TEAM
Investment Team
Neal Jain is a Partner and the CEO of Lometa Capital Partners, responsible for overseeing all facets of the firm’s investment activities. Prior to founding Lometa, Neal was a Principal and founding team member of Sky Island Capital where he helped lead the buyout of Material Sciences Corporation.
Prior to Sky Island, Neal was a Vice President at Insight Equity, an operationally intensive middle market private equity firm with approximately $1.4 billion under management. While at Insight, Neal was responsible for the execution of several platform and add-on acquisitions as well as working directly with portfolio company senior management teams. He also held interim senior management roles at two portfolio companies including the Chief Financial Officer of Precision Holdings and the Vice President of Strategy of Material Sciences Corporation.
Before joining Insight, Neal was an Analyst in the M&A group at Lazard Frères & Co., a financial advisory and asset management firm. While at Lazard, Neal advised clients in the upstream, midstream, oilfield services, and transportation sectors on mergers, acquisitions, and capital structures.
Neal received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He also graduated magna cum laude from Rice University with a BA in Mathematical Economic Analysis and Statistics.
Vince Smith is a Partner at Lometa Capital Partners. He is responsible for overseeing all facets of the firm’s investment activities and sits on the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Lometa, Vince was a Principal and founding team member of Sky Island Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm focused on control investments in North American manufacturing companies with more than $250 million under management. While at Sky Island, Vince led the acquisitions of Aluma-Fold-Pacific, Polished Metals Limited, and Pride Metal Polishing, in addition to his work on Sky Island’s majority buyout of Material Sciences Corporation.
Prior to joining Sky Island, Vince worked at Insight Equity, an operationally intensive middle market private equity firm with approximately $1.4 billion under management. Before Insight, Vince started his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Industrials group of Lazard.
Vince received his Master of Accountancy degree from the Trulaske College of Business at the University of Missouri. He also graduated magna cum laude from the University of Missouri with a BS in Business Management with an emphasis in Accountancy and a BA in Economics. Additionally, Vince is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Missouri.
Advisory Committee
Peter Barbaresi
Former President & CEO
YOGASIX
Peter Barbaresi, Former President & CEO of YogaSix
Peter is a versatile turnaround and growth-oriented CEO with experience leading small and mid-cap B2C and B2B products and services companies. He is currently a business management advisor to several companies in health, wellness, and fitness, as well as multi-unit and franchised concepts. He has served as President/CEO of several fitness and consumer products businesses and presently serves as a Board Member and Advisor to multiple companies including National Gym Supply, a Lometa Capital Partners portfolio company. He has particular strength in helping to lead companies and their ownership toward sale/exit and/or recapitalization. He is a graduate of Williams College and played both hockey and lacrosse.
Ryan Beaty
FORMER EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
MARK VII EQUIPMENT
Ryan Beaty, Former Executive Vice President at Mark VII Equipment
Ryan is a former EVP at Mark VII Equipment, the North American subsidiary of WashTec AG, and a leading provider of tunnel and in-bay automatic car wash equipment. Ryan was recruited to Mark VII Equipment in 2007 following four years leading a Mark VII distributorship in the Pacific Northwest. During Ryan’s nearly 17-year tenure at Mark VII, he held various leadership roles with focuses on direct sales, distribution, marketing, and Global Key Accounts. During this time, Ryan also served as a Company Officer for Mark VII Equipment. After departing Mark VII Equipment in 2023, Ryan formed B3 Wash Concepts, a car wash advisory firm. Ryan currently serves on the Board of D&S Car Wash Supply and has a B.S. in Marketing from Ferris State University.
Steve Beck
Co-Founder & Managing Director
HENNEPIN PARTNERS
Steve Beck, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Hennepin Partners
Steve has nearly 25 years of investment banking experience, completing over 100 transactions across a variety of industries with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $6 billion. In 2018, Steve co-founded Hennepin Partners when Craig-Hallum’s M&A Group combined with Quetico Partners (all former colleagues and friends from Lazard Middle Market). Steve was a Managing Director and a Co-Head of Industrials at Lazard Middle Market before departing to co-found the Craig-Hallum M&A Group, where he was Co-Head of M&A. Steve graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in Economics.
