Proprietary deal origination
We find the business before it's for sale.
Acquiry maps every digital business that fits your thesis, scores each one on 31 signals across traffic, revenue, infrastructure and ownership, then opens a confidential, founder-level conversation. Your name stays sealed until both sides agree.
- Universe mapped48,200
- Passed hard filters6,140
- Scored on the blueprint940
- Analyst shortlist118
- Approached under codename36
- Engaged under NDA9
From universe to engaged
48,000 businesses in. Nine founder conversations out.
Brokers show you what is already listed. We start from the full universe and narrow it with evidence, so every founder we approach already fits your thesis on paper. Figures are from a sample B2B SaaS mandate.
- Gate 1
48,200
Universe mapped
Every digital business matching the buyer thesis by sector, model, geography and size band.
- Gate 213% pass
6,140
Passed hard filters
Ownership, jurisdiction, revenue band and traffic integrity floors applied.
- Gate 315% pass
940
Scored on the blueprint
Weighted across six pillars and 31 signals, tuned to the buyer.
- Gate 413% pass
118
Analyst shortlist
Manually verified by an analyst before anyone is contacted.
- Gate 531% pass
36
Approached under codename
Founder-level outreach from Acquiry. The buyer is never named.
- Gate 625% pass
9
Engaged under NDA
Two-way NDA signed, data shared, management calls scheduled.
The scoring blueprint
Six pillars. 31 signals. Weighted to your thesis.
The same universe ranks very differently for a SaaS platform than for a casino operator. Pick a buyer profile or move the weights yourself, and watch five codenamed targets from a sample mandate re-rank live.
PE-backed platform adding B2B SaaS bolt-ons, $5M to $40M EV.
Pillar weights
Sum 100- 30%
- 8%
- Organic vs paid share
- Branded search share
- Invalid and bot traffic ratio
- Keyword and page concentration
- Backlink quality and toxicity
- Algorithm-update resilience
- 22%
- 20%
- 12%
- 8%
Live ranking
- #1
Project KESTREL
Vertical SaaS, field services · UK · $8M ARR
80.9
Approach first
RevenueTrafficInfraIPReadinessRegulatory - #2
Project ORBIT
Embedded payments API · EU · $11M ARR
76.3
Approach
RevenueTrafficInfraIPReadinessRegulatory - #3
Project TIDEWATER
D2C subscription app · AU / NZ · $3.1M ARR
73.4
Approach
RevenueTrafficInfraIPReadinessRegulatory - #4
Project MERIDIAN
Finance content & affiliate network · US / CA · $4.2M EBITDA
69.9
Approach
RevenueTrafficInfraIPReadinessRegulatory - #5
Project HALCYON
Casino affiliate portfolio · Malta / Nordics · $6.5M EBITDA
68.9
Parked: Infra
RevenueTrafficInfraIPReadinessRegulatory
Bar opacity shows how heavily each pillar is weighted. Codenamed targets from a sample mandate.
Where the signals come from
Evidence before outreach.
Every score is built from public and permissioned data. Private financials are only reviewed once a founder has signed an NDA and chosen to share them.
| Source | What we read | What it tells the buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Public web & search footprint | Indexed pages, ranking spread, branded demand, backlink graph | How durable and diversified the traffic engine is |
| Technology fingerprinting | Frameworks, hosting, CDN, third-party scripts, certificate history | Stack age, vendor concentration and integration cost |
| Performance & uptime telemetry | Core Web Vitals field data, public status pages, incident history | Operational quality a buyer inherits on day one |
| Corporate registries | Ownership, filings, charges, directors, entity jurisdiction | Who can sign, and how clean the structure is |
| Hiring & product cadence | Job postings, release notes, changelog frequency, app store updates | Momentum, and founders who may be open to a conversation |
| Licence & sanctions registers | Gaming, payments and EMI registers, sanctions and adverse media | Regulatory transferability and compliance exposure |
Zero-leak anonymity
The disclosure ladder.
Every fact about the buyer and the target sits on a rung. Nothing climbs without written consent from the side it belongs to. Step through the process to see exactly who knows what, and when.
| Fact | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target sees | |||||||
| Buyer identity | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Revealed | Revealed |
| Buyer category & thesis | Partial | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed |
| Valuation range | Sealed | Sealed | Partial | Partial | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed |
| Proof of funds | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Partial | Partial | Revealed | Revealed |
| Buyer sees | |||||||
| Target name & domain | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Partial | Revealed | Revealed |
| Headline financials | Sealed | Partial | Partial | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed |
| Traffic, code & infra | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Partial | Revealed | Revealed | Revealed |
| Team & contracts | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Sealed | Partial | Partial | Revealed |
Leak surface
Fewer people who know. Fewer ways it gets out.
