Committed to partnership,
growth and lasting impact.

Bret Wiener

Bret Wiener is the Founder and Managing Partner of Gemspring Capital and the Chairman of Gemspring’s Investment Committee. Bret’s experience spans a broad range of industries including business services, industrial services, distribution and logistics, aerospace, healthcare, insurance, specialty finance, media, technology, and software. Bret has invested across a range of company sizes and in a variety of transaction types including founder recaps, leveraged buyouts, take privates, corporate divestitures, restructurings, growth equity investments, and structured minority investments. Bret has been involved in over 100 acquisitions over the course of his career. The pace of change in the business environment is accelerating and Bret believes that a deep understanding of new technologies and disruptive business models is critical to selecting investments and leading traditional businesses through these challenges and opportunities.

Prior to founding Gemspring, Bret spent 11 years with H.I.G. Capital where he was the youngest Managing Director in H.I.G.’s history. Prior to joining H.I.G., Bret was with the Corporate Strategy Group at Microsoft where he focused on a range of strategic and operational initiatives. Before business school, Bret was in the investment banking division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. During his time at NYU, he spent three years as a Research Associate at the predecessor of OrbiMed, a leading healthcare investment firm. Bret’s deep experience also includes earlier career stints as an institutional cook, a NYC messenger, and a telemarketing rep.

Bret serves on the Global Advisory Council of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Leadership Council of Grace Farms.

Bret received a BS, summa cum laude, from New York University and an MBA from Stanford University.

D.J. Andrzejewski

D.J. Andrzejewski is a Managing Director and member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, D. J. was a Partner at PeakEquity Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in growth-stage software companies. In his eight years with PeakEquity, D. J. was responsible for all aspects of the investment process including sourcing, structuring, and executing new investments. D. J. served as a board member for several portfolio companies including EnterpriseDB, CareerArc, BERA and HighLevel. He was also involved in PeakEquity’s investments in G5 and Valiant Solutions.

Prior to PeakEquity Partners, D. J. worked on the investment team at Stripes, a New York-based growth equity firm with $7.7 billion in capital under management. At Stripes, D. J. sourced and executed investments across the software and technology sectors. D. J. began his career at Milestone Partners, a Philadelphia-based private equity firm, where he was focused on leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations of middle market businesses across various industries.

D.J. received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Malcolm Appelbaum

Malcolm Appelbaum is a Managing Director and the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Malcolm served as an independent operating partner to H.I.G. and other private equity sponsors having founded a consulting practice, AppleTree Advisors, to assist middle-market and lower-middle market businesses achieve their profitability, growth and value objectives. As an operating partner, Malcolm served as interim CFO, restructuring specialist or due diligence and financial consultant on over a dozen H.I.G. portfolio companies from 2001-2015 as well as restructuring, acquisition and divestiture assignments for other lower-middle market private equity portfolio companies.

In addition, Malcolm previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Globe Specialty Metals, a producer of silicon metal and silicon-based specialty alloys. Malcolm took the company public on NASDAQ and led the accounting, finance and technology teams, completing numerous acquisitions, effecting divestitures of non-core assets, completing several major debt financings and implementing SAP and SOX compliance. Earlier, Malcolm was a Partner at Wand Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, where he was responsible for a broad range of activities including sourcing, due diligence, portfolio company management and accounting & administration. Malcolm began his career as an Accountant at Deloitte and a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Malcolm received a BS in Accounting from City University of New York – Brooklyn College and an MBA in finance from Columbia University. He is a Certified Public Accountant registered in New York.

Geoff Broglio

Geoff Broglio is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Geoff brings nearly two decades of investment, strategic and operational experience across business services, media and technology, industrials, distribution, transportation and logistics. He has invested in leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, corporate divestitures, minority investments, asset acquisitions and recapitalizations, including leading more than 15 investments for Gemspring. Throughout his career, Geoff has been responsible for identifying and evaluating investment opportunities, structuring and negotiating transactions and partnering with management teams to drive operational and growth initiatives.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Geoff was a Principal with Kingswood Capital, a lower middle market private equity firm. Before that, Geoff was a Vice President at Hudson Capital Management and an Associate at First Reserve. Earlier in his career, Geoff was an Analyst in the financial sponsors group of Citigroup’s investment banking division.

