Employee ownership fund spotlights
EO Spotlight: Independent sponsors, searchers & new pathways for employee ownership capital
As the field of employee ownership continues to mature, a new category of opportunity is emerging: independent sponsors and searchers as a scalable channel for EO investment.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) — including traditional search funds and independent sponsor models — has grown rapidly over the past decade as a pathway for acquiring and operating small and mid-sized businesses. At the same time, an increasing number of closed-end employee ownership funds are exploring how to partner with searchers as a source of aligned deal flow. The question is no longer whether ETA will shape the future of business succession — but how employee ownership can be intentionally embedded into that transition wave.
This EO Spotlight explores:
- Why independent sponsors represent a compelling and under-tapped pipeline for EO transactions
- How closed-end EO funds are structuring partnerships with searchers
- Where incentives, capital stacks and governance models align — and where friction remains
- What this means for the future of EO investing and capital formation
Our featured funds and speakers
Michael Morosi, Managing Partner, Southeast Acquisition Capital
Michael Morosi is Managing Partner of Southeast Acquisition Capital and has 20 years of experience in investment banking, asset management, and private equity. A committed advocate for employee ownership, he also co-founded 40 Million Owners to advise employee-owned companies on value creation through acquisitions and serves as Chief Investment Officer at 3LS, Inc., leading acquisitions for the 700-employee ESOP holding company.
Prior to his work in employee ownership, he managed a $200 million equity portfolio at MAPFRE USA and co-managed ESG funds at MAPFRE Asset Management in Madrid, Spain. He began his career as an equity analyst and impact investor at Jetstream Capital and held investment banking roles at Stephens Inc. and Avondale Partners.
Julie Menter, Program Director, Transform Finance
Julie is Program Director at Transform Finance. Her work focuses on challenging traditional investment practices and mobilizing support for alternative ownership enterprises through research, investor education, community building, and more.
Previously, Julie served as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at New Media Ventures, where she built a best-in-class portfolio of startups working to strengthen democracy. Earlier in her career, she was a strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting where she has worked with large companies to redefine what good business means.
Host: Alison Lingane, Founder, Ownership Capital Lab
Alison is Founder and CEO of the Ownership Capital Lab, which focuses on capital as a growth and scale lever for impact-first employee ownership. The Lab identifies, pilots, and supports the uptake of strategies for financing employee ownership at greater scale.
