PE opportunities but with a broader platform and larger fund sizes.
• Apollo Global Management: Apollo is one of the largest alternative asset managers globally, with a sizable private equity franchise focused on building businesses in partnership with management. Apollo's scale and breadth dwarf Newlight, but both firms share the broad alternative-investment-manager, PE-led identity.
• Carlyle Group: Carlyle is a global investment firm with a large private equity business focused on partnering with management teams. Carlyle competes for similar generalist PE mandates as Newlight but operates at a significantly larger, more diversified scale.

Direct peers

• Hellman & Friedman: Hellman & Friedman is a large private equity firm that invests in partnership with management teams in selected industries. Newlight shares H&F's relationship-first, partnership-driven approach to building market-leading businesses.
• Bain Capital: Bain Capital is a large multi-strategy alternative investment manager with deep private equity operations, partnering with management teams to build market-leading businesses. Newlight operates a scaled, partnership-driven PE strategy with similar breadth across industries.
• Clayton, Dubilier & Rice: CD&R is an operating-partner-led private equity firm that partners with management teams to build stronger businesses. Newlight's emphasis on active engagement, patient capital, and partnership-led business building closely mirrors CD&R's model.
• Warburg Pincus: Warburg Pincus is a global private equity growth investor that partners with management teams over long horizons. Newlight's emphasis on patient capital and partnership mirrors Warburg's long-duration investing model.
• Audax Group: Audax Group is a private equity firm built on a perpetual partnership model with management teams across platform and add-on investments. Newlight's flexible mandate covering de novo concepts, platforms, and existing businesses closely matches Audax's structural flexibility.
• Berkshire Partners: Berkshire Partners is a mid-market private equity firm that emphasizes long-term partnerships with management teams to build lasting businesses. The patient-capital, relationship-led philosophy overlaps directly with Newlight's stated approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/newlight-partners-lp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments15 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Newlight Partners