Cherokee Investment Partners

What Cherokee Investment Partners does

Cherokee Investment Partners (operating as Cherokee Fund) is a private equity firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, founded by Tom Darden (CEO) and John Mazzarino (Managing Principal). The firm invests through institutional private equity funds targeting environmental remediation, brownfield redevelopment, and sustainability-related assets. According to firm materials, Cherokee has raised $2.2 billion across five institutional private equity funds and deployed capital into the acquisition, cleanup, development, and sale of more than 550 environmentally contaminated real estate assets across the United States, Canada, and Europe. The exact founding year is not explicitly disclosed in source material (firmographic data points to 1996 while earliest confirmed operational date based on employee tenure is 2000).

Cherokee's portfolio spans adjacent sustainability verticals. Direct or referenced portfolio companies include Cherokee Environmental Risk Management (environmental insurance), Brownfield Revitalization (brownfield redevelopment with new markets tax credits), Eco-Site (urban brownfield cell tower sites), PGSI (supply-side smart grid), Consert (demand-side energy management), IHHI (fusion energy), Tethis (biological superabsorbent materials), Living Homes (green buildings), Cherokee Biotechnology (biological remediation), Cherokee Solar, and Industrial Heat. These positions reflect a thesis of integrating environmental cleanup with adjacent clean energy, biotech, and infrastructure opportunities.

The firm operates a standard closed-end private equity fund model: institutional limited partners commit capital to multi-year funds, and Cherokee earns management fees during the fund life plus carried interest on realizations. Specific fee economics, fund vintages, and LP composition are not publicly disclosed. Distribution is conducted via direct institutional relationships rather than retail channels. The team is small (11-50 staff) and concentrated in Raleigh, drawing on backgrounds at Bain & Company, Goldman Sachs, and MIT Sloan.

Name

Cherokee Investment Partners

Legal name

Cherokee Investment Partners

Website

https://cherokeefund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Raleigh-based private equity firm focused on environmental remediation and brownfield redevelopment, having raised $2.2 billion across five institutional funds and invested in over 550 contaminated property transactions across the US, Canada, and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity / Environmental and Sustainability Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Real Assets (Green Real Estate, Land, Forestry) Funds (FSANAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Natural Resources Funds (Timberland, Farmland, Minerals) (FSANAEAK), Biodiversity, Conservation & Natural Capital Funds (FSANAJAG)

Keywords

• Private equity funds
• Brownfield redevelopment
• Environmental remediation investment
• Sustainability investment management
• Institutional investment services

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Core offering

Cherokee Investment Partners is a private equity firm that raises and manages institutional private equity funds (collectively, the Cherokee Fund) and invests the capital in the acquisition, cleanup, development, and sale of environmentally contaminated real estate assets and sustainability-focused companies. Across five funds the firm has raised $2.2 billion and deployed it into more than 550 properties across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Its offerings to investors are fund commitments; its operating activity is environmental property remediation and brownfield redevelopment investment.

Product overview

Cherokee Investment Partners is a private equity firm that operates as a single institutional investment fund (Cherokee Fund) rather than a product-based company. The firm has raised $2.2 billion in five institutional private equity funds and invests capital in the acquisition, cleanup, development, and sale of environmentally contaminated real estate assets. The portfolio includes investments in various sustainability-focused companies and ventures such as Cherokee Environmental Risk Management (environmental insurance), Brownfield Revitalization (brownfield redevelopment with new markets tax credits), Eco-Site (urban brownfield cell towers), PGSI (supply-side smart grid), IHHI (fusion energy), Tethis (biological superabsorbent), Living Homes (green buildings), Cherokee Biotechnology (biological remediation), Cherokee Solar (solar energy), Consert (demand-side energy management), and Industrial Heat (energy). These are strategic investments of the fund rather than products or services offered by the firm itself.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cherokee Institutional Private Equity Funds (the "Cherokee Fund") A series of institutional private equity funds managed by Cherokee Investment Partners that accept capital commitments from institutional investors (pension funds, endowments) and deploy those commitments into the acquisition, cleanup, development, and sale of environmentally contaminated real estate assets and sustainability-focused investments across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Quantifiable outcome

