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G Squared operates as a global venture capital fund manager, deploying a distinct investment strategy to provide access to growth-stage technology companies. The firm acts as a transitional capital provider, investing in primary and secondary offerings, and structuring employee tenders. This approach leverages market inefficiencies to construct portfolios, differentiating its model from traditional venture capital.
Larry Aschebrook founded G Squared in 2011, recognizing that venture-backed companies remained private longer. This insight revealed a need for both primary growth capital and transitional liquidity for early investors and employees. Aschebrook established the firm to address these specific capital demands, positioning it strategically within evolving private market dynamics.
G Squared partners with growth-stage technology companies that tackle complex problems and disrupt industries. The firm’s vision is to foster an environment where pioneering leaders can shape the future through innovation. By supporting these companies throughout their lifecycles, G Squared aims to drive significant value creation within the private markets.
Key people at G Squared.
G Squared Equity Management, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Chicago with offices in San Francisco, Zurich, and Miami, is a growth-stage venture capital firm specializing in secondary investments and liquidity solutions for private companies.[1][3] It addresses the trend of venture-backed companies remaining private longer by providing primary growth capital and transitional liquidity to early investors, employees, and sellers, targeting pre-seed and seed stages in sectors like financial services, fintech, SaaS, e-commerce/marketplace, cybersecurity, mobility, and machine learning across North America and Europe.[1][3] The firm's investment philosophy emphasizes partnering with world-class entrepreneurs challenging the status quo in high-growth disruptors, with a track record in household names like 23andMe, Coursera, Instacart, Lyft, Pinterest, and Spotify, plus emerging leaders such as Blend, Bolt, Brex, Capsule, Flexport, Impossible Foods, Toast, and Turo; it has raised multiple funds totaling hundreds of millions, including G Squared IV ($341M AUM, 2017) and continues deploying significant capital, with over $850M in 2024 alone.[1][5]
G Squared significantly impacts the startup ecosystem by enabling liquidity in illiquid private markets, supporting prolonged growth trajectories without forcing premature exits, and fostering secondary market activity amid unicorn surges and AI-driven momentum.[1][5][6]
G Squared was founded in 2011 amid the fundamental shift where venture-backed companies increasingly stay private longer, creating unmet needs for liquidity and growth capital beyond traditional VC models.[1] Key partners and team members, including principals like Antonia Korduba (Head of Investor Relations in Chicago) and investors such as Ben Brown and Caleb Lawler, have driven its evolution from early funds like G Squared I ($32M AUM, launched December 2012, focused on fintech, SaaS, cybersecurity) to larger vehicles like G Squared III ($382M, 2015) and IV ($341M, 2017), expanding geographically to Europe and refining a growth-stage strategy blending primary and secondary investments.[1][3] The firm has managed nine closed funds and one in-market as of mid-2025, evolving to capitalize on extended private lifecycles with top-quartile returns via a unique deployment model.[3][6]
G Squared rides the wave of prolonged private company lifecycles, where startups delay IPOs amid volatile public markets, amplifying demand for secondary liquidity and growth funding.[1][5] Timing is critical in 2025's environment of AI talent wars, unicorn surges, GPU races, and "zombiecorn shakeouts," where the firm provides stability by enabling employee liquidity and investor exits without full sales.[5] Market forces like secondary market expansion and $850M+ deployments in 2024 favor its model, influencing the ecosystem by sustaining high-growth firms (e.g., cybersecurity leaders like Armis at $300M+ ARR) and bridging gaps traditional VCs overlook.[1][5][6]
G Squared is poised to thrive with a fund in market as of June 2025, targeting further secondary opportunities amid IPO slow-rolls and AI-driven disruptions.[3][5] Trends like intensifying AI talent competition, unicorn momentum, and private market maturation will shape its trajectory, potentially expanding deployments beyond 2024's $850M benchmark. Its influence may evolve toward deeper European penetration and cybersecurity/fintech bets, solidifying its role as a liquidity lifeline for the next wave of extended private giants—echoing its founding mission to fuel superior returns in a stay-private world.[1][5]
Key people at G Squared.
