Building an enduring platform: Kirk Lepke joins EQT Growth
EQT Growth, a strategy dedicated to unleashing sustainable growth in Europe’s and Israel’s leading technology companies, was launched nearly three years ago. Looking back over this time, there’s much to be excited about: last year the EQT Growth fund closed as the largest first-time growth fund based in Europe, a high-growth portfolio of nine companies has been built (most recently IntegrityNext and GotPhoto, which were both announced in March), and the market opportunity remains strong.
Central to all of this is the advisory team. With that in mind, we are delighted to share the news that Kirk Lepke will be joining the EQT Growth Advisory team as a Partner, to focus primarily on software deals. Kirk brings a wealth of experience, having invested in the space for well over a decade, most recently as a Managing Director in Goldman Sachs’ growth team, and worked with some of Europe and Israel’s leading tech companies.
We asked Kirk to share some thoughts on the industry and his background.
What brought you to EQT Growth?
The people and culture were paramount. I’ve long appreciated the firm’s culture of high performance combined with empathy. EQT makes culture a priority and I’ve always felt that emanates through the people I’ve met in the growth team and across the firm.
I’m also truly excited by the entrepreneurial opportunity to help build the growth equity strategy within a company like EQT. I think the firm is incredibly ambitious and future-orientated, and it’s energizing to know that we’re on the path to creating an enduring franchise in growth.
You have been investing in software companies for over a decade, what has changed during that time and what has stayed the same?
A lot has changed over the years, and the pace of change only seems to be increasing. The industry has matured a lot, so now there is a much deeper and widely held understanding of software business models, along with much more competition.
As a result, valuations are up, margins and returns are tightening, and I think it’s going to be a lot harder to drive successful outcomes over the next ten to fifteen years. In order to win, investors are becoming more specialized and getting more involved in value creation through portfolio services and support.
That all being said, the trend of digitization across all industries driven by software-enabled productivity gains has remained unchanged. I think these forces have only strengthened with technological progress in areas like AI, cloud, and mobile.
You were involved as an investor in the rapid growth journey of Wolt and its sale to Doordash, any reflections from that investment?
Partnering with the Wolt team at the start of the pandemic through its sale to DoorDash was a really interesting and dynamic time. Wolt management was an absolute pleasure to work with and for me set the standard for what a high performing team is capable of. It’s also how I first got introduced to EQT Growth as co-investors and was impressed by the team and its culture!
If you had to choose a different career path, what would you be doing?
I’m a huge sports fan — Boston teams, in particular. If I was starting my career now, I could easily see myself ending up in sports management / science or involved with the growing field of sport-specialist private equity.
