ERA Partners

What ERA Partners does

ERA Partners LLC is a private investment firm that invests in asset-rich operating businesses delivering essential services across North America's lower middle market. The firm, headquartered in San Francisco and managing $1.6 billion in assets under management as of December 2025, was launched in 2018 by co-founders Ryan Barnes, Matt Carbone, and Ed Leung, who have been investing together since 2007 (previously operating as AIMPERA Capital Partners before rebranding in October 2024). ERA targets equity investments of $50-150 million per platform across five vertical focus areas: Transportation & Logistics, Digital Infrastructure, Energy Transition & Power, Environmental, and Other Essential Assets, and has built 19 infrastructure platforms and completed more than 150 add-on acquisitions over the partners' combined tenure.

The firm's core product is the ERA Infra Fund, alongside single-asset and continuation vehicles including the ERA Cold Storage Fund LP ($125 million, 2020), ERA Infra Fund I ($475 million+, 2023), and the ERA Blade Continuation Fund LP ($485 million, 2025). Portfolio platforms include Agile Cold Storage (cold storage warehousing, with Continental Grain Company), Crosstown Fiber (dark fiber network), GeoTility (geoexchange heating/cooling-as-a-service), Novilla RNG (anaerobic digestion renewable natural gas), American Aviation Holdings (rotorcraft wildland firefighting), Essential Aviation Holdings (fixed wing firefighting and medical transport), and Robinson Waste Services (waste management in Utah, sold to Republic Services in May 2026). ERA differentiates through a thesis-led, research-driven sourcing process targeting pre-institutional sectors, with active operational partnership and management rollover on each platform.

ERA generates revenue primarily through management fees on committed and invested capital from institutional limited partners, supplemented by carried interest on realized exits. The 22-person team includes the three founding Managing Partners plus operating partners and functional executives; institutional investors are sourced via direct relationships, industry reputation, and external advisers including Campbell Lutyens and StepStone. The firm does not disclose pricing or revenue publicly, and operates with a sales-led, relationship-driven go-to-market focused on the institutional LP base.

Name

ERA Partners

Legal name

ERA Partners LLC

Website

https://erapartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity / Infrastructure Investment Management

NAICS

Other Financial Investment Activities (5239), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Renewables & Energy Transition Funds (Solar, Wind, Hydrogen, CCUS) (FSANAEAD)

Keywords

• Private equity investing
• Essential infrastructure assets
• Lower middle market
• Family business partnerships
• Infrastructure fund management

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Management Fees: ERA Partners generates revenue through managing private investment funds, taking management fees typically charged as a percentage of assets under management or committed capital.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ERA Partners LLC is a private investment firm that invests in asset-rich, essential-service operating businesses in North America's lower middle market. The firm partners with family businesses and experienced operators to scale, reposition, and institutionalize companies delivering essential services (transportation & logistics, digital infrastructure, energy transition & power, environmental, and other essential assets) through majority equity investments of $50-150 million per platform, funded primarily via dedicated PE funds.

Product overview

ERA Partners LLC is a private investment firm that does not offer a unified software product or platform. Rather, the firm provides investment management services and has built a portfolio of infrastructure platform companies across essential asset sectors. The portfolio consists of operating businesses in Transportation & Logistics (cold storage, fuel distribution, marinas), Digital Infrastructure (dark fiber, cell towers), Energy Transition & Power (geoexchange, renewable natural gas), Environmental (waste management, aerial firefighting), and Other Essential Assets (housing, education). The primary investment vehicle is ERA Infra Fund with target equity investment of $50-150 million per platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ERA Infra Fund ERA's primary institutional investment fund focused on essential real asset companies in the North American lower middle market, targeting equity investments of $50-150 million per platform.
• ERA Cold Storage Fund LP Single asset investment vehicle that raised $125 million at hard cap to invest in Agile Cold Storage LLC.
• ERA Blade Continuation Fund LP $485 million continuation vehicle supporting the aerial wildland firefighting and heavy lift companies within the American Aviation Holdings investment platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Built 19 infrastructure platforms including Pre-ERA Investments
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Latham & Watkins LLPminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 21 August 2025Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal counsel for the ERA Blade Continuation Fund LP.
• Latham & Watkins LLPminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 11 July 2023Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel for ERA Infra Fund II.
• Continental Grain CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 February 2020Continental Grain Company (CGC) partnered with ERA to launch Agile Cold Storage LLC in February 2020. CGC contributed capabilities, food industry experience and network to deliver novel supply chain solutions. CGC's Chief Investment Officer Ari Gendason participated in the partnership announcement.
• Don SchoenlcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 February 2020Don Schoenl, a 25-year cold chain industry veteran and former chairman of the World Food Logistics Organization, partnered with ERA and Continental Grain Company to launch Agile Cold Storage. Don serves as CEO of Agile Cold Storage.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Tiger Infrastructure Partners: Lower middle market North American infrastructure PE firm with a similar essential-services thesis and check size; ERA recently hired VP Cathy Basquel from Tiger.
• I Squared Capital: Global infrastructure PE investor targeting mid-market essential infrastructure with platform-build and add-on acquisition approach analogous to ERA.
• DIF Capital Partners: Independent infrastructure fund manager with similar lower middle market focus across digital, energy transition, and environmental assets; ERA's Rhea Castelino joined from DIF.
• American Infrastructure Funds (AIM): Lower middle market essential infrastructure PE firm; ERA is effectively the institutional successor to the principals' earlier investing together since 2007, and multiple ERA team members came from AIM.
• Generate Capital: Sustainable infrastructure investor focused on essential real assets including distributed energy, geoexchange-adjacent assets, and storage; ERA's Robert Moore joined from Generate.
• ArcLight Capital Partners: Boston-based PE firm investing in essential infrastructure and energy assets at similar check sizes; comparable mid-life continuation vehicle strategy.
• Morgan Stanley Energy Partners: Energy infrastructure-focused PE strategy with comparable essential-asset thesis in North America; ERA's Michael Mocharla joined from Morgan Stanley Energy Partners.

Broad incumbents

• Brookfield Asset Management: Global infrastructure asset manager investing across real assets including renewables, data infrastructure, and transport — a mega-cap incumbent against which ERA's $1.6B AUM platform must compete for deals and LP capital.
• Stonepeak: Large-scale North American infrastructure PE platform with overlapping sectors (communications, energy transition, transport & logistics); operates at a much larger fund size than ERA.
• KKR Global Infrastructure: Mega-fund infrastructure platform with broad exposure to digital, energy transition, and essential services; competes with ERA for North American lower middle market opportunities at the upper end of ERA's check range.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/erapartnersllc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ERA Partners