Tailwind Capital Invests in GrayMatter
New York – May 2024 – Tailwind Capital (“Tailwind”), a private equity firm focused on U.S. lower middle market services companies within Infrastructure Services, Supply Chain, and IT Services, announced its partnership with GrayMatter (the “Company”), a top provider of industrial automation and intelligence solutions.
Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, GrayMatter is a highly regarded provider of technical engineering services to solve complex automation-related problems within industrial and infrastructure environments. The Company is focused on co-innovation and curating the best process and technology to drive industrial companies and utilities through digital transformation. This partnership comes at a pivotal time for GrayMatter. The Company recently celebrated another year in which it met its organic growth objectives and completed two successful acquisitions. Over the past seven years, GrayMatter has successfully completed five strategic acquisitions, invested in a new operations team in India and assembled a respected team of technical engineers.
James Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of GrayMatter, commented, “Our industry is at an inflection point, and with Tailwind’s investment, we have the opportunity to create a new brand of industrial intelligence. Our industrial automation, MES, analytics, and cyber for OT offerings are in high demand. This investment will allow us to invest deeper in our platform and people to ensure we have the full suite of solutions and offerings for our long-standing and loyal customers. We look forward to further empowering operators by providing them with leading automation and industrial intelligence solutions.”
Tailwind Capital has a long history of partnering with management teams to drive transformative growth by utilizing its Accelerate Change playbook, which is predicated on investments in talent, technology, and transformative M&A. The firm has extensive expertise investing in highly technical engineering services businesses and has worked closely with Paul Galeski to develop a refined thesis in the industrial automation market. Galeski founded MAVERICK Technologies, which he successfully sold to Rockwell Automation before serving as the Vice President & GM, Global Solutions and Services. He will serve as the Executive Chairman of GrayMatter.
“We are thrilled to partner with Jim, Paul and the entire extended GrayMatter team. The Company has a well-earned reputation as a highly regarded provider of automation and industrial intelligence services. We look forward to further supporting their strategic objectives and helping them accelerate their growth, both organically and via acquisitions,” said Andrew Mayer, a Partner at Tailwind Capital.
“We are excited to have Tailwind join us as we push the boundaries of what’s possible in industrial intelligence,” Gillespie said. “The firm has a long track record of working closely with services businesses to accelerate growth. Additionally, Paul brings a wealth of experience in industrial automation, and we look forward to partnering on strategic initiatives that will allow us to better serve our customers and drive value for all stakeholders.”
“Jim and the GrayMatter team have built a wonderful business,” said Galeski. “They solve complex automation problems and deliver high-ROI solutions for their customers. I am thrilled by the prospect of working with Jim and Tailwind to further scale GrayMatter into the market-leading provider of industrial automation and intelligence solutions.”
About GrayMatter
GrayMatter is a highly regarded industrial technology company dedicated to transforming operations and empowering people. Some of the largest industrial companies in the world lean on GrayMatter to protect and connect their critical assets to their teams so that every operator is empowered to be the best operator. GrayMatter has been named to the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies list for six consecutive years and was named Pittsburgh’s Tech50 Innovative Solution Provider of the Year for 2018, 2019 and Tech50 Cybersecurity winner in 2023. For more information on GrayMatter, please visit graymattersystems.com.
About Tailwind Capital
Tailwind Capital is a private equity firm with a sector-focused approach to investing in U.S. lower middle market services companies within Infrastructure Services, Supply Chain and IT Services. Tailwind’s value creation model is centered on its Buy and Build investment strategy, which seeks to scale lower middle market businesses through accretive acquisitions and operational investments, including foundational resourcing, professionalizing operations, implementing technology capabilities and investing in talent. Since inception, Tailwind has invested $4 billion in over 280 acquisitions, including 52 platform companies and over 230 add-on acquisitions. For more information, please visit tailwind.com.