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Search Fund Partners

At a Glance

If you are raising a traditional search, the longest track record in the niche belongs on your outreach list; just arrive already fluent in the standard economics.

Pricing
Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees. The site publishes no terms on either side; the traditional search-fund structure, which the Stanford primer in this directory explains, is what applies.
Best For
Traditional searchers assembling a cap table who want the longest-tenured dedicated investor in the room and partners who have sat in the searcher's chair
Track Record
The first private equity fund dedicated to investing in search funds, in its own words, backing searches and their acquisitions since 2003. Its searchers page puts its expertise at over 150 search acquisitions, its home page counter rendered zero at the last read, and its portfolio grid renders about 190 cards, roughly half of them exited.
Lane
Traditional
Funds
The search phase and the deal
Based
Menlo Park, California.
Invests
No investing scope on the pages this review read, so ask whether it will look at a search where you are.
Buys
A short front page about the model and the team. Its approach page describes the search fund model itself rather than the firm's own appetite, and its searchers page describes the feedback it gives while a searcher brainstorms industries. No size band, industry list or deal criteria on any of them.
Before A First Call
A searchers page about the support it gives and the annual gathering it runs, listing the searches it is currently backing. Its contact form asks for a name, company, phone, email, a message and consent to text messages, and nothing is named as a prerequisite anywhere.
First-Time Operators
A searchers page about the support it gives and the community it runs, and a roster of current searches. Nothing about what any of those people had done before.
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
No check size, stake or fee on the pages this review read. Most firms on this shelf publish none, so ask early rather than late.
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
Says it serves on boards and helps its searchers toward the best outcome at exit.
Roadmap Stages
1. Learn & Choose Your Path3. Set Up & Fund the Search

Deals It Has Backed

Purchases this firm's own pages evidence, from the Search Acquisitions Record. Not a portfolio: a deal joins that record only when two independent parties have published enough to verify it, so this is the part of the firm's work that can be checked rather than all of it.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • The category's original dedicated fund, with two decades of pattern recognition
  • Partners are predominantly former searchers and operating CEOs
  • A deep portfolio history that third-party trackers document independently

Cons

  • Traditional search economics mean meaningful equity and governance go to the investor group; understand the standard structure before any conversation
  • Selective by design; a strong personal and deal thesis is table stakes
  • Terms and process details are not published, which is the norm for the category

What Searchers Say

Consistently named among the anchor investors in search-fund roundups and community discussion, with a reputation built on longevity and mentorship. As with all search investors, individual searcher experiences track the specific partner relationship.

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

  1. A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
  2. A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
  3. Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
  4. 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

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Search Fund Partners vs TTCER Partners

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