Aries Capital Partners

What Aries Capital Partners does

Aries Capital Partners is a privately held, self-funded private equity firm founded in 2007 and headquartered in Draper, Utah. The firm was established by Richard P. Durham (Founder/Chairman), Jason Reading (Partner), and Andrew Dent (Partner), all former Peterson Partners colleagues. Aries differentiates itself by investing exclusively proprietary capital from its three founding partners rather than raising from external limited partners, which removes fund timelines and LP reporting pressures and enables a patient, long-duration investment model. The firm targets passionate entrepreneurs and operates with no industry focus, offering flexible structures including minority and majority investments, management-led buyouts, growth capital, and roll-ups.

Aries' portfolio of 24+ named companies spans at least 11 verticals: consumer products (Cozy Earth, Chatbooks), fintech and insurtech (Acima, Divvy, Nav, Carputty, Ethos), healthcare and behavioral health (SonderMind, Diathrive, OFSG, Danville Services), transportation (Breeze Airways), staffing (ChildCare Careers), real estate (Knock, Stack Real Estate, Roots Management Group), connectivity (Aervivo), food and agriculture (Daily Bread, GSL Artemia), manufacturing (Sunstone Engineering), and AEC technology (U.S. CAD, TaskEasy, Clientbook). Notable events include the 2015 investment in and late-2020/early-2021 exit of Acima, and the 2013 acquisition of Orthopedic Financial Services Group (OFSG).

The firm has 1–10 employees (effectively the three partners), no publicly disclosed financial figures, no app or API platform, and no proprietary technology stack. Returns are realized through portfolio company exits (e.g., the Acima sale), dividends, and capital appreciation rather than management fees. Deal sourcing is relationship-driven, leveraging the founders' network across the Mountain West and broader U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem, with co-investment ties to seed-stage firm Kickstart Fund.

Name

Aries Capital Partners

Legal name

Aries Capital Partners

Website

https://ariescapitalpartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aries Capital Partners is a privately held, self-funded private equity firm founded in 2007 in Draper, Utah, that invests proprietary capital from its three founding partners into growth-stage companies across diverse industries, offering patient, long-term equity capital to entrepreneurs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Salt Lake City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Equity Returns: Aries Capital Partners generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies. Their unique model uses only proprietary capital from the three founding partners, avoiding the traditional LP fund structure. Returns are realized through company exits, dividends, and capital appreciation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Aries Capital Partners is a private equity firm that provides long-term investment capital and strategic partnership to entrepreneurs, using proprietary capital sourced entirely from its three founding partners rather than outside limited partners. The firm offers flexible investment structures — roll-ups, minority/majority investments, management-led buyouts, and growth capital — and works hands-on with portfolio companies across consumer products, financial services, healthcare, transportation, real estate, staffing, and technology sectors.

Product overview

Aries Capital Partners is a private equity firm that operates as a single unified investment service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Founded in 2007 by Rick Durham, Jason Reading, and Andrew Dent, the firm provides long-term capital and strategic partnership to entrepreneurs across diverse industries including consumer products, technology, financial services, transportation, healthcare, staffing, real estate, and manufacturing. The firm distinguishes itself through patient capital unconstrained by external limited partners, allowing flexibility in investment structures including roll-ups, minority/majority investments, management-led buyouts, and growth capital. Their investment criteria focus on strong management teams, defensible competitive advantages, sustainable profit margins, and long-term growth potential. The portfolio includes named companies such as Cozy Earth, Chatbooks, Acima, Ethos, Divvy, Nav, Breeze Airways, Carputty, Knock, SonderMind, Aervivo, Diathrive, Daily Bread, ChildCare Careers, Sunstone Engineering, Stack Real Estate, U.S. CAD, Kickstart Fund, GSL Artemia, Roots Management Group, TaskEasy, Danville Services, OFSG, and Clientbook.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Long-Term Private Equity Capital & Strategic Partnership Long-term private equity investment capital and hands-on strategic partnership for growth-stage entrepreneurial companies, funded entirely by the firm's three founding partners. Investment structures include roll-ups, minority/majority investments, management-led buyouts, and growth capital. Target customers are founders and management teams seeking patient capital unconstrained by traditional fund timelines or external limited partner pressures.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tripled annual revenues and quintupled annual cash flow during tenure at Pliant Corporation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• EPIC Ventures: Salt Lake City-based venture capital firm investing in technology and healthcare startups across the Mountain West. Operates in the same regional deal ecosystem with comparable entrepreneur-focused relationship sourcing.
• Signal Peak Ventures: Utah-based venture capital/private equity firm investing in early- and growth-stage technology and life sciences companies. Comparable as a Utah-anchored capital provider serving Mountain West entrepreneurs.

Direct peers

• Trinity Hunt Partners: Independent sponsor private equity firm making control investments in lower middle market companies. Highly comparable structure to Aries given its relationship-driven, founder-focused, and flexible deal approach.
• Mercato Partners: Salt Lake City-based private equity firm investing growth capital across consumer, software, and healthcare. Operates in the same regional ecosystem with a comparable lower middle market, multi-sector mandate.
• Peterson Partners: Utah-based private equity firm where all three Aries founding partners previously worked (Rick Durham as general partner). Operates a similar multi-sector lower middle market strategy and shares the same Mountain West ecosystem, making it the closest direct comparable.
• Palladium Equity Partners: Independent sponsor private equity firm making control and minority investments in lower middle market companies. Comparable as a relationship-driven, multi-sector lower middle market PE firm with flexible structures.
• Hammond Kennedy Whitney: Lower middle market private equity firm executing control investments across diversified industries. Comparable in size, deal structure flexibility, and operationally engaged investment approach.
• Centre Partners: Independent private equity firm focused on the lower middle market, executing control and structured minority investments. Comparable as a relationship-driven, multi-sector lower middle market PE firm with flexible transaction structures.

Emerging players

• Kickstart Fund: Salt Lake City-based seed-stage venture capital firm investing in Utah and Mountain West companies. Listed in Aries' portfolio; comparable given shared regional ecosystem and entrepreneur-focused relationship sourcing.

Broad incumbents

• Comvest Partners: Established lower middle market private investment firm providing capital across control, minority, and debt structures. Comparable in deal-size range and operational support model, though it operates with institutional capital.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aries-capital-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments14 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Aries Capital Partners