Athena Private Equity

Neil Hutchinson and Paul Carew, both managing partners, jointly make all investment decisions. Hutchinson's background includes founding and scaling technology companies, while Carew spent years at McKinsey and in corporate development roles. The pair work closely on every deal and sit on the boards of portfolio companies.

Athena relies on a proprietary network built by its two managing partners — including founder and operator relationships from their time at Forward Partners, McKinsey alumni, and UK intermediary channels. The firm reported screening over 400 opportunities in its first year, sourcing primarily through direct outreach to founder-led SMEs and through longstanding advisory relationships.

The firm targets profitable UK-based small-and-medium enterprises with enterprise values between £5 million and £30 million. Equity cheques typically range from £5 million to £15 million. The firm focuses on majority or significant-minority positions, avoiding minority passive stakes.

Athena invests exclusively through direct deals. The firm was structured around a concentrated portfolio of 6 to 8 platform companies, with follow-on capital reserved for add-on acquisitions and growth investments within those platforms. The fund does not allocate to third-party managers.

Forward Partners is a listed early-stage venture firm that invests in pre-seed and seed-stage UK startups and provides studio-like operational support. Athena targets established, profitable SMEs at a much later stage — typically founder-led businesses needing succession, strategic repositioning, or operational acceleration — with cheque sizes an order of magnitude larger.