Building Companies With Capital & Creativity

Pillsman Partners provides thoughtful, long-term capital and strategic support to owner-led businesses in the lower middle market. We invest deliberately, work closely with leadership, and drive durable value through focused growth and buy-and-build strategies.

Business Owner? Switch the toggle below

You'll now see content written specifically for business owners throughout the site — focused on partnership, not just process.

2012

Founded in 2012 out of firsthand experience in investment banking, institutional private equity, and operating roles, Pillsman was built to be different: fewer investments, deeper involvement, and the freedom to choose only the opportunities where we can make a real impact. We invest with purpose — not to chase scale, but to drive meaningful, long-term growth.

Over the last 14 years, we’ve completed seven platform investments and twenty-three add-on acquisitions across industrial, manufacturing, and infrastructure businesses. Each partnership is structured to fit the opportunity — with flexible timelines, thoughtful capital, and the right partners around the table.

We keep our portfolio intentionally concentrated so we can focus on the work that compounds over time: building leadership teams, professionalizing finance and reporting, sharpening commercial strategy, and creating the governance and discipline needed to scale — the work that actually moves the needle.

Building Companies With Capital & Creativity

You didn't build this to sell it and play golf. You built it because it matters — to your family, your employees, your customers. If you're thinking about what's next, it's probably because you're ready to do more, not less. We're set up to be that kind of partner.

Over the last 14 years, we’ve completed seven platform investments and twenty-three add-on acquisitions across industrial, manufacturing, and infrastructure businesses. Each partnership is structured to fit the opportunity — with flexible timelines, thoughtful capital, and the right partners around the table.

We keep our portfolio intentionally concentrated so we can focus on the work that compounds over time: building leadership teams, professionalizing finance and reporting, sharpening commercial strategy, and creating the governance and discipline needed to scale — the work that actually moves the needle.

Over the last 14 years, we’ve completed seven platform investments and twenty-three add-on acquisitions across industrial, manufacturing, and infrastructure businesses. Each partnership is structured to fit the opportunity — with flexible timelines, thoughtful capital, and the right partners around the table.

We keep our portfolio intentionally concentrated so we can focus on the work that compounds over time: building leadership teams, professionalizing finance and reporting, sharpening commercial strategy, and creating the governance and discipline needed to scale — the work that actually moves the needle.

About Us

Managing Partners

We’ve sat in every seat in the stadium: analyst, board member, operator. That perspective shapes how we approach every partnership. When we meet an owner, we’re not just underwriting the business — we’re working to understand their goals, their constraints, and where the company fits in their life.

When you sit down with us, you’re not meeting a deal team. You’re meeting the two partners who will work with you day-to-day — before closing and long after. No handoffs. No junior staff running the relationship.

Edwin Burke

Edwin brings a background in investing and capital markets, with experience across investment banking, private equity, and operating roles. His perspective is shaped by years of evaluating and working inside businesses across economic cycles and transaction structures. That experience informs Pillsman’s disciplined approach to selectivity, risk assessment, and aligning capital with the real needs of each business.

Chris Eichmann

Chris’s background sits at the intersection of investing and operations. He has spent much of his career working closely with management teams on growth, professionalization, and strategic transitions.

His focus is practical and people centered — helping founders navigate inflection points while preserving the culture and strengths that made the business successful in the first place.

Together

We thread the needle between suits and jeans, between institutional credibility and entrepreneurial speed—"classic in what we do, bespoke in how we do it." Think old-school merchant banking: we invest alongside you, not just in you. Rigorous when it matters, flexible when it doesn't.

What We've built

The Philosophy in Numbers

The best deals we have done share one thing in common: the owner didn't want to leave. They wanted a partner, not an exit. They wanted to keep real skin in the game and build something bigger than they could alone. That's the kind of partnership we built Pillsman for.

The 30% you keep can end up worth more than the 70% you sell. That's what a real second bite looks like — and it only works if your partner is building, not flipping.

Platform Investments Since 2012

3-9yr

Hold Period

$2-15M

EBITDA Sweet Spot at Entry

Add-on Acquisitions

Portfolio Companies?

Focused growth stories. Real partnership.

We call them partners because that’s what they are. We don’t collect companies — we partner with businesses where the work matters: mission-critical products, durable customer relationships, and owners who care deeply about what happens next. We invest in a small number of businesses at a time so we can stay close to the work: strategy, leadership, systems, M&A, and execution. We roll up our sleeves to build — through thoughtful add-on acquisitions, operational improvements, and integrations that actually stick.

Manufacturer of secure ID cards, RFID products, and specialty credentials for institutions that need tamper-proof identification.

Security & Identity Solutions

2015–Present

See All

Manufacturer of secure ID cards, RFID products, and specialty credentials for institutions that need tamper-proof identification.

Security & Identity Solutions

2015–Present

See All

Manufacturer of secure ID cards, RFID products, and specialty credentials for institutions that need tamper-proof identification.

Security & Identity Solutions

2015–Present

See All

Manufacturer of secure ID cards, RFID products, and specialty credentials for institutions that need tamper-proof identification.

Security & Identity Solutions

2015–Present

See All

WHY US

What Makes Us Different

You won't get handed off. The people you meet before closing are the people you'll work with for years after. When something comes up, we're a phone call away — not a request through your "deal team".

Both Sides of the Deal

Banking. Private equity. Operations. We've worked in all three — and it shows in how we structure deals and partner with management and owners.

Small by Design

No bureaucracy. Every team member works directly with portfolio companies — there's never a need to repeat yourself.

No Fund, No Pressure

We're not deploying committed capital on a timeline. We invest when the opportunity makes sense, not because we have to.

Blog

News & Insights

We believe the most useful insights come from doing the work. Here, we share what we’re learning as we build alongside our partners — lessons from portfolio companies, reflections on what’s working (and what isn’t), and patterns we see emerging across industries and generations of owners.

Partnership

Building PowerVac: A Tale of Disciplined Growth

Jan 5, 2026

Partnership

Building PowerVac: A Tale of Disciplined Growth

Jan 5, 2026

Partnership

Building PowerVac: A Tale of Disciplined Growth

Jan 5, 2026

Owner Perspective

Excited or Exhausted

Dec 31, 2025

Owner Perspective

Excited or Exhausted

Dec 31, 2025

Owner Perspective

Excited or Exhausted

Dec 31, 2025

About the Firm

Not a Rebrand. A Recognition.

Dec 22, 2025

About the Firm

Not a Rebrand. A Recognition.

Dec 22, 2025

About the Firm

Not a Rebrand. A Recognition.

Dec 22, 2025

Our Insights