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CID Equity Partners
CID Equity Partners launched in 1981 in Indianapolis, founded by John Hackett and a group of local institutional investors who saw a gap in growth capital...
CID Equity Partners
CID Equity Partners launched in 1981 in Indianapolis, founded by John Hackett and a group of local institutional investors who saw a gap in growth capital available to Midwest companies. The firm remains headquartered in Indiana and has operated continuously for over four decades, making it a rare longevity play in regional venture capital. Hackett, who remains Managing Partner, built the firm around the thesis that high-quality, capital-efficient businesses outside traditional coastal tech hubs could generate competitive returns without the frothy valuations of Silicon Valley. The firm invests across information technology, healthcare, and tech-enabled business services. Its strategy spans both venture and growth equity, with a historical preference for companies that have achieved early commercial traction and need expansion capital rather than seed-stage experimentation. Confirmed portfolio companies over time have included Angie's List, Aprimo, and Interactive Intelligence — three Indianapolis-area technology businesses that scaled significantly before liquidity events. CID's geographic focus centers on the Midwest and select secondary markets, where its network of operating partners and corporate relationships provides proprietary sourcing advantages. CID has raised multiple institutional fund vintages, typically from a base of Midwestern limited partners including pension funds, endowments, and family offices. Fund sizes have grown modestly over time, reflecting the firm's deliberate pacing rather than asset-gathering ambition. The team operates with a lean structure centered on Indianapolis, and while current professional headcount is not publicly disclosed, the partnership group has remained stable across decades. CID has not publicly launched adjacent vehicles or philanthropic foundations that operate under the firm's brand. The firm's genuine structural differentiator is its endurance in a region where venture capital firms historically struggled to raise second or third funds. CID's ability to return capital across multiple cycles has created a durable Midwest sourcing engine that larger, coastal firms cannot easily replicate — local company founders and intermediaries consistently see CID as the institutional-quality option that has been present through multiple economic cycles.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1981
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Indianapolis
Corporate office
Indianapolis, IN, United States
Principals
John Hackett
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at CID Equity Partners?
John Hackett is the Managing Partner and has led the firm since its 1981 founding. He is the primary decision-maker on investment commitments, supported by a partnership group that has remained stable across multiple fund vintages. The firm does not publish a detailed investment committee structure.
How does CID Equity Partners source deal flow?
CID sources primarily through its four-decade network of operating executives, corporate partners, and intermediaries concentrated in the Midwest. The firm's longevity in Indianapolis and the surrounding region gives it access to company founders and management teams that often do not run broad auction processes. This regional embeddedness is CID's primary sourcing advantage over coastal funds that periodically enter the market.
Does CID Equity Partners participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
CID invests directly in operating companies and does not operate a fund-of-funds or LP commitment strategy. The firm has historically focused on leading or co-leading equity rounds in its portfolio companies, typically taking board seats and working actively with management teams on operational growth plans.
What investment stages does CID Equity Partners target?
CID targets venture and growth equity stages, with a historical preference for companies that have achieved initial commercial traction and revenue. The firm generally avoids seed-stage and pre-revenue investing, instead providing expansion capital to businesses that need funding to scale sales, enter new markets, or pursue strategic acquisitions.
Which sectors does CID Equity Partners explicitly avoid?
CID does not publicly maintain a formal exclusion list, but its historical portfolio shows no meaningful exposure to consumer internet, hardware, biotech, or capital-intensive cleantech. The firm's stated focus on information technology, healthcare services, and tech-enabled business services implicitly excludes sectors requiring regulatory approvals or multi-year R&D timelines before commercialization.
What is CID Equity Partners' known posture on co-investments?
CID has historically co-invested alongside other regional and national venture and growth equity firms, particularly when a syndicate can add domain expertise or follow-on capital capacity. The firm does not operate a formal co-investor club or LP co-investment vehicle, but its Midwest network frequently brings syndicate partners into deals sourced by CID.
How has CID Equity Partners sustained operations across four decades?
CID's longevity is rare among regional venture firms, many of which failed to raise second or third funds after initial vintages. The firm has maintained consistent limited partner relationships among Midwestern institutional investors and has delivered liquidity events — including Angie's List, Aprimo, and Interactive Intelligence — that supported subsequent fundraising. Stability in the partnership group, led continuously by John Hackett, has also prevented the succession disruptions that derail many smaller firms.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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