A broadcast sale sends a teaser to every buyer on a list, and each recipient becomes a possible leak to staff, customers and competitors. A sealed origination keeps the circle to the people who need to know at each stage.
- First contact140 vs 1
- Teaser circulated85 vs 3
- NDA signed40 vs 3
- Data room open18 vs 4
- Management meetings8 vs 6
Outreach protocol
Six rules every approach follows.
One voice, our name
Every approach comes from a named Acquiry partner on Acquiry letterhead. The buyer never sends a message, makes a call or appears in metadata.
Codenames end to end
Buyer and target are codenamed in every email, document, file name and calendar invite until both sides consent to reveal.
Thesis framing, not buyer framing
We approach on a sector thesis that fits many acquirers, so a single note can never be traced back to one buyer.
Staged, consented disclosure
Nothing moves up the disclosure ladder without written consent from the side it belongs to.
Sealed data room
Per-document permissions, dynamic watermarks, view-only mode, full access logs, and instant revocation.
Non-solicit by default
Mutual NDAs include non-solicit of staff and customers and a no-direct-contact clause for the life of the process.
Mandate cadence
Thesis to first meetings in 8 to 14 weeks.
You approve every target before we contact them, and you see the scored long list within the first fortnight.
Wk 0
Thesis lock
Buyer criteria, red lines and weightings agreed. The blueprint is tuned to them.
Wk 1–2
Map & score
Universe built, filters applied, targets scored and ranked. Analysts verify the top tier.
Wk 3
Buyer review
The buyer sees a codenamed long list with scores and reasons, then approves who we approach.
Wk 3–8
Sequenced outreach
Personal, founder-level approaches in waves, with no more than one touch a fortnight.
Wk 6–10
NDA & blind profiles
Interested founders sign the two-way NDA and both sides swap anonymised profiles.
Wk 8–14
Reveal & meet
Consented reveal, management meetings, then data room access for the strongest fits.
What lands on your desk
A dossier for every target worth approaching.
Before a single message goes out, you get the evidence behind each score, so you decide who we approach and why.
- AScored blueprint with pillar breakdown and analyst commentary
- BTraffic integrity report: channel mix, concentration, invalid traffic
- CTechnology and infrastructure audit summary
- DOwnership map, entity structure and signatories
- ERevenue quality notes and concentration flags
- FRegulatory and licence transferability assessment
- GFounder context: tenure, motivations, likely deal shape
- HRecommended approach angle and opening valuation logic
What is off-market deal origination?
Off-market origination means finding and approaching businesses that are not formally for sale. Acquiry maps every digital business that fits a buyer’s thesis, scores them on a weighted blueprint, and approaches the strongest founders directly and confidentially, before any broker or banker is involved.
How does Acquiry score acquisition targets?
Each target is scored across six pillars: revenue durability, traffic integrity, infrastructure health, IP and code ownership, seller readiness and regulatory fit. Together they cover 31 signals. The weightings are tuned to each buyer, so a SaaS platform and a casino operator get different rankings from the same universe.
Will the target know who the buyer is?
Not until both sides consent. Every approach comes from Acquiry under a sector thesis, and both parties are codenamed. The buyer’s identity is revealed only at the management meeting stage, under a two-way NDA with non-solicit and no-contact clauses.
What data do you use to map targets?
Public and permissioned data only: search and web footprint, technology fingerprints, performance telemetry, corporate registries, hiring and product cadence, and licence and sanctions registers. Private financials are only reviewed after an NDA is signed.
How long does a buy-side origination mandate take?
A typical mandate runs from thesis lock to first management meetings in eight to fourteen weeks. Scored long lists are normally ready in the first two weeks.
What does buy-side origination cost?
Acquiry works on a success fee for completed deals, with deal sizes from $1M to $500M. Mandate terms are agreed upfront and set out in the engagement letter.
Buy-side mandates
Tell us what you want to own.
Share your thesis and red lines. A senior adviser replies personally, and the search runs under strict NDA from day one. Any sector, any market. Bring it to us anyway.