Heartwood Partners Named Top Founder-Friendly PE Firm for Sixth Straight Year

Heartwood Partners is honored to be recognized for a sixth year in a row in Inc.'s annual Founder-Friendly Investor List, which recognizes private equity firms, venture capital firms, and lenders with demonstrated track records of supporting founder-led companies.

The prestigious Founder-Friendly Investors list celebrates the investors and firms that work closely with entrepreneurs and remain engaged with the businesses they back. Honorees are recognized for their approach to partnering with founders and supporting their companies through growth and beyond.

"With the current funding environment and rapid changes facing growing companies, founders are looking for more than just capital from their investors. They want true partners who believe in their business, but who are also able to provide the critical advisement and strategic support they need to reach their potential," says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. "The 2026 Founder-Friendly Investor awards celebrate those firms -- the ones committed to partnership, excellence, and helping founder-led companies grow."

"We are honored to be recognized by Inc. for the sixth consecutive year," said Demetrios Dounis, Managing Partner at Heartwood Partners. "Across multiple funds and more than two decades, our approach has stayed the same: partner with founder, family, and management-owned businesses, listen first, and build alongside them. The founders we work with are the reason for this recognition, and we remain committed to being the kind of partner they'd choose again."

For more information or to view the complete list of honorees, visit https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors.

Heartwood Partners has a track record of partnering with family and management-held businesses to help them continue to build their businesses. Our approach combines strategic execution with conservative capital structures to support long-term growth, including organic and acquisition-driven expansion into new products, services, and end markets. Please visit the Heartwood Partners website at www.heartwoodpartners.com to review our approach and investment portfolio

Please contact the following members of the investment team at Heartwood Partners with investment or add-on opportunities:

John Willert | Partner

[email protected]

John Newman | Managing Director

[email protected]

Dave Fleming | Principal

[email protected]