- Beacon targets overlooked sectors with AI-driven automations
- Beacon’s model emphasizes permanent ownership over rapid exits
- AI roll-ups have become popular VC investment theses
Rec Sports
Beacon Software raises $250 million to fund ‘anti-private equity’ AI roll-ups
Nov 4 (Reuters) – Beacon Software, a holding company that acquires smaller software businesses and uses artificial intelligence to transform them, has raised $250 million to fund its AI roll-up strategy, the company told Reuters.
The Series B round, led by General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and D1 Capital, valued the company at $1 billion.
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With $335 million raised in total since its launch last year, the funding underscores investors’ optimism around how AI-led automations will reshape traditional industries.
Founded by former Instacart President Nilam Ganenthiran and ex-Sequoia Capital Partner Divya Gupta, Beacon says it targets self-funded firms serving “Main Street” customers in sectors often overlooked by major tech investors, including youth sports leagues, campgrounds, manufacturers and unions.
Beacon buys a profitable, niche software business about every two weeks and equips them with a new software tech stack powered by AI, according to Ganenthiran. These companies typically generate less than $20 million in annual recurring revenue but are consistently profitable.
Beacon’s model, which he calls the “anti-private equity firm,” aims to modernize traditional industries by emphasizing permanent ownership and reinvestment in growth rather than the cost-cutting and rapid exits associated with private equity.
“We’re set up to grow them and hold them forever, which is a very different approach than what these entrepreneurs usually get,” Ganenthiran said.
Beacon is profitable as an entity, Ganenthiran said, adding that the fresh capital was raised to buy more companies and invest in its central technology platform. He expects this will be the last funding round for the company.
Beacon’s model relies on its “acceleration team,” a group of engineers and product managers who overhaul technology and operations for acquired companies. The team uses AI to rewrite products, automate back-office functions such as accounting and payroll, and speed up product development.
Unlike traditional private equity transactions, Ganenthiran said founders often remain with their companies after a sale, motivated by cash-based earn-out structures. Beacon pitches its deals as partnerships that preserve a founder’s legacy while providing the capital and technology to scale their businesses.
VC firms are backing similar AI-driven roll-up efforts across professional services such as accounting, although the long-term return of such roll-up models remains untested.
Reporting by Krystal Hu in San Francisco; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Listen to this articleTHE BLUEPRINT:
- A more than $175 million youth sports complex is proposed for Big Bend.
- The Breck Athletic Complex will include baseball, soccer, lacrosse fields and a 155,000-square-foot indoor facility.
- The developer requested rezoning 42 acres to facilitate construction.
- A public hearing is set for Jan. 29.
A youth sports complex worth more than $170 million is in play for Big Bend.
The village of Big Bend Plan Commission considered a proposal to turn farmland into a multiphase, mixed-use recreation and hospitality development in Waukesha County. The Breck Athletic Complex will include six turf baseball fields, seven full-size soccer fields, futsal and lacrosse fields, and an indoor turf facility spanning 155,000 square feet for baseball, soccer and lacrosse training, plans showed.
Eric Weishaar, founder and president of Breckenridge Landscape, presented the development to village officials in November 2025. I & S Group, Inc. provided design services.
Kraus-Anderson, the project construction manager, estimated the total construction cost will range between $175 and $225 million, according to a letter from I & S Group. Two major factors that will influence the final cost are a proposed retail area and anticipated upgrades to State Highway 164, plans showed.
The architecture will have a “Colorado Mountain Town” influence throughout eight stages of development, plans showed. Amenities include concessions, restrooms, playgrounds, fitness trails and landscaped plazas. Additional uses include a craft bar and restaurant, banquet hall, hotel, gas station and future retail spaces for visitors and residents.
The development team has requested rezoning 42 acres at the northeast corner of Skyline Avenue and State Highway 164, an agenda showed. The parcel is around 150 acres, but at least 40% of it will be used for green and open space, plans showed.
Located in the far north side of Big Bend, the development is south of homes and open land in the village of Waukesha and west and north of homes in the village of Vernon, plans showed.
Some residents in Big Bend and Vernon spoke up with concerns about the aesthetic of the 70-foot proposed building, potential light pollution and traffic, local outlets reported. The village has a population of nearly 1,500, according to the U.S. Census Bureau; the planned Breck Athletic Complex will provide around 1,500 parking spaces.
There were no residential units included in the development plans.
The village of Big Bend Board of Trustees and Plan Commission will hold a joint public hearing on Jan. 29 to discuss the rezoning.
Jan. 2, 2026, 11:26 a.m. CT
A youth sports facility planned for Brown Deer has taken a step forward with the developer buying the project site for $3.2 million.
Brown Deer Development Partners LLC, an affiliate of Cobalt Partners LLC, bought the site on North Arbon Drive, south of West Brown Deer Road, on Dec. 30.