Geoff serves on the boards of Crafty Apes, Shrieve Chemical Company, Wireless Vision and Bridgeway Connects and previously served on the board of Therma Holdings.

Geoff received a BS in Business Information Technology and a BS in Finance from Virginia Tech.

Ravdeep Chanana

Ravdeep Chanana is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Rav was an executive at General Electric with experience working across eight countries and four different multi-billion dollar industrial and financial services business units. His most recent role was CFO of GE Additive, a new business unit within GE Aviation comprised of two strategic acquisitions completed in 2016. In this role, Rav was responsible for providing financial and operational leadership to drive the integration of the acquired companies. Prior to GE Additive, Rav was CFO of GE Aviation’s engineering organization and led a global finance team of ~70 employees where he was responsible for providing strategic and financial leadership for the ~$3 billion of annual research & development budget and ~8,000 person engineering organization.

Rav began his career in General Electric’s Financial Management Program (FMP). He completed roles in Corporate Finance, GE Capital headquarters, and GE Corporate Investor Relations. Rav then joined GE’s Corporate Audit Staff ultimately progressing to Executive Audit Manager responsible for GE Aviation, a $25 billion revenue business segment, and the Services Council, supporting a GE Vice Chairman in driving best practices and processes across all of GE’s services businesses.

Rav serves on the boards of JTI, Shrieve Chemical Company and Carr & Duff. In addition, Rav was formerly a board member of Radancy and Therma Holdings.

Rav received a BS in Finance and Accounting from Fairfield University.

Charlie Fraas

Charlie Fraas is a Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Operations at Gemspring Capital. Charlie has over 25 years of experience leading transformations and driving profit enhancement and has worked with over 50 clients executing projects across the strategic and operational spectrum including: strategic planning, post-merger integration, BPO / shared service adoption, robotics process automation, sourcing and procurement, supply chain network, lean manufacturing and ERP / technology implementation.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Charlie led a boutique advisory firm focused on operational transformation, profit enhancement, and restructuring / turnaround engagements in a variety of industries, including aviation, brokerage, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, retail, services, and technology, for clients including H.I.G. Capital and TPG. He has held various transformation leadership and restructuring roles including Interim CEO, Interim President, Interim COO, Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), and Chancery Court Trustee (Delaware).

Previously, Charlie held several roles at 1800flowers.com, including Sr. VP of Improvement, Sr. VP of Operations, and COO, as he oversaw all of the operations including call centers, distribution, transportation, sourcing and procurement, customer database marketing, and florist operations.

Prior to 1800flowers, Charlie started his career at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte Consulting, spending 13 years in various practices including audit, bankruptcy and transaction advisory, marketing analytics, operations, retail industry, strategy, supply chain, and several technology teams.

Charlie serves on the boards of Insurvia, Outform, and Skyline.

Charlie received a BS in Accounting from Binghamton University and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Don Gerne

Don Gerne is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. For nearly two decades, Don has worked across a broad range of industries including business services, industrial services, environmental services, healthcare, consumer, retail, telecommunications, energy and infrastructure. During this time, Don has worked on leverage buyouts, corporate divestitures, founder recapitalizations, asset acquisitions and growth equity investments representing close to $2 billion of invested equity and $3 billion of funded debt in approximately 25 platforms and add-on acquisitions.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Don was a Partner at Metalmark Capital Partners. While at Metalmark, Don led all aspects of the investment process including origination, due diligence, legal documentation and transaction financing, in addition to collaborating with portfolio management teams to achieve value enhancement strategies. Don has served as a board member or observer for numerous companies, including WorldStrides, NNE, Monarch Midstream, MC2 Energy and Sebela Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, Don worked at Greenhill Capital Partners, J.W. Childs Associates and Lehman Brothers.

Don serves on the boards of Mantis, Skyline, and Zavation.

Don received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Aron Grossman

Aron Grossman is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Aron was a Principal with Rho Capital, a technology-focused private equity firm with $1.4 billion in capital under management, where he focused on the origination and execution of enterprise software investments.

