RFE Investment Partners Named to Inc.’s 2023 List of Founder-Friendly Investors

Annual roundup highlights the private equity, venture capital, and debt firms with the best track records of success backing entrepreneurs


WESTPORT, Conn., Nov. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RFE Investment Partners is grateful to be recognized in Inc.’s annual Founder-Friendly Investors list, honoring the private equity, venture capital, and debt firms with the best track records of success backing entrepreneurs.

The final list recognizes 218 firms that remain actively involved with the businesses they invest in, and that have earned the trust of the entrepreneurs they support to help drive growth.

“We are passionate about partnering with founders to build great companies and help unlock the potential of their employees and stakeholders,” said Michael Rubel, Managing Director of RFE Investment Partners. “We are grateful to be included on this year’s list as a testament to the long-term relationships we have developed.”

RFE has a track record over four decades of working with founders to help them grow their businesses and drive enhanced value creation. Foundational to our strategy is supporting growth, both organic and inorganic through acquisition, by building management infrastructure, increasing production capacity, developing new products/services, and expanding their geographic reach.

“Now more than ever, founder-led companies need financing partners that offer guidance, expertise, and understanding—not just capital. These are the private equity, venture capital, and debt firms that have founders’ backs when it comes to accelerating growth,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. Business Media.

To compile the list, Inc. went straight to the source: entrepreneurs who have sold to private equity and venture capital firms. Founders filled out a questionnaire about their experiences partnering with private equity, venture capital, and debt firms and shared data on how their portfolio companies have grown during these partnerships.

Introduced in 2019, the Founder-Friendly Investors list quickly established itself as one of Inc.’s most resourceful franchises. It has become a go-to guide for entrepreneurs who want to grow their companies while retaining an ownership stake. To see the complete list, go to: https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors/2023. The November 2023 issue of Inc. magazine is on newsstands now.

About Inc.
The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community they need to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

About RFE
RFE Investment Partners is a Connecticut-based private equity firm focused on making control investments in established lower middle market companies located in the United States. RFE’s investment strategy is to transform its portfolio companies from the lower end of the market to fully professionalized and market leading middle market companies. RFE has over a four- decade history of supporting well-built platform companies by building high pedigree and deep management teams, professionalizing systems and processes, and executing on focused M&A efforts. RFE is currently investing out of Fund IX and typically invests in businesses that generate between $20 million and $75 million in revenue. For more information, please visit www.rfeip.com.

Contact: John Mooney, Over The Moon P.R., 908-720-6057, john@overthemoonpr.com.