Today marks an important milestone for Smith Point Capital: the closing of our inaugural fund, Smith Point Capital Fund I, L.P. with over $360 million – well above our $300 million target. Less than a year and a half ago we held our first closing and have since invested in six exceptional companies deploying $145 million in capital across some of the best talent in the industry. I credit this initial success to our vision and belief that emerging, next-generation technology companies want more than capital; they want real support from operators who have built and scaled businesses before. This operator-led investment approach and our unique value proposition is what attracted significant interest from blue-chip institutional investors, foundations, endowments, family offices, and strategic investors alike.
As we look to the future, I also think it’s important to first reflect on and celebrate where we came from.
Let me start by explaining the name, because I get asked about it a lot.
Smith Point is a remote and ruggedly beautiful stretch of western Nantucket, known for its windswept dunes, tidal flats, and breathtaking sunsets over the Atlantic. More than that, it’s a place where I’ve made a lot of critical decisions in my life. It’s a great place for contemplation and reflection – it’s where I’ve made decisions about my career several times, including my decision to create this firm.
This type of deep reflection came at a critical time. When I launched the firm back in 2023, I could see the market shifting – we were at a tipping point in how investors and businesses identified, nurtured, and built the technology that will shape our future.
History has repeatedly shown that transformative technology shifts create massive opportunities, drive generational enterprise value, and unlock wealth creation. More than ever, investing across the technology landscape is ripe for disruption. The pace of innovation is faster. The barriers to entry are lower. Smart decisions must be made quickly. This has made it increasingly challenging for founders to navigate complex environments.
In order to build a different kind of firm, it had to be built with team members who also viewed the industry with a unique lens – ones who truly understand the nuances of enterprise software, disruption, and transformation because they had been instrumental in building and scaling software businesses before. I knew this would be a critical piece for us, because today’s companies are no longer seeking just capital, they want true strategic partnerships.
It’s through this careful curation of investors, teammates, and our Precision Advisory Network where Smith Point Capital emerged as a distinctive player in this space, offering a blend of operational expertise and investment acumen that sets us apart. Unlike many investment firms that primarily bring financial expertise to the table, Smith Point unites world-class operating executives from industry vanguards like Salesforce, Oracle, Expedia, Snowflake, and Celonis with seasoned investment professionals from Vista Equity Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Morgan Stanley, and RCL Capital.
This dual expertise creates a powerful advantage: portfolio companies don't just receive funding – they gain access to operators who have successfully navigated the enterprise software landscape at the highest levels. This is demonstrated through the firm's leadership team, bringing decades of combined experience in building, scaling, and investing in successful software businesses.
A Focused Investment Thesis
While many firms cast wide nets across tech sectors, we've developed a laser-focused investment strategy targeting enterprise software companies that accelerate the intelligent enterprise. Our thesis centers on four key technological imperatives that we refer to as mission-critical technology:
- Edge Computing: With projections showing 75% of data being processed outside centralized data centers by 2025, Smith Point recognizes the massive $445 billion opportunity in this space.
- Data Management: As the global datasphere expands toward 200 zettabytes by 2030, Smith Point targets companies managing this explosion of information.
- Applied AI: Smith Point invests in companies leveraging artificial intelligence to deliver competitive advantages through automation, predictive insights, and enhanced decision-making.
- Precision Applications: Rather than one-size-fits-all solutions, Smith Point focuses on tailored applications addressing specific business needs and workflows.
The convergence of mission-critical data, AI, precision applications, and the rise of edge computing represents a quadrumvirate of disruption, poised to redefine industries and business models at an unprecedented pace. The integration of these disruptive technologies presents a unique challenge for enterprise executives. The question isn’t just how to adapt, but how to adopt these new technologies for transformative growth. Visionary leaders are stepping in to bridge this gap, leveraging these converging forces to drive innovation, reimagine business models, optimize operations, and create entirely new markets.
Value Creation as the Core Strategy
Perhaps most importantly, Smith Point's approach to investing goes far beyond capital allocation. Our value creation strategy is built around nine foundational pillars that are critical to building and scaling a successful software company in the intelligent enterprise:
- Strategy & Business Model
- Go-to-Market
- Product-Market Fit
- Customer Success
- Platform Differentiation
- Financial Metrics
- Culture
- Leadership & Talent
- Ecosystem
This comprehensive framework represents institutionalized processes built and refined over decades by the Smith Point team and by our Precision Advisory Network.
Our Network Sets Us Apart
One of Smith Point’s most powerful differentiators is our extraordinary network—and the way we show up for our companies. Our PAN, or Precision Advisory Network, includes some of the most accomplished C-Suite business leaders, product developers, community builders, marketers, and operators across the enterprise software landscape, providing leadership and expertise that serve as force multipliers for our portfolio companies.
But it’s not just about providing access to expertise—it’s about commitment. At Smith Point, we care deeply about the companies we back. Unlike firms spread thin across dozens or hundreds of investments, we lean in fully and actively to help our founders succeed. Our network also extends beyond individuals to include institutions like Carnegie Mellon University (with top programs in Computer Science, AI, and Edge Computing), Fortune 1000 companies, policy influencers, standards-setting organizations, executive search firms, and more. For our portfolio companies, this ecosystem delivers unparalleled access to talent, partners, customers, and strategic insights—amplified by a team that is truly invested in their journey.
Built for the Next Wave of Technology
Smith Point is at the forefront of a massive market opportunity. While the cloud computing market grew 22x over 14 years (from $68 billion to $1.5 trillion), we anticipate the markets for AI, data, and edge computing will grow more than 10x in the next 5-10 years, reaching $2.3 trillion by 2030.
We are already putting capital to work in these areas, having deployed $145 million across six investments that span the breadth of our core investment themes. Each of our six investments embodies one or more key attributes of a technological evolution, from advancements in data management and transformation to embedding AI into core applications and unlocking the potential of edge computing. These companies are not just innovating; they are building competitive advantages and driving growth by solving mission-critical challenges.
These first six investments also represent about half—or slightly more than half—of the total number of investments we intend to make in Fund I. Our concentrated approach enables us to work closely and meaningfully with each company in the portfolio. When we set out to build Smith Point, one of the most common frustrations we heard from founders and CEOs was that investors often fail to deliver on promises of close partnership and active engagement. At Smith Point, we intend to change that paradigm.
