We have over 80 years of combined experience

Edward founded Benford Capital Partners in 2004 and has over 22 years of lower middle market private equity experience. He has played key roles in acquiring and building more than 25 niche businesses. Prior to founding Benford Capital, Edward was a Principal at Prospect Partners, LLC, a Chicago-based lower middle market private equity firm. Edward joined Prospect Partners at its inception in 1998 and served on the Board of Directors of seven portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Prospect Partners, Edward worked at Lazard Frères & Co., LLC in the Investment Banking Group working on merger & acquisition and corporate finance transactions. Prior to Lazard, he worked at Morgan Stanley & Co. and at the Northern Trust Company.

Edward earned a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Select Portfolio Company Directorships: Droplet Measurement Technologies, Warehouse-Lighting.com, Atlas RFID store, Ray Allen

Ben joined Benford Capital Partners in 2007. Prior to BCP, he served in a strategic planning and operating role at Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc., a Willis Stein & Partners portfolio company. At Roundy’s, he reported directly to the CFO and contributed significantly to Roundy’s growth and improved operating performance.

Prior to Roundy’s, Ben was an associate at Willis Stein & Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm with $3 billion under management. Prior to Willis Stein, he worked in the Financial Sponsor Coverage and Leveraged Finance groups at Deutsche Bank where he completed numerous financings for Chicago-area private equity firms.

Ben earned a BA degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Select Portfolio Company Directorships: LiteSentry, Specialty Sales, Double L Group, Saco Foods/California Sun Dry, Education Services Group

Brian joined Benford Capital Partners in 2021. Prior to BCP, he was a Vice President at Tilia Holdings, a food and beverage-focused private equity fund in Chicago, joining shortly after Tilia’s inception.

Prior to Tilia, Brian worked in brand management at 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway-owned Kraft Heinz. Prior to Kraft Heinz, he executed merger & acquisition transactions at Shoreview Industries, a lower middle market private equity fund, and in the food and beverage group at Harris Williams & Co., a leading middle market investment bank.

Brian earned a BSB with High Distinction from the Carlson School of Business at the University of Minnesota and an MBA with Honors from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Brendan joined Benford Capital Partners in March 2016 as an Associate. Prior to joining Benford, he was an Associate at Antares Capital, where he focused on debt financings for private equity sponsored transactions across a broad range of industries. Prior to Antares, Brendan worked at Wintrust Financial.

Brendan earned a BA from Fordham University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Harrison joined Benford Capital Partners in 2022 and has more than a decade of business development experience. At BCP, he is primarily responsible for leading sourcing, marketing, and relationship development and management efforts for the firm.

Prior to BCP, Harrison was the Vice President of Business Development for Rotunda Capital Partners. Harrison began his career in lower middle market private equity with Transom Capital Group, where he was a Senior Associate and focused on sourcing investment opportunities across a range of sectors. Prior to Transom, Harrison led sales and marketing initiatives at one of the nation’s largest direct sellers of residential building products.

Harrison earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew joined Benford Capital in 2024. Prior to joining BCP, Andrew was a Vice President at Tilia Holdings, a food and beverage-focused private equity firm in Chicago. Prior to Tilia, Andrew was an Associate at Pritzker Private Capital, a Chicago-based middle-market private equity firm focused on the manufactured products and services sectors. Andrew began his career at Main Street Capital Corporation, a principal investment firm focused on founder and family-owned businesses.

Andrew earned a BBA from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Cormac joined Benford Capital Partners in November 2019 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Associate at KeyBanc Capital Markets, where he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of industries.

Cormac graduated from The Ohio State University with a BS in Economics.

Connor joined Benford Capital Partners in July 2024 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Analyst in Fifth Third’s Healthcare Investment Banking group, where he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of healthcare segments.

Connor graduated from Indiana University with a BS in Finance & Accounting.

Mike joined Benford Capital Partners in November 2024 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, Mike was an Associate at Shoreline Equity Partners, a generalist private equity firm in Neptune Beach, Florida where he executed various transactions across the broader services industry. Mike began his career at Citizens M&A Advisory in Atlanta, Georgia, where he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of sectors.

Mike graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA in Finance & Accounting.

Ben joined Benford Capital Partners in August 2023 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Analyst at Houlihan Lokey, where he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of food & beverage segments.

Ben graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Finance & Accountancy.

Spencer joined Benford Capital Partners in August 2024 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, where he focused on executing M&A and debt financing transactions within the Industrials sector.

Spencer graduated from Indiana University with a BS in Finance & Accounting.

Jackson joined Benford Capital in May 2024 as a Business Development Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he worked in business development at SS&C Technologies, focused on providing back-office software and outsourced services to private equity fund managers.

Jackson graduated from the University of Rochester with a BA in Economics.

Rupal Patel joined Benford Capital Partners in 2022 as an Operating Partner focused on industrial technology and consumer packaged goods businesses. Rupal brings over 15 years of experience in finance, accounting, and operations transformation for a variety of businesses, from venture-backed early-stage entities to large publicly traded companies. Rupal’s expertise includes strategic planning and execution focused on streamlining business processes, including technology implementation, and organizational design to help businesses scale.

Prior to joining BCP, she served as Managing Director of the finance-as-a-service business line at E78 Partners, a leading private-equity backed professional services firm that acquired Stride Accounting Solutions (which Rupal founded and sold to E78 Partners). Stride provided a suite of services that optimize the finance function for high-transaction-volume, multi-unit businesses, including those in the healthcare, real estate, hospitality, software-as-a-service and professional services industries. Through its cloud-based, best-in-class technology stack, proven process controls and enterprise-grade outsourcing, the company was able to serve as an extension of clients’ organizations, freeing them to focus on their strategic value-creation initiatives. Earlier in her career, Rupal worked in management consulting for Navigant and Deloitte.

Rupal earned her undergraduate degree in accounting and information decision science from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Thomas joined BCP in July 2020 as an Associate and was promoted to Operating Partner in August 2024. Thomas works closely with BCP portfolio company management teams and plays a hands-on role driving execution of value creation initiatives, strategic planning, operational improvements, team development, accounting, FP&A, and HR/administration.

Prior to joining BCP, Thomas was an Analyst at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) in the Consumer Group. At BGL, he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of consumer segments, including Food & Beverage and Branded Consumer, with a particular emphasis on eCommerce (both DTC & B2B).

Thomas earned his undergraduate degree in Finance, Investments & Banking from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he also competed on the varsity Golf team.

Brian joined Benford Capital Partners in 2017 as an Operating Partner focused on industrial technology businesses. Prior to joining BCP, Brian most recently was the VP of Hach Company’s OTT Hydromet Business Unit and responsible for product management and product development teams in three global locations.

Brian has over 20 years of general management experience with Danaher Corporation and Ingersoll Rand, where he has delivered on growth initiatives across multiple functional disciplines, including specific expertise in marketing, product management, operations and strategic planning.

Brian earned a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Notre Dame and an MBA & MEM in a joint degree program from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering.

Jason joined Benford Capital In April 2020.  Prior to BCP, he was an Associate and Assistant Vice President at GCM Grosvenor, where he focused on financial accounting and analysis across a variety of hedge fund and strategic investment portfolios. He began his career at Plante Moran as a CPA, working on tax compliance and consulting for high net worth families and financial service firms.

Jason earned BA and MAS degrees from the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign.

Kaitlyn joined Benford Capital Partners in April 2024 as the Office Manager. Prior to joining BCP, she was a Fund Administration Analyst at RCP Advisors, where she managed their investor relations and quarterly reporting process.

Kaitlyn earned her BA degree from DePaul University.