PICO Capital Partners was founded by a group of experienced entrepreneurs, operators, executives and investors with decades of experience in managing, investing in and growing successful businesses.  PICO was established to fill a void in the private equity markets--to pursue businesses which are fundamentally attractive but lack the high growth characteristics to attract venture capitalists and the scale to interest most buyout firms.

The principals at PICO have completed numerous transactions, including the following:

• $2.8 million preferred investment in a promotional products business
• $47.5 million preferred investment in a Tier II automotive supplier
• $12.5 million minority growth financing for a non-destructive testing business
• $11 million sale of a leading K-12 educational products company
• $33 million corporate divestiture of a graphic products division
• Many others across niche manufacturing, industrial services and logistics markets

Ryan Dorris, Managing Partner

Ryan possesses a unique mix of skills and experience built on successful and extensive operating and investment experience.  Prior to founding PICO, Ryan was CFO and effective interim co-president of Educational Resources, a Chicago-based $60 million distributor and publisher of educational technology products.  In addition to managing finance, accounting and IT, he was highly involved in sales, marketing, product development and operations functions.  He led the successful sale of the company to another investment group in late 2007.

Educational Resources was a portfolio company of Thayer Capital Partners, a $1.5 billion Washington, DC-based private equity firm, where Ryan previously spent several years focused on deal sourcing, evaluation and execution across a number of industries, including automotive, test & measurement, filtration, medical products and business services.

Prior to Thayer, Ryan was an analyst at The Beacon Group/JPMorgan, working on mergers & acquisitions ranging in size from $20 million to $53 billion.  Ryan received his BA in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University.  He is an Indiana native and currently resides with his wife and three children in Lowry.