NEW YORK and CLEVELAND, Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Riverside Company, a global investment firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market, announced the successful final close of its Riverside Acceleration Capital Growth Lending Fund III (RAC GL III) at its hard cap of $200 million. Its predecessor fund, RAC Growth Lending II, held a final close in July 2019 at $177 million.
RAC GL III seeks to provide growth loans to help enterprise software companies scale. Over its 10-year history, the Riverside Acceleration Capital strategy (RAC) has invested over $225 million across 90+ companies. RAC GL III is over 20 percent deployed across 18 investments and has already generated one exit in just four months.
“We are incredibly grateful for the confidence our new and returning investors have placed in us, and for the strong performance of the software companies we’re privileged to support,” said Riverside Managing Partner Jim Toth. “RAC was built on the belief that founders deserve a capital partner who values alignment, efficiency and disciplined growth. Reaching this milestone reflects the power of that approach – and the trust of investors who share our commitment to helping companies scale thoughtfully, with the right capital at the right time.”
The RAC team is 16 team members strong, including Fund Manager Jim Toth, Senior Partners Jonathan Drillings and Christian Stein, Lead Operating Partner Jon Temple, Partners Zak Ray and Aakash Patel and COO Sarah Spencer. In addition to its dedicated investment and operating team with offices in New York, San Francisco and Cologne, Germany, RAC leverages the depth and breadth of Riverside’s global platform, including its highly experienced, 21-person origination team and its extensive group of more than 50 operating professionals.
Additionally, AI is a strong theme for the fund. It’s already enabling RAC GL III’s companies to scale faster, operate more effectively and make better use of the capital the fund provides. “AI is enabling our companies to grow faster with less capital. What used to require a major venture round can now be achieved with a much smaller investment like what we can provide,” Toth added.
“The growth stage software market continues to present exceptional opportunities for disciplined, well aligned capital,” said Riverside Co-CEO Stewart Kohl. “RAC’s innovative and differentiated model is designed to meet these companies at pivotal moments – providing flexible investment structures and the strength of the broader Riverside platform to help founders scale efficiently and with confidence. We’re proud of how RAC partners with management teams to unlock durable growth and position their businesses for long-term success while at the same time providing to our investors an attractive way to benefit from the growth of niche, mission critical, vertical software companies.”
Over the last twelve months, RAC GL III deployed more than $37 million in 15 new investments and already achieved one exit. RAC’s companion growth equity strategy (RAC GE) helps accelerate company growth and build long-term value through non-control equity investments in high-growth enterprise software companies in attractive markets with strong unit economics.
“The RAC team has built a compelling track record of identifying high potential software companies and supporting them with the flexible, efficient capital they need to scale,” said Riverside Co-CEO Béla Szigethy. “We’re honored that so many LPs – both longstanding supporters and new relationships – recognized the strength of RAC’s approach. And while the fund continues to appeal to the private wealth channel, we also further broadened our institutional investor base with this third vintage of the fund. Closing this fund at its hard cap is a powerful endorsement of the team’s work and of the confidence our investors place in the Riverside platform. We are grateful for their partnership.”
Riverside Acceleration Capital
RAC supports software companies through two strategies: RAC Growth Lending, which provides growth loans to help companies hit critical milestones and proof points; and RAC GE which helps accelerate company growth and build long-term value through non-control equity investments. Both RAC strategies emphasize partnering with founders to accelerate growth by leveraging RAC’s deep software expertise and operational resources to help businesses scale and create lasting value.
RAC has supported more than 90 software companies since its founding in 2016 and is part of The Riverside Company. For more information, visit www.riverside.ac.
The Riverside Company
The Riverside Company is a global investment firm focused on being one of the leading private equity and flexible capital options for business owners and portfolio company employees at the smaller end of the middle market by seeking to fuel transformative growth and create lasting value. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has made more than 1,100 investments. The firm's international private equity and flexible capital portfolios include more than 140 companies. For more information, visit www.riversidecompany.com.
Keith Davisson
Managing Director, Global Marketing and Communications
The Riverside Company
+1 216 535 1777
kdavisson@riversidecompany.com
