The private equity partner for founders, by founders

We build good companies into global leaders.

Open Equity invests in and builds B2B tech and tech-enabled services businesses - organically and through acquisition. Our mission is to simplify the path to £100M+.

Get in touch → The clue is in the name. We're open, approachable - let's talk about what's next.
£0BN+
Transacted
0+
Deals
£0BN
Largest exit
0 yrs
In the field
Our edge

Most PE firms buy for control. We invest for growth. We combine an operator's organic growth playbook - digital product, content, paid acquisition, AI - with a dealmaker's inorganic playbook - rollups, M&A, deal structuring, capital formation - to turn good businesses into global leaders.

Built from our experience and frustrations as founders, operators, and in private equity. The partner we wish we'd had the first time around.

Two playbooks. One firm.

The organic growth engine no other PE firm has in-house - combined with the deal capability to consolidate categories.

Organic
The growth engine.

Digital product building

Product-led growth, feature development, UX - building what the market will pay a premium for.

Content & authority

Founder-led content, SEO, thought leadership - compounding inbound that reduces dependency on outbound.

Paid acquisition & funnels

Paid media, conversion infrastructure, attribution - revenue growth with measurable unit economics.

AI-enablement

Operational AI, agents, automation - reducing cost base and increasing margin at scale.

Inorganic
The deal capability.

Rollups

Systematic acquisition to build market leaders. Target mapping, thesis development, platform strategy.

M&A execution

Acquirer mapping, competitive process, negotiation, SPA, completion - end to end, both sides.

Deal structuring

Earn-outs, deferred consideration, management incentives, working capital - structured to protect the founder.

Capital formation & exits

Raising capital for acquisitions and growth. Engineering the exit at the multiple the business was built for.

Track record
£1.4BN

We worked alongside the management team to digitally transform the business, execute 100+ acquisitions, and position for a premium exit to a global buyout firm.

100+
Acquisitions
4×
Return
500+
Jobs created

"There is no way on earth we could have done this without Open Equity."

CEO - Portfolio company - Business services

Where we invest.
What we invest in
Services
AI deployment, consulting, managed services, and tech-enabled professional services. The deployment layer is where enterprise value accrues.
Software
Vertical SaaS, data platforms, and analytics. Category-specific products with deep workflow integration and high switching costs.
Security
Cybersecurity, compliance, and identity. Regulatory-driven recurring revenue. Non-discretionary spend.
Infrastructure
Tech-enabled services and software for data centres, energy, and AI infrastructure. Capital-light businesses serving capital-heavy sectors.
What we look for
£2M - £50M revenue
Strong unit economics. 70%+ recurring or contractual revenue preferred. Real margin, not just growth.
Founder-led, founder-staying
We back founders who want to stay and build - not cash out and leave. Alignment is everything.
Category leadership ambition
Founders building toward £100M+ revenue, not just a comfortable exit. Organic and inorganic growth appetite.
UK headquartered, globally operated
London or UK base. Serving UK, European, or global markets. We operate internationally from day one.
Invest with Open Equity

Deal-by-deal co‑investment.

We build businesses before we exit them. That creates a window - and an opportunity for aligned investors to deploy capital into deals they can see, diligence, and choose.

No blind pool. No 10-year lock-up. Full visibility.

Our current focus: an AI services rollup targeting the model-agnostic deployment gap. View the investment thesis →

177
Active buyers
£30BN+
Dry powder
83
Strategic
66
PE firms
Enquire about co-investment

Qualified investors only. Deal-by-deal basis.

Thomas Cornwall
Thomas Cornwall
Founder & Managing Partner

"What got you here won't get you there. That's the lesson I learned building businesses across three continents."

I've built and scaled companies as a founder. Acquired them in private equity. Structured joint ventures with sovereign partners in the Gulf. Worked with governments, global enterprises, and founders at every stage from zero to £1BN+.

The pattern is always the same: founders and owner-operators who build good businesses locally need a different playbook to become global leaders. They need operating capability, deal capability, international networks, and capital - under one roof, from people who've actually done it.

That's Open Equity. Not advisors watching from the outside. Partners building alongside you, with skin in the game and a track record that speaks for itself.

Thomas Cornwall

Ready to build?

Whether you're scaling globally, considering an exit, or looking for a private equity partner with a difference - we're open - let's talk about what's next.