Downing Private Equity
Private equityInactiveLondon · Seed–Series A · 29 people tracked
This fund appears to be inactive.
It is unlikely to be making new investments — this profile is kept for reference and historical accuracy.
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Investment thesis
Downing Private Equity targets needs-based healthcare and education sectors that are less correlated to economic cycles, aiming to build and scale businesses forming part of social infrastructure. Investments span children's day nurseries, SEND schools, specialist care, elderly residential care homes, retirement living and funeral care. The firm partners with experienced management teams, providing strategic insight, commercial support and industry networks, and emphasizes institutional governance and service quality to create and protect value. It can invest across the entire capital stack to meet investor return requirements, while pursuing positive social impact alongside attractive risk-adjusted returns.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 29 people
from the firm's website & curated & public directoriesJonathan Boss is a Partner at Downing LLP, where he provides debt and equity finance to UK businesses across sectors including data centres, hospitality and leisure, children's day nurseries, care homes, freehold pubs, and student residences. He has 20 years of experience investing in, buying, and selling private companies, working both as an adviser and as a principal.
Parik Chandra is a Partner and Head of Private Credit at Downing LLP, where he leads specialist lending activities focused on real estate finance and wholesale lending facilities. With over 20 years of experience in corporate and investment banking, he has worked across leveraged finance, corporate lending, restructuring, and private equity placement. Chandra holds an MBA from Durham University and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investments.
Mark Gross is Partner and Head of Private Equity at Downing, with more than 20 years of private equity experience spanning origination, transactions and portfolio management, having overseen over £1.5 billion of equity and debt capital. Since joining Downing in June 2014, he has led the growth of the firm's healthcare investment activities and its Private Equity team, and he has worked across sectors including healthcare, hospitality and leisure, retail, business services, specialty manufacturing and financial services. He previously worked at UK mid-market private equity firm Caird Capital LLP and held principal investment and leveraged finance roles at Bank of Scotland.
Chris Allner joined the Board of Pembroke VCT plc in June 2024, bringing roughly 40 years of experience in venture capital and private equity. He has been a partner at Downing LLP since 2012, where he chairs the investment committee, and also serves on Nesta's Impact investment committee. Earlier in his career he held senior investment roles at Octopus Capital, Beringea, and Bridgepoint.
Felix Danczak joined Pembroke as Head of AI & Growth in June 2025, working with portfolio companies on AI adoption and go-to-market strategy and supporting the investment team in assessing new deals. He previously served as VP, Global Head of Marketing at Zuora, COO at Zephr, and Head of Strategy at Signal AI, and is the author of a book on market-led growth. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick.
Investment Director at Downing who worked on the Lighthouse Funerals deal team, focused on backing community-focused funeral businesses.
Investment Manager at Downing who was part of the Lighthouse Funerals deal team.
Torsten Mack joined Downing in January 2019 as an Investment Director, where he handles deal origination, execution, and portfolio management with an emphasis on healthcare and education opportunities. He previously co-founded and served as Commercial Director of a UK specialist education business, and held roles as Principal at BC Partners, Director of Corporate Development at the Priory Group, and Associate in real estate principal investment at Goldman Sachs International. He holds a BA in economics from Brown University.
Chas Juliano is a CPA specializing in alternative asset management fund operations and currently serves as Controller at SANTÉ. Previously, Juliano was VP of Finance at an enterprise software company, overseeing financial reporting, FP&A, compliance, operations, and human resources.
Narendran Sivakumar is Head of Marketing & Partnerships at Mela Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups. He has over 10 years of experience across four early-stage startups in the investing, personal finance, and healthcare sectors, working in marketing, communications, operations, and business strategy roles.
Bill Manahan is Director of Institutional Solutions at Downing LLP, where he works with institutional investors to identify investment opportunities aligned with their impact objectives. His role centers on relationship management and delivering against client goals to establish trust.
Member of the Downing deal team on the care home portfolio exit.
Nuno Tome is a Director at Downing LLP with operational and investment experience in the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors. His work covers the sourcing and screening of investment opportunities, due diligence, financial modelling and valuation, funding discussions across the capital structure, and transaction structuring. He also has experience developing business plans and providing cross-functional support to management teams.
Tony Gannon is Head of Downing Renewable Developments, part of Downing LLP, where he leads an international renewable energy and data centre development business that he established, including building the team and originating a project pipeline of 10GW across the UK and Nordics. He has over 15 years of experience delivering renewable energy projects such as solar PV, battery storage, and windfarms, including windfarm construction projects typically valued between £80M and £200M. He is a Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer (CEng MICE MIStructE).
Wesley Goh is Finance Director at Downing, working in the renewable energy sector with over 10 years of experience in finance operations across international markets. He has led finance for an international investment fund, overseeing its set-up, structuring, and operations, and supporting the acquisition and onboarding of solar asset portfolios. His areas of expertise include financial reporting standards and international tax.
Chief Executive Officer of DVC, leading the firm's strategy of supporting high-growth companies in innovative sectors.
Managing Director and Head of Technology Services at Redwood Trust since 2014, leading application development and support. He previously held leadership roles at Promontory Financial Group and CGI. He holds a bachelor's degree from James Madison University.
What they invest in
from 2 of 5 portfolio companiesEnterprise Software ×1Healthtech ×1Marketing Tech ×1Mental Health ×1Wellness & Fitness ×1
HQs:United Kingdom×1United States×1
Investments · 5 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathFortava Healthcare operates care homes focused on delivering safe, compassionate support to residents.
HealthtechMental HealthWellness & FitnessPeterborough, GB
Johann van ZylinJamie StuartinAngela Johnson(HR Leader)Kate Kay(Operations & Quality Lead)Gail Busher(Finance Leader)
Zyper identifies a brand's most engaged social media followers and recruits them to create content and promote products within their own networks.
Enterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSan Francisco, US
Amber Atherton(Founder)inPhilip Thomas(Vice President Engineering)Zain Memon(Interim VP of Engineering)inRichard Hanson(Head of Data \u0026 Analytics)Talia Cirangle(Head of Marketing)Alexander Semien(Head of Operations)
Co-investorsY CombinatorForerunner VenturesTalis Capital
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Care Concern GroupLighthouse FuneralsRosedale Funeral Home
Exits · 2
2 acquisitions · showing 1Rosedale Funeral Homeacq. by Lighthouse Funerals
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Downing Private Equity made?
- Downing Private Equity has 5 tracked investments, 2 of which have exited.
- What stage does Downing Private Equity invest at?
- Downing Private Equity invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
- What is Downing Private Equity's typical check size?
- Downing Private Equity typically writes checks of $6.3M – $63M.
- What sectors does Downing Private Equity focus on?
- Downing Private Equity focuses on EdTech, Healthtech, Impact & Social Good, PropTech, SaaS.
- Where is Downing Private Equity located?
- Downing Private Equity is headquartered in London, GB.
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