CREATED FOR MIDDLEGROUND CAPITAL

Your Portfolio Has Untapped Value. Let's Go Get It.

20+ active portfolio companies, operations across North America and Europe, a $4.1B firm built on hands-on operational transformation — across a portfolio like MiddleGround's, there's real value sitting in the gap between the operational data your companies are generating and the AI technology they're actually running on. We find it, build the solution, and put it into production.

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The Opportunity is There. The Hard Part is Getting it Done.

Whether it's an automotive exterior systems supplier like Plasman, a precision measuring tools manufacturer like L.S. Starrett, a metals and supply chain solutions provider like A.M. Castle, or a high-performance transmission company like Xtrac — your portfolio companies have the production volume, the process data, and the market position. What's missing is a team that can build and ship AI-powered solutions fast enough to matter within your hold period.


MiddleGround's operational model is an asset here. The AI patterns that drive margin improvement at a precision components manufacturer apply — with adaptation — at a specialty distribution platform or an automotive structural supplier. A firm with Toyota Production System DNA and 30+ acquisitions behind it has the operational playbook infrastructure. We help you add the AI layer.

 

PREPARED FOR MIDDLEGROUND CAPITAL

We Mapped AI Opportunities Across MiddleGround's Actual Portfolio

This isn't a general guide to AI in manufacturing. It's a breakdown of where we see the highest-value AI applications across MiddleGround's 20+ active portfolio companies — with estimated EBITDA impact ranges, implementation priorities, and a competitive read on where peers like Brookfield and KPS are already moving. Built specifically for MiddleGround, with STEMMER IMAGING's machine vision capabilities and the Toyota Production System playbook as the starting point. Available now.

Read the MiddleGround Portfolio Analysis →

CASE STUDY

A PE-Backed Services Company Went from Spreadsheets to a SaaS Platform — and a Much Better Exit Story

An energy services and facility solutions provider (700+ employees, 30+ locations) was heavily reliant on manual processes. Assessments lived in spreadsheets, reporting was done by hand, and scaling the business meant adding more people. The approach worked, but it couldn't keep up with the company's growth.

What Changed
Compoze Labs embedded with their team across four product releases — replacing manual field operations with a custom platform for assessments, capital planning, and client reporting. Three years later, they weren't selling services anymore. They were selling the platform. A completely different business, and a completely different conversation with buyers.

What started as solving a data collection problem became the foundation of the company's growth strategy — and the centerpiece of its exit narrative.

260+
Active platform users across 40–50 client organizations

$0 → Recurring
SaaS revenue stream that didn't exist at acquisition — now a core part of the business

Service → Platform
From selling one-time projects to selling platform subscriptions

Exit Positioned
Technology became the company's primary growth narrative for prospective buyers

WE'VE DONE THIS WORK. HERE'S WHERE.
Avalanche Logo Budscout Logo Evereve Logo MVMNT Logo Rain Bird Logo Ramsey County Logo Signature Concepts Logo SitelogIQ Logo Swire Coca Cola Logo Understood Logo Washington County Logo

WHERE THE VALUE LIVES

Value Across the Portfolio & at the Fund Level

AI and technology create real impact in two places — inside your firm and inside your portfolio companies. We work across both.

Inside Portfolio Companies

Whether it's a precision components manufacturer eliminating defects before they escape the line, a metals distributor reducing inventory carrying costs, or an automotive supplier cutting unplanned downtime at the press — the right AI investments show up directly in the returns. And with STEMMER IMAGING already in the portfolio, MiddleGround has an internal machine vision and AI deployment engine that most PE firms have to source externally.

Replace the systems holding the business back so it can grow to 2x revenue without doubling headcount.

Build data infrastructure that people actually use — one source of truth instead of five spreadsheets that all say different things.

Automate the manual work that's burning labor costs and making it impossible to scale without adding more people.

Create new digital products and revenue streams that didn't exist when you acquired the company.

At the Fund Level

Your deal team and operating partners are spending hours on work that AI handles in minutes. Let them focus on the work that actually moves numbers.

Due diligence that used to take weeks takes days. Your team closes faster and with more confidence.

Portfolio monitoring that flags problems before they hit the P&L, while you can still do something about them.

LP reporting that takes less of your team's time and actually answers the questions investors are going to ask.

Deal intelligence that stays at the firm when people leave, instead of walking out the door with them.

HOW WE WORK

Designed Around Hold Periods, Not Billing Cycles

Every engagement maps to your value creation plan. You know exactly what you're getting, when you'll see results, and what it costs — before a line of code is written.

1

Portfolio Technology Scan

Which companies have the most to gain? What's the fastest path to impact? Walk away with a prioritized map of opportunities ranked by expected return and feasibility.

file Ranked opportunity map clock-1 1–2 weeks

2

Proof of Value

A focused pilot on the highest-priority opportunity. Real results, real data, real buy-in from portfolio company leadership — before anyone commits to a full build.

file Working pilot with measured impact clock-1 4-8 weeks

3

Build & Ship

Custom software built for each company's specific context. Integrated with existing systems, working alongside internal teams. Written, tested, deployed, running.

file Production software hitting target metrics

4

Scale Toward Exit

As the business grows, the technology grows with it. Internal teams build the capability to own it going forward — so buyers see an asset, not a dependency.

file Self-sustaining technology your team owns

Give Us 30 Minutes With Your Portfolio List

We'll walk through MiddleGround's current holdings across precision manufacturing, automotive components, metals distribution, and industrial technology — and talk about where we see the biggest opportunities and how we'd go after them within your hold-period context and operational playbook.

Schedule a Portfolio Discussion →

HOW WE DE-RISK IT

You Stay in Control at Every Stage

Technology projects go sideways when scope balloons, timelines slip, and the operating team loses visibility. Here's how we keep that from happening.

GUARDRAIL 01

Prove It Before You Buy It

Every engagement starts with a scoped pilot that delivers measurable results in 4–8 weeks. If the numbers don't work, you walk away having spent a fraction of what a failed full build would cost.

GUARDRAIL 02

One Team, Start to Finish

The engineers who design the architecture are the same ones who write the code and deploy it. No offshore handoffs, no lost context, no game of telephone between strategy and execution.

GUARDRAIL 03

Your Team Owns It When We Leave

Everything is built so your portfolio company's people can maintain and extend it. Clean code, full documentation, knowledge transfer built into the engagement — not bolted on at the end.

WHY COMPOZE LABS

Built for How PE Actually Works

You move fast and you expect results. So do we.
your timeline not ours
Your Timeline, Not Ours

Hold periods, 100-day plans, board meetings with operating metrics on the line. Engagements are scoped to deliver within the windows that matter to you — not stretched to fill a retainer.

one team
Data + AI + Engineering

Data pipelines, AI models, custom applications, legacy modernization — all in one shop. Your portfolio companies get one partner instead of five vendors, and your operating group gets one relationship to manage.

strategy and execution
Strategy and Execution

The people who help you figure out the approach are the same people who build and deploy the software. No handoff between the team that plans it and the team that builds it.

seen this movie before
We've Seen This Before

The problems look different on the surface, but the value creation plays follow patterns. That means faster starts, fewer wrong turns, and a team that already knows where the landmines are.

Let's Talk About Your Portfolio

 

We'd love to walk through MiddleGround's current holdings and talk about where we see the biggest AI and technology opportunities — and how we'd go after them within your hold-period context and operational value creation model.

Schedule a Discussion →