Prior to Rho, Aron spent five years in operational roles with software businesses, most recently as Founder and CEO of Cleanshelf, a software expense management company he bootstrapped and merged with a competitive business. Previously, Aron was an executive at Voxy, a venture-backed education technology company, where in addition to being CFO, he played a central role in the sales, marketing and operations activities driving the company’s growth.

Earlier in his career, Aron focused on business services, healthcare and media / communications investments with Tailwind Capital, a middle-market private equity firm. Aron began his career as an investment banking Analyst with Houlihan Lokey.

Aron serves on the boards of Bobit, Cforia, GoldenSource, OPEXUS, Sigga, and Valant.

Aron received a BA in Economics and Spanish from Emory University.

Zubin Malkani

Zubin Malkani is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Zubin was a Managing Director at CI Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm, where he worked for nearly a decade.  While at CI Capital, Zubin led investments in business services and consumer services companies, and served as a board member for numerous portfolio companies, including Hero Digital, PRA, SavATree, Total Fleet Solutions, and WTS International. Prior to CI Capital, Zubin was an Associate at GTCR, where he focused on middle market leveraged buyouts, and an investment banking Analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he advised clients on mergers, acquisitions, and corporate finance transactions.

Zubin serves on the board of Amplix.

Zubin has a BBA from the University of Michigan and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Michael McCulloch

Michael McCulloch is a Managing Director, Head of Research, and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Michael was a Partner at Providence Public, the crossover public/private fund at Providence Equity Partners, a global private equity firm. In his four years at Providence, Michael was responsible for all aspects of the investment process, including the sourcing, diligence and execution of new investments.

Prior to Providence, Michael was a Senior Analyst at ThornTree Capital where he focused on the media, telecom and consumer sectors. Prior to ThornTree, Michael worked at Finepoint Capital investing broadly across sectors, geographies, and asset classes. Michael began his investing career at Relational Investors, covering the industrials and materials sectors.

Michael received a BA in Economics and Political Science from Vanderbilt University and an MA in Finance from Claremont McKenna College.

Jay Reynolds

Jay Reynolds is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Jay was with The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm, where he worked for nearly a decade. While at Riverside, Jay was responsible for all aspects of the investment process, including sourcing, structuring and executing non-control investment opportunities, as well as post-investment collaboration with portfolio company management teams to implement growth plans.

Prior to Riverside, Jay was with Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a lower middle market private equity firm, where he executed control and non-control investments.  Jay began his career as an investment banking analyst in the Media & Telecommunications group at Merrill Lynch, where he worked on M&A, leveraged finance and equity capital transactions.

Jay received a BS in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Washington & Lee University.

Alex Shakibnia

Alex Shakibnia is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Alex has extensive experience structuring and executing transactions across a broad range of industries.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Alex spent three years at Friedman Fleischer and Lowe, a San Francisco based middle-market private equity firm focused on executing both majority and minority growth equity investments. Alex began his career as an investment banking Analyst at Credit Suisse in Los Angeles where he focused on the execution of debt and equity transactions for companies in various sectors.

Alex serves on the boards of A10 Capital, Insurvia, Outform, Security 101, and United Group Programs.

Alex received BA in Business Economics and Mathematics, cum laude, from UCLA and an MA in Finance from Claremont McKenna College.

Matt Shuman

Matt Shuman is a Managing Director at Gemspring Capital. He is responsible for deal origination and leading the firm’s overall marketing and business development efforts.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Matt was with Northwestern Mutual. Previously, he ran the FX Prime Brokerage Sales efforts for Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Capital, where he was responsible for a broad range of activities, including business development, origination, contract negotiation and due diligence, and successfully led efforts in onboarding strategic relationships and rolling out new platforms for the banks’ Prime Brokerage businesses. Matt began his career as an Analyst on the Sales & Trading desks at JP Morgan in New York.

Matt received a BS in Finance from Syracuse University.

Kristin Steen

Kristin Steen is a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Kristin was a Managing Director at CCMP Capital, a middle market private equity firm. While at CCMP, Kristin was responsible for all aspects of the investment process including originating, evaluating, and executing investments, partnering with management teams to drive value creation, and serving on the boards of portfolio companies. She was involved in several of the firm’s investments including Eating Recovery Center, The Hillman Group, Truck Hero and other companies in the consumer, specialty manufacturing and services sectors. Prior to joining CCMP in 2011, Kristin worked for both Lone Star Funds and HBK Capital Management.

