Hildred, a lower middle-market healthcare private equity firm, today announced that it has been named to Inc.’s 2026 Founder-Friendly Investors list. The prestigious 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.

Over the past decade, Hildred has worked closely with founders and management teams to transform successful middle-market healthcare enterprises into tomorrow’s category leaders. The firm has created significant value for its portfolio companies, working with business leaders to drive innovation and improvements that increase scale and generate earnings growth, promote strategic and operational improvements, and accelerate business development to drive expansion.

On behalf of Hildred, Co-Founders and Managing Partners Andrew Goldman and David Solomon stated: “Serving as a trusted partner to our portfolio companies and their executive management has long been a critical component for how we operate and invest. Since our inception, we have remained committed to their long-term success and to taking the right steps to help them achieve their strategic objectives. We are honored to once again be recognized by Inc. as a founder-friendly investor and look forward to continuing to build great companies and achieving exceptional financial returns on behalf of our investors.”

“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.”

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 Hildred

Hildred is a healthcare-focused private equity firm that specializes in operationally intensive, control-oriented investments in lower middle-market companies. Hildred partners with innovative and growth-oriented management teams to build high quality businesses. The Hildred team possesses extensive experience across the healthcare industry, and seeks to leverage its unique blend of strategic, financial, commercial and operational acumen to drive strategic growth and create value for its portfolio companies and investment partners. Hildred currently has approximately $5 billion in assets under management. For more information, please visit www.hildred.com and follow the firm on LinkedIn.

About Inc.

Inc. is the leading 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.

Hildred paid Inc. a non-refundable processing fee to apply for Inc.’s 2026 Founder-Friendly Investors Listing, which all applicants were required to pay.

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