The Albany Gazette - Caprae Capital Welcomes Hereford Johnson as Co-Founder to Expand End-to-End Search as a Service

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESS Newswire / October 20, 2026 / Caprae Capital today announced that Hereford Johnson has joined the firm as co-founder, taking on a broader role across acquisitions, portfolio company support, client strategy, business development partnerships, and Caprae's expanding End-to-End Search as a Service Pro program.

Johnson first came into the Caprae ecosystem as a customer, later began working with the team part-time, and is now joining the company as co-founder after seeing firsthand how quickly the platform was growing and how much opportunity existed to build something larger around acquisition entrepreneurs.

Within his first four weeks working with the team, Johnson helped advance a transaction to an executed letter of intent, reinforcing the value of having experienced acquisition entrepreneurs involved directly in active deals.

His role will now extend across both sides of Caprae's platform: helping clients execute acquisitions while also supporting portfolio companies and helping Caprae identify and acquire additional businesses of its own.

"Hereford is exactly the kind of person we want building Caprae," said Kevin Hong, Founder of Caprae Capital. "He thinks in multiple dimensions. He has served in the U.S. Air Force, worked in engineering and behavioral health, consulted at Deloitte, founded companies, searched for businesses and acquired them. He can look at the same problem as an operator, an engineer, a founder and a buyer."

Johnson holds a BS and MS in engineering from the University of Illinois Chicago and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Hong added that Johnson has already influenced how the company operates.

"We have already implemented some of Hereford's ideas around automation and workflow design," Hong said. "That is what we need at this stage. Not people who simply inherit a process, but people who can improve the machine while they are using it."

Expanding Caprae's End-to-End Model

Caprae is continuing to expand beyond deal sourcing into a broader outsourced M&A platform for acquisition entrepreneurs.

Johnson will help grow the company's End-to-End Search as a Service Pro offering, which is designed to support buyers across the full acquisition lifecycle, including sourcing, seller engagement, financial analysis, LOI support, diligence, transaction coordination and post-close strategy.

He will also help support several of Caprae's portfolio companies while working alongside the team to identify and acquire additional businesses.

"What attracted me was that Caprae was already moving beyond being a sourcing company," said Johnson. "The bigger opportunity is to help buyers from the moment they define what they want to acquire through the moment they close, and then help them operate and grow what they bought."

"I experienced the platform as a customer first, so I saw the gaps it was solving from the buyer's side," Johnson added. "Then I saw how quickly the company was expanding. Once I started contributing internally, it became obvious there was an opportunity to build a much larger end-to-end platform."

Building Around Founders and Acquisition Entrepreneurs

Johnson joins Hong and founder Zackary Beckham on a senior team built around a simple philosophy: the people helping clients close transactions should understand what it is like to build, buy and operate companies themselves.

"We do not want our senior bench filled with people who have only advised on deals," said Hong. "We want founders, operators and acquisition entrepreneurs sitting with clients when a transaction gets difficult. Those are the people who know what matters when a seller conversation turns into a real decision."

That operating experience is becoming increasingly important as Caprae handles more complex client mandates and expands into additional markets.

Johnson will also help develop business development partnerships, support international expansion, and build stronger systems around Caprae's growing transaction pipeline.

Approaching $200 Million in Lower-Middle-Market Transactions

Caprae has sustained rapid growth since launch and is approaching $200 million in lower-middle-market transaction value that the firm has helped support and close.

The company continues to broaden its offering across sourcing, outreach, financial modeling, diligence, deal structuring, capital support and post-close planning.

"We built Caprae because most acquisition entrepreneurs are expected to operate like institutions without having institutional infrastructure," said Hong. "As we grow, the opportunity is to keep adding people like Hereford who have actually lived the journey and can help clients get deals across the finish line."

Johnson said he is particularly excited about expanding the model into new markets.

"There are acquisition entrepreneurs and succession opportunities far beyond the U.S.," he said. "The goal is to take what is working, keep improving the operating system, and expand it into more countries without losing the hands-on support that makes the model valuable."

About Caprae Capital

Caprae Capital is a next-generation M&A platform supporting acquisition entrepreneurs across the full lifecycle of a transaction, from proprietary sourcing through diligence, closing and post-acquisition strategy.

Through its Search as a Service model, End-to-End Search as a Service Pro program, proprietary technology, and operator-led advisory bench, Caprae provides the infrastructure acquisition entrepreneurs need to find, evaluate, acquire and build great companies.

Caprae is approaching $200 million in lower-middle-market transaction value supported since launch and continues to expand its services and geographic reach.

Contact Information

Zackary Beckham
Founder
Caprae Capital
[email protected]
480-518-2592

SOURCE: Caprae Capital

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(Y.Harris--TAG)