Enlightenment closes debut on $80m

Enlightenment Capital held a final close on is debut private equity and debt fund on $80 million, the firm announced in a statement Wednesday.

The Washington, DC-based firm specialises in providing senior debt, mezzanine debt, and minority equity to mid-market companies in the US defence and government sector. The firm has been investing its capital since 2012, according to a statement.

“The D&G [defense and government] part of our landscape was now viewed as out of favor thanks to the negative headlines of sequestration, political impact and budget cuts,” firm co-founder Devin Talbott told Private Debt Investor last year. “There are a number of small to midsize companies that need capital and don’t have as much opportunity to access [it].”

Talbot founded the firm with Pierre Chao in 2012. Talbot is a former vice president at DE Shaw. Chao co-founded aerospace, defense and government sector due diligence firm Renaissance Strategic Advisors.

Last year, Enlightenment announced it had backed Opera Solutions, a predictive analytics company, as a strategic partner. Silver Lake Sumeru, Wipro Limited, Accel-KKR, Invus Financial Advisors, JGE Capital Management and Tola Capital had also invested in the company. The firm has also backed Vistronix and REI.