Runtide Capital

Runtide Capital

Partner Rob Manning co-founded RunTide Capital to invest in growth-stage companies after a career spent building and exiting businesses in mobile, cloud, and networking infrastructure. He was a partner at Baker Capital from 2002 to 2015 and previously a founding executive of satellite radio network DMX and CFO of telecom carrier Intermedia Communications. Fellow partner Chuck Auster was part of the leadership team that took financial-network provider IXnet from startup through IPO to a $3.5 billion sale, later running PE at One Equity Partners before founding his own firm. The investment team combines deep operating seats with private equity discipline. The firm writes concentrated equity checks into technology-enabled businesses riding what it calls a new super-cycle of fundamental computing and networking advances. Sectors of domain expertise include enterprise software, cybersecurity, and edge-and-IoT infrastructure. Runtide positions its capital as a catalyst deployed at transition points — growth financing, recapitalizations, and turnarounds — and its partners step into active board roles to steer management through scale challenges. The team's track record includes roles in building six companies that achieved multi-billion-dollar public market valuations or exits, spanning names from Digex and Interxion to Wine.com and Adaptix. Geographic focus is North America, drawing on networks from decades of US and European deal-making. RunTide operates without disclosing a committed fund size or headcount, though its website lists three partners, one operating partner, and two senior advisors. The group functions as a lean team of experienced operators; operating partner Michael Pisterzi has led IP monetization efforts at Adaptix and PanOptis, and senior advisor Kerri Ford previously drove operational efficiency at Cabletron Systems, growing revenue 3x to $1.4 billion. There is no disclosure of adjacent philanthropic or co-investment vehicles. No recent fund close or transaction has been publicly announced in the last 24 months. Structurally, Runtide sits apart from many modern growth firms because its DNA is turnarounds and telecom restructuring, not venture-scale portfolio theory. Partners spent their formative years taking companies through bankruptcy-era consolidations and public-market exits at a time when infrastructure businesses were deeply out of favor. That lens — ownership of complex cap tables and structured outcomes — shapes a concentrated, board-heavy engagement model that looks more like a private holding company in a growth wrapper than a standard PE fund.