Dealwise
AI powered M&A advisor for startups
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Michael Seibel

Dealwise - AI powered M&A advisor for startups

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Dealwise helps startups with $1M-$10M in annual revenues get acquired. We run a confidential process to get you offers from strategic & financial buyers in half the time of traditional M&A advisors and without locking you into multi-year exclusivity contracts.

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Ayan Bandyopadhyay
Maker
📌
Hey Product Hunt! We're Ayan and Jason, the cofounders of Dealwise. We're excited to launch Dealwise, the AI-powered M&A advisor for startups 🚀 We built Dealwise to tackle a problem we saw one of our YC batchmates experience: there just isn't a good way for founders of software startups with $1m to $10m in revenue to find an exit. Investment banks won't work with businesses under $10m in revenue. Marketplaces like Flippa and Acquire are great for selling businesses under $1m, but not so great for maximizing your exit. Strategic buyers aren't sitting on a marketplace all day. Dealwise helps you sell your business from start to finish -- identifying and reaching out to financial and strategic buyers, negotiation, loan pre-qualification, and escrow. We use AI to identify more relevant buyers than typical M&A advisors, making sure we leave no stone unturned. In just three months, we have one deal closed and two more under offer. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.
Michael Rupprecht
@ayan_bandyopadhyay Hey, Ayan! My team and I really could've used something like this back when we were in YC... What kinds of multiples are you guys seeing for SaaS right now?
Jason Fan
Maker
Hi @mkrupprecht , that's the golden question! For "lifestyle" SaaS aka one that's generating cash flow and growing 0-50% per year, financial buyers are paying 1-5x on ARR or 2-7x on EBITDA. It tends to cluster on the low to medium end of the ranges, we rarely see multiples on the high end. I know those ranges are still broad but it's difficult to be more specific without knowing the financial and operational details of a company. Something as innocuous as where its employees live can add or subtract a turn from the multiple. For growth SaaS, it varies wildly as strategics are often the only viable type of buyer and they generally don't price based on multiples.
Aris Nakos
@ayan_bandyopadhyay Congratulations ! Are buyers limited in US markets ?
Ayan Bandyopadhyay
Maker
@aris_nakos Nope, we have buyers all over the world. Most of our sellers are based in the U.S. though.
Kapil Sinha
@ayan_bandyopadhyay > Marketplaces like Flippa and Acquire are great for selling businesses under $1m, but not so great for maximizing your exit. How are you actually different from Flippa and Acquire?
Germán Merlo
Wow Jason! It's amazing. M&A can be really hard for makers who only love/enjoy to make. You're helping on a key stage for all of those. Hats off my friend. Keep doing on that way!
Jason Fan
Maker
Thanks @german_merlo1 ! Appreciate your support
Anatasia Evans
Congrats on the launch! Who do you see actually buying on the platform?
Jason Fan
Maker
Hi @anatasia_evans good question, so far we've seen a mix of financial and strategic buyers. Given we target companies with $1m-$10m in revenue, we see a lot of searcher funds and self-funded searchers, as well as a number of software holding companies. On the strategic side, it's largely founders at series B+ companies, but some larger ones. In fact the first deal closed through our marketplace was a strategic buyer from a Series D company.
Ayan Bandyopadhyay
Maker
Thanks @anatasia_evans! The buyers on our platform typically fall into one of three categories: search funds, private equity firms, and strategic buyers. Search funds are individuals backed by private capital, looking to acquire one business and grow it. Private equity firms and holding companies buy multiple businesses, usually in the same category. Strategic buyers are companies with competing or adjacent products that could get value from your company’s team, product, or customer acquisition channels.
Alex Dulub
Hi Ayan and Jason, congratulations on launching Dealwise! It's great to see innovative solutions addressing the gap for startups looking to exit. The AI component seems like a game-changer for efficiency and reach. Out of curiosity, how does Dealwise ensure confidentiality throughout this intricate process? Wishing you success and many more deals closed!
Garrett Cahill
Maker
@alex_dulub When working with Dealwise, your company remains anonymous until you decide to engage with a buyer. We handle most of the outreach, thereby eliminating the risk of employees discovering the process or diminishing leverage in future negotiations.
Fei C.
congrats on the launch! Really cool and useful product!
Jason Fan
Maker
Thanks @intellectia_ !
Yasec Kowalski
Congratulations on the successful launch of Dealwise! 👏🏻 It's evident that your platform addresses a critical gap in the market for software startup founders seeking exits in the $1m to $10m revenue range. The integration of AI to identify and engage with relevant buyers is particularly innovative and ensures a comprehensive approach to the selling process. How does Dealwise differentiate itself from traditional M&A advisors in terms of identifying and engaging with potential buyers?
Ayan Bandyopadhyay
Maker
Thanks @yasec_kowalski! And that's a good question. I have a more detailed answer in my reply to @kamil_kisielewicz but the summary is that we use a hybrid semantic and keyword search to find more potential buyers than a traditional buyers. And on the engagement side -- we use AI to personalize outreach, which is useful because the acquisition thesis varies from one buyer to another.
Yasec Kowalski
@kamil_kisielewicz @ayan_bandyopadhyay Thank you for your response! It's fascinating to learn about your approach to finding potential buyers using a hybrid semantic and keyword search method. Leveraging AI to personalize outreach is indeed a smart strategy, considering the diverse acquisition theses among different buyers. I'll be sure to check out your detailed answer to @kamil_kisielewicz ☺️
Gabe Villasana
Is deal wise exclusively for SaaS businesses or across multiple industries and verticals?
Garrett Cahill
Maker
@gabe_villasana Dealwise specializes in SaaS startups, but we work with any promising companies.
Anshaj Goyal
Looks like a good product for early stage startups, will definitely give a try
Valentyna Zakharova
It sounds very reasonable is it works really as it states! Driving my revenue to start using
Paul Stanzenberger [teamazing]
Congratualtions on the launch! What sets Dealwise apart in terms of its approach to negotiation and ensuring a smooth transaction process for startups?
Ayan Bandyopadhyay
Maker
@monax_teamazing Unlike marketplaces, at Dealwise we give you an actual human M&A advisor to guide you through the later steps of the transaction, including negotation and closing.
Paul Stanzenberger [teamazing]
@ayan_bandyopadhyay Thank you! Again, really cool product. Congratulations.
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