Stripes

Stripes Research

Investment Thesis

Stripes is a global growth equity firm founded in 2008 by Ken Fox, headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. The firm invests in companies with exceptional products for both consumers and businesses, acting as an "of-service partner" to help accelerate growth. Stripes focuses on branded consumer companies and enterprise software businesses, typically taking minority growth-stage stakes. The core thesis is that product excellence — referred to internally as "Product is our North Star" — is the essential precondition for sustainable growth, and that the right operational support at the growth stage can dramatically accelerate scale.

Stripes is differentiated by its Scale Team, a purpose-built internal team providing go-to-market strategy, talent and HR, network access (70+ advisors and council members), finance and capital markets advisory, operational excellence, and growth strategy consulting. This makes Stripes a highly value-added partner beyond pure capital provision.

Stage Focus

Stripes exclusively invests at the growth stage — Series B, C, D, and later-stage rounds in companies that already generate meaningful revenue. The firm does not invest in early-stage startups or pre-revenue companies. They seek businesses with clear product-market fit that are ready to scale aggressively. A typical Stripes investment comes after a company has demonstrated consumer or enterprise love for its product and is looking to expand its distribution, market reach, team, or international presence.

Check Size

Stripes typically writes checks ranging from $10 million to $150 million per investment. The firm has written checks as small as early growth rounds and as large as $50–100M+ in major growth rounds. Examples include leading Monday.com's $50M Series D in 2018 and participating in Flock Safety's $275M round in March 2025.

Lead Tendency

Stripes frequently leads or co-leads rounds, as evidenced by leading Monday.com's $50M round, Erewhon's growth equity round, and others. They also participate in larger syndicated rounds alongside other institutional investors.

Geographic Focus

Stripes invests globally. While heavily focused on North America (particularly US companies), the firm has significant international exposure including: On (Switzerland), Pleo (Denmark/Europe), Connecteam (Israel), Oyster (global), Island (Israel), Frontegg (Israel), CarOnSale (Germany), Nomad (Brazil), BookMyShow (India), Snyk (London/Boston), Dataiku (France/US), and others. Stripes maintains a genuinely global portfolio across North America, Europe, Israel, and emerging markets.

Recent Activity

Stripes has been actively deploying capital in 2024-2025. Recent highlights include:

• March 2025: Participated in Flock Safety's $275M funding round
• March 2025: Announced investment in Ramp, the finance automation platform
• 2024-2025: Launched Stripes VII with a target of approximately €1.6 billion
• Ongoing: Active deployment across enterprise software, AI/ML, consumer, and healthcare

Stripes manages more than $7 billion in assets under management as of 2025 (self-reported), making it one of the larger growth equity platforms in the US.

Portfolio Highlights

Stripes has an extensive portfolio of over 100 companies spanning consumer, enterprise, healthcare, fintech, and security. Notable investments and exits include:

Notable Current Investments:

• OpenAI — Leading AI research and product company
• Databricks — Data intelligence platform
• Cognition — Applied AI coding lab building Devin and Windsurf
• Ramp — Finance automation platform
• Snyk — Developer-first cybersecurity
• Island — Enterprise browser with built-in security
• Flock Safety — AI-powered crime prevention
• Vuori — Athleisure apparel brand
• Erewhon — Premium natural and organic grocer
• KHAITE — Luxury womenswear and accessories
• A24 — Global entertainment company
• Etched — Frontier AI inference clusters
• Crusoe — Sustainably powered AI computing

Notable Exits:

• On (IPO 2021 on NYSE) — Performance running footwear
• Monday.com (IPO 2021 on NASDAQ) — Collaboration and productivity platform
• Remitly (IPO 2021) — Mobile cross-border money transfer
• Upwork (IPO 2018) — Global freelance marketplace
• Udemy (IPO 2021) — Online education marketplace
• Siete (acquired by PepsiCo) — Mexican-American food brand
• Flatiron Health (acquired by Roche) — Oncology SaaS and analytics
• GrubHub (acquired) — Online food ordering

Team

• Ken Fox, Partner (Founder) — Founded Stripes in 2008. Previously co-founded Internet Capital Group (ICG) and was MD at ICG; also invested in and operated SmartWool and NetQuote. Founded ICG Asia Ltd. Director of West Coast Operations at Safeguard Scientifics. B.S. Economics, Penn State. Member of Investment Committee.
• Ron Shah, Partner — Focuses on enterprise and healthcare investments. Co-founded Endgame Capital prior to Stripes. Previously in M&A Investment Banking at Citigroup. B.A. Philosophy, Duke University. Member of Investment Committee.
• Bryan Gertzog, Partner — Focuses on enterprise companies. B.S. Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. Member of Investment Committee.
• Julia Solomon, Partner — Focuses on consumer companies. Previously in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs. B.A. Public Policy, Duke University. Member of Investment Committee.
• Chris Carey, Partner — Focuses on consumer companies. B.A. Economics, Dartmouth College. Member of Investment Committee.
• Wayne Marino, Partner, CFO — Chief Financial Officer of the firm.
• Jason Santiago, Partner, CTO — Chief Technology Officer of the firm.
• Monica Vitoria, Partner, Head of Investor Relations — Leads LP relations and capital raising.
• Karen Kenworthy, Board & Advisory Partner — Board and advisory roles across the portfolio.
• Sharon Rothstein, Operating Partner — Focuses on consumer companies in beauty, food, and beverage. Former Global CMO and CPO of Starbucks, former SVP Marketing at Sephora. Board member at Levain Bakery, Califia Farms, and Popup Bagels. Also serves on public company boards of IHG and Yelp.
• Scott Aronson, Operating Partner — Operating support to portfolio.
• Paul Melchiorre, Operating Partner — Operating support to portfolio.
• Barb Messing, Operating Partner — Joined January 2026 per SEC filings. Previously Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at various companies.
• Julie Herendeen, Operating Partner — Operating support to portfolio.

Decision Process

Stripes operates an Investment Committee model. Multiple partners mentioned explicitly serve on the Investment Committee (Ken Fox, Ron Shah, Bryan Gertzog, Julia Solomon, Chris Carey). Deals are reviewed and approved collectively rather than by a solo GP. The firm has a robust operational infrastructure given its 50+ person team.

Founder and Company Preferences

Stripes explicitly favors product-first companies where there is clear, demonstrable consumer or customer love for the product before Stripes invests. They have a strong affinity for founder-led businesses and tend to partner with companies at an inflection point — when the product is proven and the team is ready to scale distribution, expand internationally, or build out the leadership team.

They are explicitly an "of-service" partner, meaning they lean in operationally, not just as capital providers. Their Scale Resources — including in-house executive recruiters, GTM advisors, capital markets advisory, and 70+ advisor/council network — are key differentiators and actively used by portfolio companies.

Anti-Thesis

Stripes does not invest at the pre-seed, seed, or Series A stage. They do not invest in pre-revenue companies. They are not a lead investor in early-stage venture. They also appear to avoid highly capital-intensive hardware or deep science plays, though they have made exceptions for AI infrastructure (Etched, Crusoe).