Avenue Growth Partners

Avenue Growth Partners is a growth equity firm founded in 2020 by Brian Goldsmith and Ryan Russell, based in Washington, D.C. It invests in expansion-stage B2B software companies, taking non-control ownership stakes and serving as an active board partner to help founders scale. The firm's leadership draws on prior experience at Bain Capital Ventures and JMI Equity, having collectively deployed over $500M across roughly 20 software investments before founding Avenue. The firm launched its second fund, Avenue Growth Partners Fund II, in October 2024. Its focus is vertical-specific B2B SaaS, targeting capital-efficient companies with $3M–$8M in annual recurring revenue growing 100% year-over-year. Notable investments include BridgeCare, PortPro, Valcre, and Rosie (acquired by Instacart). The firm typically takes 20%–30% ownership stakes, with check sizes ranging roughly $250K–$3M. Avenue's investment criteria favor lightly funded, capital-efficient software businesses with strong product-market fit in a defined niche. Their approach emphasizes hands-on board involvement, helping founders optimize capital density and scale toward a 4x+ increase in business value within three to five years.