The shift from a bootstrapped operation to one with a strategic, long-term growth plan comes to a crossroads when additional capital is required.
For Baltimore-based Electronics Value Recovery (EVR) founder Matt Young, sustainable vertical growth was crucial, but difficult without the liquidity for continued expansion.
“When you’re much more constrained on your capital, you really only got to do the things that are going to be kind of guaranteed home runs,” Young explained.
‘Uncompromisingly sustainable’ operations
EVR had grown organically over seven to eight years, but reached an inflection point. When it came time to amp up operations, additional capital became essential for continued expansion.
“The story of the bootstrapped entrepreneur, you’re always just trying to shuffle from one deal to the next, and this gives us kind of the capital to really focus on sustainable, long-term growth stuff,” Young said.
Private equity firm Acadian Capital Group provided a capital boost that has allowed EVR to scale as anticipated, acquiring the company at the end of 2025.
“Our new focus is on being uncompromisingly sustainable,” said Young. “That’s kind of the focus of our business and included in that is both the environmental aspects and long term, making the right decisions for where we want to be in a decade, not necessarily just tomorrow.”
Gaines Garrett, who works with Acadian Capital Group and is now CEO of EVR, elaborated on what “uncompromisingly sustainable” means in practice.
“This concept of uncompromisingly sustainable, it’s really about having the amount of capital to go out in the different verticals,” Garrett said. “EVR historically has been 80% reuse, right? So refurbish and reuse equipment has dominated the business, and we just feel like we can build additional product lines and additional strap lines to diversify that and ultimately make smart decisions that are not just quick flip type decisions.”
ITAD and enterprise
The acquisition positions EVR to expand significantly beyond its traditional business model. The company plans to broaden its services in the ITAD space and establish a nationwide presence.
Young said, “I think we’re going to be opening new locations and the goal, long term, is to be able to serve customers throughout the entire country with one vendor, to be able to solve all their needs, approach.”
The expansion comes at an opportune time for the industry.
“The markets themselves are really exciting right now. We’re seeing really robust components, precious metals, base metals – all of these things are having a lot more life than they’ve ever had in them, potentially before,” Young noted.
He added, “I think that EVR and the market as a whole, we have really strong tailwinds going into 2026.”
Young also sees industry consolidation as a key trend. “What I’m excited about is the push for certified ITAD and the recycling services. I think the market’s going to continue to move in that direction, start to consolidate a little more,” he said. “In a consolidating market, you want to be well capitalized and able to evaluate the opportunities.”
The acquisition wasn’t an overnight decision. It required more than a year of relationship building and due diligence. For entrepreneurs considering similar paths, both Young and Garrett emphasized that patience and values alignment are critical.
“The sale of a business does not happen overnight,” Young advised. “You don’t just wake up and be like, ‘Okay, well, tomorrow I’m going to sell it.’ It’s typically a multi-year process to make sure your systems, your financials, the core asset that you’re building to try to sell is mature and able to even be bought.”
Young recommended staying open to conversations even when not actively seeking a buyer.
“We would get dozens of reach outs every month from different private equity groups,” he said. “Taking some of those conversations to understand what’s going to be important to a buyer, what’s going to help you on your multiples, what’s going to make your business more attractive to be able to get it over the finish line, I think, is all important.”
Garrett confirmed the extended timeline, saying, “Matt and I first started talking about this over a year before we actually finalized the deal. It’s a long process, but it can also be a long process for the buyer to get comfortable with what they’re acquired. When you find the right partner, you’re willing to be patient.”
The key to success? Core values alignment.
“It comes down to values and alignment of core values,” Garrett explained. “That doesn’t mean that EVR has to have the exact same core values as ACG, but what it means is that for that particular business and that group of people, they were all rowing the boat in the same direction. That alignment of values – you don’t always know, it takes time to figure out if that’s there.”
Young added his own perspective on values:
“Gaines has introduced me to a saying I like, that’s ‘integrity is table stakes.’ I think the other piece is a similar understanding of a roadmap,” he said. “I’m excited to stay in the business, continue working with the business. Finding a partner that can align with you correctly on what the former entrepreneur’s outcome is going to be, I think, is also something that can be really qualifying.”
Looking ahead, both leaders expressed optimism about the partnership.
“We’re really bullish on this industry and we’re really bullish on how much proper e-recycling is going to impact things going forward,” Garrett said. “It’s a really exciting time, and we can’t wait to see where it takes us.”
Young, who has been in the industry for 19 years, concluded: “I’ve gotten to see really big companies. I’ve gotten to see startups. So it’s really exciting to be on the path to be one of the big companies again.”
