CapitalPad
Capital & investorsDeal-by-deal co-investment platform that pools accredited investors into a single SPV to fill the equity gap in SMB acquisitions led by self-funded searchers and independent sponsors. Searchers with a deal under LOI (roughly $1M+ EBITDA, US/Canada) apply; approved deals are shown to CapitalPad's investor network, which typically writes a combined $500K–$2.5M equity check delivered as one subscription, one wire, and one cap-table entry.
- 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.
- Last verified
- Jul 10, 2026 — pricing and status checked against primary sources
- Roadmap stages
- 3. Set up & fund the search7. Diligence & financing
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 — stated explicitly. 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.