Gauge Capital Named to Inc.’s 2026 Founder-Friendly Investors List

October 27, 2026

Gauge Capital Named to Inc.'s 2026 Founder-Friendly Investors List

The annual list recognizes private equity, venture capital, and lending firms with strong track records of supporting founder-led businesses

Southlake, TX, October 27, 2026

Gauge Capital has been named to Inc.'s 2026 Founder-Friendly Investors list, which recognizes private equity firms, venture capital firms, and lenders with demonstrated track records of supporting founder-led companies. This year's list recognizes Gauge among 294 firms across the investment landscape.

The prestigious Founder-Friendly Investors list celebrates the investors and firms that work closely with entrepreneurs and remain engaged with the businesses they back. Honorees are recognized for their approach to partnering with founders and supporting their companies through growth and beyond.

"With the current funding environment and rapid changes facing growing companies, founders are looking for more than just capital from their investors. They want true partners who believe in their business, but who are also able to provide the critical advisement and strategic support they need to reach their potential," says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. "The 2026 Founder-Friendly Investor awards celebrate those firms -- the ones committed to partnership, excellence, and helping founder-led companies grow."

"We are honored to once again be recognized among all of these distinguished founder-friendly investors, now for the 7th consecutive year," said Drew Johnson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Gauge. "Partnering with founders to help scale their vision, while preserving the culture and values they have built, remains at the heart of what we do."

"We are grateful for the trust founders continue to place in us as partners," said Tom McKelvey, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Gauge. "With management typically rolling a meaningful amount of proceeds and the internal Gauge team serving as the largest investor in the fund, we believe our model creates strong alignment with the founders and teams we back."

Gauge remains committed to its mission of partnering with founders to aim to unlock the full potential of their businesses. Since the close of its $1.4 billion Fund IV in early 2024, Gauge has completed eight new platform investments, backing exceptional founder-led companies across its core sectors. As Gauge continues to grow, its dedication to supporting founders remains central to the firm's identity.

To compile the Founder-Friendly Investors list, Inc. went straight to the source: entrepreneurs who have sold to private equity and venture capital firms. Founders completed questionnaires about their experiences partnering with private equity, venture capital, and debt firms and shared data on how their companies have performed during these partnerships. The resulting list highlights investors that founders identified as strong partners throughout the investment process.

For more information or to view the complete list of honorees, visit https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors.

About Gauge Capital

Gauge Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in Southlake, Texas. Gauge invests in three key sectors: business services & technology, food & consumer, and healthcare. The Firm manages more than $3.0 billion in capital. For more information, please contact Andrew Peix, Partner, Business Development, at [email protected].

About Inc.

Inc. is a media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

The "Founder-Friendly Investors" award is a program designed by Inc. Magazine to help founder-led companies accelerate growth and create revenue. Private equity, venture capital firms and lenders that have exited U.S.-based, founder-led portfolio companies are eligible to apply. For investments to qualify, portfolio company founders must have remained actively involved in their business for at least one-year post-investment. Winning firms are selected based upon their track record, reputation, leadership and founder references. Gauge Capital is not aware of the number of advisers also surveyed for the award. Like all entrants, Gauge Capital paid a fee to be considered for this award and pays a fee to Inc. Magazine to use the collateral associated with the award and logo. This award is not to be construed as indicative of Gauge Capital's future performance. Reference to an award is only one piece of information relevant to an evaluation of an investment adviser such as Gauge Capital. Finally, this award represents information as of a specific date and time and may not reflect important information related to an evaluation of the investment adviser which has occurred prior to, or subsequent to, the award. Gauge Capital received this award in 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.

More information about the Founder-Friendly Investors list is available at https://incprivateequity50.secure-platform.com/a