Rory Nath

Rory Nath is a Partner at ECI Partners, one of the UK's longest-established growth-focused private equity firms (operating since 1990, with a track record of ~2.8x gross MOIC and ~35% gross IRR to investors). He studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and is a CFA Charterholder (completed with ECI's support). By his own account he "didn't even know what private equity was" when he left university, beginning his career instead as a strategy consultant at OC&C Strategy Consultants, where he says he "fell in love with the pace, complexity and importance of the investment decisions."

He joined ECI's Commercial Team before moving into the Investment Team, and was promoted to Partner in January 2025. He is based in ECI's Manchester office, where he leads regional origination, marketing and network-building across the Northwest and Northeast of England. Since joining ECI he has been involved in eight platform investments plus several exits, and sits on (or has worked with) portfolio boards including CPOMS, KB Associates and Investis Digital.

In 2025 he was named to Real Deals' "Future 40" Midmarket Investment Leaders list, which highlighted his "thesis building and origination activity in digital marketing" — specifically identifying Croud's "unique operating model and proprietary tech as key differentiators" — and his deployment of over £230m of equity (including co-investment) across two ECI 12 fund deals, Croud and TAG, in a single year.

Outside investing he is, in his own words, "a massive rugby fan" with New Zealand family who are "converts to the All Blacks."

• Stage & structure: Growth buyouts of established, profitable, scaling companies — management buyouts and buy-ins, taking majority or minority positions — not early-stage venture or angel seed rounds.
• Ticket size: Institutional PE scale; ECI writes up to ~£200m of equity per deal, and Rory has personally led deals deploying £230m+ in a year.
• Sectors: Technology-enabled services and software across Cloud & Digital, Data, EdTech/HR, HealthTech, GRC, Financial Services and Travel — with a personal lean toward education/EdTech and digital marketing.
• Why he says yes (education): *"Access to high-quality education is a social cause that means a lot to me, but it's also a sector where there are some attractive secular trends."*
• What creates value: He points to buy-and-build / bolt-on M&A as a core value driver — *"[bolt-on acquisitions] added significant scale, geographic reach and capability to the business – these are all key value drivers."*
• What he looks for in a business: Differentiated operating models and proprietary technology (as he flagged in Croud), and companies with genuine commitment to their customers — on Paragin: *"Paragin stands out for its sincere commitment to the customers and learners who depend on its exceptional software."*