Kristin holds a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Jack Tucker

Jack Tucker is a Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer at Gemspring Capital. He is focused on Investor Relations, ESG Initiatives, Business Development, and Recruiting.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Jack was a Partner at Acalyx Advisors where he raised capital from institutional investors for private equity funds. At Acalyx, Jack was involved in several milestone fundraisings in the buyout and growth segments. Jack also worked on a number of advisory mandates with general partners and helped develop and execute marketing strategies to assist general partners with ongoing investor relationship management. Jack began his career at MVision Private Equity Advisers, where he worked with general partners across the US and Europe.

Jack holds a BA from the University of Delaware.

Dan Andrews

Dan Andrews is a Principal at Gemspring Capital and focuses on structured investment opportunities. Dan brings over a decade of investing experience across various strategies in both public and private credit markets.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Dan was at Moab Partners, a value-oriented hedge fund, where he focused on special situations and event-driven investment opportunities. During his time at Moab, Dan invested in a wide array of credit products and focused on structured direct lending financings.

Earlier in his career, Dan was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley Credit Partners, a $1 billion credit opportunities fund within the Merchant Banking Division of Morgan Stanley. Dan was part of a team responsible for investing both outside investor funds and Morgan Stanley capital, focusing on complex direct lending situations and stressed liquid credit opportunities. Dan began his career in the investment banking group of Robinson Humphrey and also spent time at MCG Capital, a publicly traded private equity and debt investment firm where he executed middle market investments across the capital structure and served as a portfolio company board director.

Dan received a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Michael Fan

Michael Fan is a Principal at Gemspring Capital and focuses on investments in software. Michael has more than a decade of experience in sourcing and executing transactions in the technology sector, as well as operating experience from founding and leading a digital media business.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Michael was at Rubicon Technology Partners, an enterprise software focused private equity firm. Michael has also held roles within private equity at York Capital and Bain Capital, primarily focusing on technology investments. In these roles Michael has collaborated with management teams to execute strategic initiatives and served as a board director for multiple portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, Michael was the founder and CEO of a digital media business focused on car safety and worked as a technology investment banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley.

Michael serves on the board of GoldenSource, OPEXUS and Sigga Technologies.

Michael received a BA in Economics with a minor in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Howy Fang

Howy Fang is a Principal at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Howy was a Business Analyst with McKinsey & Company, where his client work centered around strategic growth initiatives, sales & marketing practices, and enterprise transformations.

Howy serves on the boards of Bobit, JTI, Security 101, and Bridgeway Connects.

Howy received a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Chirag Hirawat

Chirag Hirawat is a Principal at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Chirag was a Vice President at BlackIvy Group, a US-based holding company that owns and operates essential services businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to BlackIvy, Chirag was a Vice President at Golden Gate Capital, a $15 billion AUM private equity firm, where he evaluated and executed new investments and monitored portfolio companies in the consumer and software sectors. Chirag began his career as an investment banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs where he focused on leveraged finance transactions for private equity and corporate clients.

Chirag serves on the board of Amplix and Zavation.

Chirag received a BA in International Relations, magna cum laude, from New York University.

John Ross

John Ross is a Principal at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, John was with Black Diamond Capital Management, a $9 billion alternative asset management firm where he focused on the evaluation and execution of distressed private equity investments and was deeply involved in the turnaround of companies post-acquisition.

Prior to Black Diamond, John was an Associate at Irving Place Capital Management, a middle market private equity firm, where he was responsible for the analysis of new investment opportunities, due diligence, and monitoring of existing portfolio companies. John began his career as an investment banking Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he focused on the execution of M&A transactions across a broad range of industries and geographies.

John serves on the board of Cforia.

John received a BA in Economics and Government, cum laude, from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was an Edward Tuck Scholar.

Erich Sorger

Erich Sorger is a Principal at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Erich was a Principal and the second employee at Corbel Capital Partners, a $1 billion AUM firm focused on structured investments. In his eight years at Corbel, Erich led investments in performing and special situations across a diverse set of industries, including services, logistics, manufacturing, and consumer. He served on the boards of ARES Security Corp., Baker’s Computer Services, Brooklyn Brands, Cosmetic Design Group, LinkTrust, SpaceJet Media, and T3 Expo.

