NASHVILLE, Tenn.--()--BluWave, the Business Builders’ Network that connects the private equity industry with best-in-class talent, industry consultants and service providers, today announced the recipients of the fourth annual Top Private Equity Innovator Awards and the Private Equity Innovator of the Year*.

The Top Private Equity Innovator awards recognize the top 2% of private equity firms that differentially embrace proactive due diligence, transformative value creation, modern private equity firm operations and corporate citizenship practices.

San Francisco-based private equity firm Alpine Investors was selected as the 2025 Private Equity Innovator of the Year for its overall innovative practices.

“The 2025 top private equity innovators are providing differential leadership in the world of business,” said Sean Mooney, founder and CEO of BluWave. “Their innovative practices are strengthening companies, creating jobs and leading the way in a growth-minded economy.”

The Top Private Equity Innovator awardees were selected by a cross-functional committee that assessed candidates in consultation with a broad universe of limited partners, investment bankers, industry thought leaders and service providers in the private equity ecosystem. As part of their selection process, the committee evaluated more than 6,000 private equity firms and utilized more than 75 different factors, incorporating more than 400,000 data points.

The complete list of recipients includes the following firms:

  • Accel-KKR
  • Access Holdings
  • Altamont Capital Partners
  • Alpine Investors
  • Arctos
  • Aterian Investment Partners
  • Audax Private Equity
  • Avance
  • Bain Capital
  • BayPine
  • Bertram Capital
  • Blue Point Capital Partners
  • Blue Sea Capital
  • BPOC
  • Brighton Park Capital
  • Broad Sky Partners
  • CenterOak Partners
  • Charlesbank Capital Partners
  • Clairvest Group Inc.
  • Clearlake Capital Group
  • Compass Group Equity Partners
  • Cortec Group
  • Council Capital
  • Cressey & Company
  • Crest Rock Partners
  • Diversis Capital
  • Edison Partners
  • Encore Consumer Capital
  • Excellere Partners
  • FFL Partners
  • Frontenac
  • Fulcrum Equity Partners
  • Gauge Capital
  • Gemspring Capital
  • Genstar Capital!
  • Great Hill Partners
  • Great Range Capital
  • GreyLion Partners
  • Gridiron Capital, LLC
  • GrowthCurve Capital
  • GTCR
  • Guidepost Growth Equity
  • H.I.G. Capital
  • Halifax Group
  • HCI Equity Partners
  • Heartwood Partners
  • Hidden Harbor Capital Partners
  • Housatonic Partners
  • ICV Partners, LLC
  • Incline Equity Partners
  • Industrial Opportunity Partners
  • Inverness Graham
  • Investcorp
  • Kian Capital
  • Kinzie Capital Partners
  • Level Equity
  • LFM Capital
  • Livingbridge
  • LLR Partners
  • Long Ridge Equity Partners
  • Lovell Minnick Partners
  • Main Post Partners
  • Mainsail Partners
  • McNally Capital
  • MiddleGround Capital
  • MidOcean Partners
  • Monomoy Capital Partners
  • New Harbor Capital Management LP
  • New Heritage Capital
  • New State Capital Partners
  • NexPhase Capital
  • Nordic Capital
  • Norwest Equity Partners
  • One Equity Partners 'OEP'
  • OpenGate Capital
  • ParkerGale Capital
  • Periscope Equity
  • Permanent Equity
  • Platform Partners
  • Platte River Equity
  • Polaris Growth Fund
  • Prairie Capital
  • Quad-C Management, Inc.
  • Rainier Partners
  • Renovus Capital Partners
  • Resurgens Technology Partners
  • RFE Investment Partners
  • Ronin Equity Partners
  • Rubicon Technology Partners
  • Sagard
  • Serent Capital
  • Shoreline Equity Partners
  • Sixth Street Partners!
  • Strattam Capital
  • Sumeru Equity Partners
  • Summit Partners
  • TA Associates
  • The Riverside Company
  • Thoma Bravo
  • Thompson Street Capital Partners
  • Trinity Hunt Partners
  • Trive Capital
  • Trivest Partners

As the go-to connector of private equity-grade resources for the due diligence and value creation needs of the business builders of PE, BluWave has a one-of-a-kind perspective that enables it to uniquely understand best practices and innovation in the private equity industry. BluWave matches private equity firms with top PE-grade service providers across their critical due diligence, value creation and prep-for-sale initiatives. BluWave recently completed its fifth year of sharing key trends across the private equity industry via its Private Equity Insights Report series.

For further information on the BluWave 2025 Top Private Equity Innovator Awards, including the selection process, selection criteria and recipients, please visit bluwave.net/awards.

About BluWave

BluWave is the Business Builders’ Network for private equity-grade service provider needs. The company’s market network platform combines AI, technology, and data with concierge-like consultative support to expertly connect businesses with differential providers across due diligence, value creation, and prep for sale. The BluWave Vetted™ network is an invite-only, pre-certified ecosystem of top-tier service-providing groups, independent consultants, and interim executives. Based in Nashville, Tenn., BluWave ranks as one of America’s fastest-growing companies and today serves many hundreds of leading private equity firms and thousands of proactive companies.

Visit BluWave.net to learn more.

About BluWave PE Industry Insights Report

The BluWave Private Equity Insights report is derived from an analysis of BluWave’s proprietary data involving thousands of projects across due diligence and value creation made by the private equity industry and its dealmakers as they contact BluWave for their third-party resource needs. Given that hundreds of private equity firms and their substantial pool of affiliated portfolio companies leverage BluWave for resource needs at the onset of thousands of due diligence and value creation projects, the proprietary data captured in the BluWave PE Insights report is a market-leading indicator of both dealmaker sentiment and portfolio strategy. When paired with relevant market trends and data, the BluWave PE Insights report is a valuable empirical indication of dealmaker historical and future behavior.

*BluWave, LP has not received investment capital from and holds no ownership interest in the PE firms evaluated or recognized under the Top Private Equity Innovator awards program. BluWave received no compensation from any of the PE firms in connection with this awards program. However, BluWave may otherwise provide services to the PE firms and/or their portfolio companies, but BluWave confirms that its assessment of the PE firms was independent of any such service arrangements. Top 2% in the PE industry is based on BluWave’s review of the more than 6,000 PE firms in the U.S. and Canada from which the 103 PE firms were selected as award recipients.