Buy-Side Origination, Retained
Proprietary acquisition pipeline for active acquirers.
Risegate maps fragmented markets, engages owners directly and develops qualified acquisition conversations around your written criteria.
How We Work, In Writing
- Buy-side only
- 100%Buy-side onlyWe never represent sellers. No listings, no dual agency, no divided loyalty.
- Mandate per market
- 1Mandate per marketOne client per sector and geography. Your pipeline never competes with another search.
- Day initial term
- 90Day initial termCovers the core search cycle — define, map, outreach, introduce. Complex mandates extend by agreement.
- Target revenue
- $10–100MTarget revenueLower middle market companies, typically $2M–$10M EBITDA, with a focus on founder- and family-owned businesses.
Capability standards written into every Risegate engagement. Risegate is a new practice — we publish how the work is structured rather than a borrowed track record.
Corporate Development as a Service
Your corp-dev function, with an engine it cannot staff in-house.
You keep the strategy and the relationships. We supply the proprietary market coverage, direct owner outreach and qualified, approval-gated introductions.
The whole market, mapped
The full universe in your sector, size band and geography — built from primary research, not whatever happens to be listed.
Direct owner outreach — conversations, not lists
Individually written approaches from the senior team. Fit and intent verified in the owner's own words before you ever see it.
Approval-gated introductions
Every target submitted by name for your written sign-off. Your name never travels without it.
A live funnel you can audit
Real counts at every stage of your own pipeline, reviewed with you on a fixed weekly cadence.
Selected Sectors
Focused on fragmented lower-middle-market industries.
Risegate works across sectors where founder ownership and active consolidation create opportunities for proprietary acquisition strategies.
Business Services
Recurring and mission-critical services supporting commercial customers and business operations.
Selected subsectors
- Commercial cleaning
- Staffing
- Security services
- Outsourced business services
- Facilities management
- Route-based services
Industrial Services
Specialty service providers supporting manufacturing, infrastructure and industrial operations.
Selected subsectors
- Industrial maintenance
- Mechanical services
- Electrical contractors
- Welding and fabrication
- Inspection and testing
- Specialty repair
HVAC & Mechanical
Commercial and residential mechanical service businesses operating in highly fragmented local and regional markets.
Selected subsectors
- HVAC
- Plumbing
- Refrigeration
- Building controls
- Boiler services
- Mechanical contracting
Facility Services
Essential outsourced services required to operate and maintain commercial properties.
Selected subsectors
- Landscaping
- Pest control
- Roofing
- Fire and life safety
- Building maintenance
- Parking lot services
Building Products & Distribution
Manufacturers and distributors serving construction, industrial and specialty end markets.
Selected subsectors
- Specialty building materials
- Metal building products
- Roofing products
- HVAC distribution
- Electrical supply
- Industrial distribution
Specialty Services
Fragmented service industries with attractive platform and add-on acquisition opportunities.
Selected subsectors
- Automotive services
- Fleet maintenance
- Environmental services
- Logistics
- Restoration
- Specialty trades
Our searches are mandate-driven and are not limited to these sectors.
Risegate also supports acquisition searches across select manufacturing, transportation, environmental, professional, healthcare and technology-enabled service markets.
Two halves, one engine
Research finds the company. A person gets the yes.
Neither half works alone. Data without senior outreach produces lists; outreach without a mapped market produces noise.
Module A — Research infrastructure
Seeing the whole market.
Every company in your sector, size band and geography is mapped, verified and scored against your written criteria before a single owner is contacted. Industry databases, state registrations, licensing records, trade directories and primary research — assembled from the market outward, never bought as a list.
- Full universe, not a list
- Scored to your criteria
- You approve before outreach
Module B — Senior origination team
Earning the owner's time.
Founders do not respond to campaigns. Every approach is written for one business and sent by the senior team on behalf of a named mandate. We qualify interest in the owner's own words, keep high-fit owners warm and stay in the conversation through introduction.
