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Rising Point Capital
Rising Point Capital was formed in 2019 by Michael Drai and Justin Marku after both left Sterling Partners, where Drai had been a managing director and...
Rising Point Capital
Rising Point Capital was formed in 2019 by Michael Drai and Justin Marku after both left Sterling Partners, where Drai had been a managing director and Marku a principal within the business services group. The firm is built around a narrow thesis: acquiring majority stakes in US-based, lower-middle-market service companies with at least $10 million in revenue and $2 million in EBITDA. The founders brought along their institutional training from GTCR, Allen & Company, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which shows in the firm's preference for corporate carve-outs and founder transitions. The portfolio reveals a heavy tilt toward industrial and infrastructure services. Confirmed investments include Cinterra, a utility-scale solar and electrical construction firm based in North Carolina; Conco Services, a provider of industrial cleaning and non-destructive testing to power generation clients operating out of Pittsburgh and Houston; and PirTano, an underground telecom and transportation-construction company in Illinois. The firm also backs residential service platforms like ABC Plumbing, Sewer, Heating, Cooling, and Electric, which operates across the Midwest and Florida, and JDS Pipe, a Georgia-based water and stormwater infrastructure contractor. Rising Point writes majority checks and targets businesses with clear organic and acquisition-based growth levers. The partnership group remains lean. In 2023, the co-founders added Marc Perez, who had previously led the Menper Group and helped launch RiverGlade Capital, as a partner focused on operational leadership. In 2024, they promoted Natalie Greene to partner after she joined from RiverGlade. The firm's most recent hire was Eric Kennebeck, a former GTCR fund controller, who came aboard as CFO and Chief Compliance Officer in early 2026. Rising Point has completed nine investments since inception — including platform deals and add-on acquisitions — and reports that 100% of its platform investments were made in partnership with founder, family, or management-owned businesses. The firm's structural edge is its integration of operators into the partnership itself. Both Perez and Greene brought hands-on experience launching and running investment firms and operating companies before reaching partner, creating a team where deal execution and post-close operations sit under the same roof. This blurs the traditional line between GP and operating partner and matches Rising Point's insistence that it delivers transparent, side-by-side partnership rather than just institutional oversight.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2019
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
Michael Drai
Co-Founder & Partner
Justin Marku
Co-Founder & Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Rising Point Capital?
Co-founders Michael Drai and Justin Marku run all investment decisions. Both came through Sterling Partners — Drai as a managing director and co-head of business services, Marku as a principal — and have been investing in founder-owned businesses for their entire careers. They share an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School and an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, which reinforces the tight, two-person nucleus at the top of the firm.
How does Rising Point source proprietary deal flow?
Rising Point relies on a professional network built over 20 years in lower-middle-market business services. The partners' shared tenure at Sterling Partners and their Kellogg alumni relationships give them access to founder-owned businesses that rarely come to broad auction. Their website explicitly invites intermediaries and advisors working with owner-operators to submit opportunities, suggesting deal flow comes through trusted introductions rather than marketed processes.
What size and type of companies does Rising Point target?
The firm targets US-headquartered companies with at least $10 million in revenue and $2 million in EBITDA or cash flow. It pursues majority investments in founder-owned, family-owned, or management-owned businesses. Key characteristics include attractive market dynamics, a defensible value proposition, and multiple levers for organic and acquisition-driven value creation.
Which sectors does Rising Point explicitly avoid?
Rising Point does not publish an explicit exclusion list, but its stated focus on industrial services, energy and infrastructure, environmental and waste, logistics, value-added distribution, commercial services, and home services heavily implies avoidance of technology, healthcare services, consumer brands, and financial services. Marc Perez and Natalie Greene both carried healthcare-services experience from RiverGlade and Sterling Partners into the firm, but Rising Point has not deployed capital in that sector so far.
Does Rising Point maintain philanthropic structures, and how are they separated?
There is no publicly disclosed philanthropic foundation or donor-advised fund associated with Rising Point Capital or its partners. Justin Marku was an Evans Scholar at the University of Illinois, which indicates a connection to the Chick Evans scholarship program for caddies, but no formal charitable vehicle linked to the firm appears in any filings or on its website.
What is Rising Point's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
Rising Point has not publicly disclosed a co-investment policy. The firm markets itself as a control-equity partner that buys majority stakes directly from founders and families. Its portfolio does not show fund commitments, club deals, or SPV co-investments alongside other private equity sponsors, making it likely a direct-only, control-oriented shop.
Does Rising Point participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Only direct deals appear in the firm's public track record. Rising Point has not registered as a fund-of-funds and does not list any LP commitments to external private equity funds. The nine investments reported on its website are all direct platform or add-on acquisitions of operating companies.
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