Hypatia Capital

Patricia Lizarraga is the Managing Partner and sole investment-committee anchor. A Harvard MBA and former investment banker, she founded the firm in 2007 and has since served on the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee. Her investment-committee authority is absolute for a firm of this size and mandate specificity.

Hypatia acquires middle-market companies and installs or retains a female CEO at the helm of every portfolio company. The firm targets buyouts, divestitures, and management buyouts in business services, industrials, and enterprise software. EBITDA at entry typically ranges from $5 million to $25 million.

The firm sources through a proprietary network of female operating executives, many of whom are candidates for CEO placements at acquired companies. Founders and intermediaries approach Hypatia specifically because of the female-CEO mandate, creating a sourcing channel that bypasses broad auctions. Lizarraga's SEC advisory role also surfaces relationships with regulated-industry owners considering succession.

Hypatia operates as a direct private equity investor executing platform acquisitions, not as a fund-of-funds or LP allocator. Capital is deployed via closed-end fund structures into control positions. The firm does not co-invest passively alongside other sponsors as a standard practice.

Hypatia has no public exclusion list, but the firm's deal history and mandate focus on business services, light industrials, and enterprise software. Hard-asset-heavy sectors, biotechnology, and consumer retail do not appear in the firm's disclosed track record and are inconsistent with the lower-middle-market buyout profile.