DTS Capital

Investment decisions are made jointly by the firm's principals, David Taylor-Smith and Steven Shelley. Taylor-Smith serves as Managing Director and brings operational experience from the logistics and infrastructure sectors. Shelley is a Director and co-manages the portfolio. The firm does not maintain a formal investment committee beyond the two principals, giving it a flat, founder-led decision-making structure.

DTS Capital focuses on growth equity and late-stage expansion, avoiding venture-stage or pre-profit companies. The firm typically invests in businesses generating at least A$2 million in EBITDA with proven market traction and a clear path to continued organic or acquisitive growth. Early-stage startups and seed-stage opportunities are explicitly excluded from the mandate.

The firm sources primarily through its principals' professional networks and direct relationships with founders, rather than through auction processes or intermediary-led deal flow. This relationship-driven approach reflects the concentrated nature of the Australian lower mid-market, where many transactions occur off-market. The firm does not publicly disclose a formal sourcing team or systematic origination program.

DTS Capital operates as a private equity firm, though its lean structure and patient capital posture blur the line with a family-affiliated investment office. The firm does not disclose a single-family wealth origin, and its principals appear to deploy a combination of their own capital and external co-investment on a deal-by-deal basis without a formal fund structure.

DTS Capital invests exclusively through direct equity deals. The firm does not make commitments to third-party private equity funds and does not operate a fund-of-funds program. All known investments are structured as direct minority stakes, often with board representation, in Australian operating companies.

The firm typically writes equity cheques between A$5 million and A$15 million per investment, targeting companies with enterprise values in the lower mid-market range. DTS Capital does not pursue minority stakes below A$5 million or control buyouts above A$50 million, keeping the portfolio concentrated and aligned with its principals' capital base.

The principals maintain a small philanthropic vehicle for personal giving, but this is not structured as an institutionally separate foundation and is not part of the investment mandate. All investment capital is managed directly through DTS Capital with no disclosed impact or ESG overlay that would constrain sector or company selection.