William Blair Capital Partners

William Blair Capital Partners was founded in 1982 to serve as the investment arm of William Blair & Company. During the 1980s, the firm became an active investor in leveraged buyout transactions. In 2004, the senior partners completed a spin-out from William Blair & Company to form Chicago Growth Partners, a move intended to provide access to a more diversified base of institutional investors.

Since its inception as William Blair Capital Partners, the team raised nine funds totaling approximately $1.8 billion. However, following the spin-out and the completion of two independent funds, the firm reportedly abandoned efforts to raise its third fund in 2014 and ceased operations as an active fundraising entity. Other remnants of the original William Blair team went on to found firms such as Seyen Capital and Emerging Market Technology.