Goldman Sachs acquires Industry Ventures for up to $965 million as alternative VC exits surge

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire Industry Ventures, a 25-year-old San Francisco-based investment firm with $7 billion in assets under management, CNBC first reported Monday. The deal highlights the growing importance of secondary markets and buyouts while traditional venture capital exits remain slow.

The investment bank will pay $665 million in cash and equity, with up to an additional $300 million tied to the company’s performance through 2030, according to a statement from Goldman. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year and all 45 Industry Ventures employees are expected to join Goldman.

We have contacted Swildens for more information.

The acquisition comes as venture capital funds are increasingly turning to non-traditional exits amid a prolonged IPO drought. Speaking on TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC Download podcast earlier this year, Industry Ventures founder and CEO Hans Swildens said that tech buyout funds now account for 25% of all liquidity in the entire venture ecosystem, “a huge chunk of liquidity,” he said.

Swildens explained that venture capital managers are being forced to adapt their approach. “Just seeing companies, putting them in your fund, and then waiting for an IPO or strategic M&A exit probably won’t work anymore,” he said in the podcast interview. “(Venture capital firms) need to start working on alternative liquidity solutions.”

At the time – in April – he noted that at least five large venture capital funds had hired full-time staff dedicated to crafting non-traditional exits, including secondary deals, continuation funds and buyouts. “All the branded funds are all staffed and thinking about liquidity structures,” Swildens said.

Goldman is making the acquisition to strengthen its $540 billion alternative investment platform, which the bank has identified as a key growth driver.

“Industry Ventures’ trusted relationships and venture capital expertise complement our existing investment franchises and expand opportunities for clients to access the world’s fastest-growing companies and industries,” Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a prepared statement. “By combining the global resources of Goldman Sachs with the venture capital expertise of Industry Ventures, we are uniquely positioned to meet the increasingly complex needs of entrepreneurs, private technology companies, limited partners and venture fund managers,” the statement continued.

Industry Ventures says it has made more than 1,000 investments, has stakes in more than 700 venture capital firms and has an internal rate of return of 18%.