Each year for the past five years, Private Equity Analyst has honored a different group of women who have risen through the professional ranks of their respective firms. Although they are still far outnumbered by their male counterparts, more women are proving their mettle in the competitive and demanding deal-making landscape. This year’s crop of honorees is no exception and comes from a range of firm sizes, industries and investment strategies.
Michelle Noon
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Clearhaven Partners
Michelle Noon invested in software for the better part of two decades before launching her own firm last year. Boston-based Clearhaven Partners invests in lower-mid market software and software driven companies—in other words, the same types of companies Ms. Noon had been investing in for most of her career.
Clearhaven Partners
“The reception has been phenomenal,” she said, adding that she relishes the opportunity to shape the firm’s culture and values—a focus on personal relationships with business owners and investors—from the ground up. Ms. Noon previously spent 11 years at Riverside Partners, building the firm’s software practice, and before that, cut her investing teeth at Thoma Bravo, after being recruited by Orlando Bravo to the firm’s first software team. A self-described even keeled person who grew up in Illinois and attended Harvard Business School and the University of Notre Dame, Ms. Noon says starting her own firm has energized her. “The highs are higher and the lows are lower,” she said.
