Elevation Partners was a trail blazing $1.9 billion private equity investment fund focused on the intersection between technology and media. Elevation made a total of eight investments, beginning in 2005 with a videogame developer, BioWare / Pandemic Studios (acquired by Electronic Arts). The fund later made large, private investments in Facebook and Yelp several years before they went public. Other investments included Forbes Media (acquired by Integrated Whale Media), Palm (acquired by Hewlett-Packard), and MarketShare (acquired by Neustar). The fund’s activities were completed successfully in 2015 with the sale of its last portfolio company.
While managing the exits from the Elevation Partners fund during 2012-15, Elevation team members made investments through Elevation Investors II, a multi-stage private investment vehicle. Elevation Investors II invested in companies such as Airbnb, Uber, Sonos, Bit Stew Systems (acquired by GE) and Everlane.
Former Elevation Team Member Investment Activities Today
In 2015, Elevation team members Fred Anderson (an Elevation Co-Founder and Managing Director), Avie Tevanian (an Elevation Managing Director), Adam Hopkins (an Elevation Managing Director), and Rami Reyes (an Elevation Principal) formed a third investment vehicle, NextEquity Partners. NextEquity continues the Elevation strategy of making growth investments in technology and digital media companies.
Bret Pearlman (an Elevation Co-Founder and Managing Director) is a Partner of a growth equity fund and continues to serve as an advisor to NextEquity.
Roger McNamee (an Elevation Co-Founder and Managing Director) supports the NextEquity team but is primarily focused on other activities. Roger McNamee continues to use the Elevation Partners name for his investment-related activities.
In 2015, Bono (an Elevation Co-Founder and Managing Director) joined TPG Growth as a Special Partner. In 2016 Bono co-founded The Rise Fund, a global social impact fund which invests in seven sectors aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Inquiries for Roger McNamee should go to Elevation. For all others, please contact the appropriate organizations.