Brightpath Advisory

Brightpath Advisory is a governance, risk, and compliance advisory platform serving regulated middle-market companies nationwide. ACME Partners formed the platform in 2025 with its investment in Clearline Consulting and is executing a buy-and-build strategy to create a national leader in compliance advisory services.

ACME Partners first identified compliance advisory as a priority theme through its dedicated sourcing effort, drawn to the sector's recurring engagement model, deepening regulatory complexity, and pronounced fragmentation. That work led ACME to Clearline Consulting, a founder-led compliance advisory firm with an exceptional reputation and long-tenured client relationships. Clearline's founders were not running a sale process; they were looking for a partner who could help them build something bigger. In late 2025, they partnered with ACME to launch Brightpath Advisory as a national platform.

Together, ACME and the Brightpath management team developed a value creation plan centered on four initiatives: building a dedicated M&A function with repeatable playbooks for sourcing, executing, and integrating add-on acquisitions; investing in a professional go-to-market engine to complement the firm's referral-driven growth; expanding service lines into adjacent risk and regulatory disciplines; and strengthening the leadership bench with experienced operators. ACME's Portfolio Resource Group embedded with the team from day one, helping stand up shared services and scalable back-office infrastructure ahead of growth.

In its first year as a platform, Brightpath completed multiple add-on acquisitions, extended its footprint into new regional markets, and meaningfully expanded its recurring revenue base. The company continues to pursue an active acquisition pipeline, and the founders of each acquired firm have remained with the platform — a reflection of the partnership-first approach that ACME believes is essential to a successful buy-and-build.