Nashville has emerged as one of the South's most active private equity markets. The city's concentration of healthcare companies, a growing industrial base, and a business-friendly regulatory environment have drawn both established national firms and homegrown managers across a range of strategies and fund sizes.
At Dakota, we track private equity managers across geographies, strategies, and fund sizes in Dakota Marketplace. Below are ten Nashville-based firms worth knowing, with current AUM, portfolio highlights, and investment focus.
1. Arcline Investment Management
Overview: Arcline Investment Management is a private equity firm with over $20 billion in assets under management and offices in Nashville, New York, and San Francisco. Founded in 2018, the firm targets niche, market-leading companies in defense, aerospace, critical infrastructure, and healthcare. In January 2026, Arcline completed the sale of AmHolt to Ohio-based ProMach. Prior notable investments include Omega Engineering and Fairbanks Morse Defense.
Focus: Technology-driven industrial and healthcare businesses with defensible market positions, with an emphasis on buy-and-build strategies and long-term ownership.
2. Resolute Capital Partners
Overview: Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Nashville, Resolute Capital Partners is a private investment firm providing structured capital to lower middle-market businesses. The firm closed Fund V at $405 million in 2022 and launched Fund VI in early 2025. Resolute has made over 220 investments to date across healthcare, business services, industrials, and media. Current portfolio companies include Haven Behavioral Healthcare and Endeavor Business Media.
Focus: Lower middle-market companies across diversified sectors, investing $5 to $40 million in subordinated debt and equity alongside funded sponsors.
3. Whistler Capital Partners
Overview: Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Nashville, Whistler Capital Partners is a private equity firm with over $1 billion in assets under management focused on healthcare growth equity and buyouts. The firm has made 23 investments to date. Current portfolio includes Heart + Paw and AmeriPro Health. Most recent investment: UnityAI in March 2026.
Focus: Healthcare and tech-enabled services, with emphasis on technology-driven and data-centric opportunities across the care continuum.
4. LFM Capital
Overview: Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Nashville, LFM Capital is a private equity firm focused on lower middle-market manufacturing and industrial services with approximately $1.4 billion in assets under management. The firm closed Fund IV at $462 million in 2024, its largest to date. Current portfolio companies include Weller Metalworks, SisTech, and NACS, which manufactures CNC routers and plasma tables under the ShopSabre and Langmuir Systems brands. Most recent investment: L&R Industries in April 2026.
Focus: Lower middle-market manufacturing and industrial services, using a platform-building approach anchored by operational improvement and add-on acquisitions.
5. Courage Capital Management
Overview: Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Nashville, Courage Capital Management is an alternative asset firm managing private funds for institutional investors and family offices. The firm runs two private debt strategies: Music Royalties and Healthcare Credit, making it one of the more differentiated managers in the Nashville market.
Focus: Music royalty acquisitions and healthcare lending, targeting yield-oriented, uncorrelated returns for institutional LPs and family offices.
6. Pharos Capital Group
Overview: Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Dallas and Nashville, Pharos Capital Group is a physician-founded private equity firm with over $900 million in private equity assets under management as of June 2025, having invested in 61 companies since inception. The firm writes checks of $25 to $50 million into growing middle-market healthcare companies. Recent investments include RhythMedix, a remote cardiac monitoring platform.
Focus: Healthcare companies that lower the total cost of care, improve patient outcomes, and expand access to care in underserved and rural markets.
7. CapitalSpring
Overview: Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Nashville, CapitalSpring is a private equity and debt investment firm with $2.7 billion in assets under management as of December 2024. The firm is currently raising Fund VII with a $1 billion target. In May 2025, CapitalSpring sold Sizzling Platter to Bain Capital in a transaction valued at over $1 billion. The firm has expanded its focus beyond restaurants into fitness, home services, and carwashes, with recent investments including Alloy Personal Training and Atticus Franchise Group.
Focus: Foodservice, franchise, and multi-location business models, offering private equity, mezzanine capital, and senior lending under one platform.
8. Rubicon Founders
Overview: Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Nashville, Rubicon Founders is a healthcare-focused private equity firm with $1.8 billion in assets under management across 12 discretionary accounts. The firm has made 26 investments to date across physician practices, value-based care platforms, and healthcare services. Recent investments include Imagine Pediatrics, Evergreen Nephrology, Horizon Infusions, and Indigo. Most recent investment: Advanced Rheumatology and Arthritis Research Center in March 2026.
Focus: Building and scaling healthcare companies across physician enablement, value-based care, and specialty services, partnering with founders and management teams from early growth through buyout.
9. Matthews Real Estate Services
Overview: Headquartered in Nashville, Matthews Real Estate Services is a full-service commercial real estate investment firm specializing in brokerage, investment sales, and capital markets. The firm works with institutional and private investors across retail, multifamily, industrial, and healthcare properties nationally.
Focus: Commercial real estate investment and capital markets, with multi-asset class coverage serving both institutional mandates and private investors.
10. AJ Capital Partners
Overview: Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Nashville, AJ Capital Partners is a vertically integrated real estate investment manager with a portfolio exceeding $5.9 billion in value as of 2025, spanning more than 100 properties across the U.S., U.K., and internationally. AJ sold the Graduate Hotels brand to Hilton in 2024 while retaining ownership of the underlying properties. Active platforms include Marine & Lawn Hotels, Field & Stream Lodge Co. in partnership with Starwood Capital Group, and Hotel 1928 with Magnolia.
Focus: Hospitality, residential, and mixed-use real estate investment, with a focus on branded platform development and experiential placemaking.
