Investor Profile: Adams Street Partners — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Adams Street Partners funding reaches founders mainly through its venture growth and co-investment strategies, rather than through a traditional seed fund. Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Chicago, Adams Street Partners is a global private markets investment manager that describes itself as 100% employee-owned. Its homepage puts assets under management at $76 billion across five strategies.

Investment thesis

Adams Street invests across the full private markets spectrum through five strategies: primary fund investments, secondary investments, venture growth, private credit and co-investments. For founders, the most relevant arm is venture growth, which backs rapidly growing, multi-stage, category-leading companies, alongside co-investments made beside established general partners in buyout and growth equity deals.

Sectors and stages

The venture growth team focuses on software, mobile, healthcare, security and financial technology companies. Adams Street typically enters at growth stages rather than at idea stage: third-party profiles of the firm report that most of its direct entries have been at Series B and beyond, with companies that have already raised from early-stage venture firms. Its private credit strategy targets middle-market companies with enterprise values of $150 million to $750 million.

Fund size and cheque size

Adams Street manages $76 billion in assets across its strategies. In August 2026 the firm announced it had raised over $5 billion for its secondaries investment programme, and it has launched evergreen vehicles such as ASPEN Lux, a Luxembourg-domiciled evergreen private equity fund aimed at non-US investors. Adams Street does not publish a standard cheque size for founders. Third-party directories have reported direct buyout and growth commitments of $20 million to $50 million per transaction and venture commitments of $5 million to $20 million; treat those ranges as reported, not as a current published policy.

Notable portfolio

The firm's own releases name companies it has partnered with including Paylocity, Q2 eBanking, Criteo, Five9, ServiceMax and BrightRoll. Adams Street also reports more than 590 advisory board seats and relationships with more than 520 global general partners, which is the network through which most of its direct deals arrive.

Partners and team

Jeffrey Diehl is Managing Partner and Head of Investments, and Jim Walker is Partner and Global Head of Wealth. Greg Favre is a Principal in wealth management. The firm operates from 15 offices globally, including Chicago, New York, Menlo Park, London, Munich, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.

Programmes, credits and perks

No public programme found for founders: Adams Street runs no accelerator, founder credits scheme or perks programme that a startup can apply to. Its structured products, including ASPEN Lux and its evergreen funds, are investor vehicles, not founder support schemes. Founders should therefore not expect cloud credits, hiring help or a cohort programme from this firm; the value on offer is growth capital and the firm's network of general partners.

How to apply for funding

Adams Street publishes no open application form for founders, and it does not run a pitch portal. Founders typically reach the venture growth or co-investment teams through introductions from existing investors or general partners, or through the firm's website contact routes at adamsstreetpartners.com. Because the firm backs companies that have usually already raised institutional capital, the strongest approach is a warm introduction from a venture firm already in the company's cap table, with evidence of category leadership and growth-stage traction.