Heartwood Partners is honored to be named to Inc.’s 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors list for the fifth consecutive year. The annual recognition is based on direct interviews with founders and CEOs of exited portfolio companies, assessing both their partnership experience and the growth achieved under investor ownership.
“Being recognized five years in a row reinforces what we consistently hear from the founders we’ve partnered with: our lower-leverage approach gives management teams the confidence and runway to pursue long-term growth strategies while maintaining control over the decisions that matter most,” said James Sidwa, Managing Partner at Heartwood Partners. “We design our partnerships so that founders retain meaningful equity ownership, ensuring alignment that extends well beyond the typical sponsor-management relationship. We also deploy dedicated operational resources directly into our portfolio companies to support execution and accelerate value creation.”
“Raising capital is no small feat for today’s entrepreneurs. That’s why discovering investors who offer more than just financial backing – those who bring mentorship, resources, and a true spirit of partnership to your growth journey – is both rare and invaluable,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors are collaborators and dedicated to helping their portfolio companies succeed.”
Please contact the following members of the investment team at Heartwood Partners with investment or add-on opportunities:
John Willert | Partner
jwillert@heartwoodpartners.com
John Newman | Managing Director
jnewman@heartwoodpartners.com