Eads Bridge Holdings and This Week's LMM Activity

Week of August 16th Lower Middle Market Highlights

Aug 20, 2021

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This Week’s Feature

This week we’re featuring Eads Bridge Holdings (EBH). EBH is a permanent capital holding company founded by Mark Valdez. The company aims to deploy a tech enablement strategy to acquire profitable and durable companies in the lower middle market.

What we find interesting about EBH is that much of the firm’s leadership team began their careers in the world of VC and technology before embarking on a path to lower middle market “private equity”. Mark, himself, was an early employee at the famed VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz, where he became Marc Andreessen’s Chief of Staff. More recently, he spent time at Playground Global, an early-stage firm working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and automation. Ultimately, the firm’s technology background provided a glimpse into a market opportunity to acquire lower middle market businesses and help drive these companies down the tech adoption curve to create value.

Eads Bridge Holdings draws a clear distinction between its model and traditional private equity. For one, the firm looks to partner with entrepreneurs and founders who are more interested in preserving and enhancing the legacy of their company vs. looking for a top-dollar exit. Additionally, the company’s permanent capital approach provides a longer-term time horizon than traditional private equity. This approach provides Eads Bridge Holdings with a competitive advantage to not only help drive its portfolio companies forward through technology and software but also build a unique internal platform to leverage software and insights that compound over time.

EBH considers itself a generalist since ultimately the tech enablement opportunity exists in all areas of the economy. However, when it comes to industries of interest, the firm targets fragmented industries that can’t be digitized end to end. Currently, the firm’s deal sourcing focus is on healthcare services (fertility), waste management, and real estate transaction services.

You can learn more about Eads Bridge Holdings and reach out to Mark and co. by clicking here. The firm also puts out a monthly newsletter that provides insights on technology as it relates to small and medium-sized businesses. We also recommend these two podcasts which provide deeper dives into the background and thesis behind the firm: