Strattam, with Oak Hill pedigree, closes debut fund on $157 mln

Strattam Capital, formed by former Oak Hill and Rockwood Capital executives, wrapped up fundraising for its debut fund on $157 million, two sources told Buyouts.

The fund hit the fundraising market in 2014. The final tally includes $48 million of limited-partner co-investment, sources said.

While Strattam fell short of its $350 million target, early closes enabled the team to put roughly two-thirds of its existing capital to work. Existing LPs have also expressed interest in co-investing alongside Strattam in future deals, which could bring the total amount of third-party capital raised to upwards of $200 million, one source said.

Strattam is expected to finalize its acquisition of Blacksmith Applications, a software-as-a-service platform for consumer packaged goods businesses, this week. The firm’s first portfolio company, customer communications software specialist Doxim, will announce the add-on acquisition of DigitalMailer Inc later today.

Strattam acquired Doxim in 2014. A second platform acquisition, Trax Technologies, closed in March 2015.

Robert Morse and Adrian Polak launched Strattam in 2013. The firm specializes in enterprise software and information technology businesses with strong management teams.

Typical Strattam portfolio companies are 15 to 20 years old, Morse told Buyouts in 2015. At that stage, company leadership has a mature understanding of their products and market but limited resources for expansion.

“From a process-improvement standpoint, we borrow from the private equity world,” Morse said at the time. “From a company-building standpoint, we borrow from venture in that we like the management teams and we understand the products.”

Prior to launching Strattam, Morse was an executive on Oak Hill Capital Partners’ technology team. He led the team from 2007 to 2013 before leaving to launch Strattam, which operates down-market from Oak Hill’s targeted deal size.

Polak led Rockwood Capital’s data center investment program and was a senior adviser to Oak Hill before co-founding Strattam.

The firm recently hired Ray Villareal as an operating partner to work out of its Austin, Texas, office. Strattam also has an office San Francisco.

Action Item: For more information about Strattam Capital, visit www.strattam.com.

Photo of Robert Morse courtesy of Strattam Capital