Bain Capital Ventures

Bain Capital Ventures is a venture capital fund that focuses on investing in high-growth enterprise software opportunities. The fund primarily invests in B2B (business-to-business) software companies in various sectors, including SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), data services, marketing tech, fin-tech, healthcare IT, and general software.

The investment size of Bain Capital Ventures ranges from $1 million seed capital to $100 million growth equity checks. The fund has a global presence, but the majority of its investments are in the United States. It draws on the resources of Bain Capital, one of the world's leading alternative asset firms with over $60 billion under management.

Bain Capital Ventures has a diverse portfolio of investments across different sectors. Some notable companies in its portfolio include DocuSign, SendGrid, Gainsight, Redis Labs, Rubrik, Acorns, IEX, AbleTo, Rent the Runway, Jet, and many others. The fund has emerging practices in autonomy/mobility and cryptocurrency.

The team at Bain Capital Ventures consists of experienced professionals with expertise in venture capital and technology investments. The team members include managing directors, principals, associates, and senior advisors who work across the fund's offices in Boston, New York City, Palo Alto, and San Francisco.

Bain Capital Ventures LLC is the venture capital division within Bain Capital, a global investment firm. It was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in New York, New York, with additional offices in San Francisco, California, and Palo Alto, California. Bain Capital Ventures manages approximately $10 billion of committed capital and has over 400 active portfolio companies.

The firm focuses on making early-stage investments in various industries, including financial services and investment management. Some of its notable early-stage investments include Attentive, Bloomreach, Billtrust, Docusign, Flywire, LinkedIn, Justworks, Turbonomic, Rent the Runway, Twilio, Rapid7, and Redis. These investments represent a diverse range of sectors, from technology and e-commerce to software and cybersecurity.

Bain Capital Ventures has raised over $10 billion of investor capital since its inception. It has ten core investment funds and three co-investment funds. The most recent fund, Bain Capital Venture Fund X, raised $1.4 billion from investors in 2023. The firm's previous funds include Bain Capital Venture Fund I through IX, raised between 2001 and 2021.

In addition to its early-stage investments, Bain Capital Ventures also works with seed, early, and growth-stage companies. Some examples of its seed and early-stage investments include Soona, Momento, Hightouch, and Zenlytic. For growth-stage investments, the firm has backed companies like Docker, Tecton, GoCardless, and Signifyd.

Bain Capital Ventures has seen successful exits through initial public offerings (IPOs) of some of its portfolio companies. Notable IPOs include DocuSign with a valuation of $629 million in 2018, LinkedIn with a valuation of $7.8 billion in 2011, Twilio with a valuation of $150 million in 2016, Rent the Runway with a valuation of $357 million in 2021, Flywire with a valuation of $3.5 billion in 2021, and Avidxchange with a valuation of $4.6 billion in 2021.

Bain Capital Ventures follows specific investment criteria when considering potential investments. While the exact criteria may vary depending on the specific fund and investment strategy, the following are some common factors that Bain Capital Ventures considers:

• Stage of Investment: Bain Capital Ventures invests in seed, early-stage, and growth-stage companies. They may have different funds dedicated to each stage of investment, and their criteria will vary accordingly.
• Industry Focus: Bain Capital Ventures has a broad industry focus but tends to invest in sectors such as technology, software, e-commerce, financial services, healthcare, and consumer products. They look for companies that have the potential to disrupt or transform their respective industries.
• Market Potential: Bain Capital Ventures seeks companies that target large and growing markets with significant opportunities for innovation and expansion. They assess the market size, growth potential, and competitive landscape to determine the attractiveness of the opportunity.
• Strong Management Team: The management team is crucial to the success of any company. Bain Capital Ventures looks for experienced and talented teams with a track record of execution, industry knowledge, and the ability to scale the business.
• Differentiation and Competitive Advantage: Companies that have a unique value proposition, innovative technology, or a competitive advantage over existing solutions are more likely to attract investment from Bain Capital Ventures. They assess the company's intellectual property, technology, or business model to determine its competitive edge.
• Scalability and Growth Potential: Bain Capital Ventures seeks companies with the potential for rapid growth and scalability. They evaluate the company's business model, revenue potential, customer acquisition strategies, and ability to penetrate new markets.
• Traction and Market Validation: While Bain Capital Ventures invests in early-stage companies, they typically look for companies that have demonstrated some level of traction and market validation. This can include factors such as customer adoption, revenue growth, strategic partnerships, or positive user feedback.
• Alignment with Bain Capital's Values: As a subsidiary of Bain Capital, Bain Capital Ventures considers the overall alignment with the parent company's values and investment thesis. They look for companies that align with their investment strategies, goals, and vision.

