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Vertex Aerospace
Vertex Aerospace — Koch and Knauff's PE firm targets defense supply-chain manufacturers. Launched 2018. Offices in New York, Reston, Boston, Mississippi.
Vertex Aerospace
Koch founded Vertex alongside Knauff in 2018 after observing that private equity firms avoided the technically complex, security-cleared supply chain beneath the major defense primes. Koch — a Harvard MBA and former US Navy officer — spent years as an operator and investor within the sector at The Carlyle Group and Veritas Capital. The firm targets North American businesses generating $10 million to $75 million in EBITDA that embed deeply into platforms like the F-35, Virginia-class submarines, and next-generation missile systems. Vertex concentrates exclusively on aerospace and defense manufacturing, with a strategy centered on control acquisitions of founder-owned, technically differentiated suppliers. The mandate spans avionics, precision machining, composites, energetics, and structural components for air, sea, and space domains. The firm announced its first platform investment — Accurus Aerospace, a Tier 2 machined-parts supplier supporting Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Spirit AeroSystems — in November 2019. In February 2025, Vertex formed Arcadia Aerospace, a platform consolidating precision aerospace and defense component manufacturers, backed by continued capital from the firm's committed long-duration fund structure (per the firm, February 2025). The firm operates from New York, with additional offices in Reston, Boston, and Madison, Mississippi — the latter placing senior leadership near a dense cluster of Gulf Coast defense manufacturing. Vertex raised its debut institutional fund in 2021 with backing from endowments, foundations, and family offices, though it has not publicly disclosed specific fund sizes. The leadership includes Partner Dan Colleran, a former Navy intelligence officer and Harvard Business School classmate of the founders, and Partner Mark Bower, who leads portfolio company operational improvement with a background at AlixPartners and Cerberus. The February 2025 Arcadia Aerospace platform launch underscores Vertex's continued push to cluster complementary suppliers under unified operational leadership. Vertex rejects the five-year fund lifecycle that dominates private equity, instead deploying permanent capital from long-dated committed vehicles that let the firm hold assets indefinitely. This structure is matched to the procurement cadence of the Department of Defense — programs span decades, supplier qualification takes years, and forced exit timelines destroy value. The firm's operators embed directly into portfolio companies to manage classified facility clearances, ITAR compliance, and complex defense accounting standards that deter generalist investors.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2018
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Additional offices
Reston, VA · Boston, MA · Madison, MS
Principals
Al Koch
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Nick Knauff
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Dan Colleran
Partner
Mark Bower
Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Vertex Aerospace?
Co-Founders and Managing Partners Al Koch and Nick Knauff lead investment decisions alongside Partners Dan Colleran and Mark Bower. Koch, a former US Navy officer, previously invested in aerospace and defense at The Carlyle Group and Veritas Capital before founding Vertex in 2018. The partnership operates with a consensus-driven investment committee composed of the four senior partners.
How is Vertex Aerospace structured as an investment firm?
Vertex operates as an independent private equity firm deploying permanent, long-duration capital — distinct from traditional five-to-seven-year closed-end funds. The firm raised its inaugural institutional vehicle in 2021 from endowments, foundations, and family offices, though specific fund sizes remain undisclosed. The capital structure is designed to hold portfolio companies through multi-decade defense procurement cycles.
What types of companies does Vertex Aerospace acquire?
Vertex targets North American, mid-market aerospace and defense manufacturers generating $10 million to $75 million in EBITDA. The firm focuses on technically complex, security-cleared suppliers that produce avionics, precision-machined components, composites, energetics, and structural assemblies embedded in major defense platforms. Control acquisitions of founder-owned businesses are the firm's primary transaction type.
Which defense programs are Vertex's portfolio companies exposed to?
The firm's holdings support major weapons systems including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Virginia-class nuclear submarines, Boeing commercial aircraft, and next-generation missile programs. The February 2025 formation of Arcadia Aerospace as a precision components platform broadens Vertex's exposure across air, sea, and space domains.
Does Vertex Aerospace have operational expertise inside its portfolio companies?
Yes — the firm embeds operators directly into portfolio companies to manage specialized requirements. Partner Mark Bower leads operational improvement programs drawing on his restructuring background at AlixPartners and Cerberus. Teams handle classified facility clearances, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliance, and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) accounting standards on-site, a capability that generalist private equity firms typically lack.
What was Vertex Aerospace's first acquisition?
Vertex announced the acquisition of Accurus Aerospace in November 2019. Accurus is a Tier 2 supplier producing complex machined parts and structural assemblies for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Spirit AeroSystems — precisely the type of technically differentiated, founder-owned defense manufacturer the firm targets.
How does Vertex Aerospace source deals?
The firm's sourcing model relies heavily on the founders' relationships across the defense-industrial base, cultivated through Koch's prior investing roles at Carlyle and Veritas and his service as a Navy officer. Vertex's New York and Washington, DC-area presence, combined with an operational office near Gulf Coast defense manufacturing clusters in Mississippi, positions the team to access proprietary, off-market opportunities from retiring founders and corporate carve-outs.
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