Long Ridge Named to Inc.’s 2025 List of Founder-Friendly Investors

News & Ideas

October 28, 2025

Long Ridge is honored to be recognized on Inc. Magazine’s 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors list, which highlights private equity, venture capital and debt firms demonstrating exceptional commitment to partnering with entrepreneurs.

This annual list recognizes investment firms that have established strong track records of founder-friendly practices — capital providers entrepreneurs turn to when they need more than money.

“We are thrilled to be named to Inc.’s Founder-Friendly Investors list for the fifth consecutive year,” said Jim Brown, Founder and Managing Partner of Long Ridge. “This recognition reflects our fundamental belief that the best investment outcomes arise from true partnerships with founders and management teams. We are committed to supporting these leaders as they scale their businesses and achieve their strategic goals.”

Inc. gathers data on portfolio company growth and reviews founder testimonials to produce a proprietary score that determines which firms most significantly support entrepreneur-led companies.

Inc.’s recognition underscores Long Ridge’s 18-year track record of partnering with growth-stage companies. We focus on financial technology, business technology, and services companies where our expertise can catalyze transformative outcomes. By maintaining a concentrated portfolio, we dedicate substantial time and resources to each partnership. We provide strategic support in key areas including M&A, go-to-market optimization, and executive team development.

To view the complete 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors list and learn more about the selection methodology, visit: https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors/2025

Disclosure: Long Ridge paid a fee to be considered for this award. The recognition was officially received on October 28, 2025.

Founder & Managing Partner

Jim Brown

Jim is the Founder and Managing Partner of Long Ridge. He is also a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

Jim has over 25 years of experience investing in and supporting high-growth companies across the financial and business services sectors. At Long Ridge, Jim leads the overall strategy and direction of the firm, in addition to leading deal teams focused on the sourcing, evaluation, and management of the Firm’s portfolio companies. Over his long career, Jim has partnered with some of the most successful and innovative players in the financial services space and has served as a board member and advisor to numerous public and private companies.

Prior to founding Long Ridge, Jim was a Partner at TH Lee Putnam Ventures, a $1.1 billion growth capital firm, where he led the firm’s financial services investment efforts. Before THLPV, Jim served as a Senior Vice President of GE Equity where he led investments in financial services, technology, consumer, and media companies. Prior to joining GE Equity, Jim worked at Lehman Brothers as a Vice President and at Bain & Company as a Consultant.

Jim received a B.S. from New York University and an M.B.A. with Honors from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Portfolio Companies:

Managing Partner

Kevin Bhatt

Kevin joined Long Ridge in 2010 and serves as a Managing Partner and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

Kevin leads the overall strategy and direction of the Firm, in addition to managing deal teams focused on the sourcing, evaluation, and management of Long Ridge’s portfolio companies. Over his investing career, Kevin has served on the boards of numerous public and private financial services and business services companies, partnering with visionary managers to build leading companies across a range of sectors.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Kevin was a Vice President with AEA Investors, a private equity firm with over $10 billion of committed capital. Before joining AEA, Kevin was a member of the financial services and business services teams at TH Lee Putnam Ventures, a $1.1 billion growth capital firm. Kevin started his career in McKinsey & Company’s New York office, serving as a consultant to financial institutions.

Kevin received a A.B. in Economics with Honors from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio Companies:

Partner, Chief Financial Officer, & Chief Compliance Officer

Donna Little, CPA

Donna joined Long Ridge in 2013 and serves as Partner, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

At Long Ridge, Donna is responsible for the Firm’s financial operations, including financial reporting, compliance matters, tax preparation, investor relations and internal controls.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Donna worked for five years as CFO and Partner at Alternative Investment Management, LLC (“AIM”), an independent, privately-held investment management firm. While at AIM, Donna served as a member of the Investment Committee, managed all operations functions and implemented their first Operational Due Diligence program. Prior to that, Donna worked for Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, a leading hedge fund, as a Controller/Senior Accountant. While there, Donna focused on the daily & monthly financial reporting for a multi-billion dollar hedge fund that traded in a broad range of products including convertible arbitrage, distressed securities and long/short equities. Prior to Och-Ziff, Donna was an Accounting Manager at International Fund Services (IFS), a State Street Company, and a Senior Mutual Fund Accountant at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

Donna received a B.S. in Business Studies (accounting concentration) with honors from Stockton University. She is a member of Delta Mu Delta, the International Honor Society in Business Administration. Additionally, Donna is a Certified Public Accountant.

