The private equity house is relatively late to this form of investing when set against some of its peers, the report said.

Blackstone Group, the investments group, is opening up a new business front: investing in fast-growing firms, according to the Wall Street Journal. As part of the drive, the firm has hired Jon Korngold, a former senior figure at General Atlantic who had led investments into financial services and healthcare.

The unit will take stakes in companies in a phase of development falling between early-stage venture-capital investments and more mature traditional buyout targets, the report said.

This publication has contacted Blackstone for comment as the information did not appear on its media website page. 

The WSJ report said that Blackstone is a “relative latecomer to growth investing”; rivals such as TPG and KKR have started such businesses in 2007 and 2012, respectively. The report said Blackstone’s move comes at a time when rising interest rates could hit traditional private equity portfolio firms. The move is an attempt to diversify its business lines. At present, the total private equity industry holds about $1.2 trillion of dry powder, as unspent capital in the sector is commonly known.