A Search Fund · Est. 2026

AI-native
acquisitions.
Locked-in returns.

DealLocked acquires undervalued small businesses between $500K–$2M and transforms them into AI-native operators — compounding cash flow through intelligent automation.

Investor Summary→Read the Thesis
$500K–$2M
Target deal size
3–5×
Target return
3–5 yrs
Hold period
$150–300K
Search capital

§ 01 · The Thesis

Undervalued today.
AI-native tomorrow.

We are not a private equity rollup. We are operators acquiring one company, transforming it with AI, and compounding from there.

  1. 01

    The Gap

    Profitable lower-middle-market businesses trade at 2–4× EBITDA because they run on spreadsheets, manual processes, and retiring founders. AI is the largest re-pricing event in SMB history.

  2. 02

    AI Margin Expansion

    Post-close, we deploy proprietary AI workflows — sales agents, ops automation, document intelligence — to compress cost-to-serve and expand gross margin by 15–40%. Every point of margin is a multiple point on exit.

  3. 03

    Multiple Arbitrage

    Buy at 2–4× SDE as a 'traditional' SMB. Sell at 6–10× as an AI-native, high-margin, scalable platform. The same business, re-priced by technology transformation.

§ 02 · Why Us

Four credentials.
One operator.

01Technology

DealOverview.com

Founder

AI-powered M&A platform that surfaces, scores, and underwrites lower-middle-market deals — the same engine we use to source DealLocked acquisitions.

02Operations

Stebiz.com

Founder

Built and scaled a real operating business. We've sat in the seat — hiring, P&L ownership, and shipping product to paying customers.

03Institutional

Benchmark International

Associate

Executed M&A transactions inside one of the world's largest sell-side advisories. Deep, proprietary deal flow and institutional process discipline.

04Legal

Qualified Attorney

Admitted

In-house legal capability on every deal: structuring, due diligence, term-sheet negotiation, and risk management without the $800/hr law-firm overhead.

§ 03 · Investor Summary

The terms,
on one page.

01Fund Overview

Single-acquisition search fund targeting one AI-augmentable business in the lower middle market.

02What We Buy

Profitable B2B services, niche SaaS, or vertical software companies. $500K–$2M enterprise value, $150K–$500K SDE, with recurring revenue and clear AI automation surface area.

03Our Edge

Proprietary AI deal-sourcing engine, founder-operator experience, institutional M&A execution, and in-house legal structuring — no $800/hr law-firm drag on every deal.

04Return Profile

Targeting 3–5× MOIC over a 3–5 year hold, driven by AI-led margin expansion and multiple arbitrage.

05The Ask

$150K–$300K in search capital. Investors receive pro-rata co-investment rights at acquisition plus a stepped equity kicker.

Ready to back the next generation of AI-native small business?

Request the deck →

§ 04 · Contact

Let's
talk.

For LP inquiries, deal introductions, or partnership conversations. We respond within 48 hours.