The Case for the Lower Middle-Market.
The numbers behind the market — four research-grounded arguments for why we believe this asset class belongs in an institutional portfolio, each backed by Star Mountain research.
Data suggests that the biggest opportunity is the one most capital overlooks.
Roughly 200,000 established U.S. businesses make up the lower middle-market — companies that drove ~61% of net new jobs from 1995–2024, yet remain structurally underserved by institutional capital. That gap is the opportunity. And the innovation here is real: not the hunt for the next Google, but the quiet, systematic innovation of essential, service-oriented companies that keep this country running.
Capital protection and returns don’t have to be a trade-off.
Across 100+ investments and $4B+ deployed, the platform has experienced only ~$5M of realized losses — the product of 1st lien senior secured discipline, conservative leverage and over fifteen years of accumulated underwriting data. ¹
Liquidity can be bought at a discount.
Secondaries let us acquire seasoned, diversified assets at meaningful discounts to NAV — with zero realized losses across 50+ investments over 13 years, sourced overwhelmingly through relationships rather than brokers. ²
A network compounds in value the longer you invest in it.
Alongside 50+ secondaries investments, over fifteen years of relationship capital compounds sourcing, diligence and value creation with every new investment the platform makes.
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¹ Realized losses are as of 6/30/26.
² Past performance is not indicative of future results.
³ Advisor & partner count is as of 9/30/26.