Walter Kortschak | $1B+
Get in touch with Walter Kortschak | Walter Kortschak is a veteran venture capitalist and former managing director of Summit Partners, where he helped establish the firm’s West Coast presence and backed a long list of technology winners over more than two decades. After joining Summit in 1989, he built a reputation for high-conviction growth investing, with standout bets in companies such as McAfee, Finisar, and Xylan. He later helped launch SignalFire and now invests privately in early-stage technology, extending a career that has made him one of Silicon Valley’s most enduring investors. 
Walter Kortschak is a Senior Advisor and former Managing Director of Summit Partners. He joined the firm in 1989, and he has invested in more than 30 companies, including 15 public companies. Over the course of his tenure at Summit, Walter helped to establish Summit’s West Coast office, served on the firm’s executive committee and was a Managing Director until 2010. In addition, Walter served as a member of Summit’s Board of Managers until 2017.
Walter’s prior Summit board directorships and investments include E-TEK Dynamics, McAfee, Finisar, HMT Technology, Diamond Multimedia Systems, AltoCom, NetCom Systems and Xylan.
Prior to Summit, Walter was a Vice President and Associate at Crosspoint Venture Partners and a software engineer in the computer graphics field. He received a BS in engineering, with honors, from Oregon State University, an MS in engineering from Caltech, and an MBA from UCLA.
In 2013, Walter helped launch SignalFire as the first seed fund using a proprietary AI data platform to source investments and track technical talent across the globe. He served as Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer until 2023, when he transitioned to Chairman Emeritus and Founding Investor of SignalFire. Today as a private investor, Walter invests in pre-seed and seed stage companies in AI/ML infra, open-source, cybersecurity, blockchain infra, and vertical AI/SaaS.
Walter was named to the Forbes Midas List from 2007 to 2010. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Caltech and a former director of the National Venture Capital Association.
Walter and his wife Marcia are active philanthropists having established the Kortschak Scholars Program for incoming Ph.D. students in computer science at Caltech and the USC Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity at the University of Southern California. They also endowed the Division Chair in Film and Television Production at USC Cinematic Arts.
Summit Partners is a growth-focused private equity and venture capital firm founded in 1984 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2] The firm specializes in providing equity investments ranging from $10 million to $500 million to support the expansion of high-potential companies in sectors including technology, healthcare and life sciences, and growth products and services.[1] With over $46 billion in assets under management as of 2024, Summit Partners has invested in more than 550 companies across its 40-year history, emphasizing partnerships with exceptional management teams to drive sustainable growth.[3][1]The firm operates from five global offices, including locations in Menlo Park, California; New York City; London, United Kingdom; and Luxembourg, and employs more than 225 professionals with deep sector expertise.[2] Summit Partners bridges traditional venture capital and private equity by targeting later-stage growth opportunities, often leading to significant exits such as acquisitions and initial public offerings; in 2024 alone, it realized $3.8 billion from 20 portfolio companies and completed over 100 acquisitions within its portfolio.[1][3] Notable investments include fintech leader Celcoin, cybersecurity firm Darktrace (acquired for $5.3 billion), and wealth management platform Earned Wealth.[3] Through its committed approach to founder-friendly investing, Summit Partners has built a reputation for fostering category-defining businesses while delivering strong returns to its limited partners.[1]
History
Founding and Early Years
Summit Partners was founded in 1984 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Gregory M. Avis, E. Roe Stamps IV, and Stephen G. Woodsum, all former partners at the private equity firm TA Associates. The founders sought to build a firm dedicated to providing growth capital to high-potential companies, emphasizing minority stakes that preserved entrepreneurial control while offering strategic support for expansion. This vision differentiated Summit from traditional buyout firms, positioning it as a partner for scalable businesses in dynamic sectors.From its earliest days, Summit Partners concentrated on minority investments in U.S.-based technology and healthcare startups, with an emphasis on seed and early-stage opportunities. The firm targeted profitable, high-growth companies needing capital to accelerate development without relinquishing majority ownership, thereby establishing a pioneering growth equity model that bridged venture capital and conventional private equity approaches.In the mid-1980s, Summit made its initial major investments, including early backings in software and biotech firms, which validated its strategy and built a track record in fostering innovation-driven growth. Operating from modest Boston offices, the firm evolved steadily through the late 1980s, raising and deploying its first funds to support a portfolio of emerging ventures and setting the stage for broader scale by the early 1990s.
