Dakota tracked launches and announcements for nearly 90 funds seeking over $136.5B in total, based on confirmed and estimated targets, during the month of September, down from the $226B tracked in August. Of the month's total, private equity represented approximately $97.3B, followed by nearly $13B for private credit, $10.9B for real assets, $10B for hybrid debt-equity, $4.4B for venture capital, and $1B for digital assets.
In September, the revised European long-term investment fund (ELTIF) regime attracted more alternative managers, with Blackstone Group and Sweden's EQT separately launching their initial offering of ELTIF 2.0-compliant funds.
Blackstone unveiled Blackstone Infrastructure Strategies ELTIF, an open-ended private infrastructure strategy that expands its current offering to eligible investors in Europe from the current menu of private equity, private credit, and real estate. Meanwhile, EQT is expanding its offering of open-ended funds with the launch of EQT Nexus ELTIF Private Equity, which will be part of the EQT Nexus evergreen product suite and will be opened for subscription starting in November.
The sports industry’s growing popularity among private investors was also evident in September with the formation of new funds dedicated to the sector. Apollo Global Management formally launched Apollo Sports Capital, a new investment business dedicated to the global sports and live events investment space following earlier reports that it is planning a $5B sports-dedicated fundraise. CVC Capital Partners also established Global Sports Group to consolidate its existing sports investments and as an investment platform for pursuing future opportunities. It is considered to be the largest sports-dedicated private equity fund, holding $13.6B of the alternative asset manager’s sports properties, including interest in the professional sports leagues LaLiga, PREM Rugby, the United Rugby Championship, Six Nations Rugby, Ligue 1, Volleyball World, and WTA Ventures.
Separately, sports and media business veteran and former North Sixth Group chairman Matt Rizzetta disclosed plans to launch a private equity firm that will target sports, real estate, and media intellectual property. Backed by high-net-worth individuals and family offices, Underdog Global Partners will be seeded with sports and media properties, as well as associated real estate including stadiums and arenas.
The sports industry is expected to continue showing significant growth as more investors hunt for opportunities across multiple pockets and aspects of the industry. In its 2025 Sports Investment Outlook, Deloitte forecasted further growth in valuations within the industry, which it expects to fuel more investments in various sports, formats, and deal types. For a deeper dive into sports, check out our latest monthly report covering the intersection of sports and investment here.
Read on for a rundown by asset class of the month’s new private markets funds news. Dakota Marketplace subscribers can access the full report here.
Private Equity
Key Themes:
- Mega Fund Ambitions: MGX in Abu Dhabi is targeting an unprecedented $50B inaugural fund focused on AI infrastructure, backed by Mubadala and G42, signaling escalating sovereign-backed ambitions in the AI sector.
- Secondaries Momentum: Blackstone's $22B target for Strategic Partners X and Hamilton Lane’s new open-ended secondaries fund highlight strong demand for secondary strategies.
- European & Middle Market Activity: Multiple firms, including Bridgepoint, Advent International, Centre Partners, and Gemspring Capital, are launching mid-market buyout or growth equity funds, generally targeting $150M to $3B.
- Sector-Specific Plays: Specialized strategies span cannabis (Pelorus), health food (Axum), fashion (Merak), and AI (Presight-Shorooq).
- Geographic Expansions: Frontier Tech Capital (Southeast Asia), anb Capital & Lexham (MENA tech), and Banco BPM (Italy) show increasing regional targeting.
- Evergreen & Retail Access: Adams Street, HSBC AM, and Lincoln/Partners Group launched or expanded funds to reach individual or wealth management clients, further democratizing private equity access.
Private Credit
Key Themes:
- Large Continuation & Portfolio Finance Funds: Ares and Carlyle are pursuing multi-billion dollar funds for legacy loan strategies and portfolio finance.
- Mid-Market & Opportunistic Credit: Charlesbank and Ardent are expanding with multi-strategy private credit vehicles; Charlesbank IV secured notable LP commitments.
- Hedge Fund Launches: Harvey Capital and 3R Investment Management are entering the credit hedge space, targeting distressed and long-short strategies respectively.
- Defense & Government Lending Focus: Grays Peak Capital’s new fund aims at the North American GovCon market, a niche but resilient lending segment.
- Regional and Thematic Focus: MNK Partners launched a real estate debt fund focused on Europe; Openspace is branching into growth credit across APAC.
Hybrid Funds
Key Themes:
- Massive Dual Strategy Raise: Goldman Sachs is pursuing a combined $25B across a hybrid debt-equity fund ($10B) and a new private equity secondaries flagship ($15B), suggesting rising investor appetite for flexible structures that blend income and upside.
Real Assets
Key Themes:
- Infrastructure Secondaries: Pantheon targets $4B for its fifth global infra secondaries fund, reflecting strong secondary demand in real assets.
- Asian Infrastructure Rise: Stonepeak's $4B target for its second Asia infra fund underscores growing investment into regional transport, comms, and energy assets.
- Thematic & ESG Platforms: Fiera and BRIDGE Housing launched platforms focusing on affordable housing and essential infrastructure, often backed by unions or development banks.
- Digital Infrastructure & Carbon Markets: Legal & General launched a €600M digital infra fund; Cibus is pursuing Australian carbon credits with long-term ACCU delivery targets.
- Global Geographic Spread: From BRIDGE in the US West Coast to Ascendas in Korea and SC Capital in UAE, there's a growing global footprint across value-add and opportunistic real estate.
Venture Capital
Key Themes:
- Late-Stage Strength & AI Focus: Toyota’s $800M Woven Capital Fund II and BNVT Capital’s AI-first €126M fund exemplify the continued shift toward growth- and AI-led investments.
- Diversified Seed-to-Series B Activity: True Ventures, Electric Capital, Run Ventures, and Crane Capital are launching funds in the $100M–$300M range focused on early-stage software, AI, and deep tech.
- Climate & Net Zero Strategies: Suma Capital's €210M SC Net Zero Ventures and VoLo Earth Ventures Fund II reflect climate's rise as a dedicated VC vertical.
- European Momentum: Ventech VI, DFF Ventures, and Big Pi Growth I show strong fundraising from the EU, including Greece, Nordics, and Baltics.
- Smaller, Targeted Vehicles: Many micro-VCs such as Good Capital, VentureSouq, Iliad Partners, and May Ventures raised $20M–$80M funds focused on local markets or specialized sectors like fintech and biotech.
- Retail & University-Linked Efforts: Robinhood filed for its own retail VC fund, while the Medical University of South Carolina launched an academic-affiliated fund for biotech spinouts.
Digital Assets
Key Themes:
