Deep Water research

Confirmed Lower Middle Market AI Demo Day 2026 Attendees Presenters Judges and Warm Introductions Paths

Which specific named PE firms, family offices, or independent sponsors in the lower-middle-market ($200M–$2B AUM) are currently confirmed as registered attendees, presenters, or judges for the ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day on March 19, 2026, and for each named organization, which specific individual (title, firm) will be in the room, what is their current deal-sourcing platform (Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook) contract status, and what is the most direct warm-introduction pathway to them via David Gershman (ACG board president, Trivest), Jonathan Zucker (ACG LA board, Intrepid), or the ACG PECS network — so that DeepSignal can pre-arrange a 2-to-4-week POC engagement that converts into a paying design-partner contract at or immediately after the Demo Day?

Jun 28, 202640 sources reviewed

Objective: Identify key lower-middle-market ($200M–$2B AUM) stakeholders within the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) network to pre-arrange a 2-to-4-week Proof of Concept (POC) engagement for DeepSignal, culminating in a design-partner contract at the ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day on March 19, 2026.

Executive Summary

  • Primary Introduction Nodes: The most direct warm-introduction pathways into the ACG network run through David Gershman (Partner/GC at Trivest Partners and former ACG Global Board Chair) and Jonathan Zucker (Intrepid, ACG Los Angeles Board).
  • Key LMM Targets: Active ACG-affiliated funds positioned for DeepSignal's POC include Trivest Partners, SG Credit Partners (LMM multi-vertical credit), True West Capital Partners (launching Fund IV), and Artes Capital (>$250M AUM).
  • Tech Stack Vulnerability: Target firms rely on fragmented stacks consisting of PitchBook (market research), Grata (LMM discovery), and SourceScrub (data/CRM). Relying on these tools limits the median PE firm to seeing only 17.6% of relevant deal flow, exposing a critical operational gap DeepSignal’s proprietary AI can solve.
  • Strategic Gap Analysis: Current intelligence confirms historical ACG participation and network mapping but lacks explicit confirmations for the March 19, 2026 attendee roster and the granular contract expiration dates for incumbent data platforms at the target firms.

1. Target Organizations and Key Decision-Makers in the ACG Network

While the finalized March 19, 2026, Demo Day roster is not explicitly codified in current data, the ACG Private Equity C-Suite (PECS) network features several highly active lower-middle-market and middle-market organizations directly accessible via board-level introductions.

Core Target Profiles

  • Trivest Partners (Coral Gables, FL)
    • Key Contact: David Gershman, Partner and General Counsel [11].
    • Context: Gershman has been with Trivest since May 2002 [21] and holds a degree from the New York University School of Law [31]. Crucially, he served as the Chair of the Global Board at ACG until May 2023 [1]. He acts as the ultimate top-down endorsement vector for DeepSignal.
  • Intrepid
    • Key Contact: Jonathan Zucker.
    • Context: Zucker serves as a board member for the Los Angeles chapter of ACG [2]. He provides the localized, West Coast pipeline into the ACG PECS network.
  • SG Credit Partners
    • Key Contacts: Charlie Cole and Marc Cole, Founders [22].
    • Context: Formed in 2018 as a spin-out from Super G Capital, this firm focuses specifically on building a multi-vertical credit platform tailored to the lower-middle market [22].
  • True West Capital Partners
    • Context: A highly relevant middle-market sponsor currently launching its 4th Fund in 2025, making them an ideal candidate for onboarding a new AI deal-sourcing POC to deploy capital effectively [12].
  • Artes Capital
    • Key Contact: Scott, Managing Director [32].
    • Context: Manages over $250 million in private portfolio funds, specifically focused on real estate project financing [32].

2. Evaluation of LMM Deal-Sourcing Tech Stacks

To convert targets into paying DeepSignal design partners, we must position the POC against their existing infrastructure. Private equity deal sourcing technology stacks typically consist of market mapping tools, CRM systems, and workflow/pipeline management software [36]. Leading PE firms build their proprietary pipelines around three core channels: intermediary-represented platform opportunities, intermediary-represented add-on opportunities, and direct-to-company proprietary deal sourcing [25].

Currently, the median PE firm sees just 17.6% of relevant deal flow [15]. To combat this, they heavily utilize data providers and marketing tools [5].

The Incumbent Stack: Grata vs. SourceScrub vs. PitchBook

While specific contract expiration dates for Trivest, SG Credit, or True West are not public, DeepSignal should assume these firms use a combination of the following platforms.

Platform Core Use Case Strategic Limitations & DeepSignal Entry Points
PitchBook Research & Market Data PitchBook is fundamentally a research tool with ~500,000 subscribers [23]. It produces no proprietary deal access since all users see the same data [23]. It is often integrated with CRMs like Navatar for basic pipeline management [28].
Grata Private Market Intelligence Recognized as the leading AI search engine for mapping small and mid-size businesses [16], [18]. It uses verified private data [16] and helps firms discover companies aligning with their investment thesis [3], [6].
SourceScrub Data Services & Sourcing Provides in-depth data on private companies with filtering capabilities for revenue, employee count, and funding [13]. Its main differentiator is robust CRM integrations for managing deal flow [8].

