What we do

  • Partner with exceptional entrepreneurs

    We've learned firsthand that success comes from partnering with A-players: sharp entrepreneurs with strong emotional intelligence and an unwavering drive to succeed. We are constantly on the lookout for and eager to meet people with this very DNA.

  • Accelerate wonderful businesses

    We invest in healthy, profitable companies, typically above €500k EBITDA, with a meaningful share of recurring revenue. Not turnarounds and not start-ups: businesses that already work and are ready to scale.

  • Become market leaders

    We partner with businesses that have the ambition and capability to be faster, bolder, and more strategic than the competition. We identify their unique advantage and double down on it to create lasting, decisive leadership.

How we do it

ACCELERATING YOUR GROWTH JOURNEY

Owner buy out

For owners with a strong business that is ready for the next phase of growth. We buy the company - in full or in part - and you stay in charge with a meaningful stake.
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Backing your management team

Management buy out

For owners whose successor is already in the building. Your management team has the right skills to take over but not the capital or the deal experience - we supply both.
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Finding your successor

Management buy in

For owners with no successor inside the business. We find and back an external managing director and fund the deal, so the company goes to someone equipped to run it.
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Our focus

  • Digitalization & services

    Tech-enabled service businesses - IT providers, digital agencies, consulting and staffing. Fragmented markets, recurring revenue, and value that lives in people rather than assets. It is where every company in our portfolio sits, and where we have historical expertise.

  • Aspirational living

    As the world becomes more digital, people increasingly pay for what is authentic and tangible - travel, wellness, entertainment. These are businesses where the experience is the product, and where a strong brand and a loyal following are worth more than anything on the balance sheet

  • Where our network takes us

    We are a group of entrepreneurs and investors as much as a fund, and the scope grows with the people who join it. If a business meets our criteria and someone in the Pillar community knows the market, the sector matters less than the company.

Investment criteria

1. Profitable, with a track record

Typically above €500k EBITDA, and a history rather than a projection. We do not buy turnarounds or start-ups: the business should already work, and be capable of working at a larger scale.

2. A meaningful share of recurring revenue

Contracts, retainers, subscriptions or long-standing repeat customers - income that arrives next year without being won again. It is what lets a company plan, borrow, and absorb a bad quarter.

3. A market worth consolidating

A fragmented sector with credible acquisition targets within reach. Most of our companies grow by buying as well as building, and we fund and run those deals, so it matters that the opportunity is there when we invest.

4. Full buy-out or co-investment

We will take on the whole company, or come in alongside an owner who wants to keep building. The structure follows what you want to do next — it is the first thing we ask about, rather than the last.