Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and NewRoad Capital Partners have partnered to form Kayne NewRoad Ventures Fund II (KNRVF II), which will build on the success of NewRoad Ventures by continuing to partner with experienced management teams in early-stage, technology-enabled businesses within retail and other large growth opportunities.
The Fund will also seek strategic opportunities to create demand-driven businesses to serve existing, unmet needs in the marketplace through its strategic partners and unique sourcing capabilities.
KNRVF II has received total commitments of USD90 million from investors in NewRoad Ventures Fund I, the Arkansas Venture Development Fund, other local Northwest Arkansas-based investors, and Kayne Anderson’s high net worth and family office clients.
“The State of Arkansas is excited by the partnership formed between Kayne Anderson and NewRoad, two well-respected investment firms with a history of being strong partners. We are excited to support this new source of growth capital, which is expected to help drive economic and job growth here in Arkansas and in other capital constrained markets across the country,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson.
To date, KNRVF II has already made commitments of USD6.5 million to an innovative medical diagnostic testing business in Springdale, AR and a Kansas City, Missouri, software-as-a-service company in the call centre application space. The fund’s investment approach is to actively source and make non-control investments in companies with recurring revenues that have proven demand for their products or services, but can benefit from accelerated growth through a direct capital investment and strategic partners who can add operational expertise.
“My NewRoad partners and I are excited about deploying this capital to back high quality management teams and to continue to leverage our combined operating expertise to help create value for our companies and investors. With Kayne Anderson as our partner, this will only accelerate this area of focus for us,” says Clete Brewer, Managing Partner of Kayne NewRoad Ventures.
“Kayne Anderson is proud to partner with NewRoad, located in the heart of retail, supply-chain and logistics companies and back entrepreneurs in Arkansas, the mid-continent region and other underserved markets. We share similar philosophies and I strongly believe that our combined resources coupled with the strategy of identifying niches where we can bring the combination of disciplined financing with knowledge and direct sourcing advantages sets our early stage fund apart,” says Dave Walsh, Partner of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors.
