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; eleven deals invested in as of July 2026 and six named completed investments on its reference page, none with a person beside it. Presents fewer than 5% of the deals it reviews, roughly one a month by its own count, and says its founders' larger figures are not the firm's. An investor base of more than 1,400 accredited investors, by the same page.
- Lane
- Traditional, Self-Funded
- Funds
- The deal only
- In the Round
- Says it will either lead or join, depending on the deal.
- Based
- United States; an Austin address on one page.
- Invests
- The United States and Canada on every firm page, and an Ontario platform among its named investments.
- Buys
- Buyouts of established, profitable US and Canadian companies at $1M to $7M of EBITDA and $5M to $30M of enterprise value, with startups, distressed assets and venture-style bets ruled out by name. Deals underwritten on SDE rather than EBITDA sit outside the mandate, in its words.
- Before A First Call
- A deal already under a letter of intent, led by an independent sponsor or by a traditional or self-funded searcher, with thirty or more days to close preferred. Its FAQ rules out funding pre-LOI search costs by name, and its reference page calls search deals a secondary activity beside independent sponsor transactions.
- First-Time Operators
- Says in its own words that it backs people running a company for the first time.
- How Long The Search Runs
- No length on the search and nothing about what happens if it ends without a deal, on the pages this review read. Ask what the clock is before you sign anything.
- Published Terms
- A one-time 1.5% administration fee when an investment is made, no annual management fee, and 20% carried interest only after investors have their capital back; institutions allocating $750,000 or more per deal invest directly and pay no carry. One SPV per deal, no blind-pool commitment and no scheduled capital calls.
- What A Searcher Gets
- No fee to the searcher for the SPV it raises, whether or not the deal closes. Participation of $500,000 to $2 million per search or self-funded deal by its reference page, and $300,000 to $2 million in one FAQ answer; the $1 million to $2.5 million check on its home page is the independent sponsor's.
- After The Close
- Tells its own investors to expect quarterly reporting and a typical hold of three to seven years.
- 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
- Publishes its own deal count on a reference page, eleven as of July 2026, and says in as many words that its founders' larger figures are not the firm's
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
- Capital deployed and realized outcomes are not published, though six completed investments are now named on its reference page; the performance figures its content cites are industry aggregates rather than its own 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 traditional (investor-backed) search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
- A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
- Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
- A board seat and governance once you close.
What It Weighs
- Whether you will finish a two-year search, not only start one.
- The quality of your thesis and target criteria.
- How you will behave on a cap table over a long hold.
How to Prepare
- Bring a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Know which firms lead versus follow, and on what terms. Investors
- Make your operator case on one page. Buyer Profile Builder