Growth and leadership go hand in hand at Bertram Capital.
The Foster City, California–based private equity firm has just announced that four of its standout team members—Sean Houseworth, Aaron Kessler, Matt Jones, and Paul Koeniger—have been promoted to Managing Director, recognizing their exceptional contributions to the firm and its portfolio companies.
Sean Houseworth: Driving Business Services Investments
Sean Houseworth has been a key player in Bertram’s Business Services investment team since joining in August 2016.
He specializes in evaluating, executing, and managing middle-market private equity deals.
Currently, Houseworth leads Bertram’s investment in MSE Supplies and sits on the boards of Cogency and Spectrio.
Before joining Bertram, he spent three years at Deloitte Corporate Finance, where he worked on middle-market M&A transactions across multiple industries.
Aaron Kessler: Steering Industrials Growth
Aaron Kessler became part of Bertram Capital in September 2022, contributing his expertise to the Industrials investment team.
He helps guide key investments and serves on the boards of Safety Products Global and Applied Adhesives.
Prior to Bertram, Kessler spent over a decade at Crimson Investment, managing middle-market private equity portfolios and serving on boards for Milton Industries, Aqua-Chem, and Tyden Group.
His experience in portfolio management and investment execution has been invaluable to Bertram’s industrial sector strategy.
Matt Jones: Leading Origination and Market Strategy
Joining Bertram in December 2022, Matt Jones brings a wealth of experience in origination and capital markets.
Before Bertram, he held senior roles in business development, strategy, and operations at high-growth tech companies, including Gopuff and Uber.
Jones has been instrumental in driving product development, expanding markets, and building enterprise partnerships, helping Bertram connect with new opportunities and execute strategic growth initiatives.
Paul Koeniger: Expanding Investment Sourcing
Paul Koeniger, who joined Bertram in July 2022, also contributes to the firm’s Origination and Capital Markets efforts.
His background includes advising middle-market founders on exit strategies and capital-raising at Capstone Partners, along with prior experience in asset management business development.
At Bertram, Koeniger focuses on sourcing new investment opportunities and supporting the firm’s growth initiatives.
Bertram Capital’s Strategic Approach
Led by Managing Partner Jeff Drazan, Bertram Capital focuses on investments in lower middle-market companies.
The firm manages two main investment vehicles:
- Bertram Capital V, which targets control investments in business services, consumer, and industrial sectors with EBITDA above $7.5 million.
- Bertram Ignite I, which focuses on both control and non-control investments in similar sectors with EBITDA of at least $3 million.
Since its founding in 2006, Bertram Capital has raised over $4 billion in capital commitments.
Beyond providing strategic growth capital, the firm leverages proprietary frameworks like Bertram High-5SM and Bertram Labs to unlock the full potential of portfolio companies.
Bertram High-5SM and Bertram Labs: Driving Value
Bertram High-5SM is a hands-on value creation strategy that enhances management, operational processes, acquisitions, sales and marketing, and technology integration.
At the heart of this approach is Bertram Labs, an in-house technology team focused on digital marketing, e-commerce, big data, analytics, application development, and platform optimization.
Together, these tools allow Bertram to drive growth and help portfolio companies thrive in competitive markets.
