KarpReilly

Allan Karp and Chris Reilly, the firm's co-founders and managing partners, lead the investment committee and maintain final decision authority on all capital allocations. Both were previously at Apax Partners, where they worked together in the consumer and retail practice before launching KarpReilly in 2006. The firm's lean structure means the two partners are deeply involved in every diligence process and portfolio company relationship.

KarpReilly does not invest in technology startups, industrials, financial services, or energy — its mandate is rigorously confined to consumer goods, retail, restaurants, franchising, and consumer health. This self-imposed sector concentration is unusual among mid-market firms, most of which operate a generalist or multi-sector mandate to diversify limited-partner risk.

KarpReilly sources deals primarily through the founders' sector relationships built over three decades in consumer investing, dating back to Allan Karp and Chris Reilly's tenure at Apax Partners. The firm's narrow mandate functions as a reputational filter, attracting founders and intermediaries who seek a capital partner with operational experience in multi-unit retail and restaurant rollouts rather than a financial buyer with no category fluency.