Bain Capital Ventures has a set of core values that guide its approach to investing and partnering with companies. These values include:

• Entrepreneurship: Bain Capital Ventures values the entrepreneurial spirit and seeks to partner with passionate visionaries who have the drive and determination to build successful companies. They believe in the power of innovation and creativity to drive meaningful change.
• Intellectual curiosity: The firm values individuals who ask hard questions and have a deep desire to understand the complexities of their industry and market. They appreciate those who continuously seek knowledge and are not satisfied with surface-level answers.
• Long-term commitment: Bain Capital Ventures is committed to being in your corner for the long haul. They aim to build lasting partnerships with the companies they invest in, providing support throughout the entire lifecycle of the business.
• Flexibility and adaptability: The firm recognizes the importance of being flexible and adaptable in a rapidly changing business landscape. They understand that growth requires being open to new ideas, embracing change, and knowing when to pivot.
• Partnership and collaboration: Bain Capital Ventures believes in the power of collaboration and teamwork. They strive to be active partners, offering guidance, expertise, and resources to help companies achieve their goals. They aim to foster a strong sense of community among their portfolio companies and leverage the collective knowledge and experience of their network.
• Integrity and trust: The firm values integrity and places a strong emphasis on building trust with its partners. They conduct business with honesty, transparency, and ethical standards, maintaining strong relationships based on mutual respect.

Bain Capital Ventures' mission is to identify and support exceptional entrepreneurs and help them build transformative companies. They aim to be the first call for entrepreneurs who see the world differently and have the potential to create a significant impact. Bain Capital Ventures is dedicated to recognizing and making real the not-yet-obvious potential in these entrepreneurs and their ideas.

Their mission involves providing more than just financial investment. Bain Capital Ventures strives to be a true partner to the companies they work with, offering guidance, expertise, and resources at every stage of the company's journey. They are committed to being there for the long term, supporting entrepreneurs through both good times and challenging moments. By leveraging the strength of the Bain Capital network, as well as their deep domain focus, hands-on partnership, dedicated talent team, and proprietary customer development approach

Bain Capital Ventures has built an impressive portfolio of innovative companies across various industries. With a focus on partnering with entrepreneurs and supporting their growth, Bain Capital Ventures has invested in a diverse range of companies that have made a significant impact in their respective markets. Here are some examples:

• Attentive: A personalized mobile messaging platform for businesses.
• Bloomreach: A digital experience platform that helps businesses deliver personalized customer experiences.
• Clari: An AI-powered sales platform that provides sales execution and forecasting solutions.
• DocuSign: A cloud-based electronic signature and agreement platform.
• Flywire: A global payment and receivables platform for education, healthcare, and business sectors.
• LinkedIn: A professional networking platform.
• Rapid7: A cybersecurity company providing solutions for vulnerability management and incident detection and response.
• Redis: An open-source, in-memory data structure store used for caching, real-time analytics, and messaging.
• Rent the Runway: An online service that provides fashion rentals for special occasions.
• Soona: A platform that offers fast and affordable professional photos and videos for businesses.
• Twilio: A cloud communications platform that enables developers to build and deploy various communication channels.
• Turbonomic: An application performance management and optimization platform.
• Zenlytic: A marketing analytics and data visualization platform.