Deep Water research

ACG Deal Solutions Demo Day Jan 21 2026: US Lower-Market PE Sourcing Leaders

Which specific named deal-origination partners, principals, or heads of sourcing at US lower-middle-market PE firms ($200M–$2B AUM) who are confirmed attendees, speakers, or sponsors at the ACG Deal Solutions Demo Day on January 21, 2026 — where competitor Grata is presenting — have publicly disclosed dissatisfaction with Grata's web-scraping-based architecture or 'phantom company' inaccuracies, or are known to be evaluating alternative AI-powered deal-sourcing platforms with forward-looking predictive capabilities in Q1 2026, and for each named individual, what is their firm's current Grata contract renewal window, what specific intent-verification or forward-looking-signal gap have they articulated, and what is the most direct warm-introduction pathway (via shared ACG chapter membership, Jonathan Zucker/Intrepid bridge to Riverside's Jeremy Holland, David Gershman/Trivest ACG board connection, or ACG PECS network) that DeepSignal can use to secure a 2-to-4-week POC engagement before the March 19 ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day?

Jun 28, 202632 sources reviewed

Executive Summary

This report evaluates direct warm-introduction pathways to key lower-middle-market (LMM) private equity deal-origination principals within the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) ecosystem. The objective is to secure 2-to-4-week Proof of Concept (POC) engagements for the DeepSignal platform prior to the March 19 Middle-Market AI Demo Day.

Key findings based on current intelligence include:

  • Intelligence Gap on Grata Disclosures: Current evidence files do not contain public disclosures from LMM PE principals regarding dissatisfaction with Grata's web-scraping architecture, "phantom company" inaccuracies, or specific Q1 2026 contract renewal windows.
  • Primary LMM PE Targets: Actionable outreach targets for DeepSignal include business development heads at Trivest Partners, Lion Equity Partners, and LongWater Capital Solutions, all of whom hold top-tier leadership positions on the ACG National Board.
  • The Trivest Pathway: Tony Hill of Trivest Partners represents the highest-value bridge for AI-sourcing evaluation, given his direct management of Trivest's retained buy-side search and independent sponsor initiatives.
  • Regional Networking Nodes: The most direct chapter-level relationship bridges for POC introductions run through the ACG Los Angeles, Miami, and Denver chapters, anchored by current and incoming DealMAX committee chairs.

1. Platform Evaluation Status & Grata Market Sentiment

The primary research objective required identifying specific ACG Deal Solutions Demo Day (Jan 21, 2026) attendees from $200M–$2B AUM PE firms who have publicly critiqued Grata's data quality or are evaluating forward-looking predictive platforms for Q1 2026.

Based strictly on the provided intelligence file, there is currently no verified public data confirming which firms are attending the January 21 Demo Day, nor is there documented evidence of specific principals expressing dissatisfaction with Grata's scraping dependencies or outlining intent-verification gaps. Consequently, contract renewal windows for Grata across the LMM target cohort remain unverified in the current dataset.

In the absence of direct platform-switching signals, Go-To-Market (GTM) efforts for DeepSignal must pivot to relationship-led, capability-driven outreach leveraging the ACG national and regional board network to secure POCs before the March 19 Middle-Market AI Demo Day.

2. Primary LMM PE Targets and Introduction Pathways

While direct Grata dissatisfaction signals are unavailable, the ACG Board of Directors roster provides highly qualified origination principals at LMM PE firms who oversee the exact workflows DeepSignal aims to optimize.

Trivest Partners: High-Volume Sourcing Use Case

Tony Hill, Principal of Business Development at Trivest Partners, represents an ideal POC candidate. Hill spearheads critical strategic initiatives for Trivest, most notably their retained buy-side search program and their independent sponsor initiative [17]. These high-volume, intent-driven origination programs are precisely where AI-powered predictive signals outperform traditional web-scraping tools.

Introduction Pathway: Hill is highly integrated into the ACG ecosystem. He is a member of the ACG Miami Network [3] and sits as a director at large on the ACG headquarters board for 2026–2027 [2]. Crucially, he served as the 2025 DealMAX committee chair [3], indicating a strong network overlap with event organizers and sponsors. Outreach should be routed through ACG Miami chapter connections or DealMAX alumni channels.

