LP profile

Adams Street Partners

Fund of fund · Founded 1972 · Chicago, United States

#6 LP Ranking #3 of 264 funds of funds

Global private markets investment across multiple strategies

Website ↗LinkedIn ↗

258 VC firms backed

$62B AUM

~$14B Allocated to VC (est. 23%)

01 · Background

Who Adams Street Partners is.

Historical Background: Adams Street Partners traces its origins to 1972, when a team at the First National Bank of Chicago started making direct private investments for a select group of institutional clients. The firm became an independent entity in 2001, having spun out from the First National Bank of Chicago.
Source of Capital: The firm's capital is primarily sourced from institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals through separate accounts and fund-of-funds strategies. Adams Street Partners also provides private market investment solutions for wealth advisors to offer to their clients.
Allocation Strategy: Adams Street Partners focuses on private market investments, with dedicated strategies in primary, secondary, growth equity, credit, and co-investment. The firm invests globally across various sectors, including technology, healthcare, consumer products, and financial services. The firm's investment approach includes a focus on small and mid-market companies.

Sources

02 · Fund commitments

The funds Adams Street Partners backs.

Adams Street Partners is a limited partner in 258 funds. 45 of them place in the Power Law Investor Ranking; those lead, best-ranked first.

New Enterprise Associates

Bain Capital Ventures

Matrix Partners China

Amadeus Capital Partners

United Kingdom

#466 Power Law

AAC Capital

Netherlands

Abingworth

United Kingdom

Affinity Equity Partners

China

AirTree Ventures

Australia

Alchemy Partners

United Kingdom

Alcuin Capital Partners

United Kingdom

Altor Equity Partners

Sweden

AnaCap

United Kingdom

Apax Partners

United Kingdom

Archer Capital

Australia

Ascent Capital (India)

India

Astorg

Luxembourg

Banexi Ventures Partners

France

Boyu Capital

China

China Everbright Limited

Hong Kong

Ethos Private Equity

South Africa

Indigo Capital

Infinity Ventures

Keystone Venture Capital

Pitango Venture Capital

Israel

Tamir Fishman Ventures

Israel

03 · Allocation

How Adams Street Partners’ fund book is spread.

The 258 funds Adams Street Partners backs, by where the manager is headquartered and how many funds that manager has raised.

Where those managers are based

By fund headquarters, across the 255 of 258 with a location on record.

North America 15460%
Europe 6626%
Rest of world 3514%

United States 153 · United Kingdom 37 · China 10 · France 6

How established those managers are

Managers grouped by how many funds they have raised — across the 155 of 258 with a fund history on record.

Emerging funds · 59

Established funds · 96

30 1

18 2

11 3

17 4

25 5-6

26 7-9

13 10-14

15 15+

Funds raised by the manager

04 · Exits

Adams Street Partners’ biggest exits.

Portfolio companies that IPO’d or were acquired at $1B+, with the valuation recorded at exit and — for those still public — their value today. Exit events come from each company’s funding-round history; entry stage from Adams Street Partners’ transaction record.

Robinhood

$32B IPO · 2021

Entered Series B+Now $90BFintech

WorldPay

$8.3B IPO · 2015

Now $24BFintech

Jazz Pharmaceuticals

$108M IPO · 2007

Entered Series B+Now $19BHealth

Zynga

$7.0B IPO · 2011

Entered Series B+Now $13BGaming

Paylocity

$1.3B IPO · 2014

Entered Series ANow $7.8BEnterprise Software

Syneos Health

IPO · 2014

Now $7.3BHealth

Vacasa

$4.5B IPO · 2021

Travel

BillionToOne

$2.6B IPO · 2025

Entered Series B+Now $4.0BHealth

$415M IPO · 2014

Entered Series B+Now $3.9BFintech

SPS Commerce

IPO · 2010

Entered Series B+Now $2.5BEnterprise Software

Five9

$322M IPO · 2014

Entered Series B+Now $2.3BTelecom

Palvella Therapeutics

IPO · 2024

Entered Series B+Now $2.0BHealth

05 · Direct investments

The companies Adams Street Partners backs directly.

Adams Street Partners holds 150 companies directly, separate from the funds it commits to as a limited partner. Broken down by headquarters country, sector, entry stage and current growth stage. "Stage entered" is the first priced round the investor joined, derived from the investor’s transaction history.

By countryCount

USA159
Israel4
Ireland3
UK3
Canada2
France2
Sweden2
Argentina1
Brazil1
China1
Germany1
Spain1

By sectorCount

Health49
Enterprise Software44
Fintech26
Security21
Marketing15
Telecom11
Education6
Jobs Recruitment6
Media6
Real Estate6
Travel5
Wellness Beauty4

By stage enteredCount

Series B+118
Series A26
Seed1

By growth stageCount

Late Growth98
Breakout Stage66
Early Growth11
Mature5

06 · Portfolio market map

Inside Adams Street Partners’ portfolio.

The 60 highest-funded portfolio companies, of 150 tracked.

Enterprise Software · Decacorn

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

eir Sports

Sports

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

Skybox Security

Security

$24M

Proteus Digital Health

Health

$15M

Alation

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

$1.7B

ServiceMax

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

$1.5B

Mineralys Therapeutics

Health · Unicorn

$1.6B

Visier

Jobs Recruitment · Unicorn

Enterprise Software · Unicorn

$1.2B

Solaria

Energy

$92M

OncoMed Pharmaceuticals

Health

$89M

Nomad Health

Health

$525M

CBeyond

Security

Human Security

Security

$80M

Fusion Pharmaceuticals

Health · Unicorn

$1.7B

Amonix

Energy

$518M

Icosavax

Health

$778M

Empathy

Health

$288M

Naurex

Health

$560M

Homeward

Fintech

$800M

Snagajob

Jobs Recruitment

$32M

Identity Digital

Hosting

$216M

Pomelo

Fintech

$220M

Chrome River Technologies

PerimeterX

Security

$228M

RetailMeNot

Media

$420M

Palvella Therapeutics

Health · Unicorn

$2.0B

Scytl

Security

Highnote

Fintech

$360M

07 · Portfolio founders

Where Adams Street Partners’ portfolio founders come from.

157 founders across the 100 highest-funded portfolio companies — by current location, university attended, and the companies they worked at before founding. Sourced from the founder records the API links to each portfolio company.

LocationCount

United States102
Israel9
Canada6
United Kingdom6
Argentina4
Ireland4
Sweden4
Switzerland4
Netherlands3
France2

UniversityCount

University of California, Berkeley11
Stanford University9
Harvard Business School6
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem6
Stanford University Graduate School of Business5
EPFL Swiss Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne4
Massachusetts Institute of Technology4
Yale University4
Cornell University3
Harvard University3

Previous companyCount

Alphabet | Google8
IBM7
Microsoft6
Sunopsis6
Tangosol6
McKinsey & Company5
EPFL Swiss Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne4
HP4
Oracle4
Stanford University4

08 · Other LPs

Other LPs.

Other funds of funds in the Power Law LP ranking, closest to Adams Street Partners by combined power-law score — North America first, then the nearest worldwide.

🇺🇸

HarbourVest Partners

LP rank #2 · United States

$144B AUM 219 VC funds backed

🇺🇸

TTCP

LP rank #4 · United States

$7.0B AUM 86 VC funds backed

🇺🇸

Lexington Partners

LP rank #12 · United States

$70B AUM 200 VC funds backed