…investing in companies with capital raised from friends and family. With early success, the founders of the firm started raising institutional funds in 2000. Sterling’s institutional fund practice focused primarily on control investments in founder-run, middle market companies in the healthcare services, education, and business services sectors. Sterling continues to manage a portfolio of companies across its funds, leveraging the firm’s deep domain expertise, focus on transformational growth, entrepreneurial roots, and access to world-class human capital to add value.
In 2015, Sterling partnered with Strada Education Network to establish the Sterling Partners Education Opportunity Fund (“EOF”). With a separate investment team and shared operations, EOF represented an expansion of Sterling’s activity set into single industry investment strategies. EOF doubled its AUM, grew its team, and evolved into Avathon Capital. In 2024, Avathon Capital became an independent private equity firm.
In 2017, Sterling formed Sterling Partners Quantitative Investments (“SPQI”) with established veterans in a variety of liquid market investment strategies.
Sterling invests internal and third-party capital on a deal-by-deal basis across a variety of industries, growth stages, and structures. We look to invest in a wide variety of companies in various stages of growth – from early stage, high growth businesses to mature, profitable companies – across several industries. We make control, non-control, preferred equity, and debt investments with both internal and outside capital.
We've developed extensive knowledge, experience, and industry networks through 35+ years of successful investing.
We seek to create value by investing in transformational growth.
Our entrepreneurial roots and firm culture provide us with a differentiated perspective when it comes to our partnerships with founders.
We have a long history of infusing high-caliber executive talent into our portfolio companies to drive growth and value creation.