Goldman Buys $7B Venture-Capital Firm in Latest Asset-Management Bet

David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, characterized Industry Ventures as a pioneer of secondary investing in the venture capital space. (Giuliano Berti/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs will acquire Industry Ventures, a venture-capital firm managing $7 billion in assets, for up to $965 million.
• The acquisition involves an initial payment of $665 million in cash and equity, with an additional $300 million contingent on performance through 2030.
• This deal expands Goldman’s $540 billion alternatives investment platform and adds 45 Industry Ventures employees, including three executives, to Goldman.

Goldman Sachs is set to acquire Industry Ventures, a 25-year-old venture-capital firm that manages $7 billion of assets, in a deal that underscores the bank’s growth ambitions for its asset-management arm.

Goldman said Monday it will pay up to $965 million for the firm: $665 million in cash and equity at the deal’s closing, and an additional $300 million that hinges on Industry Ventures’ performance through 2030.

“Industry Ventures pioneered venture secondary investing and early-stage hybrid funds, areas that are rapidly expanding as companies stay private longer and investors seek new forms of liquidity,” Goldman Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said in a statement.

Industry Ventures says on its website that Uber, Snowflake, Meta, and DocuSign are among companies it has backed that have made exits. It is led by CEO Hans Swildens, who founded the investment firm.

The acquisition is the latest sign of Goldman’s broader focus on growing its asset-management business.

The New York-based firm has provided targets to generate higher return and profit margins from its asset- and wealth management operations, which together drove one-quarter of Goldman’s earnings in 2024.

Goldman has recently hired away marketers from rivals to boost the fund-management arm’s profile and last month entered into a partnership with T. Rowe Price to form new investment products.

For Goldman, the Industry Ventures deal “further diversifies the firm’s $540 billion alternatives investment platform,” it said Monday.

All 45 Industry Ventures employees are expected to join Goldman as part of the acquisition, the bank said. The tie-up will also add three executives to Goldman’s exclusive partner ranks: Swildens and Industry Ventures senior managing directors Justin Burden and Roland Reynolds.

Goldman said the deal, which the firm’s bankers advised on, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. The bank is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday before the market opens.

Write to Rebecca Ungarino at rebecca.ungarino@barrons.com