For this issue of Manager of the Month, we spotlight Niobrara Capital, the recently established but fast-rising middle-market private equity firm founded by Chip Schorr.
Headquartered in New York, Niobrara Capital (“Niobrara”) was launched in 2024 by Managing Partner Paul “Chip” Schorr, a nine-year veteran of One Equity Partners, and previously with CVC Capital Partners and Blackstone. Schorr brings deep experience investing across technology, industrials, and services businesses, particularly within the middle market.
He is joined by a seasoned bench of partners spanning both operating and investing backgrounds. These include Todd Bradley, who worked alongside Schorr at OEP as an operating partner, and Clayton Albertson, a former executive at WestCap. Most notably perhaps, the senior team includes Mike Pompeo the former CIA director and Secretary of State under Donald Trump.
The firm takes its name from the Niobrara River, which runs through Wyoming and Nebraska. In the Ponca language, “Niobrara” means “running water” — a nod to the firm’s ideals of continuity, momentum, and long-term value creation.
Strategy
Niobrara focuses on control or significant minority equity investments in middle-market, business-to-business technology and technology-enabled services companies.
The firm targets businesses with:
- Enterprise values of $100 million to $1.3 billion
- Revenue of $100 million to $750 million
- Adjusted EBITDA of $20 million to $80 million
At the core of Niobrara’s strategy is a conviction that sustained value will come from backing companies positioned at the intersection of durable technology mega-trends and structural industry shifts. The firm pursues opportunities across subsectors including software, technology services, fintech, and selected areas of hardware infrastructure, including data centers, semiconductors, and fiber networks, where secular demand tailwinds remain strong.
Niobrara prioritizes high-quality B2B businesses characterized by:
- Recurring or highly visible revenue streams
- Strong customer retention and mission-critical offerings
- Modest leverage profiles
- Fragmented market structures that allow for consolidation or strategic add-ons
The firm’s typical equity check size of $30 million to $150 million (excluding co-investment) supports the construction of a concentrated portfolio of approximately 12–14 companies. This allows Niobrara to maintain high conviction positions while devoting significant time and strategic resources to each investment.
Ultimately, the firm aims to build platform businesses that are attractive assets to large strategic buyers seeking technology capabilities.
Investments
Niobrara inaugural deal closed in early 2024, with the firm investing $175m alongside Prysm Capital to a stake in Polar Semiconductors, an engineering and manufacturing center for sensors and semiconductors.
Since then, Niobrara has made two other investments:
- NoventIQ — A global solutions and services provider in digital transformation and cybersecurity. The company enables, facilitates, and accelerates digital transformation for its customers’ businesses, connecting organizations across a comprehensive range of industries with best-in-class IT vendors, alongside its own services and proprietary solutions.
- Merlin Cyber — A cybersecurity platform with a one-of-a-kind business model that leverages security technologies, trusted relationships, and capital to develop and deliver security solutions that help organizations minimize security risk and simplify IT operations.
Fundraising
Launched in the final months of 2024, Niobrara entered the market targeting $750 million for Fund I. The firm quickly secured $485 million, nearly two-thirds of its target, by early January 2025.
According to Form D filings, Niobrara had raised approximately $815 million by year-end, surpassing its original target, though the fund remains open as the firm continues to build its LP base into 2026.
The firm also announced a minority investment from Wafra’s Capital Constellation platform, a vehicle focused on anchoring and supporting emerging managers through GP-staking.
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