Approach
How we invest
No fund life. Significant positions. Sectors we have operated in ourselves. This page explains what that means in practice — including what we do not do.
Our thesis
Most of what the digital economy is built on is unglamorous. Transport networks, interconnect, provisioning systems, the voice and messaging layer that sits between a company and its customers, the software that runs a back office. These businesses rarely produce a dramatic story. They produce something better: revenue that is difficult to switch off.
That is what we look for. Not the fastest-growing category, but the one where a customer would need a project plan and a budget to replace you.
We are also convinced that this kind of asset is badly served by the standard fund structure. A ten-year fund has to buy, improve and sell within a window that was defined before the first investment was made. For a network business with a seven-year build cycle, or a software company that needs three years to migrate a customer base, that window creates decisions no operator would make voluntarily.
Boxwood invests its own capital. We have no fund term, no committed exit date and no obligation to return capital on a schedule. That is not a philosophical preference — it is the reason we can underwrite plans that a buyer with a fund term cannot.
What we look for
- Sectors
- Digital infrastructure · telecom operators · communications and CX platforms · B2B software
- Geography
- Europe and Central Asia, with a focus on Southeast Europe
- Company profile
- Profitable, or with a clear and near path to profitability. Real customers, real contracts, understandable unit economics
- Revenue and investment size
- We do not publish a fixed range. If you want to know whether your business is in scope, the fastest way to find out is to write to us
- Ownership
- Control or a significant minority with board representation. We do not take passive positions
- Holding period
- Indefinite. We plan for ownership, not for exit
- Involvement
- Board seat, plus direct work on hiring, M&A and market entry where it helps
What we don’t do
We would rather tell you now than after three meetings.
- Pre-revenue and pre-product businesses We are not a venture fund, and we would not be a good venture fund.
- Passive minority positions Without board representation or governance rights.
- Businesses whose core asset is a licence or a regulatory relationship Rather than an operating capability.
- Turnarounds of businesses with structural revenue decline We buy durability, not distress.
- Consumer applications, marketplaces and advertising-funded models Not our expertise.
- Real estate, commodities and financial trading Outside our scope entirely.
- Anything requiring an exit within a defined period If your existing shareholders need liquidity by a fixed date, we are the wrong buyer and we will say so on the first call.
How we work
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First contact
Reply within three business days
You write to us, or we approach you. One partner reads it — not an analyst pool.
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Initial view
2 weeks
A call and a short set of questions. We tell you whether this is a real conversation or not.
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Working session
By agreement
A day with your management team. Commercial, technical and financial — usually in that order.
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Due diligence
6–10 weeks
Commercial, financial, technical and legal, run with external advisers where needed. We do not run diligence we do not intend to complete.
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Structuring and close
4–8 weeks
Terms, documentation, closing — and a 100-day plan agreed before signing, not after.
If the answer is no, you will hear it early and you will hear a reason. A late refusal costs a founder far more than an early refusal costs us.
What we actually do once we are shareholders
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Board and governance
We take a board seat and we build the reporting that a board needs — usually the first thing we do, and often the first time the company has had it.
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Network and infrastructure review
Where relevant, a technical review of network, platform and capacity plans by people who have built them.
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Buy-and-build
Identifying, negotiating and integrating adjacent acquisitions. Apifonica’s acquisition of TENIOS in Germany is the pattern: a product-and-geography extension bought rather than built.
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Market entry
Opening new geographies through operator relationships built over three decades.
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Key hires
Commercial, technical and finance leadership. Usually the highest-leverage thing an investor can do in a founder-led company.
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Financial discipline
Budgeting, working-capital management, capital allocation — the routines that let a company grow without surprises.
Frequently asked questions
Do you manage third-party money?
No. Boxwood is privately held by its founding partners and invests the partners’ own capital. There are no limited partners, no fund term and no capital-call schedule.
What size of investment do you make?
We do not publish a fixed range. We would rather do a small number of investments we understand well than a large number we monitor from a distance. If you want to know whether your business is in scope, the fastest way to find out is to write to us.
Do you take control or minority positions?
Both. What we require in either case is a board seat and real governance rights. We do not take passive positions.
How long do you hold?
There is no answer to this question at Boxwood, and that is deliberate. We have no fund life, so holding periods are decided by the business rather than by a fund’s calendar.
Which countries do you invest in?
Europe and Central Asia, with a particular focus on Southeast Europe. Our current investments are in Southeast Europe, Central Europe and Central Asia.
Will you lead a round, or do you co-invest?
Both. We regularly work alongside other investors and we are comfortable either leading or joining, provided governance is clear.
We are approached by investors constantly. Why should we talk to you?
Because we have run businesses like yours. If that turns out not to be true in your case, the conversation will be short and you will have lost an hour.
How do I reach you?
Founders: founders@boxwood.group. Advisers and intermediaries: deals@boxwood.group. Everything else: office@boxwood.group.