![\"Ocampo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Blueprint-Equity-2-1.jpg\")
Ocampo and Lewis\u2019s office is located in downtown La Jolla (Blueprint Equity)<\/p>\nWhile many investment firms are struggling to raise capital, San Diego\u2013based Blueprint Equity pulled in $333 million in just 12 days \u2014 by betting where others wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Blueprint Equity \u2014 founded in 2018 by Bobby Ocampo and Sheldon Lewis \u2014 deploys a goldilocks strategy between high-risk venture capital and established growth equity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to have a strong pack of horses,\u201d Ocampo told the Union-Tribune on Thursday after announcing the $300 million raise earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Blueprint looks to invest in early-stage companies that have a proven track record and plenty of room to grow. \u201cWe like where we play,\u201d Ocampo said. \u201cWe can generate venture-like returns with private equity downside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blueprint has invested in 24 different funds and has only reported one loss. Most of Ocampo\u2019s companies return four to five times on their investment, some companies up to 10 times what they put in.<\/p>\n
No, there is no \u201cspecial sauce,\u201d said Ocampo. \u201cWe just want to be the best at what we\u2019re doing, quietly do our job and raise funds in 12 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blueprint has garnered a global following for beating the market and paying off investors. They\u2019ve performed so well, they had to turn investors away, a rarity for 2025.<\/p>\n
Today, investors aren\u2019t putting money in the market because they aren\u2019t getting money out. Venture capitalists raised half of what they did last year because, on aggregate, investors haven\u2019t turned a profit since 2022, according to PitchBook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe joke from investors is like, don\u2019t take more money, but take more of mine,\u201d Ocampo laughed.<\/p>\n
Both institutions and individuals are vying for room in Blueprint\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n
Today, Blueprint has over $600 million under management.<\/p>\n
Ocampo and Lewis\u2019s office is located in downtown La Jolla (Blueprint Equity)<\/p>\n
In his La Jolla office, Ocampo admitted that his investments \u2014 business-to-business software \u2014 aren\u2019t sexy, \u201cbut very lucrative.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is nothing special about software specifically, but after years of developing contacts in this silo, it\u2019s become Blueprint\u2019s specialty, Ocampo said. \u201cI\u2019m not smart enough to start investing in biotechs.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the firm is based in San Diego, none of its investments are here, though Blueprint is looking locally for its next round.<\/p>\n
Blueprint has just under two dozen employees, including eight new hires this year. \u201cThey make a lot of calls,\u201d said Ocampo, describing how they hunt for companies to invest in.<\/p>\n
When investing in a company, Blueprint looks for $1 million to $7 million in annual revenue, over 75% growth year-over-year, and a founder with \u201ccelebrity status\u201d in their respective industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of our founders look the same,\u201d explained Ocampo. \u201cHe or she has been in the industry for five to 20 years. They are solving a problem that they witnessed firsthand in their industry. They tend to be very product-led, and they have this unique insight about the category that no one else has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, and the startup has to be monogamous. Blueprint doesn\u2019t want its companies to have any other investors to answer to.<\/p>\n
Blueprint generates most of its returns through secondary sales \u2014 buying early-stage companies, growing their revenue to $10 million to $15 million, then selling them to larger investment firms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe later stage of growth equity is very well traveled,\u201d said Ocampo, making it almost a guaranteed sale once a company hits that revenue range. \u201cIt\u2019s why we exist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Blueprint\u2019s first fund raised $75 million and has deployed a majority of its capital, producing returns on the north side of 400%. The second fund has yet to deploy much of its capital, and the latest fund just closed $333 million.<\/p>\n
To be exact, that\u2019s $333,333,333.333. The founders like\u00a0that number.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While many investment firms are struggling to raise capital, San Diego\u2013based Blueprint Equity pulled in $333 million in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[387,181,74,76,75,1970,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-145618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}