Rajesh Bhat
Former CEO and Co-Founder
ROOSTIFY
Rajesh Bhat, Former CEO and Co-Founder of Roostify
Rajesh serves or has served as a founder, operator, advisor, and investor to high-growth finance and real estate technology companies. He most recently, he was the CEO and co-Founder of Roostify, which was acquired by CoreLogic, the leading provider of real estate and financial data analytics for the housing finance industry, in February 2023. An innovator and technologist, he came up with the vision to create an accelerated and streamlined home lending process through his own challenges as a first-time home buyer. He created Roostify to provide consumers and bank teams with increased transparency, simplicity, and a seamless end-to-end experience in the home lending journey. He has been recognized as a HousingWire Vanguard Award winner, twice as a Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneur, an Inman Best of Finance award winner, and a Mortgage Bankers Association Tech All-Star. Prior to starting Roostify, he spent 14 years in management consulting, starting his career at Ernst & Young.
Rajesh currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Silver Lake, a tech-focused private equity firm with $102B in AUM, and is on the Board of The Mortgage Office and Preferred Mortgage Services LLC, both Lometa Capital Partners portfolio companies. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis, where he is an active alum, serving on the McKelvey School of Engineering’s National Council and the Eliot Society’s Bay Area Committee.
Jim Killeen
Former VP of Sales & Marketing
ASPEQ HEATING GROUP
Jim Killeen, Former VP of Sales & Marketing ASPEQ Heating Group
Jim is the former Vice President of Sales & Marketing at ASPEQ Heating Group, a former Bunker Hill Capital and Industrial Growth Partners portfolio company. A St. Louis native, Jim was recruited to ASPEQ by Dave Smith to lead sales and marketing in 2017 and saw the business through two private equity holds before the business’s ultimate sale to SPX Corporation (NYSE: SPXC) in 2023.
Before ASPEQ, Jim worked with Dave at O’Brien Corporation, which was acquired by Industrial Growth Partners in 2009 and sold to Ametek Corporation (NYSE: AME) in 2012.
Jim has 30-plus years of experience in sales, managing large sales organizations, and developing go-to-market strategy. Jim started his career with National Starch & Chemical (Unilever) in 1985 and served in that role until 1995 when he joined O’Brien Corporation. Jim serves on the Boards of D&S Car Wash Supply (2022-Present), Medicinal Genomics: Bunker Hill Capital (2024-Present), and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary (2023-Present). Jim has a B.S. in Marketing / Management from Christian Brothers University.
Dave Lowman
SENIOR FINANCIAL SERVICES EXECUTIVE
FREDDIE MAC
Dave Lowman, Senior Financial Services Executive
Dave has worked in the mortgage and consumer finance business for nearly 40 years. He led the transformation of Freddie Mac’s Single-Family business to a client-centric, commercial enterprise. Under his leadership, the company embraced a culture of innovation and growth and led the further evolution of the U.S. mortgage industry post the great recession. Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Dave served as CEO of Chase Home Lending overseeing $150 billion in annual production and a $1.2 trillion servicing portfolio at what was then the country's third-largest mortgage originator and servicer. He spent a decade in senior leadership roles in various Citigroup businesses where he led the growth and transformation of U.S. and global consumer lending businesses. Before joining Citigroup, Dave held several progressively senior roles at Prudential Home Mortgage. He started his career in the Washington, D.C. office of KPMG where he consulted with clients including banks, thrifts and mortgage bankers.
Dave currently serves on the Board of Preferred Mortgage Services LLC, a Lometa Capital Partners portfolio company.
Ed Mueller
Former Chairman
McKESSON CORPORATION
Ed Mueller, Former Chairman of McKesson Corporation
Ed is a senior business executive who has been at the head of numerous companies across multiple industries, most recently holding the position of Chairman for McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK).
