Congratulations Yet Again, Phil: A GrowthCap Top Software Investor for 2026

October 22, 2026

GrowthCap's introduction to its Top Software Investors of 2026 describes what entrepreneurs need from their investors as AI reshapes the software market: deep domain knowledge, specialized expertise and the judgment to help a business move forward amid considerable uncertainty. Our very own Phil Dur, PeakSpan's Co-Founder and Managing Partner, is among this year's honorees, following his recognition in 2025. Reading GrowthCap's rationale, we recognized much of the (at the time) unconventional thinking that led Phil to build our firm eleven years ago, and it is gratifying to see his vision continue to prove prescient.

Phil's thesis for PeakSpan began with a very specific entrepreneur in mind: someone who had built a software scale-up anywhere from $3 to $15 million in revenue in market segments venture capital had often overlooked, often with little outside capital where failure wasn't in their vernacular, and possessed the potential to be a consequential business with the execution to back it up, yet pragmatism to understand substance wins over form, every single time. Respecting their effort to get to that point comes through in how Phil describes the responsibility of being chosen:

"For the entrepreneurs we serve, both net worth and income are tied to the businesses they founded. You have to appreciate what it takes for that person to invite you into something they've worked so hard to build. They're my heroes, and I'm proud to accept this on behalf of our extremely dedicated team that understands just how much responsibility comes with being in their corner."

When Phil and Matt Melymuka started PeakSpan in 2015, this respect for entrepreneurs put them at odds with the prevailing wisdom in the valley to pursue "growth at all costs," a remarkably easy thing to say when someone else would bear so much of the economic brunt of starting a company.

So PeakSpan set out to help entrepreneurs build ambitious businesses iteratively through a series of strategic milestones that minimize the risk of failure and give scale-ups more agency to define what success looks like for them, all while preserving their options. As Phil explains it, you can climb Mount Rainier, then Mont Blanc, then decide whether you want to tackle Everest or not. Certainly, there is plenty to accomplish before anyone needs to climb the world's tallest mountain without oxygen.

Across four funds and 59 portfolio partnerships, that approach has produced top-quartile and often top-decile fund performance, with an industry-leading realized capital-loss rate below 3%. Portfolio companies like Cloudbeds have grown revenue more than 30x and surpassed nine figures in ARR. Epignosis has grown approximately 15x, and Cyara approximately 10x to nine-figure scale.

Outcomes like these matter as software entrepreneurs weigh what AI makes possible for their businesses in 2026 and beyond. Specifically, GrowthCap observes that companies with deep domain expertise and established roles in their customers' operations have considerable staying power, and that AI can make them more valuable still. Phil shares this optimism fully. He sees this moment as potential for the biggest expansion of business software since the internet, particularly for entrepreneurs who know their customers well enough to put the technology to useful work across strategic applied AI use cases.

Helping them accomplish this takes the kind of preparation GrowthCap highlights in this year's list. At PeakSpan, it shows up in deliberate choices Phil made from day one and still stands by today:

• Keep playing the same sport. PeakSpan has grown to approximately $2.6 billion in AUM, while its typical partnership remains with companies generating roughly $6 to $7 million in revenue. Each team member (partner to analyst) focuses exclusively on two to three applied AI software sectors, building deep expertise that propels our portfolio partners forward and benefits the next entrepreneur.
• Find the person who has actually done the work. PeakSpan's Expert Community of 500 practitioners and operators connects founders with people who have faced the same challenges at a similar stage and in the same industry, turning relevant experience into practical support from day one.
• Build tools that make you a better partner. PeakSpan's proprietary technology has received four U.S. patents. One AI application prepares Phil for entrepreneur conversations by bringing together their previous discussions and new company, industry, and personal developments. It is a practical use of AI: helping someone with countless entrepreneur conversations in a day arrive informed and ready to help.
• Give people room to grow into the responsibility. Seventy-five percent of PeakSpan's investment team started as Summer Analysts. Their development has happened alongside the entrepreneurs they serve, building the experience and relationships the firm will rely on for decades to come.

At PeakSpan's tenth-anniversary gathering last year, Phil challenged the team to spend the next decade becoming the firm entrepreneurs most want beside them. GrowthCap's assessment of what this moment demands gives this ambition even more urgency: as AI expands what founders can build, we have to keep getting better at helping them build it.

Congratulations, Phil, and thank you for setting that expectation for all of us.

Read the full story on GrowthCap here

Join us in celebrating Phil on LinkedIn