Expansion and Milestones
Following its establishment in Boston, Summit Partners initiated international expansion in the early 2000s by opening its London office in 2001, led by Managing Director Scott Collins.[4] This development established a foothold in Europe, enabling the firm to pursue growth equity opportunities across the region and later extending its presence with an office in Luxembourg around 2017.[2] By the mid-2000s, the firm had also opened additional U.S. offices in Menlo Park, California, and New York to bolster its domestic operations and support a growing portfolio of investments.[5]Key milestones in fund management underscore the firm's scaling efforts. In the late 1990s, Summit Partners raised its first $1 billion fund, marking a significant step in dedicated growth equity commitments and helping the firm exceed $1 billion in assets under management by 2000.[6] This momentum continued through the 2000s, with the firm closing multiple growth equity funds amid the post-dot-com market recovery, including the $3 billion Private Equity Fund VII by the mid-2000s.[7] In 2000, the original co-founders transitioned daily management to a group of five partners, facilitating internal reorganizations that enhanced sector-specific expertise in areas like technology and healthcare.The firm's growth accelerated in subsequent decades, with assets under management reaching over $37 billion by the early 2020s and surpassing $45 billion by 2024 through successive fundraisings, such as the $8.35 billion Eleventh U.S. Growth Equity Fund in 2021 and the $9.5 billion Twelfth U.S. Growth Equity Fund in 2024.[8][9] Over its history, Summit Partners has invested in more than 550 companies, reflecting a robust track record that included over 175 initial public offerings and 250 strategic sales or mergers across its portfolio companies.[10][11]
Business Operations
Investment Focus and Strategy
Summit Partners primarily focuses on growth equity investments, targeting profitable, category-leading companies in high-growth sectors such as technology, healthcare and life sciences, and growth products and services.[12] The firm's strategy emphasizes providing capital and resources to accelerate organic expansion, mergers and acquisitions, and shareholder liquidity, while prioritizing profitable growth as the foundation for building durable businesses and long-term value.[13] This approach bridges traditional venture capital and private equity, often entering at growth stages where companies demonstrate scalable business models and strong market positions, typically from Series B rounds through pre-IPO opportunities.[1]Key investment criteria include exceptional management teams characterized by leadership, initiative, and strategic vision, alongside businesses exhibiting high growth potential in large addressable markets.[12] Summit Partners seeks companies with proven scalability and the ability to generate value through operational enhancements rather than aggressive leverage or financial engineering.[13] The firm differentiates itself by offering minority or majority stakes without imposing operational control, instead fostering long-term partnerships with founders to support sustained development.[1]In terms of deal structures, Summit Partners typically commits $10 million to over $500 million per investment, including control transactions, growth buyouts, or platform builds.[12] To aid portfolio companies, the firm deploys its in-house Peak Performance Group, which provides on-demand expertise in areas like operations, human capital, M&A execution, technology, and capital markets access, enabling executives to focus on core growth initiatives.[13] This operational support model, combined with active board involvement from a team of over 225 professionals, underscores Summit Partners' philosophy of collaborative value creation across a diversified portfolio to balance risk and maximize impact.[1]
Geographic Presence and Offices
Summit Partners is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, where the firm was founded in 1984 and which serves as the primary hub for its U.S.-based investments.[1] The Boston office, located at 222 Berkeley Street, oversees a significant portion of the firm's growth equity activities, particularly in technology, healthcare, and life sciences sectors across North America.[2]The firm maintains a network of offices in the United States and Europe to support its global operations. In addition to Boston, U.S. locations include Menlo Park, California (200 Middlefield Road, Suite 200), which emphasizes technology investments on the West Coast, and New York (920 Broadway, 10th Floor), facilitating East Coast deal sourcing and portfolio management.