Deep Water research

ACG Middle Market AI Demo Day March 19 2026 PE Firm Attendees Deal Sourcing Stacks

Which specific named lower-middle-market PE firms ($200M–$2B AUM) are confirmed sponsors, panelists, or registered attendees at the March 19, 2026 ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day — and for each named firm, who is the specific deal-origination or technology decision-maker attending, what is their current deal-sourcing platform stack (Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook, Inven, or none), does their contract with any of those platforms renew before June 2026, and does David Gershman (Trivest/ACG Chair), Jeremy Holland (Riverside/ACG PE Firm of the Year), or another named ACG board member have a direct relationship with that decision-maker that could yield a warm introduction to DeepSignal as a Demo Day presenter — so DeepSignal can pre-identify which firms in the room are in an active evaluation window and convert them into POC design partners at or immediately after the event?

Jun 28, 202640 sources reviewed

Executive Summary

  • Evidence Gap on 2026 Event Specifics: Current intelligence does not contain confirmed attendee rosters, specific deal-sourcing contract renewal dates, or participant data for the proposed March 19, 2026 ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day [28]. Furthermore, Jeremy Holland is not present in the provided board or speaker datasets.
  • High-Priority Targets Identified: Based on ACG leadership and speaker records, prime lower-middle-market (LMM) target firms for DeepSignal Proof of Concept (POC) partnerships include MidOcean Partners (Dan Ryan), Lion Equity Partners (Aaron Polack), Trivest Partners (David Gershman), and Huron Capital (Gabe Mesanza) [10], [16], [22], [23].
  • Tech Stack Costs & AI Adoption: Deal-sourcing AI adoption is accelerating, with 49% of dealmakers utilizing AI tools daily [7]. Active PE platforms spend aggressively on these stacks; a 4-person sourcing team typically consumes over $400K annually [4], spanning tools like Grata, SourceScrub, and CRM systems.
  • Strategic Introduction Pathways: Aaron Polack (Head of BD, Lion Equity) was named incoming ACG board chairman in April 2024 [23]. Engaging Polack, alongside current Chairman Steve Castino [9] and recently transitioned board members like David Gershman (Trivest) [16] and Dan Ryan (MidOcean) [30], offers the most viable warm introduction matrix for presenting DeepSignal at ACG events.

1. Identified Lower-Middle-Market PE Firms and Deal-Origination Leaders

While specific March 2026 registrations are unavailable [28], analyzing the ACG member network, recent board compositions, and event speakers reveals a highly targeted matrix of LMM private equity firms and key decision-makers. DeepSignal can preemptively target these leaders for POC design partnerships:

  • Lion Equity Partners: Aaron Polack serves as the Head of Business Development. Crucially, Polack was designated as the incoming ACG board chairman in April 2024 [23], making him a vital node for integrating DeepSignal into the ACG tech ecosystem.
  • MidOcean Partners: Dan Ryan is the Managing Director and Head of Business Development [10]. Ryan has extensive experience engineering BD functions, having previously built the BD team at PeakEquity Partners and served as Head of BD at Milestone Partners [37]. He served on the ACG board until April 2024 [30].
  • Trivest Partners: David Gershman acts as Partner and General Counsel [1]. Trivest is notably the oldest PE firm in the Southeastern U.S., founded in 1981 [31]. Gershman also served on the ACG board until the DealMAX event in April 2024 [16] and previously held the Chair position [3].
  • Huron Capital: Gabe Mesanza, Partner in the Performance Enhancement group, represents a key operational and technological decision-maker for portfolio value creation [22].
  • Monroe Capital LLC: Theodore (Ted) Koenig is the Founder, President, and CEO of this private credit asset management firm [15].
  • Equity Group Investments: Mark Sotir serves as President [8].
  • Sun Capital Partners: Daniel Florian, Managing Director, is a confirmed buyer and user of tech-enabled deal sourcing platforms (specifically SourceCo) to fuel his BD team [33].

These funds routinely screen targets using rigid LMM criteria—for example, companies generating $10M–$75M in revenue and $2M–$10M in EBITDA [35]. Deal structures typically command 60–80% cash at close with a 15–25% equity rollover [38].

2. Deal-Sourcing Tech Stacks and Economics

Deal-origination leaders at these PE firms currently navigate a fragmented, highly expensive technology landscape. To position DeepSignal effectively, the sales team must understand the competitive platforms currently consuming PE budgets.

Tech Stack Tiering and Budget Allocations

Stack expenditures scale drastically based on acquisition velocity and target EBITDA [11], [18], [25].

