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Emko Capital
Dean Emmerton and Josh Kowitt launched Emko Capital in 2017 after overlapping careers as Associate Partners at McKinsey & Company.
Emko Capital
Dean Emmerton and Josh Kowitt launched Emko Capital in 2017 after overlapping careers as Associate Partners at McKinsey & Company. Emmerton brought an engineering background from Celgard, while Kowitt had built and sold University Trucking before his consulting tenure. They set up the firm to acquire industrial manufacturing businesses, specifically targeting founder- or family-owned enterprises facing succession challenges and corporate divestitures where dedicated operational attention can unlock value. The firm invests out of committed funds across industrials, aerospace and defense, chemicals, and value-added distribution. Its strategy centers on buy-and-build platforms in the lower middle market, typically acquiring businesses with $10–100M in revenue and $0–10M in EBITDA. Deals span direct acquisitions, carve-outs, and succession-driven transitions, with a strong preference for manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Emko’s current portfolio includes an aerospace and defense precision machining platform assembled through five add-on acquisitions starting in 2021; a metal fabrication equipment group formed around the 2023 acquisition of Scotchman Industries and expanded with Steelmax; and a high-temperature textile manufacturing platform built from the 2018 acquisition of The Davlyn Group, which later added Darco Southern, Norfab, and Amatex. Emko operates from Narberth, Pennsylvania, with an additional office in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is led by managing partners Emmerton and Kowitt alongside partner Jackson Dunlap, a former McKinsey engagement manager who joined in 2019. The firm supplements its investment team with a bench of operating consultants and executives — including a former Tesla engineer and supply-chain specialists from Accenture and Kearney — who embed in portfolio companies to drive lean manufacturing, procurement, and digital sales capabilities. In 2025 Emko launched an aviation MRO buy-and-build strategy, actively acquiring component repair shops in the United States and Canada. Emko’s architecture is genuinely hybrid: a committed-fund private equity firm that operates with the intensity of an operator-led family office. Its investment team and embedded operators — not a separate consulting arm — execute post-acquisition transformation, focusing on converting founder-run shops into professionally managed companies with formal R&D pipelines, bolt-on M&A programs, and data-driven manufacturing metrics. That model lets Emko offer sellers liquidity while preserving business legacies, backed by a repeatable playbook refined across multiple platform investments.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2017
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Narberth
Corporate office
Narberth, PA, United States
Additional offices
Charlotte, NC
Principals
Dean Emmerton
Managing Partner
Josh Kowitt
Managing Partner
Jackson Dunlap
Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Emko Capital?
Managing partners Dean Emmerton and Josh Kowitt share investment authority. They co-founded the firm in 2017 and remain the primary decision-makers for acquisitions and portfolio strategy. Partner Jackson Dunlap, who joined in 2019, supports sourcing and execution.
How does Emko source proprietary deal flow?
Emko targets a narrow segment — family-owned industrial manufacturers with succession issues or corporate carve-outs — where relationship-driven sourcing matters more than auction processes. The founding partners' McKinsey networks and the firm's reputation for preserving founder legacies generate inbound interest from business owners seeking liquidity without selling to a competitor or a purely financial buyer.
Is Emko Capital structured as a family office or an institutionally backed fund?
Emko invests out of committed funds, not a single-family balance sheet. It operates as an independent private equity firm. The firm does not disclose its limited partners, but its structure — dedicated funds with a defined investment period — aligns with traditional institutional private equity rather than a family office.
Does Emko participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Emko executes direct control investments and buy-and-build strategies exclusively. There is no indication the firm makes passive fund commitments or acts as a fund-of-funds investor. Its portfolio shows wholly owned platforms built around a first acquisition, followed by multiple bolt-on add-ons.
What investment stages does Emko typically target?
Emko targets mature, cash-flowing businesses with $10–100M in revenue and up to $10M in EBITDA. These are classic private equity buyout targets, not venture-stage or growth-equity deals. The firm seeks either healthy, growing companies or underperforming businesses where operational intervention can improve margins and growth.
How is Emko Capital's post-acquisition model different from a typical private equity firm?
Emko embeds a bench of dedicated operating consultants and executives — including former Tesla engineers, supply chain specialists from Accenture and Kearney, and experienced manufacturing CEOs — directly into portfolio companies. This team executes the ‘EMKO Playbook’ for professionalizing family-run businesses, covering lean manufacturing, digital sales, procurement, and bolt-on acquisition programs, rather than relying solely on external advisors or portfolio-company management.
What is Emko Capital's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
Emko has not publicly disclosed a co-investment program. Its investment activity, as presented on the firm's website, consists of wholly owned platform investments where Emko controls the equity. There is no evidence it syndicates minority positions alongside other sponsors or invites co-investment into its funds.
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