Thomas Mangas

Thomas B. Mangas is a longtime consumer-industry operator turned investor. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and History from the University of Virginia in 1990, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; he later served as Immediate Past Chair of the UVA Alumni Association. He began his career with a two-decade run at Procter & Gamble, rising through progressively senior finance roles and serving from August 2008 to January 2010 as Vice President of Finance and Accounting for P&G's Global Beauty and Grooming business.

Mangas then moved into senior operating leadership. From February 2010 to November 2013 he was Senior Vice President and CFO of Armstrong World Industries, and from November 2013 to September 2014 he served as Executive Vice President and CEO of its Armstrong Floor Products division. In September 2014 he joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide as Executive Vice President and CFO, and was elevated to Chief Executive Officer effective the end of 2015 — steering the company through its high-profile 2016 sale to Marriott International.

After Starwood, Mangas became CEO of International Car Wash Group, then the world's largest car wash operator with nearly 900 sites across Europe, the U.S., and Australia. He is the Founder and CEO of Centerfire Capital, LLC, which "advises and invests in leading consumer service and product businesses" and aims to scale community-rooted hospitality and consumer service brands with thoughtful, long-term growth. He is joined at the firm by Jason Price, Chief Operating Officer.

Beyond Centerfire, Mangas is active on boards. He has served on the Strada Education Foundation Board of Trustees since 2017 (sitting on its Policy & Advocacy and Investment committees) and has held board seats at portfolio and industry companies including Ultra Clean Car Wash and Curacity.

• Invests in and advises consumer service and product businesses, with an emphasis on "community-rooted hospitality and consumer service brands" built for "thoughtful, long-term growth."
• Focus verticals highlighted by the firm: home-based health/care services, locally trusted remodeling & home-improvement brands, and "better travel" brands that create memorable hospitality and moments of connection.
• Stage: Seed and Series A; check size roughly $100K–$5M, with a ~$1.5M sweet spot.
• Brings an operator's lens — decades running consumer, hospitality, and multi-site service businesses (P&G, Starwood, International Car Wash Group) — favoring locally trusted, service-oriented brands that can be scaled with disciplined, long-term capital.