Buyer Target Profile Avg. Acquisitions / Yr Typical Stack Composition Estimated Annual Cost
$1M–$5M EBITDA Low Volume Axial, Light SourceScrub, Apollo $10K – $50K [25]
$5M+ EBITDA Moderate Volume PitchBook/CapIQ, Full SourceScrub, Grata $50K – $200K [18]
High-Velocity Platform 6+ Acquisitions Combined Tooling (Multiple Seats) $250K – $500K [11]
Dedicated Sourcing Team Heavy Sourcing (4-person) Full Enterprise Stack + Purpose-Built CRM $400K+ [4]

Platform Analysis: Incumbent Competitors

DeepSignal will be evaluated against, or expected to integrate with, the following incumbent tools:

  • Grata: Positioned as an end-to-end dealmaking and AI-powered company search engine tailored for small/mid-size businesses [14], [27]. Grata leverages "Agentic AI" to expedite target screening [21] and integrates with CRM systems to manage lead outreach [12].
  • SourceScrub: Deeply embedded in LMM sourcing, offering superior coverage of bootstrapped and small private companies compared to PitchBook [32]. It provides revenue, headcount, and funding insights [5] and features native CRM integrations for deal flow management [20].
  • PitchBook: Predominantly utilized as a global market data and research tool rather than a proprietary deal-sourcing engine [26].
  • Inven: A direct AI-driven competitor that provides a comprehensive company database with AI screening and seamless CRM integrations [19].
  • Axial: Operates distinctly as an intermediary private deal marketplace where boutique M&A advisors control deal flow, rather than providing proprietary, owner-direct LMM sourcing [39], [40].

The CRM Integration Imperative

A significant pain point for PE firms is CRM friction. While Salesforce is the market leader, it is not built specifically for private equity workflows, leading to operational struggles [13]. Alternatively, Navatar requires intensive manual data entry [34]. DeepSignal should highlight API connectivity with Affinity, which is rapidly becoming the purpose-built CRM of choice for PE due to its automated relationship intelligence capabilities [6].

3. DeepSignal Warm Introduction Pathways via ACG Board Linkages

To bypass cold outreach for DeepSignal’s Demo Day presence, the platform should leverage the "spiderweb" of current and former ACG board members.

Primary Node 1: Aaron Polack (Lion Equity Partners) As the incoming ACG board chairman (as of April 2024) [23], Aaron Polack is the most valuable executive contact. Because his daily role is Head of Business Development, he directly commands Lion Equity's sourcing stack. Pitching DeepSignal to him as a potential Demo Day highlight aligns his fund's operational needs with his ACG leadership duties.

Primary Node 2: Steve Castino and Christine Nowaczyk Steve Castino holds the ACG board chairman seat for the 2024-2025 term [9], succeeding Christine Nowaczyk (U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management), who remains on the board as the immediate past chair [36]. Castino can formally sponsor DeepSignal’s presentation slot.

Secondary Nodes: The DealMAX April 2024 Alumni Two highly influential LMM leaders, David Gershman (Trivest) [1], [16] and Dan Ryan (MidOcean) [10], [30], recently concluded their board terms. Both are senior BD/General Counsel leaders at highly active LMM funds. Leveraging ongoing relationships with them—perhaps by offering them early, closed-beta access to DeepSignal—can secure high-profile champions in the audience.

Tertiary Nodes: Ecosystem Advisors Service providers on the ACG board act as aggressive networkers and can facilitate introductions to their PE clients:

  • Tony Banks (Director, Grant Thornton): Specifically tasked with enhancing awareness of ACG within the PE community and focusing on M&A deal flow [24].
  • Josh Hollingsworth (Partner, Barnes & Thornburg): Joined the board in 2024 [2].
  • John E. Surrette, Jr. (Partner, KLR): Director of KLR's PE/VC transaction advisory group [17].
  • Paul Gajer (Dentons): Head of legacy PE and Investment Funds practices [29].

Limitations / Open Questions

  • Absence of March 2026 Event Data: The underlying intelligence strictly lacks confirmed attendee lists, panelists, or specific registrations for the future March 19, 2026 ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day [28]. Target firms identified in this report are based on historical ACG leadership and speaker roles.
  • Missing Contract Intel: The evidence does not contain contract renewal dates for PE firms using Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook, or Inven [28]. DeepSignal must establish these timelines during initial discovery calls.
  • Missing Personnel: Jeremy Holland (Riverside) is not mentioned in the available intelligence and cannot be mapped as an introduction pathway.

Sources