The Modern M&A Partner
Open Equity engineers exits for founder-owned technology companies. Benchmark, build, sell for more.
100+
Deals
Bought, built and sold, on both sides of the table.
£2BN+
Transacted
Across the deal team's careers. Largest exit £1.4BN.
4.2x
More valuable
Average valuation increase over twelve months.1
100%
Market coverage
Every business in our segments, every buyer, on our platform.
Where our deal team has bought, built and sold
Before and after
Fix what buyers pay for before you go to market, and the price, the timing and the buyer become your call.
Before
Your business today
£5.0M?
Today
After
Your business, engineered
£21.0M
Engineered · illustrative
How it works
Built the way we wish one had existed the first time we sold.
Value band
£18.4M - £26.2M
On 43 comparable deals
Buyers ranked
41
Best one you have never met
Plan
Month 7 of 18
Recurring revenue 72%
Offers in parallel
£23.4M
Firm offer · day 38
Illustrative
01
Where you sit against every business buyers have paid for.
02
Every buyer in your segment, ranked, with their deal history.
03
A required profit, a required multiple and a monthly plan.
04
Buyers in parallel, valuation defended on data, the decision yours.
Why us
Every strategic buyer and private equity investor knows how to add value to a company after they buy it. We built that capability for founders, so the value is yours before you sell.
01 · Method
Exit Engineering. Reverse-engineer the exit, build for buyers, do the deal with data.
02 · Service
Strategy, value creation and the transaction, one team from first read to the wire.
03 · AI Technology
Every business in our segments and every acquisition, on our platform, refreshed monthly.
04 · Experience
£2BN+ transacted, 100+ deals. Built, bought and sold businesses ourselves, on both sides of the table.
Meet our founder
"Your business is your most valuable asset. Yet the M&A industry was designed for billion-dollar deals, not to help founders secure life-changing exits. Having built, exited and bought companies myself, I started Open Equity to be the partner I wish I’d had the first time around."
Thomas Cornwall, Founder
15 years · 100+ deals · £2BN+ transacted · largest exit £1.4BN
Customers
"In four weeks we learned more about what the business was worth, and who would pay for it, than in fifteen years of running it."
Founder · IT services
"There is no way on earth we could have done this without Open Equity."
Founder · Tech-enabled services
"We had hit the ceiling of founder-led scaling. Open Equity was the first to tell us why, then fixed it. The process closed at 8.6x EBITDA."
Founder · Cyber security
Who we serve
Specialists, not generalists. Technology businesses only, in five segments we know completely: every founder-owned business, every buyer, every deal, on our platform.
See who buys in each sector →Data platforms, MLOps, model hosting, inference tooling
MSSPs, SOC, identity, pen testing, GRC
MSPs, cloud, networking, ERP and CRM partners
Vertical SaaS, B2B platforms, developer tools
Consultancies, data and analytics, managed operations
How does your business compare?
See your value band, your likely buyers and what is holding the number back. Free, in three minutes.
Your next move
Whatever your next move is, get it done with Open Equity.
01
Know what your business needs to look like to be worth more, and a monthly plan to get there.
02
Take money off the table or bring in a partner, at a fair price, without giving away the business.
03
Buy and build. The right targets, the right price, a deal structure that works for you.
04
Sell to the buyer who will pay the most, not the first one who calls.
Our platform · live
301,034
UK technology companies on the platform, refreshed monthly
4,354
Buyers classed, strategic and financial
1,173
UK acquisitions in the last two years, buyer matched
5
Segments, read in full
01What does Open Equity actually do?
−We help founders sell their technology business for more. First we show you what it is worth today and what a buyer would mark it down for. Then we fix those things with you, month by month, and when the business is ready we find the buyers and run the sale. One team from the first conversation to the money in your account.
02I'm not planning to sell for years. Is it too early?
+It is the best time to start. The things that cost most at a sale - one client that is too big, a business that runs through you, revenue that does not repeat - take twelve to twenty-four months to fix, and every buyer checks for them. Founders who start early sell when they choose, at their number. Founders who start late sell when someone calls.
03How do you know what my business is worth?
+We price it the way buyers do: on your profit, at the multiples businesses like yours have actually sold for, adjusted for the things buyers pay more or less for. Answer five questions and you will see the number, and what is holding it back, in three minutes. It is free and the result is yours to keep.
04Who would buy my business?
+Usually someone you have never met. We track every UK technology business in our five segments and every one that has changed hands, so we know which private equity firms, trade buyers and founder-owned groups are buying businesses like yours right now. Most founders only ever hear from one of them.
05How are you paid?
+A fixed fee to build your plan, a monthly fee while we work on the business together, and a success fee when it sells. Most of what we earn comes at the end, so we do well when you do. Ask any adviser what happens to their fee if you do not sell. The answer tells you whose side they are on.
06How long does it take?
+Your first read takes three minutes. A plan for the business takes four weeks. Building the value usually takes twelve to twenty-four months, and we take the business to market when it is ready rather than when the calendar says so.
07Will anyone know I'm talking to you?
+Nobody hears about your business from us without your say. Your numbers stay with us. Buyers see an anonymised profile, and names are shared one at a time, only when you agree.
08What kind of businesses do you work with?
+Founder-owned technology businesses in the UK, usually from £2M revenue: IT services and managed service providers, cyber security, software, tech-enabled services and AI infrastructure. If you are smaller, the valuation is still free and still yours.
Find out what your business is worth and who would buy it. Free, in three minutes.
Thursday · 09:41
The wire has landed.
Your number, on your date.
1 Based on the average across Open Equity customers over a 12 month period. Results not guaranteed.