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 8 years 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.

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.

Cormac is currently serving as CXO of Argus Monitoring Solutions.

Thomas joined Benford Capital Partners in July 2020 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Analyst at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company in the Consumer Group, where he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of consumer segments.

Thomas graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a BBA in Finance, Investment, & Banking, and competed on its Golf Team.

Zach joined Benford Capital Partners in August 2021 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Associate at Wipfli Corporate Finance Advisors, where he focused on merger & acquisition advisory across a broad range of industries.  Prior to Wipfli, Zach worked at EY-Parthenon.

Zach graduated from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business with a BBA in Finance.

Jim joined Benford Capital Partners in April 2022 as an Associate. Prior to joining BCP, he was an Assistant Vice President at Twin Brook Capital Partners, where he focused on debt financings for private equity sponsored investments across a broad range of industries. Prior to Twin Brook Capital Partners, Jim worked at MB Financial Bank.

Jim graduated from the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business with a BA in Finance.

Kori Pierce joined Benford Capital Partners in 2022 as an Operating Partner focused on consumer packaged goods and food related businesses. Prior to joining BCP, she served as Vice President of Finance at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, responsible for overseeing the accounting, tax, corporate reporting and financial planning and analysis functions as well as driving the overall strategy of the business.

In her 18 years working at Malnati’s, Kori held various roles including Director of Analytics, Director of Finance, Chief of Staff and Senior Director of Finance and Administration, where she led the HR function of the business in addition to finance.

Previous to Lou Malnati’s, Kori worked at Ernst & Young in tax. She earned her undergraduate degree in accounting and Masters in Taxation from University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), receiving her CPA at the same time.

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.

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.

Liz joined Benford Capital in March 2022.  Prior to BCP, she was a Manager of Client Relations at Susanin’s Auctioneer & Appraisers, where she focused on administration, marketing, and accounts payable/receivable. Prior to Susanin’s, she was an Executive Assistant for Grenzenbach Glier & Associates, a boutique consulting firm in Chicago.

Liz graduated from Augustana College with a BA in Art History and Africana Studies.