We built before
we backed.
RSM Capital is a private family office founded by operators. We built Martin UAV, carried the V-BAT into fielded programs, and remain Shield AI shareholders today. We invest our own capital across energy, industrials, defense technology, health technology, and venture capital.
/ 01 — GENESIS
We've worked
this ground.
RSM Capital's story began with Martin UAV. We built the team, operations, flight-test program, and government business that carried the V-BAT into fielded programs.
When Shield AI acquired Martin UAV in 2021, we became shareholders and remain invested today. Not every good exit is a cash-only exit.
Martin UAV is one chapter in fifty years of entrepreneurship — building and operating energy and industrial businesses through every kind of cycle, and strategy work inside Martin Midstream. We've made payroll, moved product, and sat in boardrooms and truck cabs.
That history gives us a long view. We form views from first principles, test them against running plants and real markets, and invest with a long-term horizon.
So when a founder walks us through a business, we recognize the place — we've usually stood in it ourselves.
/ 02 — PHILOSOPHY
What We Do
We invest our own capital for the long haul — directly in energy, industrials, defense technology, and health technology, and through select funds. We move on conviction, not momentum, and were building defense technology when people still asked why. No fund cycle or outside mandate.
Who We Back
Good people building their life's work — things of value that help America. People who have shipped, met payroll, and tell the truth about what broke. Founders who want to keep their upside. More than one team we've backed has come back with their next company.
How We Work
Diligence takes weeks, not quarters, and the answer is direct. There is no committee to update and no machine to feed. When we invest, we help where we can in operations, government relations, introductions to customers and investors, board service.
/ 03 — PORTFOLIO
Selected direct investments and fund positions across energy, industrials, defense technology, health technology, and venture capital. Other holdings remain confidential by agreement, at our partners' request, or because of the nature of the work.
Martin UAV
Built and operated by the RSM team; acquired by Shield AI.
REF 7P
Shield AI
Current shareholder following the Martin UAV acquisition.
REF N9
DIRECT
LifeLens
Wearable physiological monitoring — FDA-cleared, fielded from clinical care to defense.
REF Z3
Undisclosed
AI software for defense and critical operations. We serve on the board.
REF 6Y
Undisclosed
Analysis software for defense and national security decision-makers. We serve on the board.
REF 2B
Natural State Renewables
Developing carbon-negative power and fuels from surplus forest biomass.
REF 6D
LEAD INVESTOR
Oberon Fuels
Energy technology: renewable DME, methanol, and hydrogen — home of the first renewable-DME production in the United States.
REF 4G
DIRECT
Composite Piping Technology
Manufacturer of high-pressure composite pipe for oil and gas, industrial, and water infrastructure. We hold a board seat.
REF 9J
LEAD INVESTOR
Copperbeck Energy Partners
Chemicals and logistics platforms across the energy supply chain. RSM is part of the general partner.
REF 3H
Undisclosed
An operating industrial services business serving the energy sector.
REF 6W
Kuva Labs
Cancer imaging: developing an MRI agent to show solid tumors early and clearly, without radioactive tracers.
REF 2F
Undisclosed
Three early-stage funds.
REF 2C
Undisclosed
REF 7X
Undisclosed
Lower middle market.
REF G2
/ 04 — LEADERSHIP
The people who answer.
We understand operations — the plant floor, the payroll, recruiting and comp plans, and the market structures beneath them. The leaders profiled here are supported by a broader team across investing and operations, along with counsel and administration. Together, we bring depth across energy, engineering, chemistry, strategy, and finance.
Ruben S. Martin III
Fifty-plus years as an entrepreneur and operator. Ruben was CEO of Martin Resource Management Corporation from 1981 to 2020 and remains its chairman. He took Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ: MMLP) public in 2002, led it for two decades, and today chairs the board of its general partner. He started at sixteen, driving a bobtail truck to fuel East Texas drilling rigs — and has run energy operations through every commodity cycle since.
Ruben holds a B.S. in Industrial Management from the University of Arkansas. He has led Paula Martin Jones Charities since 1990 and served twelve years on the board of Mercy Ships, two of them as chairman.
Michael Newton
More than 20 years across energy, midstream, and industrial sectors, including leadership roles at a publicly traded energy company in corporate strategy, M&A, and capital projects. He brings a rare dual perspective, having built and backed companies from both the operator's and investor's seat.
Michael holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, summa cum laude, and an M.S. in Engineering and Technology Management, both from Louisiana Tech University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Louisiana and Texas and currently serves on the boards of multiple defense technology companies.
Roles with Martin Midstream Partners and Martin Resource Management Corporation are separate from RSM Capital — the Martin companies are not part of its portfolio.