Prior to Corbel, Erich worked in the Private Equity Group of Ares Management, a $300 billion alternative asset management firm, and completed the acquisitions of myTheresa.com and BlackBrush Oil & Gas. Prior to Ares, Erich worked in investment banking at Moelis & Company, and advised on over $12 billion in M&A. Erich began his career at Goldman Sachs within the Asset Management division. Erich also worked on monetary policy at the Bank of Israel, Israel’s central bank.

Erich received dual BS degrees in Economics and Engineering from the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology (M&T), as both a Joseph Wharton Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar.

Kathy Calio

Kathy Calio is the Director of Operations at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Kathy was a Director in central management at Deutsche Bank in their Investment Banking division. She supported the Real Estate, Financial Sponsors and Financial Institutions groups in the Americas as their COO and worked closely with senior management in the day-to-day operations of these businesses. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Kathy practiced corporate law at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, rotating through M&A and Capital Markets before specializing in Investment Management.

Kathy began her career as an investment banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging and Leisure group in New York and Milan.

Kathy received a BA in History, summa cum laude, from Princeton University and a JD from Columbia Law School where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Courtney Hamlin

Courtney Hamlin is a Director at Gemspring Capital focused on Investor Relations and ESG Initiatives.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Courtney was a member of the Investor Relations team at Corsair Capital where she specialized in buyout and infrastructure strategies.  Prior to Corsair, she was a Vice President at Acalyx Advisors where she was involved in a number of fundraisings in the buyout, growth, and credit segments. Courtney began her career at GLG where she supported general partners in their origination, diligence, and value creation activities.

Courtney holds a BA from the University of St Andrews.

John Lavin

John Lavin is a Director of Business Development at Gemspring Capital. He is responsible for sourcing new investments and driving the firm’s marketing and business development efforts. Prior to joining Gemspring, John spent eight years at Lincoln International, a global middle market investment bank, where he focused on sourcing founder-owned businesses and facilitating private transactions. Before Lincoln International, John worked at Merrill Lynch and he spent three years on Capitol Hill working for the House of Representatives.

John received a BA from Creighton University, an MA in Accounting from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.

Connor O’Byrne

Connor O’Byrne is a Director of Business Development at Gemspring Capital. He is responsible for deal origination and driving the firm’s marketing and business development efforts.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Connor spent a combined six years sourcing investment opportunities for StoneCalibre and Skyview Capital, two privately funded investment firms in Los Angeles.

Connor received a BBA in Finance, with a concentration in European Economics from James Madison University.

Matt Reibl 

Matt Reibl is a Director of Portfolio Operations at Gemspring Capital. Matt focuses on supporting companies on transformational initiatives led by the office of the CFO. This includes organizational design and enhancement, reporting and budgeting, process effectiveness, technology efforts, M&A integration, and overall effectiveness of the finance team.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Matt spent over eight years at Blackstone in various leadership roles. More recently, Matt was a Principal on the Private Equity Portfolio Operations team where he led finance transformation efforts across several portfolio companies. Prior to that, Matt was a manager on Blackstone’s middle office finance team overseeing valuations, investor reporting, portfolio monitoring, and FP&A for various funds in the Private Equity segment.

Matt began his career in General Electric’s Financial Management Program (FMP) in the Aviation segment. Matt then joined GE’s Corporate Audit Staff where he completed assignments in GE’s Capital, Energy, and International divisions ultimately progressing to Audit Manager.

Matt received a BS in Finance with minors in Accounting and Economics from Fairfield University.

Karl Rodger

Karl Rodger is a Director of Business Development at Gemspring Capital, where he plays an active role in sourcing transactions, executing new investments, and working alongside portfolio company management teams. Karl also leads the Capital Markets initiative at Gemspring and actively manages the firm’s relationships with a variety of lending partners. Throughout his career investing in the middle market, Karl has completed over 20 leveraged buyouts, corporate divestitures, founder recaps and transformational add-on acquisitions, and collaborated with management teams to develop and execute strategies that have driven growth in revenue and profitability.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Karl was a Vice President with Spire Capital Partners, an operationally oriented lower middle market private equity firm focused on technology, communications, media, and education services. Prior to Spire Capital, Karl with Dubin Clark & Company, a lower middle market private equity firm focused on investments in the business services, light manufacturing, and B2C rental industries. Earlier in his career, Karl spent time at The Riverside Company, where he helped invest out of the $1.2 billion North American fund. Karl began his career as an Analyst with Harris Williams & Co., where he helped execute middle market M&A transactions.

