Business Blog: Alley-oop

Exclusive: AlleyCorp raises a $250 million fund, taking on external investors for the first time

April 9, 2024

AlleyCorp has already incubated MongoDB, Gilt Groupe, Business Insider, and Zola. But the firm, led by longtime serial entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, aspires to more.

“The role model for us is actually a Venrock or a Bessemer," Ryan told me over Zoom. "Very established VC firms, yes, but people forget they were originally family offices. Then, to make it more sustainable and long-term, they started taking outside investors every three to four years."

And AlleyCorp is exactly at that moment right now, taking on outside investors for the first time. AlleyCorp has raised a new fund of about $250 million, Fortune has exclusively learned. It's technically a first-time fund, though it's an off-kilter label given AlleyCorp's track record. To date, the firm—which frequently writes first checks—has deployed more than $375 million across north of 180 companies. The majority of the firm's past investments were personally funded by Ryan, and those companies have gone on to raise more than $3 billion in follow-on capital.

"It's a first-time fund from an outside investor point-of-view," said Ryan. "But we've already invested hundreds of millions of dollars over ten years. So, we have a much longer track record that just wasn't part of an outside fund. Everyone finally got to see that track record when they were looking at investing, which I think is why they made an exception this year and invested in a new fund."

Ryan has cofounded dozens of companies, including MongoDB, Gilt Groupe, Business Insider, Pearl Health, and Transcend Therapeutics. But he made his name as the CEO of DoubleClick, helping shepherd the company from 20 employees to 1,500, and a $1.1 billion sale to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in 2005 (Google later acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion).

Previous investments from the AlleyCorp team (including Ryan's personal investments) have generated more than 50% IRR, sources familiar with the matter told Fortune.

Fortune's editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell worked with Ryan at Business Insider, starting when she was 22 and staying for a decade. I asked Shontell about Ryan via Slack:

"What I remember most is his approachability and support of my career from the time I was an entry-level employee to Editor-in-Chief—and that he is highly competitive and not someone you want to let down," Shontell told me on Slack. "He used to play on the AlleyCorp intramural soccer team with us, and if you messed up a shot on goal or an assist, he certainly let you know and pushed you to do better!"

That reflects in how he approaches founders, says Blake Mandell, cofounder and CEO of Transcend Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company developing rapid-acting treatments for neuropsychiatric disease.

"For people he works with, he provides direct feedback to help people grow. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard him say 'a great CEO makes themself irrelevant'," said Mandell.

Ryan is also a longtime champion of New York City's tech scene. He's been a fixture in the city since the mid-90s and launched MongoDB, Gilt, and Business Insider there.

AlleyCorp invests across the country (and sometimes internationally) but New York remains important to the firm's strategy. Moving forward, AlleyCorp's strategy will stay the same, the firm says. But I'd argue there is something that's changed: Ryan's upping the ante, and AlleyCorp is now chasing the longevity of a Venrock or Bessemer (firms that have been around for more than 50 and 100 years respectively).

"This is a firm that should be around 20 years from now," said Ryan. "I may not be around 20 years from now, but AlleyCorp should be. There's no reason we can't leverage this portfolio and this knowledge to build a really sustainable firm."

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Windfall Bio, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of technology designed to turn methane into organic fertilizer, raised $28 million in Series A funding. Prelude Ventures led the round and was joined by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Global Brain, Incite Ventures, Positive Ventures, and others.

- Cariloop, a Richardson, Texas-based support platform for employees with caregiving responsibilities, raised $20 million in funding. ABS Capital led the round and was joined by Noro-Moseley Partners, KCRise Fund, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Patterson Thoma Family Office.

- Sprinto, a San Francisco-based automated risk and compliance platform, raised $20 million in funding. Accel led the round and was joined by existing investors Elevation Capital and Blume Ventures.

- Summer, a New York City-based platform designed to help employees manage their student loans, find forgiveness options, and lower their monthly payments, raised $9 million in funding. Rebalance Capital and SemperVirens led the round and were joined by General Catalyst, QED, Flourish Ventures, Partnership Fund for NYC, Fenway Summer, and Gaingels.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Vista Equity Partners agreed to take Model N (NYSE: MODN), a San Mateo, Calif.-based revenue optimization and compliance platform for pharmaceutical, medtech, and high-tech companies, private for approximately $1.25 billion.

- CoreRx, backed by Juna Equity Partners and QHP Capital, acquired Societal CDMO (Nasdaq: SCTL), a Gainesville, Ga.-based contract development and manufacturing organization for small therapeutics, for $1.10 per share.

- ICG agreed to acquire a minority stake in Staysure Group, a Northampton, U.K.-based travel insurance provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Restaurant365, backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, ICONIQ, KKR, L Catterton, and Serent Capital, acquired ExpandShare, an Akron, Ohio-based training content platform for restaurants. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Shearer Supply, backed by Investcorp, acquired Climatic Comfort Products, the Atlanta, Ga.-based HVAC distribution subsidiary of The Climatic Corporation. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Tyto Athene, a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, acquired Microtel, a Greenbelt, M.D.-based software development and systems engineering firm with a focus on space systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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EXITS

- EQT Infrastructure agreed to acquire a majority stake in Universidad Europea, a Madrid, Spain-based network of higher education campuses across Europe, from Permira. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Hootsuite agreed to acquire Talkwalker, a Kirchberg, Luxembourg-based AI-powered consumer intelligence platform, from Marlin Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- KPS Capital Partners agreed to acquire Sport Group TopCo GmbH, a Burgheim, Germany-based designer, manufacturer, and installer of artificial surfaces like astroturf, from Equistone Partners Europe. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

- Tradeweb (Nasdaq: TW) agreed to acquire Institutional Cash Distributors, a Golden, Colo.-based provider of investment technology designed for corporate treasury organizations trading short-term investments, for $785 million.

IPOS

- Ibotta, a Denver, Colo.-based platform through which consumer goods brands can offer promotions and rebates to customers, plans to raise up to $470.4 million in an offering of 5.6 million shares priced between $76 and $84 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company posted $320 million in revenue for the year ending December 31, 2023. Clark Jermoluk Founders Fund, Koch Industries, and Walmart back the company.

PEOPLE

- Sierra Ventures, a San Mateo, Calif.-based venture capital firm, hired Shashank Saxena as a managing partner. Formerly, he was with Workday.

- Stanley Capital Partners, a London, U.K.-based private equity investment firm, hired Ewuradjoa Gadzanku as a principal on its strategy team. Formerly, she was with McKinsey.

- Valor Capital, a New York City-based venture capital firm, hired Dan Schulman as managing director. Formerly, he served as CEO of PayPal.