Plexus Capital

Michael Painter serves as Managing Partner and leads the firm day-to-day alongside the co-founder group and a set of next-generation partners who became owners in 2021. Investment committees draw from a broad partner group that includes Bob Anders, Mike Becker, Jay Jester, Will Anders, Alex Bean, Brad Pence, and Barrett Biringer, among others.

Plexus routes structured capital referrals through principals Cameron Coley and Kevin Speight, while buyout sourcing runs through Madelaine Thomas, Director of Business Development and Data Operations. The firm leans on a network of independent sponsors, search funds, and management teams within the lower middle market — a segment where its 200+ portfolio company relationships provide repeat origination and warm introductions.

Plexus deploys capital directly into companies, not as a fund-of-funds. Its structured capital arm provides debt with equity co-investment alongside independent sponsors and management teams, while its buyout fund acquires majority stakes in founder- and family-owned businesses. The firm does not market itself as a limited partner in other managers' pooled vehicles.

Plexus targets profitable lower-middle-market companies with $2 million to $15 million in EBITDA. The structured capital strategy supports recapitalizations, growth investments, and management buyouts. The buyout strategy focuses on change-of-control transactions in founder- and family-owned businesses at the same scale. The firm explicitly stays within sub-$150 million revenue enterprises.

Plexus houses a structured capital fund and a buyout fund inside a single partnership, letting the same team execute non-control debt-plus-equity deals and full majority acquisitions in the identical EBITDA band. This dual-fund architecture means a founder or independent sponsor can start with a structured capital relationship and transition to a control sale without switching counterparties.

Plexus does not publish formal sector exclusions. Its portfolio ranges from industrial services and manufacturing to healthcare, software, and business services — reflecting a generalist lower-middle-market mandate rather than industry concentration. The firm does not flag any specific industry as off-limits in public materials.

The firm runs a Plexus Leadership Institute aimed at professional development for portfolio company executives, and co-founder Kel Landis authored 'The Little Book of Do' — cultural artifacts rather than a structured foundation. No separate philanthropic entity or family-office structure is disclosed.