Ara Partners Welcomes Onur Goker as Managing Director and Sonali Aggarwal as Principal to its Private Equity Team

Industry Veterans Further Enhance Capabilities and Strengthen Firm's Commitment to Decarbonization

HOUSTON and BOSTON, June 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ara Partners, a global investment firm specializing in industrial decarbonization, is pleased to announce the addition of Onur Goker as Managing Director and Sonali Aggarwal as Principal to its Private Equity team, based in the Houston and Boston offices.

"Onur's deep expertise in clean energy, energy efficiency, electric transportation, industrial efficiency, and sustainable food production makes him a fantastic addition to the team," said Troy Thacker, Managing Partner at Ara. "His highly selective approach, proven by his impressive track record, aligns perfectly with Ara's investment strategy and strengthens our ability to drive impactful results in key sectors. We're also thrilled to welcome Sonali Aggarwal, whose hands-on experience across deal origination, analysis, and value realization in multiple sectors, including industrials, will further enhance our team's capabilities." 

As a Managing Director at Anthelion Capital (formerly known as Cowen Sustainable Investments), Onur systematically developed a data-driven origination network, covering over 800 investment banker contacts and encompassing more than 5,000 private companies. Over the past five years, Onur evaluated 900 companies and issued term sheets for 60, resulting in 10 closed deals.

"I am excited to be joining Ara at a time when we see more industrial-scale decarbonization technologies maturing and becoming cost competitive," said Onur. "Ara's owner-operator approach, along with its deep operational expertise, provides a unique platform to scale proven technologies."

Onur also brings experience from senior roles at IFC Asset Management Company's Global Infrastructure Fund and Deutsche Bank's Principal Investments Group, where he led substantial debt and equity investments in energy, infrastructure, and illiquid assets.

Sonali Aggarwal joins as Principal, bringing over 10 years of extensive experience managing deal flow, leading due diligence, and driving value creation to the PE team in Boston. To date, she's helped close over 10 transactions in the industrial, consumer, healthcare, and business services sectors. Sonali brings experience from roles at H.I.G. Capital, Blue Point Capital Partners, and Fortress Investment Group.

With these strategic additions, Ara Partners continues its commitment to decarbonizing the industrial economy, building on its history of investments across industrials and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture.

About Ara Partners

Founded in 2017, Ara Partners is a global private equity and infrastructure firm dedicated to decarbonizing the industrial economy. Ara seeks to build, scale, and optimize companies with significant decarbonization impact across the industrial and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and fuels, and food and agriculture sectors. The company operates from offices in Houston, Boston, Dublin and Washington, D.C. As of March 31, 2025, Ara Partners had approximately $6.0 billion of assets under management. 

For more information about Ara Partners, please visit www.arapartners.com. 

Media Contacts:
Catherine MacDonald, Ara Partners
[email protected]

Zach Harris, Prosek Partners 
[email protected] 

SOURCE Ara Partners