September 11, 2025
Welcome to the Dakota Fund Spotlight Report, your curated snapshot of the top 10 most compelling funds currently in the market. Each month, we will spotlight funds that stand out for their strategy, structure, or sponsor pedigree. Alongside each fund, you’ll find insightful commentary that decodes what these funds invest in, why it matters, and how it fits into broader industry trends.
Teleo Capital II, launched in May 2025, follows the firm’s model of control and path-to-control investing in lower-middle-market companies. The team specializes in complex carve-outs and situations where its operational resources can drive efficiency and growth. An operations center in Boise provides hands-on support to portfolio companies, with an emphasis on asset-light, recurring revenue businesses. The fund had already closed on at least two acquisitions within its first few months, including a carve-out in enterprise software. Early deployment shows continuity with Fund I, which raised $250 million and was quickly invested.
The fund is gaining traction quickly, raising significant commitments and making acquisitions within months of launch. Its focus on carve-outs and operational improvement is well-timed as corporates continue to shed non-core divisions and investors seek specialized managers who can execute complex deals in the lower-middle market.
CAPE VI, launched in September 2024, continues LGT’s multi-manager approach, pooling capital to invest in a diversified set of private equity vehicles across the Asia-Pacific region. It follows CAPE V, which closed in 2021 at about US $1.65 billion, well above its US $1 billion target, and positions itself as a core allocation for LPs seeking diversified exposure in Asia’s private markets. The fund-of-funds structure provides investors with broader diversification, layering across sectors and geographies via regional fund managers with strong local networks. Fundraising is progressing steadily, with approximately two-thirds committed and final close expected in 2026.
Asia-Pacific continues to command investor attention amid its structural growth story and evolving private markets. With a strong track record from its predecessor fund and attractive regional fund manager access, CAPE VI may offer LPs diversified exposure at scale, at a more moderate raise compared to CAPE V. This aligns with cautious but bullish sentiment toward Asia’s fundraising environment.
CapitalSpring VII will target structured financing for management teams in multi-location consumer-facing businesses. The fund leverages CapitalSpring’s operational playbook and deep sector relationships to support buyouts, expansions, recapitalizations, and other non-traditional financing needs. Historically, investment sizes range from US $10 million to US $150 million, and the firm aims to deliver both income and growth through flexible, non-dilutive financing structures.
With an approximate $1 billion raise underway, the fund is well-positioned to capitalize on demand for customized capital in the evolving landscape of franchised and multi-unit businesses. As businesses seek growth or adaptation post-pandemic, and as traditional financing channels tighten, CapitalSpring’s vertically focused, resource-rich model remains timely and relevant.
Sapphire Ventures Fund VII builds on the firm’s long-running focus on growth-stage technology investing. The fund targets high-potential enterprise software and digital infrastructure companies leveraging Sapphire’s strong Portfolio Growth platform, which provides go-to-market, talent, and scaling support. Based in Austin (with operations across the US and London), the fund benefits from the firm’s global presence and growing reach in enterprise tech. The fact that Fund VII is open suggests it is in active fundraising, aiming to channel capital into scaling tech companies across North America and Europe.
Growth-stage tech investing remains vibrant, and Sapphire’s ability to combine capital with active operational support makes Fund VII noteworthy. As the firm further expands its global presence and reinforces its capital growth model, this fund could serve as a compelling access point for LPs seeking high-conviction exposure to scaling enterprise tech.
Aperture has introduced a new ABF strategy, appointing Nick Turgeon (formerly of Castlelake) as Global Head and Portfolio Manager. Supported by seed funding from Generali, the strategy emphasizes disciplined, downside-first, data-driven underwriting and bespoke structuring with strong collateral coverage. Aperture positions itself to offer flexible capital solutions tailored to originators, leveraging its institutional infrastructure and entrepreneurial agility. This initiative adds to its expanding private credit suite, complementing existing Structured Credit and Litigation Finance strategies. Aperture currently manages over US $2.3 billion in committed capital across its alternative credit platform, within a broader asset base of approximately US $5.2 billion as of mid-2025.
