Beacon, a two-year-old Toronto/San Francisco holding company, has raised a $225M Series C led by General Catalyst and HarbourVest, bringing total funding past $500M. The company buys small, profitable vertical software businesses serving niche markets like youth sports leagues and campgrounds, then rebuilds them on an AI-native platform. Beacon now acquires roughly one company per week and claims over 50% EBITDA growth across its portfolio. Its thesis: falling AI code costs make it viable to modernize legacy software in underserved industries. Unlike traditional private equity, Beacon says it intends to hold companies indefinitely rather than flip them. The round comes just seven months after a $250M Series B that the CEO said would be the company's last.
