Istria Capital
At a Glance
If you are searching in Europe, and especially Spain, the region's dedicated backer belongs on your list; US searchers should weigh its European center of gravity.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees. Its own annual posts give averages rather than a sheet: a search ticket of 60 to 70 thousand euros for 12 to 14% of the cap table, and acquisition tickets between 900 thousand and 2 million euros.
- Best For
- European, especially Spanish, traditional searchers who want a dedicated regional backer, and international searchers open to a Europe-weighted fund
- Track Record
- Partnering with searchers since 2016 by its entrepreneurs page, and the first European fund of search funds from 2018 by its team page. More than 190 search entrepreneurs, more than 65 companies, 20 exits and 15 countries on its own counters, with 70 million euros under management. Its posts date a second fund's final close at 50 million euros in 2024 and a third fund's hard cap at 80 million.
- Lane
- Traditional
- Funds
- The search phase and the deal
- In the Round
- Says it leads or anchors, so it is a call to make early.
- Based
- Madrid.
- Invests
- Europe first, with its searchers filed under Europe, the US and Canada, and Latin America.
- Buys
- Its approach page is five stages of what the firm does for a searcher, from setting up the search engine through a liquidity event, and names no size band, sector list or earnings floor anywhere. What it does state is where the firm sits: it often plays a lead investor role in acquisitions, and the home page tells one searcher's story with the firm as lead investor in the search.
- Before A First Call
- No condition. Its entrepreneurs page invites any outstanding search fund entrepreneur who shares its values to talk, and says it partners with first-time CEOs and embraces the rough imperfection of working with them.
- 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
- By its own annual posts, an average search ticket of 60 to 70 thousand euros buying 12 to 14% of the cap table before dilution, and acquisition tickets between 900 thousand and 2 million euros. It says it often plays a lead investor role in acquisitions.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Not published on the pages this review read. It is the figure a searcher most wants and most of this shelf does not print it, so ask before the first call rather than after.
- After The Close
- Offers board support and a 100-day plan through the first twelve to eighteen months, and expects the growth phase once the CEO is through the first eighteen to twenty-four.
- Roadmap Stages
- 1. Learn & Choose Your Path3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A dedicated European search-fund investor that names more than 190 searchers on its own pages
- Backs the full arc, search through acquisition, on a people-first thesis
- Links 54 searcher vehicles by name to their own sites, so who it backs can be checked rather than counted
Cons
- Europe-weighted, so US searchers are not its center of gravity
- Its pages answer some automated readers with a 403 or a robot challenge, so what it says is re-read by hand rather than on every pass
- No term sheet; the economics it publishes are portfolio averages in year-in-review posts
What Searchers Say
Recognized in European ETA circles as the region's anchor search-fund investor since 2016; its entrepreneurs page carries two galleries, 63 company cards filtered current against exited and 54 named searcher vehicles linked to their own sites, which is where the figures here come from.
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