[2] In Europe, the London office (11-12 Hanover Square), established in 2001, focuses on European growth opportunities and was founded to expand the firm's international reach. Complementing this is the Luxembourg office (19-21 route d’Arlon).[2]Summit Partners' geographic presence underscores its emphasis on North American markets, where the majority of its investments are concentrated, while maintaining a strong European footprint through dedicated offices. The firm also pursues opportunities worldwide, including in the Asia-Pacific region, often through co-investments and partnerships to adapt to local regulatory environments and market dynamics. Note that while a Mumbai office was opened in 2012 to support expansion into India, current operations focus on co-investments in the region rather than a physical presence.[14] This structure enables targeted regional strategies, such as leveraging the London office for GDPR-compliant investments in Europe and collaborating with local investors in Asia for fintech and software deals.[1]
Portfolio and Investments
Notable Technology Investments
Summit Partners made a significant early growth investment in Uber in 2014, participating in a $1.2 billion funding round that valued the on-demand transportation company at $17 billion pre-money.[15][16] This investment supported Uber's rapid expansion into new markets and supported services, culminating in the company's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019 under the ticker UBER, marking a successful exit for Summit.[17]In the cybersecurity sector, Summit Partners provided expansion capital to McAfee, a leading provider of network security software, with an initial investment dating back to 1991 that helped fuel its growth into a global enterprise.[18] McAfee, which develops solutions to prevent intrusions and protect against cyber threats, went public via IPO in 1992, providing an exit for Summit.[19]Summit Partners has a long history of supporting antivirus and enterprise software firms, exemplified by its investments in Avast and Infor. In 2010, Summit invested $100 million for a minority stake in Avast, the developer of popular antivirus software, followed by a 2014 recapitalization alongside CVC Capital Partners that valued the company at $1 billion and drove U.S. and mobile growth.[20][21] This backing facilitated key acquisitions, such as the $1.3 billion purchase of AVG in 2016, and led to Avast's IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, with Summit exiting in 2019; Avast later merged with NortonLifeLock in 2022 to form Gen Digital, listed on the NYSE.[22][21] Similarly, Summit provided growth funding to Infor starting in the early 2000s, initially through acquisitions of Summit portfolio companies in 2003 and 2004, and a major recapitalization in 2012 with Golden Gate Capital that accelerated cloud-based enterprise software development.[23] By 2017, Infor had grown to serve over 90,000 customers worldwide with more than 50% of revenue from SaaS applications, supported by a $2 billion investment from Koch Industries.[24][25]In cybersecurity, Summit Partners invested in Darktrace in 2023, a leader in AI-driven cyber defense, supporting its global expansion; the company was acquired in 2024 for $5.3 billion, providing a successful exit.[3]Other notable technology investments include Flow Traders and Clearwater Analytics, highlighting Summit's focus on fintech and analytics. Summit invested in Flow Traders, a technology-enabled liquidity provider for exchange-traded products, in 2008, aiding its expansion into new asset classes and U.S. markets, which resulted in a 4.5x increase in net trading income and an IPO on Euronext Amsterdam in 2015 at a €1.5 billion valuation.[26][27] In 2011, Summit made a growth equity investment in Clearwater Analytics, a provider of cloud-based investment portfolio analytics software, supporting its scaling to serve asset managers, insurers, and banks until Summit's exit in 2016; the company went public via IPO in 2021 under subsequent ownership and remains a key player in the sector as of 2025.[28][29]
Notable Healthcare and Life Sciences Investments
Summit Partners has made over 120 investments in the healthcare and life sciences sector since 1984, focusing on innovative companies in therapeutic development, digital health platforms, and clinical trial services.[30] These investments support advancements in behavioral health, vaccine delivery, virology research, and data analytics for drug trials, contributing to improved patient outcomes and operational efficiencies in the industry.A key example is LifeStance Health, a leading provider of outpatient mental health services, where Summit Partners invested in 2017 alongside Silversmith Capital Partners to build a national network of evidence-based treatment centers.