Matthew Ebbel
Managing Partner
Get their honest, personalized take on your startup.
Sign in to pitch Matthew →At a glance
- Full Name
- Matthew C. Ebbel
- Title
- Founder & Managing Partner
- Firm
- SkyKnight Capital
- Firm Type
- Private equity (control buyout / "buy-and-build" platform investor) — note: aggregator listings that tag him as an "angel investor" making "seed" checks are not supported by primary sources; SkyKnight is an institutional PE firm managing ~$6.5B.
- Investment Stage
- Control equity / buyouts of established, market-leading private companies (not venture/seed)
- Check Size
- Not publicly disclosed. Fund V ($2B) is targeted at ~12 platform companies, implying large control-equity investments (roughly $100M+ per platform); SkyKnight manages ~$6.5B across five funds.
- Target Company Profile
- Established, profitable, market-leading companies where SkyKnight can partner with management/founders on a long-term buy-and-build strategy
- Sector Focus
- Healthcare, financial services (especially insurance brokerage/distribution), and technology-enabled and business services (including transportation/logistics)
- Geographic Focus
- North America
- Location
- San Francisco, California
Background
Matthew Ebbel is the founder and Managing Partner of SkyKnight Capital, a San Francisco–based private equity firm he established in 2015. Under his leadership the firm has scaled to roughly 35 professionals and ~$6.5 billion of assets under management across five funds, most recently closing Fund V at its $2 billion hard cap in July 2026 — a raise that was more than three times oversubscribed in under six months and saw over 100% net retention from existing limited partners.
Before founding SkyKnight, Ebbel spent roughly 2003–2015 as a Managing Director at New Mountain Capital, where he helped grow the firm from a first-time, $770 million private equity fund into a ~$15 billion alternative asset manager. He began his career in the Corporate Finance and Strategy group at McKinsey & Company (approximately 2001–2003) as a business analyst.
Ebbel earned his A.B. in Economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 2001. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. His investing career has centered on control buyouts of durable, market-leading businesses in healthcare, insurance/financial services, and tech-enabled services, where he pursues long-term compounding through operational improvement and add-on acquisitions.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests in market-leading, established companies — not startups — and backs them with control equity, partnering with founders and management teams over a long horizon.
- Core sectors: healthcare, financial services (notably insurance distribution/brokerage), and technology-enabled / business services in North America.
- Pursues a "buy-and-build" platform strategy, using SkyKnight's stated "engaged value creation" model — "over twenty distinct value creation playbooks" across leadership & governance, M&A & capital allocation, strategy & operations, and digital transformation.
- In his own words: *"SkyKnight works assiduously alongside our management partners to help them build market defining businesses."*
- On Fund V's approach: *"Fund V will aim to invest in approximately a dozen companies where SkyKnight can bring our collaborative, entrepreneurial approach to building industry-defining businesses alongside aligned management teams and owners."*
Notable Investments
- AmWINS Group — the nation's leading wholesale insurance broker; a flagship SkyKnight financial-services holding.
- MedVet — leading independent operator of specialty and emergency veterinary hospitals (founded 1988, Worthington, OH), with sites across the Midwest and Gulf Coast.
- Heffernan Insurance Brokers — independent retail insurance brokerage platform (~450 employees, ~10 offices); reported exited around January 2021.
- WhiteWater Express Car Wash — buy-and-build platform of exterior express car washes, centered on the Houston market.
- Aerocare Holdings — healthcare services company in SkyKnight's portfolio.
- NearU — HVAC/home-services buy-and-build platform (business/tech-enabled services).
- Highwing — insurtech/data platform for the insurance industry (financial-services theme).
- 3GTMS — transportation management software company; announced a strategic investment by Sumeru (an exit/liquidity event Ebbel publicly celebrated).
Unlock the full research
Get how to approach them, recent activity, sources, contact links — plus pitch their AI twin for a candid read on your raise.
One-time. Stays unlocked for you.