Karl received a BA, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Matt Tharp

Matt Tharp is a Director of Portfolio Operations at Gemspring Capital. Matt has worked with over a dozen companies across a broad range of transformational initiatives including broad go-to-market strategies, sales effectiveness and enablement, holistic marketing transformation, operational excellence, organizational restructuring, merger management, product road mapping, and procurement/sourcing.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Matt was part of Vista Consulting Group, the operating arm of Vista Equity Partners. Matt served as a Value Creation Director at Vista, helping to design and implement the value creation agenda with a variety of Vista’s portfolio companies. In addition, Matt served as an operating executive within Vista’s portfolio, most notably as a Vice President at Fusion Risk Management, a business continuity SaaS business.

Prior to Vista, Matt was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he led large scale commercial transformations for McKinsey’s clients. Prior to McKinsey, Matt served in several direct sales roles, primarily in the medical device industry. Matt also served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. In the Marines, Matt served as an Amphibious Assault Officer, and led teams ranging from 40-200 Marines.

Matt serves on the boards of  Cforia, Sigga and OPEXUS.

Matt received a BA in Political Science and History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Greg Barnes

Greg Barnes is a Vice President at Gemspring Capital.

Prior to Gemspring, Greg was a Vice President at Comvest Partners, a West Palm Beach-based private equity firm. While at Comvest, Greg was responsible for the evaluation, execution and monitoring of control investments across multiple sectors with a focus on consumer. Prior to Comvest, Greg was an Associate at H.I.G. Capital.

Greg began his career as an investment banking Analyst at Barclays where he executed M&A and leveraged finance transactions across a range of industries.

Greg received a BS in Business Administration from Georgetown University.

Alex Crowe

Alex Crowe is a Vice President at Gemspring Capital. Previously, Alex was a Senior Associate at Pine Brook Partners, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. At Pine Brook, Alex evaluated and executed investment opportunities primarily within the financial services sector. Prior to joining Pine Brook, Alex worked as an investment banking Analyst at Citigroup, executing M&A and capital markets transactions for a variety of firms within the financial institutions industry.

Alex earned a BS in Finance from Indiana University.

Kelsey Curtis

Kelsey (Lozier) Curtis is a Vice President of Business Development at Gemspring Capital. She is responsible for deal origination and driving the firm’s marketing and business development efforts.

Prior to joining Gemspring, Kelsey led business development and marketing efforts at Silver Oak Services Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on business, healthcare, and consumer services companies. Kelsey began her career on the investment team at Speyside Equity, a lower middle market private equity firm based in Detroit, where she focused on manufacturing and industrials.

Kelsey received a BA in Financial Management and Spanish from Hillsdale College.

Thomas Henry

Thomas Henry is a Vice President at Gemspring Capital. Prior to Gemspring, Thomas was an Associate at Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm focused on control buyouts and growth investments in lower middle market consumer products and specialty retail businesses. While at Palladin, Thomas focused on evaluating and executing transactions and portfolio management initiatives at the fund level, and also spent a year embedded full-time within KT Health, a Palladin portfolio company, to drive operational value creation. Thomas began his career as an investment banking Analyst with Wells Fargo Securities, where he executed M&A and leveraged finance transactions across a range of industries.

Thomas serves on the board of Amplix.

Thomas received a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Reid Litowitz

Reid Litowitz is a Vice President at Gemspring Capital. Prior to Gemspring, Reid was the Chief of Staff to the CEO and then the Senior Director of Business Intelligence at VelocityEHS, a Chicago-based software provider to the Environmental, Health & Safety market. Prior to VelocityEHS, Reid was an Investment Executive at CVC Growth Partners, a New York-based growth equity firm investing in vertical software companies. Reid began his career as an investment banking Analyst with Harris Williams, a sell-side M&A advisor to middle market businesses.