Lion Equity Partners & LongWater Capital Solutions: National Board Leadership

DeepSignal can also target the apex of ACG's national leadership to secure top-down credibility:

  • Lion Equity Partners: Aaron Polack serves as the head of business development for Lion Equity Partners [1]. Polack served as the chair of the board for the national ACG organization for the 2025-2026 term [1] and transitions to the immediate past chair role for 2026-2027 [14].
  • LongWater Capital Solutions: Kevin Prunty, senior managing director at LongWater, served as the finance chair for the 2025-2026 ACG board [11] and transitions to the incoming board chair and finance committee chair for 2026-2027 [16].

Engaging Polack or Prunty for a DeepSignal POC offers the dual benefit of testing the platform in live LMM environments while potentially converting ACG national leadership into platform advocates prior to the April 27–29, 2026 DealMAX conference in Las Vegas [18].

3. Strategic Network Bridges via ACG Chapters

If direct outreach to PE principals is not viable, DeepSignal can utilize regional ACG chapters and advisory nodes as warm-introduction bridges.

The Los Angeles Bridge

The ACG Los Angeles chapter is heavily represented in national leadership, providing a dense networking hub:

  • Suzie Doran (SingerLewak LLP): Doran is the incoming chair of the ACG board (succeeding Aaron Polack) [13], [14] and has a long-standing advisory role with the ACG Los Angeles chapter [4].
  • Doug Brookman (Mesirow Capital Markets): Brookman is a member of ACG Los Angeles and serves as the 2026 DealMAX committee chairman [5]. Notably, Brookman brings PE-side experience, having served as the head of business development at Pacific Avenue Capital Partners prior to joining Mesirow in 2021 [15].
  • Lynn Sommer (BDO): Sommer is an alumnus of both the ACG Los Angeles and Boston boards of directors [10].

Secondary Chapter Nodes

Other influential nodes within the ACG network that can be leveraged for warm introductions include:

  • New York: Marcia Nelson (Freedom Capital Markets) serves as the current co-chair of the Family Office Committee and is a past president of the NY chapter [7].
  • Dallas/Fort Worth: Jen Cuello (EisnerAmper) served as the chapter president through 2024 and co-chair of the Women’s Committee through 2022 [6].
  • San Francisco / Denver / Toronto: Christina Bui (Protiviti) in SF [12], Ashton Belk (Huebner Integrated Marketing) in Denver [9], and Cathy Logue (Stanton Chase) on the Toronto board [8] provide geographic coverage across key North American deal markets.

4. Target Matrix for DeepSignal POC Outreach

Target Principal Firm Firm Type / Role Primary ACG Network Bridge Strategic Value for DeepSignal POC
Tony Hill Trivest Partners PE / Principal, Biz Dev ACG Miami; 2025 DealMAX Chair; HQ Board [2], [3] Oversees buy-side search & independent sponsor programs; ideal for testing intent-verification capabilities [17].
Aaron Polack Lion Equity Partners PE / Partner, Head of Biz Dev ACG National Board Chair (25-26) / Past Chair (26-27) [1], [14] Top-tier national ACG influence; direct oversight of firm origination.
Kevin Prunty LongWater Capital Solutions PE / Senior Managing Director ACG Board Chair / Finance Chair (26-27) [11], [16] Elite ACG leadership standing; manages LMM capital deployment.
Doug Brookman Mesirow Capital Markets Advisory / Managing Director ACG Los Angeles; 2026 DealMAX Chair [5] Former PE Biz Dev head (Pacific Avenue) [15]; highly networked via 2026 DealMAX execution.
Suzie Doran SingerLewak LLP Advisory / Partner ACG National Board Chair (26-27); ACG LA [4], [13], [14] Primary leadership node; strong advisory network across the Los Angeles ecosystem.

Limitations / Open Questions

The provided evidence dossier is strictly limited to ACG Board of Directors announcements and biographical data. Consequently, several critical intelligence gaps exist regarding the core research parameters:

  1. Grata Platform Sentiment: There is zero verifiable data regarding any PE firm's dissatisfaction with Grata, complaints about "phantom companies," or frustrations with scraping-based architectures.
  2. Contract Cycles: Grata contract renewal windows and current Q1 2026 AI-platform evaluation cycles are entirely unverified.
  3. Demo Day Attendance: The dataset does not confirm which specific individuals are attending, speaking, or sponsoring the January 21, 2026 ACG Deal Solutions Demo Day.
  4. Specific Personnel Bridges: Requested connections via "Jonathan Zucker/Intrepid," "Jeremy Holland (Riverside)," "David Gershman," and the "PECS network" do not appear in the available evidence, limiting the ability to confirm those specific introduction pathways. Tony Hill represents Trivest, but a direct link to David Gershman is undocumented in the source files.

Sources