Search as a Service: Off-Market Deal Sourcing
Search as a Service is Caprae Capital's outsourced deal sourcing program. We build target lists from your buy box, reach business owners by phone, email, LinkedIn and handwritten mail, and pass you qualified owner conversations. Plans start at $1,250 per month plus a success fee, and clients typically see 10 to 20 owner engagements a month.
You decide which deals to pursue. We run the sourcing behind it, under your firm's name.
Proprietary deal sourcing means finding acquisitions by contacting owners directly, not through brokers or auctions. The result is proprietary deal flow: conversations where you are often the only buyer at the table.
A Full Outsourced Sourcing Stack
Lead Generation & Prospecting
Target lists built to your buy box and refreshed as the campaign learns.
List Cleansing & LeadGen QA
Validated contact data and QA software that removes bad and duplicate records before outreach.
Cold Calling Business Owners
Callers trained on acquisition conversations, not generic sales scripts.
Email Automation
Personalized email sequences running alongside calls and LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Outreach Service
Owner-level LinkedIn prospecting as an added channel.
Handwritten Letters
Direct mail for owners who ignore calls and email.
Cold Call Analytics
Weekly reports on volume, connect rates and qualified conversations.
Deal Advisory Support
Modeling, research and diligence setup once a deal is live.
How Search as a Service Works
Define Your Buy Box
Industry, size, geography and owner profile, agreed in week one.
Build the Target List
Owner data matched to your buy box, cleaned and QA'd before use.
Run Multi-Channel Outreach
Calls, email, LinkedIn and mail run in parallel from weeks two to three.
Hand Off Qualified Owners
Interested owners come to you with call notes and next steps.
Search Fund Deal Sourcing and More
Searchers
Self-funded and traditional searchers who need steady owner conversations.
Independent Sponsors
Off-market business acquisition leads between deals.
PE Firms & Investment Banks
White-labeled sourcing capacity for platforms and add-ons.
Why Buyers Outsource Deal Sourcing
| In-house sourcing team | Caprae Search as a Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Salaries, benefits, data and software paid separately | From $1,250/mo plus success fee |
| Time to first outreach | Weeks to months of hiring and ramp | Typically within the first weeks |
| Channels covered | Often one or two | Calls, email, LinkedIn and direct mail |
| Management overhead | Yours to carry | Handled by Caprae |
Timelines are typical, not guaranteed.
Run by Operators, Not an Anonymous Call Center
Search as a Service is led by people who have closed acquisitions themselves. Hereford Johnson closed deals in 11 and 6 months as a buyer, backed by advisers in capital markets, SBA lending and coaching.
Gondor Capital closed a $20M+ first acquisition within six months of working with Caprae.
Kevin Hong
Founder, Caprae Capital
Former business journalist (7 years) who scaled two startups to $31M and $7M ARR and raised $8M+ in venture capital. Chicago Booth MBA and Amazon bestselling author.
Full profile
Hereford Johnson
Principal Adviser, Caprae Capital
Closed acquisitions in 11 and 6 months as a buyer. Northwestern Kellogg MBA and former Deloitte Consulting.
Full profile
Common Questions
What is Search as a Service?
Search as a Service is Caprae Capital's proprietary deal sourcing program. We build and run a full off-market sourcing system around your acquisition criteria. It covers research, lead generation, prospecting, cold calling, email outreach, PR and branding, and due diligence support once a deal is under LOI, so you can spend your time talking to owners and closing deals, not building a sourcing team from scratch.
How is Search as a Service different from building an in-house sourcing team?
An in-house team means hiring callers and analysts and paying for data and software, and it takes months to get running. With Search as a Service, the team, clean data, and tracking tools are ready from day one, all for one monthly fee.
How do you find off-market businesses to buy?
We build target lists from your buy box, clean and validate the contact data, and reach owners directly through cold calling and email campaigns. These businesses aren't listed for sale, so you get to talk with owners before anyone else does.
Who is Search as a Service built for?
Search as a Service is built for any acquisition entrepreneur, including traditional and self-funded searchers, independent sponsors, private equity firms, and anyone sourcing off-market deals. Every campaign is set up around your own criteria for industry, size, and location.
What if I want more than 10 to 20 engagements a month?
We always recommend starting with the standard package. Once you're familiar with the process, you can ramp up to our Search as a Service Pro package for more outreach volume and more booked meetings a month.
Do you offer deal sourcing for search funds and independent sponsors?
Yes. Search as a Service is built for traditional and self-funded searchers, independent sponsors, and private equity firms. Every campaign is set up around your own criteria for industry, size, and location.
Ready to Build Your Pipeline?
Share your buy box and we'll show you what Search as a Service could source in the first 30 days.