Fairway Venture Capital Fund Announces 10 Investments Since Launch

Fairway Capital Management www.fairwaycapm.com (“Fairway”), an investment management firm focused on venture capital investments founded by a team of five colleagues that formerly worked together at Adams Street Partners, is off to a strong start announcing 10 investments since its launch in June, 2020. The investments reinforce the Firm’s ability to access top-tier venture capital investment opportunities and provide significant visibility into the investment strategy.

Fairway’s strategy focuses on investing in an attractive mix of mostly seed and early-stage IT and healthcare funds, as well as select co-investments in venture-backed companies. Of the total of 10 investments, 8 were fund investments and two were direct company co-investments. The fund investments include several top-tier venture firms with highly recognizable franchises, including Charles River Ventures. In addition, the Fund includes commitments to newer firms founded by experienced managers that Fairway believes are well-positioned to deliver excellent performance, including Work-Bench and Audacious Ventures. The direct company investments are in high-quality companies alongside several experienced co-investors.

Fairway Founding Partners Kathy Wanner and Tom Gladden issued the following statement:

“We believe our strategy is unique in the venture capital space. Our modest fund size is appropriate for the early-stage venture capital opportunity set. This allows us to focus only on the opportunities that we believe can deliver superior investment performance. Our intention is to build a portfolio that provides access to many of the best venture capital managers and venture-backed companies in the world. The portfolio includes many of the recognized leaders in the venture capital industry, as well as firms that we believe will be the venture capital stars of the future. In short, we couldn’t be happier with the portfolio that is coming together and the quality of the opportunities that we are seeing.”

Fairway’s approach emphasizes three key elements:

1. Focus on investment performance- Fairway’s strategy provides access to top tier IT and healthcare venture capital funds. Co-investments and secondaries provide additional exposure to select transactions and managers.
2. Experienced, diverse team- Fairway team members worked together closely at Adams Street Partners for nearly 15 years. Importantly, the Firm’s commitment to 50%+ female/minority ownership provides valuable diversity of thought, leading to better decision making and investment results.
3. Alignment of interest- All of Fairway’s Partners have personally invested meaningful amounts in the strategy. To ensure that clients’ interests are paramount, Fairway’s fee schedules emphasize performance over management fees.

The Fairway team includes veteran private equity professionals with total collective experience of 100+ years and deep relationships with top tier venture capital General Partners. Team members are:

1. Tom Gladden was the Founder of Macrosight LLC (2017-2019) and previously was a Partner on the Adams Street Partners Primary Investment Team (2002-2016).
2. Kathy Wanner was an advisor to private equity firms (2016-2019) and previously was a Partner and Manager of the Adams Street Partners U.S. Primary Investment Team (1993-2015).
3. Laura Milligan was Director of Private Equity for The Boeing Company (2014-2019). In addition, she worked at Mercer Investment Consulting (2010-2014) and Adams Street Partners (2005-2008).
4. Kai Moon, Investment Analyst, is a 2020 graduate from Binghamton University’s School of Management.
5. Lauren Bozzelli was a Partner on the Client Service, Corporate and Fund Accounting teams at Adams Street Partners (2007-2017). In addition, she worked at KPMG (2004-2007).
6. Kevin Callahan was the Chief Operating Officer at Adams Street Partners (1994-2016).
7. Patrick McGarvey was a Managing Director at GCM Grosvenor, and previously spent 17 years on Wall Street with senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and DLJ.

About Fairway Capital Management

Fairway Capital Management is an investment manager focused on venture capital investments and headquartered in Chicago. The firm seeks to deliver attractive investment returns utilizing its access-driven strategy while providing excellent client service.

For more information about Fairway Capital Management, please visit fairwaycapm.com.

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