Bow River Capital Evergreen Fund Seeks Co-Investment Relief After Venture Capital Acquisition

Bow River Capital’s private equity filed an amended application for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission co-investment exemptive relief as the Denver-based manager integrates a newly acquired venture capital firm. Its private equity interval fund crossed $1.2 billion in net assets at the end of its most recent fiscal year, returning 13% net of fees as it deployed $290 million across 37 transactions.

The Bow River Capital Evergreen Fund, which is distributed through the broker-dealer and registered investment adviser channel by Foreside Financial Services, grew its net assets from $760 million to $1.21 billion in the 12 months ended March 31, 2026. The fund raised more than $377 million in net new capital during the period and reported a cumulative net return of 95.2% since its inception in December 2020.

The fund also amended its pending co-investment exemptive application on June 5, seeking SEC authorization under Section 17(d) of the Investment Company Act to invest alongside other Bow River-managed funds and affiliated entities in privately negotiated transactions. This activity would otherwise be prohibited between affiliated registered funds without SEC authorization. Bow River originally filed the application in August 2025.

The registration is well-traveled territory for the largest alternatives managers. As AltsWire reported in April when Bluerock sought similar relief, sponsors including Apollo, Blue Owl Capital, FS Credit, and BlackRock have already obtained comparable orders. Bluerock subsequently widened its application in June to cover open-end registered funds in addition to its closed-end vehicles. Bow River’s amended application follows that same pattern – a manager building the regulatory infrastructure needed to run its registered fund platform at scale.

The amendment comes as the firm absorbs Spur Capital Partners, a venture capital firm Bow River agreed to acquire in March 2026 with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter. With a venture capital firm coming under the Bow River umbrella, the Evergreen Fund will need exemptive relief to co-invest alongside Spur Capital’s deals without running afoul of the affiliated transaction rules. The fund’s venture allocation has risen from 1% of the portfolio in March 2025 to 7% in March 2026, part of what Bow River describes as a deliberate reorientation toward growth and venture capital after a three-year pause.

Fiscal Year Performance

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, the Evergreen Fund returned 13% net of fees for its Class I shares, against 18.9% for the MSCI World Index over the same period. The fund’s annualized return since inception stands at 13.6%, compared with 10.8% annualized for the MSCI World since Class I’s December 2020 inception date.

Performance for the year was driven primarily by valuation gains in direct co-investments in middle- and lower middle-market companies. The fund deployed $290 million into 37 transactions during the period across co-investments, secondary fund purchases, and primary fund commitments, bringing total private market investments to 170 positions. As of March 31, 2026, private investments represented 87.8% of total net assets, with direct investments at 49.5% and secondary funds at 20.2%.

The company also reduced the minimum initial investment for Class I shares from $250,000 to $50,000, and the fund’s sub-advisory relationship with Aksia CA LLC expired. The fund said its investment objective and strategies are unchanged.

Bow River’s amended application is part of a broader pattern of private equity-focused interval funds seeking to build out the co-investment architecture that credit-focused interval funds have largely already secured. The Evergreen Fund, launched in 2020 as one of the first interval funds focused explicitly on private equity rather than private credit, occupies a different segment of the registered alternatives market than the real estate and credit interval funds that have dominated the channel’s growth.

Bow River Advisers, LLC serves as the investment adviser to the fund. Jeremy Held, president and chief executive officer, and Joe Stork are the fund’s portfolio managers.

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