Ari David
Vice President
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- Full Name
- Ari David
- Title
- Principal, Private Equity (formerly Vice President)
- Firm
- Ara Partners (current) — previously AUA Private Equity Partners LLC
- Firm Type
- Middle-market private equity (control & significant-minority buyouts). *Note: not an angel investor — the stub classification of "Angel Investors / Seed Round" appears inaccurate.*
- Investment Stage
- Buyout / growth equity in the lower-to-middle market (not seed/angel)
- Check Size
- At AUA, $20M–$75M of equity per deal; at Ara, mid-market private equity / infrastructure
- Target Company Profile
- At AUA — U.S. Hispanic-oriented or family-owned consumer products & services companies (EBITDA ~$3M–$15M, enterprise value ~$15M–$100M). At Ara — middle-market industrial companies advancing decarbonization
- Sector Focus
- Consumer & food/agricultural processing (AUA); industrial decarbonization, energy, and infrastructure (Ara)
- Geographic Focus
- United States
- Location
- Boston, MA (Ara Partners); previously New York, NY (AUA)
Background
Ari David is a Principal in the Private Equity strategy at Ara Partners, a global private-markets firm founded in 2017 that focuses on decarbonizing the industrial economy across three strategies — Private Equity, Infrastructure, and Energy. He joined Ara in its Boston office as a Vice President in September 2022 and has since been promoted to Principal, where he is involved in all aspects of the firm's investment process.
Before Ara, David spent several years at AUA Private Equity Partners, the operationally focused lower-middle-market firm led by Andy Unanue (former COO of Goya Foods). As a Vice President there, he was responsible for the origination, structuring, due diligence, execution, and monitoring of investments in the consumer and food sectors. He held board-member roles at several AUA portfolio companies, including Epi Breads, Profectus Beauty, Westminster Pet Products, and Gourmet Culinary Partners. Earlier in his career, he worked at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
David holds a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and played varsity baseball, and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. On hiring him, Ara partner Tuan Tran noted that David "brings a wealth of private equity experience, including a significant focus on food and agricultural processing."
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests as an institutional private-equity professional, not an angel — focused on control and significant-minority positions in established operating businesses rather than seed-stage startups.
- At Ara Partners: middle-market companies whose technologies, products, or services reduce industrial carbon emissions — spanning industrials, chemicals, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure.
- Carried-over expertise: consumer products/services and food & agricultural processing, where he has direct deal and board experience.
- AUA-style criteria (his prior playbook): U.S. Hispanic-oriented or family-owned businesses, equity checks of $20M–$75M, EBITDA of ~$3M–$15M, and a hands-on operational value-creation approach that transforms family companies into institutional-grade businesses.
Notable Investments
- Epi Breads — artisan/specialty bakery (AUA portfolio); David served as a board member.
- Profectus Beauty — beauty/personal-care products platform (AUA portfolio); board member.
- Westminster Pet Products — pet products and supplies (AUA portfolio); board member.
- Gourmet Culinary Partners — specialty/culinary food platform (AUA portfolio); board member.
- *At Ara Partners, he contributes across the firm's industrial-decarbonization private-equity portfolio; specific deal attributions to him individually are not publicly broken out.*
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