Partner

Angad Singh

Angad joined Long Ridge in 2012 and serves as a Partner and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

At Long Ridge, Angad leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Angad also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

In addition to his investment responsibilities, Angad enjoys the business-building aspects of growing the Firm, including recruiting and training junior members of the investment team.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Angad was an Associate at Alinda Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments. At Alinda, Angad primarily invested in the energy and telecom sectors. Angad started his career as a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company, where he worked in the Corporate Finance Group. While at McKinsey, Angad focused on growth strategy projects in the financial services and energy sectors.

Angad received a B.A. in Biology with Honors from Haverford College.

Portfolio Companies:

Partner

Jason Melton

Jason joined Long Ridge in 2014 and serves as a Partner.

At Long Ridge, Jason leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Jason also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Jason worked at Barclays in the Financial Institutions Group, where he advised financial technology and services companies on M&A and capital markets transactions.

Jason received a B.S. in Business Management, with a focus on Entrepreneurship and Finance, from Babson College.

Portfolio Companies:

Principal

Doug Nelson

Doug joined Long Ridge in 2018 and serves as a Principal.

At Long Ridge, Doug leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Doug also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

In addition to his work at Long Ridge, Doug is an Advisory Board member for the FinTech Sandbox, a non-profit accelerator that provides financial data, hosting, and mentoring to FinTech startups.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Doug was an investor with F-Prime Capital, a global venture capital firm affiliated with Fidelity Investments. Doug also previously worked in strategy for Fidelity Investments, product management for Amazon and finance for Flywire.

Doug received a B.A. in History magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio Companies:

Principal

Devin Stearns

Devin joined Long Ridge in 2016 and serves as a Principal.

At Long Ridge, Devin is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Devin worked at Fenox Venture Capital, an early stage technology-focused venture capital fund, and Wells Fargo Securities.

Devin received a B.A. in Economics with Honors and a certificate in Finance from Princeton University.

Portfolio Companies:

Vice President

Rachel Philbin

Rachel joined Long Ridge in 2022 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Rachel is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing, and monitoring of portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Rachel worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where she advised clients across financial services, healthcare, and education. Rachel also previously worked on the program team at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and on the Innovation team at Gentera, a Mexico City-based microfinance bank.

Rachel received a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio Companies:

Vice President, Portfolio Operations

Michael McMillan

Michael joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Michael is responsible for leading portfolio operations and value creation efforts at portfolio companies.

Prior to Long Ridge, Michael worked at Vista Equity Partners and Growth Street Partners, executing projects focused on strategy development and go-to-market optimization for their respective portfolio companies. Michael also previously led strategy and product management at a supply chain risk software company in the Vista portfolio.

Michael received a B.A. in Public Policy with a concentration in Economics and a minor in Managerial Studies from Vanderbilt University.

Vice President

Sohum Daftary

Sohum joined Long Ridge in 2019 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Sohum is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Sohum worked at Millstein & Co., a boutique restructuring investment bank, and Arena Investors, a middle-market private credit firm.

Sohum received a B.S. in Finance, summa cum laude, from The Wharton School and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering.

Portfolio Companies:

Vice President, Platform

Paulina Karpis

Paulina Karpis joined Long Ridge in 2025 and serves as a Vice President, Platform.

At Long Ridge, Paulina is responsible for leading network development and marketing initiatives across the firm.

Prior to Long Ridge, Paulina worked at B Capital, where she led value creation for the early-stage portfolio, with a focus on business development and go-to-market strategy. Paulina also previously served as co-founder and CEO of a media and education company. Paulina began her career at JP Morgan Asset Management.

Paulina received a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Dartmouth College.

Senior Associate

Scott Kaden

Scott joined Long Ridge in 2021 and serves as a Senior Associate.

At Long Ridge, Scott is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Scott worked at Houlihan Lokey, a boutique investment bank, in their Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Group.

Scott received a B.S. in Economics, magna cum laude, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in Finance and Business Analytics.

Portfolio Companies:

Investor

Ben Hilkert

Ben joined Long Ridge in 2021 and serves as an Associate. At Long Ridge, Ben is actively involved in the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Ben Co-Founded Honesti, a wellness and peer to peer support platform designed specifically for college students, and worked at Guggenheim Partners, a boutique investment bank.

Ben received a BBA with concentrations in Accounting and Finance, Cum Laude, from The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Portfolio Companies:

Investor

Zach Khazzam

Zach joined Long Ridge in 2022 and serves as an Associate.

At Long Ridge, Zach is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the Firm. He also works on due diligence, deal execution and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Zach worked at WestCap, a technology-focused growth equity firm.

Zach received a B.S. in Statistical Science from Duke University.

Investor

George Wilde

George joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as an Associate.

At Long Ridge, George is involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution, and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, George spent three years at Frontier Growth where he focused on investing in growth-stage vertical software companies.

George received a B.A. in Economics from Brown University.