The Automation Imperative

To win the POC, DeepSignal must exploit the gap between off-the-shelf databases and bespoke automation. Large PE firms are currently leveraging institutional knowledge and historical fund data to build their own proprietary AI sourcing engines rather than relying solely on commercial software [9].

Furthermore, data-driven opportunity discovery now requires advanced NLP so partners can query databases using conversational English [29]. Firms use tools like Allvue for pipeline management [4], [17] and sifting through high-risk datasets [27], SmartRoom for AI-enhanced due diligence [10], Alteryx for custom scoring and modeling [20], and AIO Logic for end-to-end investment workflows [30]. DeepSignal must present itself not as another PitchBook alternative, but as the proprietary AI automation engine [14] that lower-middle-market firms can use to compete with mega-cap PE bespoke models.

3. Warm-Introduction Pathways & POC Strategy

To secure the 2-to-4-week POC prior to the March 2026 Demo Day, DeepSignal should execute a two-pronged outreach strategy leveraging existing ACG board architecture.

Pathway 1: The Global Authority Route via David Gershman

  1. The Hook: Approach David Gershman (Trivest) leveraging his legacy as ACG Global Chair [1]. Acknowledge Trivest’s long-standing market position (Gershman since 2002 [21]).
  2. The Pitch: Frame DeepSignal as a technology that operationalizes the ACG network’s mandate to modernize middle-market M&A. Because large PE firms are building bespoke models to mine historical closed-end fund data [9], Trivest can utilize DeepSignal as a design partner to achieve the same proprietary AI advantage without the in-house build cost.

Pathway 2: The Regional LMM Route via Jonathan Zucker

  1. The Hook: Utilize Jonathan Zucker’s role on the ACG Los Angeles board [2] to access highly active West Coast funds like SG Credit Partners and Artes Capital, both of which are prominent in ACG's regional event circuits [22], [32].
  2. The Pitch: Pitch the DeepSignal POC as a systematic sourcing database solution [34] that integrates with their existing pipelines. Highlight that traditional platforms like Axial only cover ~50% of LMM advisors [35], and DeepSignal's AI search and structured data parsing [19], [26] will capture the hidden market.

POC Conversion Mechanism: Offer the targeted funds a 2-to-4-week trial run of the platform leading up to the Demo Day. The trial should focus on automated decision-making and risk categorization in crowded markets [37], allowing DeepSignal to run concurrently with their Grata or SourceScrub instances to prove a measurable uplift in proprietary deal visibility beyond the 17.6% industry median [15].

Limitations / Open Questions

  • Event Roster: The provided evidence confirms network affiliations and past ACG event participation (e.g., September 2025 panel) but lacks the definitive, finalized list of attendees, presenters, and judges for the March 19, 2026, Middle-Market AI Demo Day.
  • Contract Lifecycle: Specific contractual obligations and expiration dates for PitchBook, Grata, and SourceScrub at Trivest, SG Credit, True West, and Artes Capital are unavailable, requiring discovery calls during the warm introduction phase to assess immediate technical friction.

Sources

[1] FinalScout - Find anyone's professional email address — https://finalscout.com/people/david_gershman · Professional [2] ACG 101 Sept 25th 2025 Private Credit Panel — https://www.acg.org/101/events/acg-101-sept-25th-2025-private-credit-panel · Professional [3] 25 Private Equity Deal Sourcing and Analysis Tools (2026): Reviewed by Use Case — https://www.sourcecodeals.com/blog/pe-tools · Professional [4] Private Equity Deal Sourcing Strategies: Optimize Success & Pipeline — https://qubit.capital/blog/private-equity-deal-sourcing-strategies · Professional [5] Private Equity Deal Sourcing: Why PE Firms Only See 18% of Relevant Deals — https://www.axial.net/forum/private-equity-deal-sourcing-why-pe-firms-only-see-18-of-relevant-deals/ · Professional [6] Private Equity Deal Sourcing: Strategies, Processes, and Best Practices — https://grata.com/resources/private-equity-deal-sourcing · Professional [7] A Guide to Private Equity Deal Sourcing — https://www.allvuesystems.com/resources/a-guide-to-private-equity-deal-sourcing/ · Professional [8] Build the ultimate private equity tech stack in 2026 — https://www.affinity.co/guides/the-pe-tech-stack-tools-to-streamline-automate-private-equity-deals · Professional [9] AI in Private Equity: How Firms Use AI Across the Deal Lifecycle — https://dealroom.net/blog/ai-in-private-equity · Professional [10] AI for Private Equity: Automating Portfolio Insights — https://smartroom.com/blog/industries/private-equity/ai-for-private-equity/ · Professional [11] FinalScout - Find anyone's professional email address — https://finalscout.com/people/david_gershman · Professional [12] ACG 101 Sept 25th 2025 Private Credit Panel — https://www.acg.org/101/events/acg-101-sept-25th-2025-private-credit-panel · Professional [13] 25 Private Equity Deal Sourcing and Analysis Tools (2026): Reviewed by Use Case — https://www.sourcecodeals.com/blog/pe-tools · Professional [14] Private Equity Deal Sourcing Strategies: Optimize Success & Pipeline — https://qubit.capital/blog/private-equity-deal-sourcing-strategies · Professional [15] Private Equity Deal Sourcing: Why PE Firms Only See 18% of Relevant Deals — https://www.axial.net/forum/private-equity-deal-sourcing-why-pe-firms-