Ethos Capital
Boston-based private equity firm founded in 2020 that targets majority and control minority investments in middle-market information service companies across North America and Europe, managing approximately $5 billion in AUM across a concentrated three-portfolio.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ethos Capital does
Ethos Capital LP is a Boston-based private equity firm founded in 2020 by Erik Brooks and Fadi Chehadé that targets majority and control minority investments in middle-market information service companies across North America and Europe. The firm manages approximately $5 billion in assets under management and operates with a deliberately concentrated three-company portfolio: Identity Digital (the world's largest portfolio of top-level domains managing approximately 26 million domains), BroadStreet Partners (a middle-market insurance brokerage network with 30 Core Agency Partners and over 800 colleagues across the U.S. and Canada), and Newforma (project information management software serving more than 122,000 professionals in 1,200+ architecture, engineering, construction, and owner firms).
The firm's investment model is operator-led, combining investment and operating expertise through a network of 19 Partners and 21 Executive Partners, most with prior C-suite experience at Fortune 100 organizations including IBM, Honeywell, Disney, Google, Wayfair, Cisco, Salesforce, and AOL. Ethos generates revenue through traditional private equity streams — management fees on AUM and carried interest / incentive allocations on successful portfolio exits — and has brought in institutional co-investment partners for major transactions including The Baupost Group, Neuberger Berman, BCI, White Mountains Insurance Group, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, TPG GP Solutions, Accel-KKR, Coller Capital, and CVC Secondary Partners.
In January 2026, Ethos formalized its Office of Value Creation under Chief Value Creation Officer Stephen Gold, launching the proprietary Acceleration Vector (AV) Methodology — a framework for identifying, prioritizing, executing, and tracking value creation initiatives across the portfolio. The firm is led by Managing Partners Erik Brooks (Co-CEO, formerly Managing Partner at Abry Partners), Fadi Chehadé (Co-CEO, former President/CEO of ICANN and serial internet entrepreneur), and Brent Stone (joined February 2024, previously Co-Head of Buyout Funds at Abry Partners), with Marc Puglia serving as Partner and CFO since March 2026. Ethos pursues proprietary deal flow through its Executive Partner network and direct management team relationships, and is recognized as a 2022 Middle-Market Deal of the Year recipient from Mergers & Acquisitions magazine for its Donuts/Identity Digital transaction.
Ethos Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ethos Capital
- Legal name
- Ethos Capital LP
- Website
- https://ethoscapital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Boston-based private equity firm founded in 2020 that targets majority and control minority investments in middle-market information service companies across North America and Europe, managing approximately $5 billion in AUM across a concentrated three-portfolio.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ethos Capital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Private Equity / Alternative Asset Management
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Offices of Other Holding Companies (551112)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Institutional Separate Accounts & SMAs (Mandates) (FSAAAGAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Managed Account / SMA Multi-Manager Platforms (FSANAGAL)
Keywords
Where Ethos Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Ethos Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Management Fees: Ethos Capital charges management fees on assets under management as a private equity firm. Partners receive certain compensation from Ethos, including some combination of a portion of its management fee and/or incentive allocation.
- Carried Interest / Incentive Allocation: Performance-based carried interest from successful portfolio company exits and value creation.
- Portfolio Company Revenue: Revenue generated by portfolio companies including software subscriptions (Newforma PIM), domain registration services (Identity Digital), and insurance brokerage commissions (BroadStreet Partners).
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Ethos Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ethos Capital is a private equity investment management firm that pursues privately negotiated majority and control minority investments in middle-market information service companies across North America and Europe. The firm manages approximately $5 billion in assets under management and provides portfolio companies with sector-specific operating expertise through a network of former Fortune 100 C-suite executives, executing value creation initiatives via the proprietary Acceleration Vector methodology.
Product overview
Ethos Capital LP is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management services to institutional investors. The firm does not offer a unified product platform; instead, it manages a portfolio of portfolio companies in the information services sector. Its core offering is private equity investment and operational value creation support for middle-market companies across North America and Europe. The portfolio consists of three primary companies: BroadStreet Partners (insurance brokerage), Newforma (project information management software for the AECO industry), and Identity Digital (domain registry and digital identity services).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Private Equity Investment Management Primary offering of Ethos Capital, providing institutional investors with access to middle-market information service investments via majority and control minority transactions across North America and Europe; approximately $5 billion in AUM.
- Acceleration Vector Methodology / Office of Value Creation Proprietary operational framework used by Ethos Capital to identify, prioritize, execute, and track value creation initiatives across portfolio companies; delivered through the firm's Office of Value Creation led by Chief Value Creation Officer Stephen Gold.
