Former Cognizant CEO-founded PE firm Recognize closes second fund at $1.7 bn

Recognize cofounders Francisco D’Souza, Charles Phillips, and David Wasserman.

Private equity (PE) firm Recognize, founded by former Cognizant CEO Francisco D’Souza, announced the close of its second fund, Recognize Partners II, with over $1.7 billion in total commitments.

Cofounded in 2022 by Charles Phillips and David Wasserman along with D’Souza, Recognize is an investor-operator and partner to digital services innovators. Back then, it raised about $1.3 billion for its inaugural fund and closed investments in three platforms with over 4,000 employees.

“Recognize seeks to back visionary founders and management teams building differentiated businesses leveraging AI, software, and digital platforms to deliver transformative outcomes to enterprises,” the firm said in a release on June 30.

With Recognize II, the firm continues to focus on investing in companies with enterprise values between $50 and $500 million, that have a strong potential for accelerated growth with the support of Recognize’s partnership-driven approach.

Recognize II was oversubscribed and closed within five months from launch with support from existing investors, including a significant General Partner (GP) commitment, and a curated group of new investors.

The above list includes leading global endowments, foundations, pension firms, insurers, family offices, outsourced CIOs, and funds-of-funds across the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Over the last six months, the New York-headquartered PE has made four new investments: SDG Corporation (cybersecurity), Sprout (digital infrastructure), TRANZACT (insurance), and HealthEdge (SaaS for healthcare payers).

The firm also completed two realisation events earlier this year: the exit from AST, which it sold to IBM, and the sale of AI-powered talent platform Torc to a subsidiary of the staffing firm Randstad.

“We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of our partners,” said Debbie Park Munfa, Partner and Head of Investor Relations at Recognize. “We remain focussed on building digital services businesses for the future and partnering with excellent management teams to deliver long-term value for our investors.”

Recognize was advised on the fundraise by Rede Partners Americas LLC, with Goodwin Procter LLP serving as the legal and tax counsel.

Also, read: Recognize's Francisco D'Souza on the future of IT hiring in India: 'Still a great creator of jobs'