Hughes & Company

Overview

Hughes & Company is a private equity firm based in Chicago, Illinois, focusing exclusively on lower middle market healthcare software and technology-enabled service companies. The firm seeks to create substantial value through revenue and EBITDA growth by partnering with companies that have demonstrated business models and sustainable margin structures. Hughes & Company typically invests between $5 million and $50 million per company, engaging in both minority and majority control transactions, including growth equity, leveraged buyouts, spin-outs, and strategic combinations. The firm's investment strategy emphasizes active involvement with portfolio companies, aiming to accelerate growth, expand margins, enhance customer value propositions, and increase long-term retention. This approach is supported by an extensive network of longstanding relationships with senior executives, advisors, and partners across the healthcare software and technology-enabled service market. Hughes & Company does not invest in clinical service, pre-revenue, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or highly capital-intensive businesses. Since its inception in 2011, Hughes & Company has built a successful track record, closing its first private equity fund, Hughes Growth Equity Fund I, L.P., at $116 million in July 2021, exceeding its original target of $100 million. The firm made its first investment from this fund in December 2020 in Azara Healthcare, a population health management software provider. In September 2025, Hughes & Company closed its second private equity fund, Hughes Growth Equity Fund II, L.P., at its hard cap of $260 million, exceeding its original target of $200 million. The firm continues to focus on investments that improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency within the healthcare sector. Hughes & Company's portfolio includes investments in companies such as Health Data Innovations, a healthcare data integration platform serving value-based care providers and payers, and Voluware, a provider of solutions to speed and simplify prior authorizations. These investments reflect the firm's commitment to supporting innovative companies that enhance healthcare delivery through technology and data integration.