Meet the Team
Michael Son
Founder & Managing Partner
Michael founded Via Rising Capital to acquire and steward exceptional small and middle-market businesses across the United States.
As a former commercial banker, Michael partnered closely with the management teams of companies with annual revenues up to $100 million - evaluating creditworthiness, structuring financing, and advising on growth strategy. He later advised clients ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 companies in strategy consulting and strategic account management roles, developing a disciplined approach to business analysis and capital allocation that now informs Via Rising Capital’s acquisition process.
Michael believes that founder-owned businesses deserve thoughtful successors who prioritize employees, customers, and communities alongside financial performance. Through Via Rising Capital, he seeks to partner with exceptional operators and investors to preserve founder legacies and build enduring businesses for future generations.
Michael earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and holds CPA, CMA designation.
Experienced Partners
Our Network
Operating Leadership
Via Rising Capital partners with an established bench of experienced CEOs and senior operators who are capable of leading the businesses we acquire. These are individuals we know well and trust to build upon what founders have created while preserving the culture and values that made the business successful.
Many of these operators have spent their careers in larger organizations, where they developed expertise in building scalable systems, driving operational excellence, and executing disciplined growth strategies. They bring those capabilities to lower middle-market businesses, helping professionalize operations while maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit that makes these companies unique.
Our network also includes entrepreneurs who have previously built, acquired, and successfully exited businesses and are looking to begin their next chapter. They combine an owner’s mindset with practical operating experience and understand what it takes to create long-term value.
When a founder is retiring or there is no natural internal successor, Via Rising Capital can pair a business with one of these proven leaders to provide continuity, strengthen the organization, and help position the business for sustainable long-term growth.
Capital & Advisory Support
Via Rising Capital operates as an independent sponsor, identifying and acquiring businesses first, then aligning capital on a deal-by-deal basis with investors who share our long-term approach.
We are supported by a transaction co-sponsor with extensive M&A advisory experience across transactions ranging from $5 million to $300 million. Over the last decade, the transaction co-sponsor has completed seven acquisitions spanning business services, industrial, and manufacturing sectors while building an established operating portfolio. This co-sponsor will co-invest in Via Rising Capital's acquisitions and provide strategic guidance throughout the acquisition process, including transaction evaluation, financing strategy, due diligence, lender negotiations, transaction structuring, and post-closing value creation.