Reid received a BS in Finance from the University of Virginia.

Chris Lloyd

Chris Lloyd is a Vice President at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Chris was a Senior Associate at American Securities, a New York based private equity firm with more than $26 billion under management. At American Securities, Chris focused on the evaluation and execution of buyout and strategic add-on investments across multiple sectors including industrials, business services, and consumer.

Prior to American Securities, Chris was an investment banking Analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at J.P. Morgan where he focused on strategic and sponsor-related M&A across a variety of industries and geographies.

Chris received a BS in Accountancy from Brigham Young University.

David Muckey

David Muckey is a Vice President at Gemspring Capital. Prior to Gemspring, David was a Vice President at Vector Capital focused on the evaluation and execution of numerous majority and minority investments within the technology sector.

Prior to Vector, David worked at Lazard Frères & Co. in New York, advising clients on M&A transactions in the consumer, industrial and business services sectors.

David received a BA, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Jake Fenlon

Jake Fenlon is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Jake was a Senior Associate at Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth-oriented investments. At Providence, Jake focused on the evaluation and execution of majority, minority, and strategic add-on investments across the media, communications, education, and technology industries. Jake started his career as an investment banking Analyst at Credit Suisse in the M&A group, where he focused on buy-side and sell-side advisory across a variety of sectors.

Jake received a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago, where he was also a Dougan Scholar at the Booth School of Business.

Nick Miller

Nick Miller is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Nick was an Associate at Stella Point Capital, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. At Stella Point, Nick evaluated and executed buy-out and strategic add-on acquisitions across a variety of industries. Prior to Stella Point, Nick worked as an investment banking Analyst at Citigroup executing M&A and capital markets transactions for a variety of firms within the Consumer & Retail industries.

Nick received a BS in Finance and Economics from the University of Oregon.

Nathan Rakos

Nathan Rakos is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Nathan was an Associate at Monomoy Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. At Monomoy, Nathan focused on the evaluation and execution of buyout and credit investments across the industrial and consumer markets. Prior to Monomoy, Nathan worked as an investment banking Analyst at Houlihan Lokey where he focused on strategic and sponsor-related M&A within the business services sector.

Nathan received a BS in Computer Science and Finance from the College of William & Mary.

Stephen Reynolds

Stephen Reynolds is a Senior Associate focused on software investments at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Stephen was an Associate at Accel-KKR, an enterprise software focused private equity firm. Prior to Accel-KKR, Stephen was an investment banking Associate at MVP Capital (now part of Houlihan Lokey) delivering financing and M&A advisory services to lower middle market software and IT services businesses. Stephen began his career as an Analyst in the Energy Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Stephen holds a BS in Finance from Santa Clara University.

Gardiner Schroeder

Gardiner Schroeder is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Gardiner was an Associate at Re:Build Manufacturing, an investment holding company in Boston. At Re:Build, Gardiner focused on the evaluation and execution of investments across the aerospace & defense, industrial technology, and biotechnology sectors. Prior to joining Re:Build, Gardiner was an investment banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Alantra where he focused on transaction advisory across a range of industrial verticals.

Gardiner received a BS in Finance, cum laude, from Bentley University.

Jack Shannon

Jack Shannon is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Jack worked at AEA Investors, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. At AEA Investors, Jack focused on the evaluation and execution of buyout and strategic add-on investments across a range of industries. Previously, Jack worked as an investment banking Analyst at Fidus Partners where he focused M&A advisory services within the lower middle market.

Jack received a BS in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

James Simpson

James Simpson is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, James worked at Gallant Capital, a Los-Angeles based private equity firm. At Gallant, James focused on the evaluation and execution of control and non-control investments across a range of industries, with focuses in the aerospace & defense and business services sectors. Prior to joining Gallant, James worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Centerview Partners, where he focused on M&A, restructuring and activist defense mandates across a range of industries, and as a paralegal at Latham & Watkins.

James received an MA from the University of Cambridge.

