Proprietary Deal Origination for Private Equity.
We identify and engage founder-owned businesses that fit your
investment thesis — creating proprietary acquisition opportunities
before they reach a formal process.
Discuss an Acquisition Search |
Our Approach
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1,100+
Owner & Executive Conversations
Generated
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Direct-to-Owner
Proprietary Outreach
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Lower Middle Market
Platform & Add-On
Search
Origination built around your investment thesis.
Harvest works with acquisition-focused investors to identify,
engage, and introduce founder-owned businesses aligned with
specific acquisition criteria. Each search begins with a defined
mandate and is executed through disciplined market mapping,
research, direct owner outreach, and qualification.
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Market Mapping — Build the target universe
around geography, sector, ownership, revenue, EBITDA, and
strategic fit.
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Proprietary Outreach — Engage owners directly
through thoughtful, confidential outreach before a formal sale
process begins.
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Qualified Introductions — Confirm interest and
basic fit before connecting the owner directly with the
acquirer.
Selected Sectors
Harvest focuses primarily on fragmented, founder-owned industries
where consolidation strategies create sustained acquisition
demand.
Home & Essential Services
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HVAC: High fragmentation, recurring service
contracts, strong roll-up demand.
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Plumbing: Recurring service revenue, aging
owner base, active consolidator interest.
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Electrical: Skilled labor scarcity,
contract-driven demand, consolidation runway.
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Landscaping: Route density economics, recurring
billing, seasonal but resilient.
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Pest Control: Recurring contracts, high
customer retention, fragmented ownership.
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Restoration: Insurance-driven demand,
recession-resistant, active consolidators.
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Commercial Cleaning: Contract-based revenue,
low customer concentration risk.
Business & Professional Services
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Managed IT Services: Recurring MRR,
cybersecurity attach rate, strong institutional buyer pool.
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Insurance Agencies: Commission-based recurring
revenue, aging independent owner base.
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Accounting & Bookkeeping Firms: Succession
wave underway, high partner-retirement urgency.
Additional sectors considered based on client mandate.
Our Origination Process
Each engagement begins with a clearly defined acquisition mandate
and is executed through disciplined research, direct owner
outreach, and qualification.
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Define the Mandate — Align around sector,
geography, size, ownership profile, and strategic acquisition
criteria.
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Map the Market — Identify and prioritize
founder-owned companies aligned with the thesis.
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Engage & Qualify — Contact owners directly,
establish interest, and confirm basic strategic and financial
fit.
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Introduce — Connect qualified owners directly
with the acquirer and allow the parties and their advisors to
manage the transaction.
Harvest remains focused on origination. Valuation, diligence,
negotiation, and transaction execution remain directly between the
buyer, seller, and their professional advisors.
Direct access to founder-owned businesses.
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Thesis Driven — Every search begins with the
buyer's specific acquisition criteria.
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Founder Direct — Outreach is made directly to
owners rather than relying solely on marketed processes.
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Off Market — The objective is to create
conversations before an owner hires an intermediary or launches
a sale process.
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Relationship Led — Technology and research
support the process, but owner conversations remain personal and
confidential.
Fractional Business Development for PE-Backed Platforms
For portfolio companies that need structured market coverage
before building a full internal business-development team, Harvest
can provide fractional BD leadership focused on strategic
relationships, pipeline development, and market expansion.
Engagement shape: Start with a defined 90-day
build, then extend into an ongoing fractional role when the
platform needs sustained market coverage.
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Growth thesis & coverage: Turn a platform
priority into a focused market, relationship, and
account-coverage plan.
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Executive relationship development: Open the
high-conviction conversations that fit the thesis.
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Weekly pipeline leadership: Maintain next-step
ownership, a decision-ready pipeline, and practical market
intelligence.
Discuss platform growth
Received an inquiry from Harvest?
If we contacted you, it is because we believe your business may
align with the acquisition criteria of an investor or strategic
buyer in our network.
- Conversations are confidential.
- There is no cost to the business owner.
- There is no obligation to pursue a transaction.
- Harvest does not list the business or run an auction.
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Information is never shared with a prospective buyer without the
owner's permission.
Start a Confidential Conversation
Built by an operator who understands the owner conversation.
Matt Ritchie founded Harvest Search Partners after building his
career around direct business-owner engagement, proprietary
M&A origination, and entrepreneurship.
Prior to Harvest, Matt led business development initiatives for a
national healthcare M&A advisory firm, where he built outbound
sourcing systems, expanded the firm into new industry verticals,
and helped generate more than 1,100 executive and owner meetings
over a 16-month period.
Before entering M&A, Matt founded and exited an operating
business, giving him firsthand experience with the perspective of
the entrepreneurs Harvest engages today.
Harvest combines disciplined research, technology, and
relationship-driven outreach to help acquisition-focused investors
reach founder-owned businesses before opportunities enter the
broader market.