Key Takeaways
- • Motive Partners, a New York-based private investment firm focused exclusively on financial technology and technology-enabled business services, announced it has been named to TIME America's Top Venture Capital Firms 2026.
- • The firm cited its integrated Venture, Growth Equity and Buyout platform, which it says allows learnings from early-stage investments to inform later-stage decisions, as central to the recognition.
- • Motive highlighted the $1.8 billion sale of With Intelligence to S&P Global as a value-creation milestone, cited in a separate Actum Large Cap Deal of the Year recognition.
- • The firm reported that every new Venture investment over the past two years has been in an AI-native business, and expanded its bench of Industry Partners with figures such as former J.P. Morgan Global Chair of Investment Banking Jennifer Nason.
Summary
Motive Partners announced that it has been named to TIME America's Top Venture Capital Firms 2026, according to a Business Wire press release issued by the firm. TIME's ranking considers factors including fundraising, deployment, investment performance and hands-on leadership. Motive framed the recognition as particularly significant because its Venture strategy sits within an integrated platform spanning early-stage Venture, Growth Equity and Buyout, operating under what it calls its Investor-Operator-Innovator (IOI) model.
The firm said the TIME accolade follows other 2026 recognitions. GrowthCap named Motive among its Top Growth Equity Firms and recognized its private equity platform. Actum awarded its value-creation capabilities Large Cap Deal of the Year, following the $1.8 billion sale of With Intelligence to S&P Global, which the firm described as a transformation into a scaled, technology-enabled private markets data and analytics platform. Members of Motive's next generation of investment leadership were also recognized by GrowthCap, Financial News and Private Equity International. The press release notes that the $1.8 billion transaction value is based on the S&P Global announcement.
Venture is led by Ramin Niroumand, Partner, Investments and Head of Venture. Motive said every new Venture investment over the past two years has been in an AI-native business. Founding Partner and Head of Investments Scott Kauffman said learnings flow in both directions across the platform, with Venture insights informing Growth and Buyout decisions. Founder and Managing Partner Rob Heyvaert described financial technology as infrastructure for the global economy.
Motive also reported expanding its bench of Industry Partners, advisors and senior leaders during 2026. Additions include Jennifer Nason, who joined as an Industry Partner after a nearly four-decade career at J.P. Morgan, most recently as Global Chair of Investment Banking. Other named figures include Umesh Subramanian, former Citadel Chief Technology Officer; Ulrich Körner, former Credit Suisse CEO; Paul Compton, Barclays Investment Banking Chairman; Tim Karpoff, former Citi Global Head of Strategy; Renée Berman, a digital-assets and capital-markets leader; and Laurent Caraffa. The firm says it invests across five subsectors (banking and payments, capital markets, data and analytics, insurance, and wealth and asset management) from offices in New York, London and Berlin. The release includes standard disclaimers stating that the rankings reflect independent third-party assessments and that Motive paid no fee to be considered.
The firm said the TIME accolade follows other 2026 recognitions. GrowthCap named Motive among its Top Growth Equity Firms and recognized its private equity platform. Actum awarded its value-creation capabilities Large Cap Deal of the Year, following the $1.8 billion sale of With Intelligence to S&P Global, which the firm described as a transformation into a scaled, technology-enabled private markets data and analytics platform. Members of Motive's next generation of investment leadership were also recognized by GrowthCap, Financial News and Private Equity International. The press release notes that the $1.8 billion transaction value is based on the S&P Global announcement.
Venture is led by Ramin Niroumand, Partner, Investments and Head of Venture. Motive said every new Venture investment over the past two years has been in an AI-native business. Founding Partner and Head of Investments Scott Kauffman said learnings flow in both directions across the platform, with Venture insights informing Growth and Buyout decisions. Founder and Managing Partner Rob Heyvaert described financial technology as infrastructure for the global economy.
Motive also reported expanding its bench of Industry Partners, advisors and senior leaders during 2026. Additions include Jennifer Nason, who joined as an Industry Partner after a nearly four-decade career at J.P. Morgan, most recently as Global Chair of Investment Banking. Other named figures include Umesh Subramanian, former Citadel Chief Technology Officer; Ulrich Körner, former Credit Suisse CEO; Paul Compton, Barclays Investment Banking Chairman; Tim Karpoff, former Citi Global Head of Strategy; Renée Berman, a digital-assets and capital-markets leader; and Laurent Caraffa. The firm says it invests across five subsectors (banking and payments, capital markets, data and analytics, insurance, and wealth and asset management) from offices in New York, London and Berlin. The release includes standard disclaimers stating that the rankings reflect independent third-party assessments and that Motive paid no fee to be considered.
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