As traditional lenders retrench, demand is rising for bespoke, secured financing solutions that other private credit providers may overlook. Aperture’s nimble, asset-level focus in ABF taps a growing market segment, offering investors disciplined exposure to collateral-backed private credit with enhanced downside protection—even during stressed market scenarios.
With a March 2025 inception date, Five Points Credit SBIC V represents the latest iteration of Winston-Salem–based Five Points Capital’s long-running SBIC credit strategy. It is the largest SBIC fund launched in 2025 so far. With more than $1.1 billion of capital committed across strategies and nearly three decades of experience, the firm has built deep relationships with over 65 sponsor partners and management teams nationwide. The new $269 million vehicle will continue Five Points’ focus on flexible mezzanine and junior capital solutions, ranging from unitranche and subordinated debt to equity co-investments, tailored to support growth, recapitalizations, and acquisitions in the lower middle market.
The fund’s position is timely: as regional banks remain cautious and private credit demand grows, specialized SBIC lenders like Five Points are increasingly important in providing certainty of execution and incremental capital to sponsor-led deals. With its experienced team and established track record, Fund V is well-placed to deploy capital into high-quality opportunities where creative financing can unlock value for sponsors and management teams alike.
BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners is targeting $7 billion for its fifth mid-market vehicle, GIP Mid-Market Fund V. Filed with the SEC in August 2025, the fund has a one-year subscription period, signaling a fast raise backed by strong demand and BlackRock’s distribution reach.
The strategy complements GIP’s mega-funds by focusing on deals below $1–2 billion, backing high-growth infrastructure platforms in energy transition, digital infrastructure, and transport/logistics. At $7 billion, one of the largest mid-market infrastructure raises to date, the fund reflects LP appetite for strategies that bridge the gap between yield, growth, and diversification in a market where smaller deals often face financing gaps.
The AI First Fund represents Alumni Ventures’ latest thematic initiative, designed to capture one of the most transformative trends in technology. The vehicle targets early-stage, AI-native startups—companies built around generative AI models, autonomous agents, and proprietary data platforms—positioning itself at the frontier of applied machine learning and automation. By focusing exclusively on AI-driven businesses, the fund aims to back the infrastructure, tools, and applications reshaping entire industries.
Alumni Ventures applies its community-powered venture model to the fund, leveraging a broad base of investors and a highly diversified portfolio approach. This structure provides LPs access to early-stage AI opportunities that are often difficult to access directly, while spreading exposure across a wide set of high-growth companies. With AI adoption accelerating across enterprise software, healthcare, finance, and logistics, the AI First Fund seeks to capture both the enabling technologies and the domain-specific applications driving this wave of innovation.
PAG’s real assets business has filed with the SEC for its fourth real estate partners fund, PAG Real Estate Partners Fund IV. While the target size has not been specified, the fund is expected to have a fundraising period extending beyond one year, consistent with PAG’s history of large-scale institutional raises. Its predecessor, Fund III, closed in 2023 at $1.8 billion from 18 global institutional investors, marking one of the region’s notable closes in recent years.
The strategy builds on PAG’s established approach of pursuing value-add and opportunistic opportunities across Asia’s dynamic markets, including logistics assets benefiting from e-commerce growth, residential properties positioned for urban demand shifts, and select office and retail with repositioning or redevelopment potential. With deep local presence and a proven multi-cycle track record, PAG continues to leverage its scale and sourcing capabilities to capture complex opportunities and deliver strong returns.
Valeas Capital Partners is raising its second flagship vehicle, Valeas Capital Partners Fund II, following the oversubscribed $600 million close of Fund I in December 2024. While the target size of Fund II has not been disclosed, expectations suggest it will be similar to or larger than its predecessor, with fundraising anticipated to be completed within a year.
The fund continues Valeas’s focus on growth equity and buyout investments in technology-enabled businesses, targeting companies at key points of inflection where operational expertise and growth capital can accelerate scaling. With emphasis on vertical SaaS, digital infrastructure, data-driven platforms, and tech-enabled services, Valeas combines active partnership with management teams and disciplined execution to build on the momentum of its inaugural fund.
For deeper insights into these funds and to explore how they fit into the broader private markets landscape, book a demo of dakota marketplace today.
