No Fund. No Problem. The Rise of the Independant Sponsor

At IPEM Wealth 2026 in Cannes, Christiaan de Lint, Managing Partner of Headway Capital, made the case for one of private equity's fastest-growing segments, a model that rewards agility over scale and is quietly reshaping how deals get done. 

Key takeaways from this interview

01. Deal-by-Deal PE without the fund overhead
Independent sponsors are experienced private equity professionals who originate and execute deals without a committed fund, raising capital on a transaction-by-transaction basis. Headway Capital specializes in backing this model, which offers investors full deal visibility and operators maximum flexibility. 

02. The best operators are choosing independence
Some of the most accomplished dealmakers are opting out of the traditional fund structure. Not because they can't raise a fund, but because they don't want one. The independent sponsor model lets them focus entirely on deal quality rather than capital deployment pressure. 

Some of the best professionals in the industry are choosing the independent sponsor route. Not as a fallback, but as a deliberate and increasingly attractive alternative.
- Christiaan de Lint, Headway Capital

03. From $31B to $65B and accelerating
Deal volumes through independent sponsors have roughly doubled in just two years, from approximately $31B in 2023 to $65B in 2025. Christiaan's conservative projection points to several hundred billion by 2030, making this one of the fastest-growing corners of private equity. 

04. This is just the beginning
As the model matures and more sophisticated capital embraces it, the independent sponsor ecosystem is moving from niche to mainstream. Christiaan sees the next few years as a defining period with deal flow, investor appetite, and institutional recognition all accelerating together.