Ed started serving on the Board of McKesson in 2008 and expanded that role to Chairman in 2019, a position he stayed in until 2022. In his role as Chairman, Ed successfully guided the company through multiple legal challenges while overseeing more than a 2.5x return on McKesson’s stock price over his tenure and positioning the company for future growth.
Before his time at McKesson, Ed held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qwest Communications, a provider of voice, data and video services, from 2007 until its merger with CenturyLink (nka Lumen Technologies and traded as NYSE: LUMN) in 2011. Prior to his time at Qwest, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM), a consumer retail company that sells kitchenware and home furnishings.
In the past, Ed served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ameritech Corporation, a subsidiary of SBC Communications, Inc., President & Chief Executive Officer for Ameritech Corp., President & Chief Executive Officer at Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., and President for AT&T International, Inc. Additionally, Ed served on The Clorox Company’s (NYSE: CLX) Board of Directors from 2007 to 2013.
Ed received his B.S. from Missouri University of Science and Technology and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Carlos Nodarse
CEO
APPLIED BUSINESS SOFTWARE
Carlos Nodarse, CEO of Applied Business Software
Carlos is the CEO of Applied Business Software, where he started as a software developer in 1981. He has built an in-depth knowledge of the mortgage industry, mortgage funds, and real estate lending, in addition to his technical software prowess, making him a great resource for technology and/or mortgage industry opportunities. Carlos graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from The College of Science and Engineering at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
Dave Smith
CEO
D&S CAR WASH SUPPLY
Dave Smith, President & CEO of D&S Car Wash Supply
Dave is currently the CEO of D&S Car Wash Supply, Inc., a Lometa Capital Partners portfolio company. Prior to taking over D&S in 2024, Dave served as President & CEO of ASPEQ Heating Group, a former portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners, until the business’s sale to SPX Corporation (NYSE: SPXC) in 2023. Prior to IGP’s 2019 purchase, Dave steered ASPEQ to a top-quartile outcome for Bunker Hill Capital despite coming on board in a turnaround capacity two years into Bunker Hill’s ownership.
Before being recruited to head ASPEQ, Dave became a Divisional VP and BU Manager for Ametek’s (NYSE: AME) Thermal Process Management Business Unit through AME’s acquisition of O’Brien Corp. In this role, he executed numerous add-on acquisitions, plant consolidations/expansions, and international expansions and had total P&L responsibility for ~$140M revenue/~$40M EBITDA, 380 employees, and five plants. As President & CEO of O'Brien Corp., another IGP portfolio company, Dave completed multiple add-on acquisitions, led an expansion into China, and doubled sales from 2008 to 2011.
Prior to becoming CEO of O’Brien Corp., Dave worked as President for its founding family, a Director for MEMC Electronic Materials Corp., and a Naval Flight Officer. In addition to his work at D&S, Dave serves or has served on the Boards of D&S Car Wash Supply (2022-Present), National Gym Supply (2023- Present), ASPEQ Heating Group (2019-2023), Anova Furnishings (2020-2022), Chemline Inc.(2019-2022), Southern Petroleum Labs: IGP (2015-2021), Integrated Global Services: IGP (2014-2019), Essex Industries (2013-2017), and Boone Center (2012-2013). Dave has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a Master of Science in Industrial Technology from Purdue University.
Joe Swinbank
Co-founder & owner
SPRINT COMPANIES
Joe Swinbank, Co-Founder & Owner of Sprint Companies
Joe is the co-founder and owner of The Sprint Companies, Inc., a Houston-based sand and gravel company, and is Partner of Sprint Ft. Bend County Landfill, Sprint Sand & Clay, Sprint Waste Services, and Sprint Transports. Joe has acquired and operated a variety of service-oriented businesses across a wide range of industries. From waste services to sand mining and real estate ventures, the experience he gained from each business helped strategically grow the Sprint Companies to over $150M of annual revenue and employ more than 750 workers. Joe remains active in the direction and strategy of the Sprint family of companies, including Sprint Sand & Clay, Sprint Stabilized Materials, Sprint Transport, and an array of investment and real estate development activities. He also serves as a Director of Community Bank. Joe earned his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University in 1974 and is an active member of the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students.