CapitalPad
At a Glance
If you're under LOI on a $1M+ EBITDA business and short on your equity injection, CapitalPad is a credible way to raise it through one SPV at no fee to you. Most sub-$2M SBA deals fall below its bar, though, and its investor capital costs real preferred-return economics.
Our pick for Best Published Investor Terms in 2026.
- Pricing
- Success Fee, Free for searchers/sponsors: "Sponsors pay nothing at any stage: your closing fee, management fee, and promote stay yours", no placement, advisory, success, closing, or participation fees, including if the deal dies (per capitalpad.com/raise/ and /self-funded-search/). CapitalPad is paid from the investor side: investors pay a one-time 1.5% administration fee at funding (no annual management fee) plus 20% carried interest, charged only after investors receive their full capital back. Investor minimum $25,000 per deal (accredited only); institutional direct positions $750K+. Indirect cost to searchers: investors expect market-standard terms (preferred return commonly ~10–12%, possible step-up/carry), so this is priced equity, not cheap money.
- Best For
- Self-funded searchers already under LOI on a larger deal, roughly $1M+ EBITDA / $5M–$30M enterprise value, who need to raise a six-to-seven-figure SBA equity injection without personally herding 15 individual angel checks. Not for searchers buying sub-$1M EBITDA businesses (below CapitalPad's stated mandate floor, which excludes much of the $500K–$5M purchase-price market) or anyone still searching with no signed LOI.
- Track Record
- Founded 2024, with 11 deals as of July 2026; it says its founders' larger figures are not the firm's.
- Lane
- Self-Funded
- Funds
- The deal only
- Based
- United States.
- Invests
- Publishes no investing scope; worth asking directly.
- Buys
- Buyouts of established, profitable US and Canadian companies at $1M to $7M of EBITDA and $5M to $30M of enterprise value, led by an independent sponsor, with startups, distressed assets and venture-style bets ruled out by name.
- Published Terms
- One SPV per deal, at no fee to the searcher.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Genuinely free for the searcher at every stage, no placement, closing, or success fees, even if the deal falls apart; CapitalPad earns from investor-side carry instead
- Single-SPV mechanics: one subscription doc, one wire, one cap-table line instead of coordinating a dozen individual investors before close
- Built around real self-funded/SBA deal structures, pages explicitly address SBA 7(a) stacks, 10% equity injections, and personal guarantees, with an initial fit read in 2–3 business days
- Credible principals: Travis Jamison (long-time SMB investor, active on the podcast circuit) and Donza Worden (institutional PE background), plus an institutional co-invest network for larger checks
Cons
- Mandate floor of about $1M EBITDA ($5M–$30M enterprise value) excludes most sub-$2M SBA deals; a large share of this directory's core audience is simply too small for CapitalPad
- Highly selective and not a guaranteed raise: fewer than 5% of reviewed deals are presented to investors, and presentation still is not a funding commitment
- Investor money comes with market-standard sponsor economics (preferred return commonly quoted at 10–12%, possible step-ups), meaningfully more expensive than friends-and-family equity
- No published platform track record, deal count, capital deployed, and realized outcomes are not disclosed on the site; performance figures cited in its content are industry aggregates, not CapitalPad results
- Requires a deal under LOI with roughly 30+ days of runway to close, so it cannot help during the search phase or rescue a last-minute equity shortfall
What Searchers Say
Independent sentiment is thin. Positives: organic Searchfunder mentions exist, e.g. a commenter recommending CapitalPad for a $250K equity injection on a DC roofing deal (Searchfunder, ~mid-2025), and founder Travis Jamison is a known quantity in SMB/ETA circles with multiple podcast appearances (Small Business Acquisitions podcast; his own Self-Funded Search Investing show). No Reddit threads found at all (July 2026 search), and no public complaints found either, but note the most detailed "reviews" online (investing.io, smash.vc) are published by founder-affiliated properties and should not be read as independent. Site is clearly alive: About page updated June 30, 2026, and 2026-dated research/conference pages.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how self-funded search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- No conversation until you have a deal: gap capital comes in at the LOI, not before.
- A fast read on the specific target and your underwrite.
- An equity check to close the gap the loan and your own injection leave.
What It Weighs
- The deal itself: is the business financeable and fairly priced.
- Your underwrite, since there is no search track record to lean on.
- How much of the equity gap actually remains after the loan and your own cash.
How to Prepare
- Underwrite the specific deal end to end before you call. Underwrite a Deal
- Size the gap: sources and uses against what a lender and seller accept. Sources & Uses Builder
- Know your own number first. SBA Acquisition Calculator