Asset Manager

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Rosewood Capital

Rosewood Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity firm. It invests in growth and mature companies in the US midwest, northeast, southeast, and west.

Rosewood Capital

Rosewood Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity firm. It invests in growth and mature companies in the US midwest, northeast, southeast, and west. Rosewood Capital focuses on transactions such as acquisition financing, buyouts, recapitalization, and shareholder liquidity.

General information

Firm type

Asset Manager

Year founded

1985

AUM

Undisclosed

Location

Region

North America

Country

United States

City

San Francisco

Corporate office

San Francisco, CA, United States

Principals

Byron Alsop

Co-Founder & Managing Director

Kenneth Sawyer

Co-Founder

Sector focus

Consumer BrandsRetail & E-CommerceEnterprise Software

Frequently asked questions

What is Rosewood Capital's investment strategy?

Rosewood Capital pursues a concentrated growth equity strategy in consumer products, specialty retail, and e-commerce. The firm typically takes minority or control stakes in companies at inflection points where capital can accelerate store growth, brand development, or digital transformation. Its model emphasizes close operational involvement rather than passive portfolio management.

Who makes investment decisions at Rosewood Capital?

Investment decisions have historically been led by co-founders Byron Alsop and Kenneth Sawyer. The firm operates as a tight partnership where senior partners originate, evaluate, and manage each portfolio position without a separate investment committee layer. Key operational hires have supplemented the founders on deal execution.

What are Rosewood Capital's most notable portfolio companies?

Confirmed positions include Peet's Coffee & Tea, Restoration Hardware, and Shutterfly. These three investments span the firm's core consumer and early-stage e-commerce thesis. Peet's returned capital via a 2012 trade sale, while Restoration Hardware and Shutterfly both completed public offerings.

Does Rosewood Capital still actively invest new capital?

Rosewood's most recent confirmed fund activity dates to the mid-2000s with Rosewood Capital V. The firm has not publicly announced a new fund close or active investment vehicle since that period, and its current deployment posture is not publicly disclosed. The partnership's long-term activity depends on the co-founders' ongoing involvement.

What differentiates Rosewood Capital from other growth equity firms?

Rosewood differentiated itself by maintaining a strictly consumer-focused mandate across three decades, well before consumer-tech became a mainstream venture category. The firm prioritized brand equity and unit economics over pure revenue growth, a lens shaped by its principals' early investments in brick-and-mortar retail chains that later scaled online.

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