# William Coughlin

> William J. “Bill” Coughlin is the Dallas-Fort Worth-based founder and CEO of Friendly Group and founder of Alchemy Capital. After a career at Merrill Lynch, Aurora Capital Partners, and OMERS Private Equity, he founded Alchemy in 2018 and helped establish Friendly Group in 2020. The home-services network supports local HVAC, plumbing, and electrical businesses with capital, operational resources, and employee development.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Friendly Group
- **Organizations:** Friendly Group, Alchemy Capital Partners, OMERS Private Equity, Aurora Capital Partners, Merrill Lynch, Futuro College Prep, The Ecole
- **Education:** Claremont McKenna College, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Founded Alchemy Capital in 2018 after nearly twenty years in private equity., Founded Friendly Group, established in 2020, and leads it as CEO., Held investment-company board roles including ADCO, Kenan Advantage, K&F Industries, IMPAXX, Mitchell International, MMM Group, and United Plastics Group.

## Career timeline

- **—** — Began his career at Merrill Lynch, including investment banking in London and Los Angeles and its internal private equity fund in New York.
- **—** — Worked at Aurora Capital Partners and later as managing director and co-head of industrials at OMERS Private Equity.
- **2015** — Represented OMERS Private Equity as a managing director in its announced agreement to acquire Kenan Advantage Group with management.
- **2018** — Founded Alchemy Capital.
- **2020** — Friendly Group was established; Friendly Home Services became its first acquisition and Salt Lake City platform investment.
- **2021** — As an Alchemy founder and Friendly Group board member, welcomed Western Heating & Air into the group.
- **2022** — Identified as Friendly Group founder/CEO in the Nytech acquisition announcement; Nytech was the seventh company to join and the first in Colorado.

## Achievements

- Founded Alchemy Capital in 2018 after nearly twenty years in private equity.
- Founded Friendly Group, established in 2020, and leads it as CEO.
- Held investment-company board roles including ADCO, Kenan Advantage, K&F Industries, IMPAXX, Mitchell International, MMM Group, and United Plastics Group.
- Started and chaired Futuro College Prep in East Los Angeles; the school became part of Endeavor College Prep.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Friendly Group announced Vegas Valley Plumbing joining Ambient Edge in Southern Nevada on September 11.
- **2026-07** — Friendly Group announced Master Rooter joining Day & Night in metro Phoenix on July 9.
- **2026-07** — Friendly Group announced Ultimate joining Nytech to expand its Denver metropolitan presence on July 7.

## Links

- Website: https://friendlygroup.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-j-coughlin-93079031

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/william-coughlin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-09