[31] The investment facilitated the company's expansion, enabling it to serve over 3,300 clinicians and patients across multiple states.[32] LifeStance went public in June 2021, raising $590 million in its IPO and achieving a valuation exceeding $7 billion, with Summit retaining a significant stake post-IPO.[33][34]In digital health, Summit Partners provided $95 million in growth financing to Healthline Media in 2016, enabling the development of high-quality consumer health content and tools as a standalone entity.[35][36] This backed innovations like clinician-reviewed articles and social media programs, positioning Healthline as a top health information provider reaching millions monthly.[37] The company was acquired by Red Ventures in July 2019, marking a successful exit that underscored Summit's role in scaling digital health media.[38][39]Summit Partners led a growth investment in VaxCare in 2020, a technology-enabled platform streamlining vaccine management for physician practices and health systems.[40] This funding supported national expansion and product enhancements, helping providers deliver connected preventative care amid rising vaccination demands.[41] VaxCare was acquired by Blackstone in June 2025 for approximately $1.7 billion, reflecting substantial growth during Summit's involvement.[42][43]In biotechnology, Summit Partners made a majority growth equity investment in Viroclinics Biosciences in 2019, a contract research organization specializing in virology and immunology services for clinical trials.[44] The partnership accelerated assay development and trial support, particularly for antiviral therapeutics, employing over 390 experts at the time.[45] Viroclinics was acquired by Cerba HealthCare in December 2021, integrating its capabilities into a global diagnostics leader.[46]Another biotech highlight is CluePoints, where Summit invested in 2020 to advance its AI-powered risk-based quality management software for clinical data analytics.[47] The investment drove R&D, team expansion, and SaaS product launches, achieving fivefold annual recurring revenue growth and adoption by over 9,500 users.[48][49] In June 2024, EQT acquired a majority stake, with Summit retaining a minority position to support ongoing innovation in trial efficiency.[50]These investments exemplify Summit Partners' strategy in healthcare and life sciences, yielding strong outcomes such as sixfold EBITDA growth in select exits like HealthCare Partners.[51]
Leadership and Team
Founders
Summit Partners was cofounded in 1984 by Gregory M. Avis, E. Roe Stamps IV, and Stephen G. Woodsum, all of whom previously worked together at TA Associates and brought experience from earlier roles in investment banking and private equity.[1] The trio raised the firm's inaugural growth equity fund of $160 million from limited partners, establishing a model focused on partnering with high-potential companies to drive long-term value creation through minority investments and operational support.[52]Gregory M. Avis served as a managing director at Summit Partners from 1984 until 2000, contributing to the firm's early operational infrastructure and deal sourcing strategies during its formative years.[53] Prior to founding Summit, Avis worked in investment banking at McDonald & Company and Goldman, Sachs & Co., and he holds a BA in political economy from Williams College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.[53] He also served on the boards of several portfolio companies, including RightNow Technologies (acquired by Oracle), Powerwave Technologies, and Digital Link Corporation, helping guide their growth before transitioning to a senior advisor role until 2017.[53][54]E. Roe Stamps IV was a founding managing director based in Boston who focused on technology and healthcare investments since the firm's inception, leading early fund deployments and serving on boards such as AmeriPath, Pediatrix Medical Group (now MEDNAX), and Sunrise Medical.[55][56] With a background including a general partner role at TA Associates, senior investment manager at First Chicago Investment Corporation, and associate at The Palmer Organization, Stamps earned BS and MS degrees in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School.[55]Stephen G. Woodsum was another founding managing director in Boston who pioneered Summit's growth equity model by emphasizing collaborative partnerships with founders and executives to support scalable expansion, including the firm's international outreach to Europe in the 1990s.[57][58] Before Summit, Woodsum was a general partner at TA Associates and an investment analyst at First Chicago Investment Corporation; he holds a BA in psychology from Yale University and a master's in management from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.[57] Woodsum served on numerous boards, such as CIDCO, Clean Harbors, and QMS.[57][59]