Kelley Weibezahl

Kelley Weibezahl is a Senior Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Kelley was an Associate at Cortec Group, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. At Cortec, Kelley focused on the evaluation and execution of buyout and strategic add-on investments across a range of industries. Prior to Cortec, Kelley worked as an investment banking Analyst at Piper Sandler where she focused on strategic and sponsor-related M&A within the healthcare services sector. Kelley began her career in PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Deal Advisory practice.

Kelley received a BS in Accounting and Finance from Lehigh University.

Kenny Fitzpatrick

Kenny Fitzpatrick is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Kenny worked as an investment banking Analyst in the Global Industrials Group at Bank of America, where he advised industrial clients on M&A, leveraged buyouts, and capital raising activities.

Kenny received a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Lucas Pulliza

Lucas Pulliza is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Lucas was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group and focused on commercial and vendor due diligence across a range of industries on behalf of private equity investors.
 
Lucas received a BA with distinction in Politics and a MS in Business Analytics from the University of Virginia where he was also an Echols Scholar.

Adrian Roth

Adrian Roth is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Adrian was an investment banking Analyst in the Financial Restructuring Group at Houlihan Lokey in Los Angeles. While at Houlihan Lokey, Adrian worked on several engagements across a range of industries involving in-court and out-of-court restructurings, M&A mandates (buy-side, sell-side, and SPAC), and capital raises.

Adrian received a BS in Financial Actuarial Mathematics, cum laude, from UCLA.

Michelle Santos

Michelle Santos is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Michelle was an investment banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. While at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Michelle focused on transaction advisory across a range of industries.

Michelle received a BA in Economics and Psychology from Yale University.

Jaipal Silla

Jaipal Silla is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Jaipal worked as an investment banking Analyst at Alkali Partners, where he focused on M&A and capital markets transactions for middle market companies within the technology industry.

Jaipal received a BA in Finance and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Florida.

Tatenda Zenenga

Tatenda Zenenga is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Tatenda was an investment banking Associate in the Healthcare Services group at SVB Securities in New York. While at SVB Securities, Tatenda focused on all aspects of originating, structuring, and executing public equity and M&A transactions. Prior to SVB Securities, Tatenda was an investment banking Analyst at H.C. Wainwright & Co., where he focused on Life Sciences ECM transactions.

Tatenda received a BS in Finance & Business Economics and an MS in Finance & Investment Management from Sacred Heart University.

Raymond Zhao

Raymond Zhao is an Associate at Gemspring Capital. Previously, Ray was a Senior Associate at D Cubed Group, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. While at D Cubed, Ray evaluated and executed a number of platform investments and strategic add-ons, primarily within the consumer and business services sectors. Prior to D Cubed, Ray worked as an investment banking analyst at Jefferies where he focused on M&A, leveraged buyouts, and capital raises within the healthcare sector.

Ray received a BBA with high distinction in Finance and Accounting from the University of Michigan.

Adrienne Cerulo

Adrienne Cerulo is the Assistant Controller at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Adrienne was the Controller at Longroad Asset Management, a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling positions in financially distressed companies. While at Longroad, Adrienne handled management company and fund accounting duties in addition to assisting with limited partner relationships. Prior to Longroad, Adrienne held other accounting positions at Weston Capital Management, a fund-of-funds, and UBS Investment Bank, where she supported their Fixed Income group.

Adrienne received an MS and BS in Accounting, summa cum laude, and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. She is a Certified Public Accountant registered in the State of Connecticut.

Jordan Woessner

Jordan Woessner is the Administrative Director at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Jordan worked closely with the Founding Principal of Roger Ferris + Partners. Previously, Jordan supported the CEO and three Managing Directors on the Investor Relations team for Z Capital Group, a $5 billion AUM private equity firm based in NYC.

Jordan began her career supporting Human Resource Executives in the entertainment industry.

Jordan received a BS in Business Management from The University of New Haven.

Amanda Groves

Amanda Groves is an Executive Assistant at Gemspring Capital. Prior to joining Gemspring, Amanda worked as a personal assistant to various families for several years.

Amanda graduated from Lincoln Technical Institute with honors.

Devon Weiss

Devon Weiss is an Executive Assistant at Gemspring Capital. Prior to Gemspring, Devon held multiple roles as an Executive Assistant, Office Manager and Project Coordinator for executives in the architecture, real estate and design industries.

Devon attended Santa Monica College.