Partners and Advisors

Prior to forming Pinnacle, he was co-founder of Reliant Star Capital, a private equity firm with a similar investment strategy.  He sourced, negotiated and participated in eight deals as well as eight add-on investments, helping the firm’s portfolio companies achieve significant growth and several successful exits.

Mr. VerHalen previously invested on behalf of Driehaus Capital Management, an $8 billion hedge fund in Chicago with a private equity and venture capital investment portfolio in excess of $100 million. He served as a member of the Investment Committee for Private Equity Investments and was a board representative on seven portfolio companies. He oversaw limited partner duties for a number of venture capital and private equity fund investments.

Prior to that he worked at Maritz, a privately held, industry-leading services firm with revenue exceeding $1 Billion.

Mr. VerHalen graduated with an MBA degree in Entrepreneurship/Management and a BS degree in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. While there he mentored for three years under Edward M. Moldt, a well known entrepreneur who also taught at the Wharton School of Business and consulted with the Kaufmann Foundation. At the time Mr. Moldt was the controlling investor in privately held companies that had in excess of $300MM in revenue with profit margins exceeding 20 percent.

Mr. VerHalen attended the Graduate Program of the Venture Capital Institute and has been a featured speaker on the topic of entrepreneurship and capital formation at numerous industry conferences and events.

In 2013 he sold one of his major businesses, R-Squared Puckett. It was a manufacturing business supporting automotive and commercial/consumer industries. The company’s products were heat-transfer systems with a focus on intellectual property in OEM components.

Previously he led Oak Controls, a $100 million manufacturer of gas range components to General Electric, Maytag and Amana. He grew sales 35% and profits 100% within two years and generated cash flow of over $10MM. It was eventually acquired by Corning.

Prior to that, he was President of Sunbeam Health and Comfort products group, a $200MM manufacturer of Electronic Scales, Electric Blankets and Health Monitoring products. During Ray’s tenure he was responsible for 4 manufacturing operations in Mexico, where he led 1,100 employees.

Mr. Mehra is a graduate of IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) one of the elite engineering institutions in India. He is actively involved in IIT Alumni Associations. He has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor’s degree from IIT Roorkee. Mr. Mehra is an avid tennis player, downhill skier and traveler.

Mr. Martin is a highly recognized expert on retail traffic and business intelligence. He appears regularly on broadcast media programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and CNBC as well as in articles in business outlets including the retail trade press and the Wall Street Journal.

Prior to forming ShopperTrak, he was the President at PowerCart America, a retail wireless point of sale equipment supplier.

He actively supports the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and sits on the Advisory Board for Mother Mary Sisters of the Eucharist, Grand Rapids, MI.

Mr. Vaile is also a principal and general partner in Phoenician Resources, LLC, a special purpose acquisition fund designed to aggregate, operate and develop small domestic onshore oil & gas assets.  Phoenician’s strategy is to focus on smaller asset acquisitions (<$15 million) in shallow, conventional basins. The fund targets proved, developed producing wells (PDPs) and low risk proved undeveloped reserves (PUDs). Mr. Vaile’s primary responsibility is to source potential investments, drawing upon his relationships with operators, geologists, engineers, and land men.

Mr. Vaile was previously a Vice President of Origination at Aon Corporation.  

He is an avid golfer and has competed in numerous USGA events, including the United States Mid-Amateur.  He is also an active member of the community, volunteering with the Chicago MetroSquash program. Mr. Vaile received a B.B.A. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Over the next two decades, he extended and grew Chief's business in the electrical components industry into non-automotive sector, where they now specialize in international logistics and engineering support for vehicular OEMs and their suppliers in North America. Chief is ISO certified and has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as a top small business workplace.

Previously, Mr. Gabelman was General Manager of Charleston Industries, an architectural signage and metals processing company.

He is a Director of the Smart Farm of Barrington, IL, a local organic farm that provides fresh produce to food pantries.

Mr. Gabelman is also a Director of the Western Golf Association. After graduating from Trinity University in 1981, he began his career as a golf professional and continues to play, having competed in over 10 USGA events.