Key Managing Directors and Executives
Summit Partners' leadership is headed by Peter Y. Chung, who serves as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer since 2015. Chung joined the firm in 1994 after working in mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs & Co., bringing expertise in technology investments. He has overseen investments in over 30 companies, many in the technology sector, and currently sits on the boards of Empower RF Systems, HyperLight, Sound Physicians, Striim, and Syndigo. His role emphasizes strategic direction for the firm's global growth equity operations, leveraging his educational background from Harvard University (AB in Economics, magna cum laude) and Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA).[60]Scott C. Collins acts as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, focusing on technology investments while managing operational aspects of the firm. Collins joined Summit Partners in 1996, founded and led its London office from 2001 to 2016, and has served as a board director for more than 30 companies. Prior to Summit, he was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company in the financial institutions group and held positions in the U.S. federal government, including at the White House and Department of Justice. With degrees from Harvard University (AB in Economics, magna cum laude) and Harvard Law School (JD, cum laude), Collins drives efficiency and expansion in key markets like cybersecurity and enterprise software.[61]In the healthcare and life sciences domain, Craig D. Frances, M.D., stands out as a Managing Director since 2003, specializing in investments across healthcare providers, services, and life sciences technologies. A medical professional with an MD from Cornell University Medical College (where he was valedictorian) and chief residency at the University of California, San Francisco, Frances has founded three successful companies and advised on investments like BluePearl Veterinary Services and Integrated DNA Technologies. His contributions extend to authoring medical texts and serving as former president of the Healthcare Private Equity Association, informing Summit's approach to high-impact healthcare deals.[62]The firm's executive team is supported by a Board of Managers chaired by Martin J. Mannion, a Senior Advisor and former Managing Director who joined in 1985. Mannion, who previously served as Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer, has led investments in over 35 companies and received the 2015 Russell L. Carson Award for lifetime achievement in healthcare investing from the Healthcare Private Equity Association. With an AB in economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, he continues to guide strategic oversight. Overall, Summit Partners employs more than 225 professionals across its offices, including over 100 investment experts organized into sector-specific teams that prioritize deep knowledge in areas like artificial intelligence within technology and sustainable practices in growth products and services.[63][1]
Recent Activities
Fundraisings
Summit Partners closed its latest flagship U.S. growth equity fund, Summit Partners Growth Equity Fund XII, at $9.5 billion on October 2, 2024, exceeding its $9 billion target after a fundraising period of approximately five months that began in late April 2024.[9][64] The fund targets majority and minority investments ranging from $75 million to $500 million in profitable, category-leading growth companies across technology, healthcare, and growth products and services sectors.[9]The firm's prior flagship fund, Summit Partners Growth Equity Fund XI, raised $8.35 billion and closed in October 2021, following a launch in June of that year amid the post-pandemic economic recovery.[8][65] This closure marked a significant increase in scale, reflecting Summit Partners' expanding capacity to deploy capital into high-growth opportunities during a period of market rebound and renewed investor confidence in growth equity strategies.[8]Summit Partners' assets under management have demonstrated substantial growth, expanding from approximately $20 billion in 2020 to more than $37 billion by 2023, and surpassing $46 billion as of late 2024.[66][3] This trajectory underscores the firm's ability to attract increasing commitments through successive fundraises, supported by a track record of successful investments since its founding in 1984.[9]The investor base for these funds primarily consists of U.S. public and corporate pension plans, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices, with commitments drawn from both existing limited partners and new institutional investors.[67] In line with prior vintages, the general partner serves as the single largest investor in Summit XII, aligning interests and emphasizing long-term partnership with limited partners.[9]Summit Partners' fundraising strategy leverages its established performance history, including strong returns from earlier funds, to secure oversubscribed closings and build enduring relationships with institutional allocators.[68][69] This approach has enabled rapid capital aggregation, as evidenced by the quick closure of Summit XII despite a competitive private equity landscape.[9]
