BluWave Recognizes Private Equity Firms Advancing Modern Growth Practices With 2026 Top PE Innovator Awards

BluWave’s fifth annual awards program recognizes the top 2% of North America’s most innovative private equity firms each year.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BluWave, the leading market network and enablement platform that connects private equity firms and their portfolio companies with top-tier vetted service providers, independent consultants, senior advisors, and interim executives, today announced the recipients of the fifth annual Top Private Equity Innovator Awards and the Private Equity Innovator of the Year*.

The Top Private Equity Innovator Awards recognizes 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 Bertram Capital was selected as the 2026 Private Equity Innovator of the Year for its innovative use of data and technology through Bertram Labs, paired with a distinctive firmwide investment evaluation process.

“The 2026 Top Private Equity Innovators stand out for their ability to pair innovation with disciplined execution,” said Sean Mooney, Founder and CEO of BluWave. “Their leadership is empowering business growth, expanding employment, and reinforcing private equity’s role as a catalyst for economic progress and value creation.”

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 105 recipients includes the following private equity firms listed in alphabetical order:

• Accel-KKR
• Access Holdings
• AEA Investors
• Alpine Investors
• Altamont Capital Partners
• Arctos
• Aterian Investment Partners
• Audax Private Equity
• Avance Investment Management
• Bain Capital
• BayPine LP
• BPOC
• Bertram Capital
• Blue Point Capital Partners
• Blue Sea Capital
• Brighton Park Capital
• Broad Sky Partners
• CapitalSpring
• CenterOak Partners
• Charlesbank Capital Partners
• Clairvest Group Inc.
• Clearlake Capital
• 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
• FTV Capital
• 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
• ICV Partners, LLC
• Incline Equity Partners
• Industrial Opportunity Partners
• Inverness Graham
• Investcorp
• Kian Capital Partners
• Kinzie Capital Partners
• Lead Edge Capital
• Level Equity
• LFM Capital
• LLR Partners
• Long Ridge Equity Partners
• Lovell Minnick Partners (LMP)
• Main Post Partners
• Mainsail Partners
• McNally Capital
• MiddleGround Capital
• MidOcean Partners
• Monomoy Capital Partners
• New Harbor Capital
• New Heritage Capital
• New State Capital Partners
• NexPhase Capital
• Nordic Capital
• Norwest Equity Partners
• One Equity Partners
• Pamlico 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
• Seaside Equity Partners
• Serent Capital
• Shoreline Equity Partners
• Strattam Capital
• Sumeru Equity Partners
• Summit Partners
• TA Associates
• Thoma Bravo
• Thompson Street Capital Partners
• Trinity Hunt Partners
• Trive Capital
• Trivest Partners
• Wavecrest Growth Partners

As the go-to connector for private equity-grade resources across due diligence and value creation, BluWave brings a unique vantage point on best practices and innovation in the private equity industry. BluWave recently completed its sixth year of sharing key trends across the private equity industry via its Private Equity Insights Report series.

For further information on the BluWave 2026 Top Private Equity Innovator Awards, including the selection process, selection criteria, and recipients, please visit bluwave.net/awards.

About BluWave

BluWave is the execution and value creation resources platform of the private equity industry. Trusted by hundreds of PE firms and thousands of their portfolio companies, BluWave connects the exact-fit third-party resources business builders need to assess, create, and grow value. The company combines proprietary AI technology, data-driven insights, and a concierge-grade experience to help PE firms and their portfolio companies execute with speed, precision, and confidence.

To learn more about BluWave, visit BluWave.net.

About BluWave Private Equity 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 economic 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 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 105 PE firms were selected as award recipients.