Rainier Partners, a private equity firm investing in lower middle-market services businesses, has completed fundraising for its debut fund, Rainier Partners Fund I, at its hard cap of $300 million, in excess of its $250 million target.  The fund’s limited partners include foundations, global asset managers, insurance companies, pension plans, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Founded by Alex Rolfe and Jon Altman, Rainier focuses its investment strategy on lower middle-market businesses across North America, with a particular interest in business services, financial services, consumer services, and industrial services. The firm primarily invests in control buyouts, with a focus on family-, founder-,

Summit Partners has held the first and final closing of its newest Europe growth equity fund, Summit Partners Europe Growth Equity Fund IV, at its hard cap with €1.4 billion in total capital commitments. Launched in October 2022, the fund was oversubscribed.

eWTP Arabia Capital, a venture capital fund backed by China’s Alibaba Group and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is aiming to raise $1 billion to invest in tech startups in China, India, Southeast Asia, and MENA, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Nuveen, the $1.1 trillion investment manager of TIAA, and Churchill Asset Management, an investment-specialist affiliate of Nuveen, have launched the Nuveen Churchill Private Capital Income Fund, which will offer individual investors access to private capital investments across the US middle market, typically only available only to institutional investors.

Kainos Capital, a private equity firm focused on the food and consumer products and services sectors, has closed Kainos Capital Partners III LP with over $1 billion in capital commitments, making it the largest investment vehicle in Kainos’ history. 

PMT and PME, pension schemes for workers in the Dutch metals industry, have each made an additional commitment of €75 million to tech-focussed Dutch venture capital investor Innovation Industries’ third fund, according to a report by Imvestments & Pensions Europe. The pension funds are the largest investors so far in Innovation Industries III, which has raised €200 million in Toal to date and is reportedly targeting another €100-200 million.  Innovation Industries says its new fund will look to invest in around 15 technology start-ups and scale-ups with a focus on firms that are trying to commercialise innovations incubated at universities.

EQT, a private investment firm focussed on energy, environmental, transportation and telecommunications investments, has set the hard cap for investor commitments to its latest global infrastructure fund at €21 billion. 

New private equity investment firm Bluestone Equity Partners has closed its inaugural fund, Bluestone Capital I, a $300 million growth equity investment vehicle focussed on the global sports, media & entertainment industry.