- Identity Digital Portfolio company of Ethos Capital, a domain registry company operating the world's largest portfolio of top-level domains (277 TLDs) and managing approximately 26 million domains through its registry services platform.
- Newforma Portfolio company of Ethos Capital, providing project information management (PIM) and BIM collaboration software for the architecture, engineering, construction, and owners (AECO) industry; used by over 122,000 professionals in more than 1,200 firms.
- BroadStreet Partners Portfolio company of Ethos Capital, a leading middle-market insurance brokerage company focused on commercial and personal property and casualty and employee benefits; over 800 colleagues own equity across more than 30 Core Agency Partners in the U.S. and Canada.
Quantifiable outcome
- Manages approximately $5 billion in AUM
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Ethos Capital
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ethos Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Ethos Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- EvercoreminorEvercore served as lead financial advisor for the Identity Digital continuation vehicle transaction.
- Moelis & CompanyminorMoelis & Company served as co-advisor for the Identity Digital continuation vehicle transaction.
- Harris Williams LLCminorHarris Williams LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Ethos Capital on its acquisition of Newforma. Harris Williams is a middle-market investment bank.
- Kirkland & Ellis LLPminorKirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Ethos Capital on multiple transactions including the Newforma acquisition and Identity Digital continuation vehicle.
- Afilias, Inc.coreEthos Capital facilitated Donuts' merger with Afilias, Inc., a leading TLD registry operator and provider. The combined entity was renamed Identity Digital in June 2022 and now holds the world's largest portfolio of top-level domains.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Ethos Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- New Mountain Capital: Middle-market private equity firm that partners with management to apply operational expertise to information services and healthcare businesses. Similar size, similar operator-partner model, and similar sector emphasis make this a direct comparable.
- LLR Partners: Mid-market private equity firm with comparable AUM ($5–8B range) and an operator-led investment model focused on technology and services businesses. Highly comparable in fund size, sector tilt, and value-creation playbook.
- Abry Partners: Middle-market private equity firm focused on information services, media, and communications. Founded by Ethos co-founders Erik Brooks and Fadi Chehadé, and former employer of Managing Partner Brent Stone — making it the closest direct predecessor and peer in thesis, model, and senior team DNA.
- Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe: Long-established PE firm focused on healthcare and information services with deep operating partner networks. Comparable in scale and concentration on service- and data-driven platform companies.
- Bridgepoint: European-headquartered middle-market PE investor with overlapping information-services exposure and similar fund-size profile. Comparable for Ethos' North America + Europe geographic mandate.
Broad incumbents
- Vista Equity Partners: Enterprise software-focused PE firm with a much larger fund base. Targets the same end-market of vertically-focused, recurring-revenue information and software businesses but competes from a position of greater scale.
- Thoma Bravo: Largest software-focused private equity firm globally with substantially more AUM. Overlaps with Ethos' information-services / software thesis (e.g., Newforma-type assets) but operates at significantly larger scale and ticket sizes.
- Permira: Global private equity firm with technology and consumer-tech investments overlapping the information-services thesis. Substantially larger than Ethos but pursues adjacent portfolio construction.
- Insight Partners: Tech-focused PE/venture firm with much greater scale that targets similar software and information-services opportunities across growth stages.
- Hg Capital: European-headquartered software and services investor with similar information-services focus but materially larger AUM. Provides a useful comparison point for Ethos' international ambition across North America and Europe.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ethos Capital social profiles
Digital presenceEthos Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ethos Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Ethos Capital subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Ethos Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ethos Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments6 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ethos Capital
What does Ethos Capital do?
Ethos Capital is a private equity investment management firm that pursues privately negotiated majority and control minority investments in middle-market information service companies across North America and Europe. The firm manages approximately $5 billion in assets under management and provides portfolio companies with sector-specific operating expertise through a network of former Fortune 100 C-suite executives, executing value creation initiatives via the proprietary Acceleration Vector methodology.
Is Ethos Capital a public or private company?
Ethos Capital is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Ethos Capital founded?
Ethos Capital was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Ethos Capital based?
Ethos Capital is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ethos Capital make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest / Incentive Allocation and portfolio Company Revenue.
Who are Ethos Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are New Mountain Capital, LLR Partners, Abry Partners, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Bridgepoint. Broad incumbents are Vista Equity Partners, Thoma Bravo, Permira, Insight Partners and Hg Capital.
Does Ethos Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ethos Capital.
What industry is Ethos Capital in?
Ethos Capital's product category is Private Equity / Alternative Asset Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAAAGAL, Institutional Separate Accounts & SMAs (Mandates), with a secondary code of FSANAGAL, Managed Account / SMA Multi-Manager Platforms. Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.