Saints Capital

What Saints Capital does

Saints Capital is a private investment adviser specializing in GP-led venture secondary transactions, founded in 2000 in San Francisco. The firm provides liquidity solutions to General Partners, Limited Partners, founders, early employees, and financial institutions holding illiquid positions in venture capital and private equity funds. Over 25 years, Saints has executed 35+ portfolio transactions acquiring more than $3 billion of assets and producing 4 IPO exits.

The firm operates through three primary service offerings: continuation vehicles (typical investment size $25M–$200M, predominantly for funds over 10 years old, where Saints typically acts as Registered Investment Adviser), portfolio sales (full-fund acquisitions), and single-asset secondaries ($5M–$15M tickets for individual company liquidity). Transactions are bespoke-structured using loans, deferred payments, and upside-sharing arrangements. Saints leverages a 13-member Venture Advisory Network drawn from Comcast Ventures, Finastra, Shasta Ventures, Canaan Partners, and Jefferies to source proprietary deal flow.

Saints Capital generates revenue through transaction-based economics typical of secondary fund managers — management fees on committed/invested capital and performance carry on realized gains. The firm maintains a lean team of 1–10 employees across offices in San Francisco, Phoenix, New York City, and Denver, with co-founders Ken Sawyer and David Quinlivan serving as Managing Partners alongside a CFO, General Partner, and Deal Partner. The go-to-market is direct enterprise sales to sophisticated institutional clients (VC GPs, institutional LPs, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals).

Name

Saints Capital

Legal name

Saints Capital Services, LLC

Website

https://saintscapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Saints Capital is a GP-led venture secondary firm providing liquidity solutions to VC/PE General Partners, Limited Partners, founders, and financial institutions through continuation vehicles, portfolio sales, and single-asset secondaries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Secondary Investment Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Venture Capital Secondaries (LP Interests & Direct Secondaries) (FSANAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Secondary Venture Funds (VC Secondaries) (FSANAAAK), Secondary Fund Stakes (GP/Manager Stakes in Secondary GPs) (FSANAFAD), LP Secondaries — Venture Capital Funds (FSAHALAB)

Keywords

• Venture secondary transactions
• GP-led secondaries
• Continuation vehicles
• Private market liquidity
• Venture capital investing

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. GP-led Secondary Transactions: Saints Capital generates revenue through acquiring stakes in venture capital and private equity funds via GP-led secondary transactions, providing liquidity solutions to fund managers and investors with flexible deal structures including loans, deferred payments, and upside sharing arrangements.
2. Continuation Vehicles: Investment in continuation vehicles where Saints often acts as the Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), typically for funds greater than 10 years old. Saints invests additional capital into new funds and manages portfolio companies going forward.
3. Single Asset Secondaries: Providing shareholder liquidity in single companies, offering liquidity to venture funds, angel investors, family offices, and founders with typical investment sizes of $5 to $15 million.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Saints Capital is a GP-led venture secondary firm that provides liquidity solutions to the venture capital ecosystem. It acquires stakes in venture capital and private equity funds via GP-led secondary transactions, continuation vehicles, portfolio sales, and single asset secondaries, typically investing $5–$200 million per transaction and acting as a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA).

Product overview

Saints Capital is a GP-led venture secondary firm offering liquidity solutions to the venture capital ecosystem. The company provides three primary service offerings: Continuation Vehicles (for funds over 10 years old, enabling liquidity or roll-over options), Portfolio Sales (full portfolio acquisitions), and Single Asset Transactions (individual company liquidity). Saints acts as a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) and structures transactions to meet specific liquidity goals while preserving portfolio alignment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Continuation Vehicles Structured secondary transactions for venture capital and private equity funds older than 10 years, allowing General Partners and Limited Partners to take liquidity or roll their economics into a new fund. Saints typically acts as the Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) with investment sizes of $25–$200 million.
• Portfolio Sales Full portfolio acquisitions typically occurring when only a few stakes remain in an old fund or there is a legal mandate to liquidate. Saints manages the acquired investments on a go-forward basis.
• Single Asset Transactions Provides shareholder liquidity in single companies, offering liquidity to venture funds, angel investors, family offices, and founders. Typical investment size is $5–$15 million.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $3 billion of assets acquired
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Glendower Capital: Secondary private equity firm focused on providing liquidity solutions in GP-led and LP-led secondary transactions. Glendower is a direct peer in the GP-led secondary market with comparable product offerings (continuation vehicles, fund restructurings).
• Greenspring Associates: Venture secondary specialist focused on secondary purchases of LP interests and direct secondary investments in venture-backed companies. Greenspring is a direct peer in the venture secondary niche (now operating under TPG ownership), with highly comparable deal types and customer segments.
• Industry Ventures: Venture capital secondary specialist that acquires LP interests and direct secondary positions in venture-backed companies. Industry Ventures is a direct peer focused on the same venture secondary niche as Saints, with overlapping LP-led and single-asset secondary deal activity.

Broad incumbents

• Coller Capital: One of the largest dedicated secondary private equity investors globally, with venture secondary capability as part of its broader LP-led and GP-led secondary programs. Coller is a broad incumbent in secondaries with comparable deal types but much larger fund sizes than Saints.
• Capital Dynamics: Independent global private asset manager with secondary fund and direct secondary investment capabilities. Capital Dynamics is a broad incumbent that participates in venture and growth secondary transactions as part of a diversified private markets platform.
• StepStone Group: Global private markets investment firm with a dedicated secondaries platform and significant venture secondary exposure. StepStone is a broad incumbent that participates in similar venture secondary deals but at much greater scale and asset class diversity.
• Pantheon Ventures: Global private markets investment manager with primary fund, secondary, and co-investment capabilities across multiple asset classes. Pantheon is a broad incumbent that competes for venture secondary deals alongside its broader private equity secondaries franchise.
• HarbourVest Partners: Large global private markets investment manager with significant secondary fund and co-investment capabilities. HarbourVest is a broad incumbent that competes for venture secondary deals as part of a much larger multi-strategy private markets platform.
• Ardian Secondary: Global leader in private market secondaries with one of the largest dedicated secondary funds. Ardian's secondary platform is a broad incumbent with venture secondary capability but serves a much larger and more diversified set of asset classes and geographies than Saints.
• Lexington Partners: One of the largest and most established secondary private equity and venture capital investors globally. Lexington is a broad incumbent with overlapping GP-led secondary capabilities but operates across PE, VC, real estate, and credit secondaries rather than focusing exclusively on venture.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/45063

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A2 records

Investments71 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Saints Capital