Exits and Acquisitions
Summit Partners achieved a significant exit from RELEX Solutions, a provider of supply chain and retail planning software, in December 2024, when Blackstone Growth and TCV acquired Summit's stake after nearly a decade of partnership since the firm's initial investment in 2015.[70][71] This transaction marked the culmination of Summit's support for RELEX's expansion into AI-driven forecasting and optimization tools, enabling the company to serve major retailers globally.[72]In July 2025, Summit Partners realized value from ELATEC, a provider of secure identification and access control solutions using RFID and NFC technologies, through its acquisition by Allegion plc for €330 million (approximately $360 million), following an investment starting in 2018.[73][74]In October 2025, Summit exited its investment in Highwire, a contractor success platform for capital projects, through its acquisition by Veriforce, a leader in supply chain risk management.[75][76] Highwire, backed by Summit since 2021, had grown to provide prequalification and risk assessment solutions for the construction industry, enhancing safety and compliance for over 1,000 organizations.[77] This exit underscores Summit's focus on technology platforms that streamline complex project ecosystems.Earlier, in 2024, Summit realized value from Darktrace, its cybersecurity investment since 2015, when the AI-driven threat detection firm was acquired by Thoma Bravo for $5.3 billion following its 2021 IPO.[78][79] Darktrace's autonomous response technology had scaled to protect enterprises against sophisticated cyber threats, representing a key realization in the cybersecurity sector.[80]Beyond direct exits, Summit's portfolio companies demonstrated robust M&A activity in 2024, completing more than 100 acquisitions to drive inorganic growth.[81] A notable example was TurningPoint Healthcare Solutions, a Summit-backed care management platform, which acquired Fairway Health in May 2024 to integrate AI-enabled condition management and workflow efficiencies for health plans and providers.[82][83] This deal expanded TurningPoint's capabilities in specialty care, including behavioral health and chronic disease support, serving millions of members.[84]Summit Partners' exits have contributed to strong overall performance, with the firm achieving a 2.4x gross multiple and 48% gross IRR across its growth equity funds since inception as of December 2023.[85] IPOs like LifeStance Health in 2021, where Summit invested in 2017, have also provided liquidity, with the behavioral health provider raising $720 million at a $7.5 billion valuation and Summit subsequently monetizing portions of its stake.[86][87] These realizations highlight Summit's strategy of partnering with high-growth companies through multiple value-creation phases.
Disclaimer: This profile is based on publicly available information. No endorsement or affiliation is implied.
Join UHNWI direct Affiliate Program
Earn Passive Income by Sharing Verified Contact Information of Billionaires, Centi-Millionaires, and Multi-Millionaires on the UHNWI Direct Platform
Maximize your earnings potential by sharing direct and validated contact information of the ultra-wealthy, including billionaires, centi-millionaires, and multi-millionaires. Join the UHNWI Direct platform and tap into a lucrative passive income stream by providing valuable data to those seeking high-net-worth connections. Start earning today with UHNWI Direct.
You may also be interested in reviewing other UHNWIs profiles.
To find the person you want to contact, start typing their name or other relevant tags in the search bar.
Please note: Our database contains over 10,000 direct contacts of UHNWIs, and it is highly likely that the individual you are seeking is already included. However, creating individual profiles for each contact is a meticulous and time-intensive process, So, if you are unable to find the profile of the individual you are looking for, please click here.
Filter by Net Worth: All | Billionaires | Centi-Millionaires | Multi-Millionaires
Filter by Location: All | USA | Canada | Europe | UK | Russia & CIS | Asia | MEIA | Australia | Latin America
Filter by Age: 1920-1930 | 1930-1940 | 1940-1950 | 1950-1960 | 1960-1970 | 1970-1980 | 1980-1990 | 1990-2000
Related People
UHNWI direct