That’s according to a deed posted online by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The mostly vacant site was sold by Brown Deer Master P1 LLC, an affiliate of Royal Capital Group Ltd.
On January 13, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a landmark case about laws in Idaho and West Virginia restricting access to youth sports according to biological sex. (Here is my defense of the use of the term “biological sex” for anyone who does not care for it.) I read a new book coming out this month, Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports, which argues for what I would characterize as a radical inclusiveness for transgender athletes.
The book casts doubt on the power of testosterone on determining competitiveness in sports. It insists that sex is not binary. And it goes so far as to suggest that there shouldn’t even be sex segregation in sports at all. Here is a quote from the book that distills its central claims:
The prevailing cultural narrative that trans athletes pose a threat to cis athletes is harmful to trans athletes. There is no evidence that they are dangerous or hostile to their cis team-mates. The policies restricting trans athletes in the name of protecting cis athletes stem from the same sexist logic that created sex segregation in sports to begin with. They assume that cis women are weaker than cis men, that trans women have the same biological makeup as cis men, and that trans men have the same biological makeup as cis women, and so, trans men aren’t worth worrying about when they compete in men’s sports. Let’s have a better conversation about safety in sports that leads to more safety in sports for everyone.
I spoke with the book’s authors, Ellie Roscher, a writer and former college athlete, and Dr. Anna Baeth, a critical feminist scholar and cultural studies practitioner of sport who is the director of research at Athlete Ally. I hope you’ll give a listen to the video and share it.
Here are a few show notes:
Piedmont Gas and Auto Repair on Highland Avenue across from the police station is shuttered for the time being due to a state mandate that went into effect on Jan. 1.
Under a California law passed in 2014, single-walled underground storage tanks that lack secondary containment and continuous leak detection had to be closed by Dec. 31, 2025. The law was intended to help prevent groundwater contamination.
According to the State Water Resources Control Board, penalties for systems out of compliance are $500 to $5,000 per day per underground storage tank. A bill introduced last February to carve out a grace period for operators who were acting in good faith to upgrade their tanks went nowhere.
Both the Piedmont Gas and Auto Repair and Grand-Mandana Gas Station show up on the Water Board’s map of the state’s remaining single-walled underground tank sites.
The Highland station across from the police station is now encircled by a fence. An employee inside the building said the gas pumps would be closed for “three months” in order to upgrade the tanks.
In related news, demolition on the proposed Shell EV charging station on Wildwood Avenue started in October 2025 There is still no opening date set for that location after a city-approved plan for the site was upended by Shell. (See article below for details.)
The Wilmington Bantam 1 squad, aided by a handful of Bantam 2 players, made the trip south to the Malden Valley Forum to face the Winchester Youth Hockey Sachems, and any concerns about post-holiday sluggishness were quickly put to rest.
Coming off the Bantam 1 and Bantam 2 Christmas party, one might have expected a slow start. Instead, Wilmington hit the ice with speed.
Crisp passing and disciplined defense defined the opening stretch, with Brian Doherty, Josh Saija, Cody MacDonald, Jack Fennelly and Brayden Doe setting the tone early with noticeable intensity and enthusiasm.
The first 20 minutes passed without a goal, thanks in large part to strong defensive play and the steady goaltending of Evan Jageler, who kept the Sachems off the scoreboard.
The breakthrough came at the 3:51 mark of the second period following an offensive zone faceoff.
Johnny Raposo won the draw cleanly back to defenseman Brendan Cyr.
Cyr moved the puck to the near side boards, where Cody MacDonald retrieved it and fired a low, hard shot toward the net. Zach Stroud was waiting, tipping the puck home on the backhand from about 14 feet out to give Wilmington the 1–0 lead.
Momentum stayed with the Wildcats.
Cyr doubled the advantage with a perfectly placed snipe from the top of the faceoff circle, beating the goalie high on the far side.
The play developed off a textbook sequence that showcased Wilmington’s puck movement philosophy. Raposo delivered a cross-ice pass from his own blue line to Stroud at center ice, and Stroud quickly one timed the puck to Cyr, who finished it.
Defensively, Mason Desmond and his blue line partner Cody MacDonald were outstanding, limiting Winchester’s offensive chances by forcing play to the outside and keeping attackers away from the high danger areas inside the dots.
Cyr capped off his standout performance with his second goal of the game and third point overall, scoring on a back door one-timer with 5:24 remaining.
The play began at the offensive blue line when Desmond collected a wraparound dump in from a Winchester defenseman. After a quick deke along the wall, Desmond threaded a cross-ice pass to Cyr, who buried the chance.
Desmond earned player of the game and wore the Wildcat battle helmet home. Evan Jageler collected his third shutout of the year, stopping all shots that came at him.
The Wildcats proved that they can enjoy the festivities and still bring a fast paced, disciplined game to the rink when it counts. Wilmington will return to action on December 28 at 11:40 a.m., once again at the Malden Valley Forum, when they take on the Reading Rockets
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