Richmond, Virginia · Private Investment
Craigie, Incorporated backs technology-forward companies whose leaders take care of the communities they serve. Old-school in judgment, new-school in the businesses we build.
The Firm
Craigie is a small, principal-led investment firm based in Richmond, Virginia. We back operating businesses whose leaders combine two things we care about: a genuine embrace of technology, and a real commitment to the communities they serve.
What we look for in a partner is what we try to be ourselves — measured, well-mannered, and long in the tooth on the things that matter. A handshake that means something. A record of showing up in your own community. A willingness to use technology to serve customers better rather than to chase a trend.
The Craigie name is Richmond's — first organized on Main Street in 1929, and reclaimed by this partnership for a new era. We inherited the discipline. The businesses we back are of our own time.
The Principals
Craigie is organized around four principals who invest their own capital, share the underwriting, and know each other's judgment. Every position we take is a decision the four of us make together.
Principal
Owner of Pros, Incorporated. Over five decades of sports marketing experience, sponsor relationships, and golf property ownership.
A graduate of the University of Richmond and an MBA from the Darden School of Business.
Principal
A prominent Richmond business lawyer with a career built advising operators, founders, and family businesses across the region. Grant brings the diligence discipline and the counsel's eye at the Craigie table.
Undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and a J.D. from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond.
Principal · Managing Director, Craigie Sports
A career in the investment world stretching back to the original Craigie in the 1980s. John leads Craigie Sports and the firm's work at the intersection of sport, hospitality, and specialty consumer categories.
Undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Darden School of Business.
Principal · Managing Director, Craigie Real Estate
A successful Richmond real estate developer with deep relationships across the region's operating and philanthropic circles. Wally leads Craigie Real Estate and is the connector — the one who knows who ought to know whom.
Undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the VCU School of Business.
“A good name is the most valuable thing on any balance sheet.”
Craigie Subsidiaries
We believe teams are always stronger than individuals, so we manage together. The operator runs the day-to-day. Where a subsidiary takes outside investment, one principal serves as the point of contact for shareholders — a single, accountable line of communication.
Sport · Hospitality · Specialty Consumer
John Jung, Managing Director
Craigie's specialty platform for the business of sport — investing in and building companies where sport, hospitality, and consumer categories intersect, and where technology is a genuine edge rather than a marketing line.
Representative positions
Nashville, Tennessee
An equity investment in a specialty maker of custom golf ball markers, divot tools, and challenge coins — built on craft, precision, and long-standing client relationships across golf, military, and corporate clients. Follow along at @tristarcustomcoins.
In Development · Golf Turf Innovation
A precision aluminum cup liner engineered for ultra-draft Bermuda greens — addressing a persistent maintenance and playability challenge on modern warm-season surfaces. Currently in development with course superintendents and turf specialists.
Real Estate · Development · Stewardship
Jim “Wally” Barden, Managing Director
Craigie's real estate platform, focused on well-considered projects in Richmond and across Virginia — the kind of buildings and places that add something to the community they sit in.
Portfolio details to follow.
Selectively Adding
We evaluate new opportunities based on the opportunity itself — not the calendar. What matters is that we can be genuinely involved in the development of the company or product from the beginning.
Our Approach
We size positions and structure investments to hold for a decade or more. Compounding is a strategy; churn is not.
We back operators who use technology to serve customers better, run leaner, and compete against much larger incumbents — not as a marketing veneer.
We favor businesses whose owners show up for their neighbors, their employees, and their region. A company that supports its community tends to attract loyal customers and durable talent.
We invest our own capital alongside our partners. If we would not take the position ourselves, we will not ask anyone else to.
Heritage
Craigie has stood on Richmond's Main Street for the better part of a century. We inherited the discipline and the standard — and put the name back to work for a new generation of investing.
Founded on the eve of the Depression, Craigie built its reputation as a Main Street securities house — underwriting debt, trading fixed income, and quietly executing for Virginia corporations, municipalities, and long-standing family clients.
Southern National Corp., the parent of BB&T, acquired Craigie as its entry into investment banking. Over subsequent consolidation, the Craigie name was gradually retired from active use.
Giff Breed, Grant Grayson, John Jung, and Jim “Wally” Barden reclaimed the Craigie name and reorganized it as a private investment firm — backing technology-forward companies with strong community roots.
Get in Touch
Craigie evaluates a limited number of new opportunities. For introductions, LP inquiries, or discussions of a specific business, please write directly to one of the principals.
Richmond, Virginia
