Capital Infinity Research has been researching Private Equity firms for over 7 years now. Beyond Private Equity our professionals have had experience in banking, personal & institutional investments, investment banking, as well as consulting and creating business plans. Our professionals have also reviewed companies looking to sell, started several companies, and purchased a company.
Several years ago we decided to start building a database of Private Equity firms so we could search easier, and because the existing databases charge for access. Our original goal was to program the database for easy searching, but with the new technology tools available we created our own Search Engine which eliminated the need for programming. Recently we began a complete overhaul of our database. We started from scratch and began re-researching and inputting the data into a complete user-friendly database solution. We felt starting from scratch with just a list of names and our experience was the best way to make a “clean” database and provide the user experience you expect from Capital Infinity.
One thing we have noticed over the years is that there are a lot of Private Equity firms looking for prospective acquisitions. Many even have a page on their website devoted to how they will compensate anyone who introduces them to a company they end up investing in or buying. The more Private Equity firms we researched, the more we found with this need for good introductions.
Since Capital Infinity Research is in the market research and database building business and not in the industries these Private Equity firms were investing in, we thought to ourselves “Who could make good use of this information?”, “Do companies know that Private Equity firms want to invest in their industry?”
The answer: Capital Sourcing.
Our Capital Sourcing services utilize our Private Equity database and our knowledge of what types of investments make good fits in different Private Equity firms. We look for what might fit well with them, of course this might not meet your needs.
How do we do this? We identified one of the most sought after industries, contacted a supplier to that industry who also offered other services, and asked how we could help.
The Process:
- Our partner asks us to identify a Private Equity firm with varying criteria (size/sales range, location, industry, type of investment, etc.).
- We use our database and research abilities to identify a Private Equity firm, and pass along the name of the firm and the contact information to our partner.
- We can also help our partner with contacting the Private Equity firm, and discussing things further with you.
- Capital Infinity Research is NOT affiliated with any Private Equity firm, and as such doesn’t just send along the name of the same firm over and over again. We research to locate a firm with a stated interest in the individual criteria provided.
- Our partner then contacts the Private Equity firm to make an introduction.
- If the Private Equity firm is interested, then an introduction takes place.
- At this point each deal will be a little different depending upon what type of transaction is involved, and what Private Equity firm is involved.
Now for the Why:
Capital Infinity Research is a consulting services and database vendor, and as such noticed a void in the Private Equity world between Private Equity firms looking for good companies, and companies looking for capital sources. We also noticed that Private Equity firms were willing to compensate successful introductions. If they fund a company, and an introduction was made by a third party, then they were willing to pay that third party a “finder’s fee” or “referral fee” or “intermediary fee”.
Since we are not involved with any of the industries these Private Equity firms were interested in, we contacted someone who was. The partner is not in the Private Equity research business, so we simply provide our research services to them in that regard. If a transaction takes place, the Private Equity firm pays our partner the “finder’s fee” or “referral fee”. The company looking for funding did not have to pay anything for the service, our partner got paid for all of his hard work introducing / matching the Private Equity firm and the company, and we were paid our research services fee from our partner.
We also noticed a void in the Private Equity databases that are available. From some offering free directories of all capital sources (Angel Funding, Venture Capital, and Private Equity), to others charging tens of thousands of dollars to access their database which may or may not provide user friendly output. We have tested several of these vendors in the past and were unimpressed. We though we could do better, so in late 2009 we began the complete overhaul and re-research of our Capital Data Center database product. Once complete our clients will be able to produce relevant results in a easily accessed interface.