Investor

Sophia Africk

Sophia joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Sophia is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the firm. She also works with portfolio company executive teams and performs deal diligence and execution.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Sophia worked at Tesla, in the Manufacturing Finance group, and at Microsoft, in the Azure Data organization.

Sophia received a B.S.E in Systems Science and Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and a B.S. in Finance summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Investor

Katherine Hu

Katherine joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Katherine is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the Firm. She also works on due diligence, deal execution and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Katherine invested in software and AI businesses at Insight Partners, a venture capital and growth equity firm. She also worked at Highland Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on software investing.

Katherine received a B.S. in Economics, with a concentration in Finance, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Investor

Paige Schultz

Paige joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Paige is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the firm. She also works on due diligence, deal execution, and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Paige worked on the investment team at Antler, an early-stage accelerator and Venture Capital fund based in New York.

Paige received a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University.

Investor

Arnav Sood

Arnav joined Long Ridge in 2025 as an Analyst.

He is actively involved in sourcing new investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, supporting deal execution, and working with portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Arnav worked in M&A advisory at Palm Tree, venture sourcing at Battery Ventures, and business development at Columbia Pacific Business Finance.

Arnav graduated with a B.S. in Finance and Operations & Analytics from Georgetown University.

Investor

Jett Rosner

Jett joined Long Ridge in 2025 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Jett is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the Firm. He also works on due diligence, deal execution, and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Jett worked at JP Morgan Chase, a bulge bracket investment bank.

Jett received a B.S. in Commerce with a concentration in Finance, graduating with Distinction from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.

Investor

JP Rush

JP joined Long Ridge in 2025 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, JP is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the firm. He also works on due diligence, deal execution, and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, JP worked at Battery Ventures, a software-focused venture capital and growth equity firm.

JP received a B.A. in Sport Management with a minor in Entrepreneurship from the University of Michigan.

Senior Accountant

Laura Orr

Laura joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as a Senior Accountant.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Laura worked as a Supervisor at SEI Investments, a global fund administrator. She was part of their Private Equity Fund Administrator Group and oversaw reconciliations, capital activity, and financial reporting for private equity clients.

Laura received a B.S in Music and from Temple University, an M.B.A. from Villanova University, and an M.S. in Accounting Practice from the University of Delaware. Additionally, Laura is a Certified Public Accountant.

People Operations Manager

Victoria Mussalli

Victoria joined Long Ridge in 2018 and serves as People Operations Manager.

At Long Ridge, Victoria assists the Firm with managing recruitment, immigration and visa procurement, cybersecurity compliance, IT oversight, event planning, and more.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Victoria had extensive experience in administrative roles across various industries, including healthcare, education, and film production.

Outside of Long Ridge, Victoria works as a voice actor, specializing in commercial and character work, and has worked with companies like: Nexplanon, WIRED, Fancypants Baking Co., Timken, and HMH. She has also been featured in scripted podcasts alongside Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill, Dexter), Clive Standen (Vikings, Doctor Who), and Michael O’Neill (Jack Ryan, Dallas Buyers Club).

Victoria graduated summa cum laude in three years and received a B.S. in Television-Radio with a minor in Spanish from Ithaca College.

Office Manager & Executive Assistant

Krystina Romano

Krystina joined Long Ridge in 2019 and serves as the Firm’s Office Manager and as Executive Assistant to Jim Brown and Kevin Bhatt.

At Long Ridge, Krystina is responsible for overall office operations as well as assisting with the planning and execution of the Firm’s special events, including annual meetings and offsites.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Krystina worked for Marcum LLP as the scheduling coordinator for the assurance department.

Krystina received a B.A. in English Language, Literature, and Criticism from Hunter College.

Executive Assistant

Whitney Baldwin

Whitney joined Long Ridge 2021 and serves as Executive Assistant to Angad Singh, Andrew Cedar, and Jason Melton. Whitney also supports the planning of Long Ridge’s annual Executive Summit and other firm events.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Whitney planned festivals and events and served as the Executive Assistant to the CEO of Linder Global Events in Washington, DC.

Whitney received a B.A. in Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations and graduated Cum Laude from Virginia Tech.

Executive Assistant

Jessica Barr

Jessica joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as an Executive Assistant to Doug Nelson and Devin Stearns. At Long Ridge, Jessica is also responsible for assisting with the operations of the office.

Prior to Long Ridge, Jessica co-founded a retail company Daily Soulshine where it focused on products with uplifting phrases.

Jessica graduated Cum Laude from Florida State University where she received a B.S. in Management Information Systems and a minor in Psychology.

Executive Assistant

Jillian Burg

Jillian joined Long Ridge in 2025 and serves as Executive Assistant to Kevin Bhatt and Rachel Philbin.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Jillian was an early childhood educator.

Jillian received a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics & Law from Binghamton University.