- Individually written outreach
- Owner-verified intent
- Warm through handoff
The sequence
Five stages. One spine, every mandate.
Every search runs the same sequence, in the same order, with the same gate before any owner hears from us.
Define the mandate
Sector, geography, revenue and EBITDA band, ownership profile and structure become the written sourcing definition — including what is out of scope and who you have already seen.
Map the universe
The full target universe is built with the Risegate Market Map™ methodology, then verified company by company before anything is scored.
Prioritize and approve
Your controlTargets are scored against your criteria and submitted to you in writing. Nothing is contacted without your sign-off — decline any target, any reason.
Engage owners directly
Confidential, individual approaches on behalf of your named mandate. Every contact, response and conversation is logged and reviewed with you weekly.
Introduce and stay
Qualified opportunities are handed to your deal team with full context, and we remain the back channel with the owner while the conversation develops.
How a Search Works
The arithmetic of one mandate.
Most origination pitches describe outcomes. We would rather show the arithmetic a search actually runs on, so you can judge the work before you judge the results.
Universe mapped
200–250
companies
Every company in the defined sector, size band and geography — built from the market outward, not pulled from a list.
Prioritized
50–70
targets
Scored against your written criteria. You review and approve the tier one list before any owner is contacted.
Owners approached
40–60
direct approaches
Individual, senior-written outreach on behalf of a named mandate. No campaigns, no mass mail.
Owner conversations
10–20
conversations
Owners willing to talk. Most are not running a process; many are not sellers today.
Qualified introductions
5–9
to your deal team
Fit confirmed against the mandate, with financial context and owner intent documented before handoff.
Mandates per originator
3
We cap concurrent searches so outreach stays senior-led and individually written.
First qualified intro
6–10 wks
Target window from kickoff, assuming criteria are settled in week one.
Full search cycle
12–16 wks
Define through Develop. Spans the initial 90-day term and, where a mandate needs it, its extension. Relationship coverage continues after the cycle.
Illustrative search model based on how a Risegate mandate is scoped and resourced. Figures describe the structure of a search, not results of prior engagements. Actual volumes vary by sector, geography and criteria.
The Honest Comparison
Three ways to fill a pipeline. One works for you.
Marketed deal flow is built for competition. A retained origination partner is built around your acquisition thesis, your approval and your market.
| Brokered listings | Risegate | Build in-house | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it works for | The seller — always | You — one client per market | You — if you can staff it |
| Competition per deal | Every buyer in the market | None at introduction — the target is worked for you | Depends on your reach |
| Coverage | Whatever happens to list | The mapped market universe | Limited by team hours |
| Your name's exposure | Public interest, fast | Travels only with your written approval | Yours to manage |
| Cost structure | Priced into the auction premium | 90-day retainer, option to extend | Headcount, data stack and management time |
| Time to live pipeline | Immediate but shared | First approved target list in weeks | 6–12 months to build |
Who We Work With
Built for active acquirers.
Private Equity
Platform and add-on origination.
Portfolio Companies
Dedicated sourcing for buy-and-build strategies.
Family Offices
Proprietary opportunities aligned with long-term investment criteria.
Strategic Acquirers
Additional corporate development capacity for targeted acquisition programs.
Senior-Led Origination
Senior-led by design.
Every client works directly with the senior team. We intentionally limit the number of active searches we accept at one time to provide each engagement with focused, hands-on attention.
Griffin Hall
Manager — Buy Side
Griffin Hall is a Manager on Risegate's buy-side origination team. He has built his career in sales leadership and financial services, with a consistent record of developing new relationships and guiding early conversations toward productive outcomes. On each search, Griffin focuses on identifying the right owners, opening direct and respectful conversations, and building the trust that moves a first contact toward a qualified introduction. He prioritizes fit over volume—matching the right business with the right buyer, and giving each opportunity careful, individual attention.
Send an emailStart a quiet conversation
Your next acquisition starts with a better market view.
Tell us what you are looking to acquire. A principal will respond with a clear view of fit, scope and next steps.