Nav Rahemtulla

Nav Rahemtulla is a Founding Partner of LightBay Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm founded in 2017 that applies a flexible-capital approach to middle-market investing. LightBay focuses on high-quality service-based companies and is currently investing from its second fund, LightBay Investment Partners II, which closed in 2023 with $1.04 billion in commitments.

Before LightBay, Rahemtulla spent more than 15 years at Ares Management’s Private Equity Group, where he was an original member and served as Partner and Head of Healthcare. Ivey Business School’s profile says he led investments across several transaction types and served on boards including AmeriQual Group, Aspen Dental, CHG Healthcare Services, Douglas Dynamics, National Veterinary Associates, OB Hospitalist Group, Serta, Simmons Bedding, and Unified Physician Management.

Earlier in his career, Rahemtulla was Director of Corporate Finance at DMC Venture Capital and worked in the Investment Banking Division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. He graduated with honors from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business, earning an H.B.A. in Business Administration in 1998; he also serves on Ivey Business School’s advisory board.

• LightBay describes its model as a flexible-capital approach for middle-market businesses: “Whether it’s a minority investment, a traditional LBO, or a structured investment,” the firm tailors the structure to the company’s situation.
• The firm targets market leaders and innovative disruptors where it can use sector expertise, relationships, and a value-creation model to help management teams scale.
• LightBay’s typical equity range is $100 million to $300 million, with flexibility to invest beyond that range.
• Sector focus is service-heavy: healthcare services, HCIT, consumer services, outsourced B2B services, tech-enabled services, and business services.
• In healthcare, LightBay looks for organizations that can improve outcomes, lower costs, and enhance patient experience, with specific interest areas including physician services, behavioral health, home and community services, staffing, revenue cycle, data and analytics, and enterprise healthcare solutions.
• Rahemtulla’s own comments on Ro Health highlight what he looks for: high-quality service, strong culture and leadership, trusted client relationships, and multiple growth opportunities.
• LightBay emphasizes operational value creation over financial engineering, saying it often over-equitizes businesses to preserve flexibility and invest in people, processes, and systems.