# CapitalPad

Pooled investor capital for the equity gap.

Deal-by-deal co-investment platform that pools accredited investors into a single SPV, to fill the equity gap in SMB acquisitions led by independent sponsors and, as a secondary activity in its own words, by traditional and self-funded searchers. Searchers with a deal under LOI (roughly $1M+ EBITDA, US/Canada) apply; approved deals are shown to CapitalPad's investor network, which typically writes $500K to $2M of equity into a search deal delivered as one subscription, one wire, and one cap-table entry. Its investor pages state the shape of what a searcher's backers sign up for: a $25,000 minimum, one SPV per deal, quarterly reporting, an annual K-1, and a typical hold of three to seven years.

- Category: Capital & Investors
- Pricing model: Success Fee
- Where it fits: Set Up & Fund the Search, Diligence & Close the Deal
- Website: https://capitalpad.com

## At a Glance

If you're under [LOI](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/loi) on a $1M+ [EBITDA](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/ebitda) business and short on your [equity injection](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/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](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/preferred-return) economics.

- 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.

## What It Costs

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](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/searcher) already under LOI on a larger deal, roughly $1M+ EBITDA / $5M–$30M [enterprise value](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/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.

## Pros and Cons

- Pro: 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
- Pro: Single-SPV mechanics: one subscription doc, one wire, one [cap-table](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/cap-table) line instead of coordinating a dozen individual investors before close
- Pro: Built around real self-funded/SBA deal structures, pages explicitly address [SBA 7(a)](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/sba-7a) stacks, 10% equity injections, and [personal guarantees](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/personal-guarantee), with an initial fit read in 2–3 business days
- Pro: 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
- Pro: 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
- Con: 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
- Con: 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
- Con: 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
- Con: 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
- Con: 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](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/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.

## Compared With

- Raise the gap on your own deal, or take a funded seat in theirs? (https://searchspheresource.com/resources/compare/mainshares-vs-capitalpad.md)

## Sources

- https://capitalpad.com/sponsors/
- https://capitalpad.com/invest/
- https://capitalpad.com/self-funded-search/
- https://capitalpad.com/search-funds/
- https://capitalpad.com/official-information-about-capitalpad/
- https://capitalpad.com/
- https://capitalpad.com/about/
- https://searchfunder.com/post/b2bb2c-roofing-company-in-dc-seeks-250k-equity-injection

Also on this site: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/category/capital.md
Source: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/capitalpad
Last checked: 2026-09-23

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt