Expedition Growth Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Expedition Growth Capital is a transatlantic growth equity firm specializing exclusively in software and AI companies. Founded in 2020 by Oliver Thomas (previously a senior investment professional at Summit Partners and a founding member of HgCapital's Mercury Fund), the firm positions itself as a "specialist partner for rapidly growing software & AI companies with capital availability rather than capital necessity." Their core thesis is that the best growth-stage software companies are often bootstrapped or lightly capitalized founder-led businesses that have proven demand without external funding, and that these founders need a "respectful" growth partner rather than a traditional VC pushing hypergrowth at the expense of capital efficiency. Expedition provides not just primary growth capital but also founder liquidity, board-level support, and a dedicated Operations Group that helps portfolio companies scale from roughly $5-10M to $50M+ ARR.
Stage Focus
Expedition invests exclusively at the growth equity stage, targeting companies with $3-10M+ in ARR that are already profitable or near-profitable and have scaled with little to no prior institutional capital. They are explicitly not an early-stage or venture-stage investor; nearly every portfolio company profile references "bootstrapped" status prior to the Expedition investment.
Check Size
Typical investment size is $10-30 million or more, structured as primary growth capital and/or secondary/founder liquidity. Expedition takes minority ownership positions only, consistent with a founder-friendly, non-controlling growth equity approach.
Lead Tendency
Expedition typically leads its growth rounds. Recent deals - the $27M MDOTM round, the $25M Fabriq round, and the €11M Nesto round - were all led by Expedition, and partners routinely take board seats (e.g., Steve Twomey joined MDOTM's board; Will Sheldon sits on epilot, Factbird, Nesto, Rentman, and ThreatSpike boards).
Recent Activity
Expedition closed a $375M Fund III in December 2025 (announced December 2, 2025), a significant step-up from prior funds, and has been actively deploying since. Confirmed 2025-2026 investments include:
- Fabriq (Paris-based lean manufacturing SaaS) - $25M growth round, June 2025
- Aphex (construction site execution platform) - growth investment, February 2026; expanded into North America by July 2026
- Nesto (AI-powered restaurant workforce management, Germany) - €11M growth round, April 2026
- MDOTM (AI investment platform for asset/wealth managers, Milan/London/NY) - $27M growth round, led by Expedition with partner Steve Twomey joining the board, June 2026
The fund is in active deployment mode following its Fund III close, averaging roughly one new platform investment every 2-3 months through 2026 alongside portfolio company follow-on and operational support work.
Portfolio Highlights
Expedition's 20-company disclosed portfolio spans European and North American software: Aphex, MDOTM, Nesto, Fabriq, ThreatSpike, epilot, Boond (BoondManager), Xensam, Rentman, Factbird, Dougs, Pinpoint, Kentico, Kontent.ai, Omilia, Storykit, Lempire, Batch, Oktopost, and Ringover. Nearly all were bootstrapped or minimally funded prior to Expedition's investment and span verticals including manufacturing operations, cybersecurity, energy/utilities, IT services management, software asset management, event/media operations, digital accounting, HR tech, CMS/DXP, conversational AI, video creation, and sales/marketing automation.
Team
Expedition runs a deep, functionally-organized team across investing, portfolio operations, and corporate/fund administration, supplemented by a roster of senior operating advisors:
- Oliver Thomas - Founder & Managing Partner. Founded Expedition in 2020; previously at Summit Partners and a founding member of HgCapital's Mercury Fund; co-founded Grafton Capital.
- Will Sheldon - Partner. 15+ years of software investing; previously Summit Partners and Accel; board member at epilot, Factbird, Nesto, Rentman, and ThreatSpike.
- Steve Twomey - Partner, heads the Boston office; twelve years at Summit Partners; board member at Fabriq, Kontent.ai, MDOTM, and Oktopost.
- Klaas Seynaeve - Vice President; five years at One Peak in technology growth equity; prior Goldman Sachs investment banking.
- Tom Denford - Vice President; board director at Dougs, board observer at Xensam, Kentico, Batch, and Omilia.
- David Olsson - Principal; leads sourcing and execution; board member at Ringover, Lempire, Storykit, Pinpoint, and Factbird.
- Sourour Chtatou, Brian George, Seb Hodge, Raja Ohri - investment team members handling thematic research and diligence, several with board-observer roles.
- Dennis Coppens, Sebastien Jacquemoud, Harry Rintoul - Expedition Operations Group, leading value-creation work with portfolio companies.
- Imogen Moore - Director, Investor Relations & Operations ([email protected]); prior Rede Partners and Credit Suisse TMT banking.
- Corporate/fund team includes Kgala Nazo (Finance), Nishma Sanghvi (Funds), Joshua Newman (Data & Research), and talent acquisition leads Aaron Blakeman and Grace Beckwith.
- Senior operating advisors include Mike Ettling (ex-CEO Unit4, ex-President SAP SuccessFactors), Emily Orton (Darktrace co-founder/CMO), Udi Ledergor (ex-Chief Evangelist, Gong), and Marilyn Miller (Chief People Officer, Netskope).
Decision Process
Not disclosed in detail, but the presence of a multi-partner investment team (Thomas, Sheldon, Twomey) plus VP/Principal-level deal leads and board seats across the portfolio suggests a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
Expedition explicitly targets founder-led, capital-efficient teams: 50-100%+ annual ARR growth, 90%+ gross revenue retention, and demonstrated market pull rather than capital-fueled growth. Nearly every portfolio company bio emphasizes "bootstrapped" origins, and the firm's marketing language repeatedly stresses "respectful" partnership with founders retaining control (minority-only investments).
Geographic Focus
Transatlantic: headquartered in London (14 Golden Square) with a Boston office (131 Dartmouth Street). Portfolio companies span the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Czechia, Greece, Israel, and North America (US/Canada), reflecting a primary focus on Europe with growing North American reach.