RLH Equity Partners Invests in Climb, a Databricks-Native Data and AI Consultancy

Transaction Marks RLH's Second Investment in its Fifth Institutional Fund and Continues a Longstanding Strategy of Partnering with Specialized Services Firms Built Around Leading Technology Platforms

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- RLH Equity Partners announced today its investment in Climb, a Databricks-native data and AI consultancy helping enterprise clients build, migrate and scale data and artificial intelligence solutions on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.

Founded by technology services entrepreneur JP La Torre, Climb was purpose-built for the rapidly evolving enterprise AI landscape and is focused on the Databricks ecosystem. The company helps enterprise clients establish the modern data foundations required to move AI initiatives from experimentation into production, combining deep Databricks expertise with senior-led delivery teams, vertically oriented intellectual property and an outcome-based approach to client engagements.

Climb serves enterprise clients across a range of industries, including healthcare and life sciences and banking, financial services and insurance. The company's capabilities span data engineering, Databricks migration and modernization, analytics, and the deployment of production-grade AI solutions.

La Torre previously founded Caylent, a leading cloud-native services firm focused on the AWS ecosystem, and brings significant experience building and scaling high-growth technology services organizations. At Climb, he has assembled an experienced team of data, AI and technology services professionals focused on building a next-generation consultancy for the AI era.

"We built Climb around Databricks because enterprises need a unified foundation for data, governance and AI, along with a partner focused on turning that foundation into business results," said JP La Torre, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Climb. "RLH understands how to scale pure-play services firms and shares our belief that investing in people is essential to delivering strong client outcomes. With its support, we can build on the progress we have made since launching earlier this year and accelerate our next phase of growth."

The investment in Climb continues RLH's multi-decade focus on partnering with founder-led, knowledge-based services firms benefiting from technology-driven change. Over its history, RLH has invested in specialized services businesses working across many of the world's leading enterprise technology ecosystems, including Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and Workday. Climb extends this investment strategy into the rapidly growing Databricks ecosystem at a time when enterprises are increasingly seeking to unify their data, analytics and AI infrastructure and translate significant investment in artificial intelligence into measurable business outcomes.

RLH's relationship with La Torre predates the investment. Over the past year, the RLH team had the opportunity to work closely with him in evaluating other investment opportunities, developing a shared perspective on what it takes to build enduring technology services businesses.

Mark Gartner, Managing Director at RLH Equity Partners, commented on the partnership: "Our partnership with JP was a natural extension of a relationship we had developed over the past year. As a result of the time we spent together, we came to appreciate not only his track record as a technology services entrepreneur, but also his passion for building a differentiated, client-centric firm around one of the most important enterprise technology ecosystems today."

Gartner continued, "We have also been incredibly impressed by the caliber of the team JP has assembled and by the firm's ambition to rethink how data and AI services are delivered. We believe Climb has the ingredients to become a defining services firm in the Databricks ecosystem, and we are excited to support JP and the broader Climb team in the journey ahead."

About RLH Equity Partners

RLH Equity Partners invests behind passionate entrepreneurs in uniquely positioned, high-growth, knowledge-led B2B enterprises driven by macro changes in technology, healthcare, and regulatory environments. The RLH investment team strives to deliver strategic and operational guidance to its portfolio companies in navigating the opportunities and challenges of scale and rapid growth. RLH's insights and processes to support entrepreneurs in building market-leading enterprises have been honed over RLH's more than 40-year history of successful investing. RLH currently manages over $1 billion of assets and is actively seeking new portfolio company investments.

Important Disclosures
This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice, a recommendation, or an offer to sell or solicit any security or financial product. Inherent in any investment is the risk of loss.

For more information, please contact:

Jessica Bramwell
Director of Communications
RLH Equity Partners
949-428-2205
[email protected]

SOURCE RLH Equity Partners