Deal-by-deal funding

Definition

Raising the equity for one acquisition at a time, with no fund behind it.

Why It Matters

A committed fund pays a searcher to look and has the money ready when a deal closes. A deal-by-deal raise has neither, so the search runs on savings and the equity is found again for every acquisition. The cost is speed and certainty, since any investor can pass on any deal and a seller watching a diligence clock will notice. What it buys is control: nobody holds a claim on the next company, the terms are set once against a real business instead of in advance against a hypothetical one, and the searcher keeps more of what they build.

In numbers: Buying a $4M business with 80% debt leaves $800k of equity to raise, found from scratch again on the next one.