• Raised $2.2 billion in five institutional private equity funds
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MIT Sloan School of ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTom Darden serves on the Board of Advisors of MIT Sloan School of Management. John Mazzarino is also a member of the MIT Sloan Finance Group and MIT Sustainability Initiative Board of Advisors. John personally funds interdisciplinary research at the MIT Sustainability Initiative.
• Cherokee Gives BackcoreOthersCherokee Gives Back is Cherokee's charitable foundation. John Mazzarino serves on the Board of Advisors. The foundation is the company's charitable arm focused on community giving and sustainability initiatives.
• Shaw UniversityminorOthersTom Darden serves on the Board of Shaw University.
• Environmental Defense Action FundminorOthersTom Darden serves on the Board of Environmental Defense Action Fund.
• WakeMed HospitalminorOthersTom Darden serves on the Board of WakeMed Hospital.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Generate Capital: Generate Capital is a sustainable infrastructure financier that invests equity and debt into clean energy, resource efficiency, and environmental projects. It is comparable to Cherokee in deploying institutional capital behind sustainability-themed real assets with multi-year hold profiles.
• The Rohatyn Group: The Rohatyn Group is an independent asset manager focused on real assets, private credit, and sustainable infrastructure. Its real-assets strategy is comparable to Cherokee in deploying institutional capital into environmental and sustainable real-asset opportunities globally.
• Bain Capital Double Impact: Bain Capital Double Impact is the impact investing arm of Bain Capital that invests across private equity and venture strategies with measurable social and environmental outcomes. It is comparable to Cherokee in sourcing institutional capital for sustainability- and impact-themed investments, and reflects the Bain heritage of Cherokee's founders.
• Closed Loop Partners: Closed Loop Partners operates private equity, venture, and catalytic capital funds focused on the circular economy, recycling infrastructure, and sustainable real assets. It overlaps with Cherokee on institutional-scale investment in environmental and sustainability assets.

Broad incumbents

• Ardian: Ardian is a global private investment house with sizable infrastructure and real-asset strategies, including sustainable infrastructure mandates. It is comparable to Cherokee as a competitor for institutional capital in environmental and sustainable real-asset equity investments.
• Brookfield Asset Management: Brookfield is a global alternative asset manager with large dedicated real assets and sustainable real asset strategies. While much larger and broader, its sustainable real assets platform competes for the same institutional LP capital and overlapping environmental/real-estate opportunities as Cherokee.
• KKR Real Estate: KKR's real estate platform invests across residential, commercial, and opportunistic real-estate strategies globally. Its opportunistic real-estate funds compete for distressed and value-add environmental real-estate assets that overlap with Cherokee's brownfield mandate.
• Blackstone Real Estate: Blackstone Real Estate is one of the largest global real-estate investors with dedicated strategies spanning logistics, multifamily, and opportunistic real estate. Its opportunistic arm is a comparable buyer pool for the type of value-add environmental real-estate assets Cherokee develops and exits.

Regional players

• Manulife Investment Management (Timberland & Agriculture): Manulife Investment Management runs a major timberland and natural-resources real-asset franchise globally. It is comparable to Cherokee as an institutional real-asset manager investing in environmental and natural-resource assets, though with a primary focus on timberland rather than brownfield real estate.

Emerging players

• Climate Adaptive Infrastructure Fund (CAIF): Hyperion's CAIF is an emerging infrastructure-equity strategy investing in climate-adaptive real assets. It is comparable to Cherokee as a sustainability-themed real-asset equity investor, though smaller and earlier-stage in its institutional fundraising.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cherokeefund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/29013

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Cherokee Investment Partners