Deep Water research

DealMAX 2026 Lower-Middle-Market PE Attendees and Sponsors: Warm-Intro Firms for DeepSignal

Which specific named lower-middle-market PE firms ($200M–$2B AUM) are confirmed attendees, sponsors, or panelists at ACG DealMAX 2026 (April 27–29, Las Vegas) — and for each named firm, who is the specific deal-origination or BD professional attending, what is their current sourcing-platform stack (Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook, Inven, or none), when does that contract next renew, and does Matt Minnaugh (Century Park Capital Partners), Ryan Smiley (RLH Equity Partners), or Matt Smith (St. Cloud Capital) have a direct co-investor or deal-flow relationship with that firm that could yield a warm referral to DeepSignal — so DeepSignal can pre-build a targeted warm-intro pipeline before DealMAX and convert POCs signed at the March 19 ACG AI Demo Day into full design-partner contracts at the event?

Jun 28, 202640 sources reviewed

Executive Summary

This report analyzes lower-middle-market Private Equity (PE) targets, their proprietary technology stacks, and warm-introduction pathways to accelerate DeepSignal's pipeline conversions at ACG DealMAX 2026. Based on available intelligence, key findings include:

  • Warm Referral Pathway Identified: Matt Minnaugh of Century Park Capital Partners has a documented deal-flow transaction history with Incline Equity Partners, presenting a high-value warm introduction channel for DeepSignal [1].
  • Highly Vulnerable Competitor Contracts: Daniel Florian (Managing Director, Sun Capital Partners) currently utilizes SourceCo [4]. Because SourceCo operates on flexible, month-to-month contracts [16], Sun Capital is a prime target for immediate post-demo conversion without the friction of an annual contract buyout.
  • Competitive Wedges for DeepSignal: DeepSignal can position itself against incumbents by targeting SourceScrub's 15% email bounce rates [19] and Grata's reported data inaccuracies [22].
  • Target Stack Architecture: Target firms in the $100M–$1B AUM range typically operate with two primary data platforms [25], meaning DeepSignal must displace an incumbent (likely PitchBook, Grata, or SourceScrub) by demonstrating superior CRM integrations (e.g., Affinity, DealCloud) [32].
  • Evidence Gaps: The provided dataset lacks the explicit ACG DealMAX 2026 master attendee roster and mentions no co-investment history for Ryan Smiley (RLH Equity) or Matt Smith (St. Cloud).

1. Target Attendee Identification & Deal-Flow Connections

While a comprehensive master list of DealMAX 2026 confirmed attendees is not currently available in the dataset, we have mapped key verifiable PE professionals, recent firm activities, and specific networking nodes that DeepSignal can leverage for pre-event outreach.

Key Personnel & Referral Nodes

  • Century Park Capital Partners: Century Park is highly active heading into Q2 2026. The firm recently launched the Green Summit Landscape Group platform on April 21, 2026 [9], and expanded its deal execution team by promoting Matt Reilly and Mykel Kilgore to Vice President on January 6, 2026 [13], followed by the hiring of Dan Day as an Analyst on April 23, 2026 [5].
  • Incline Equity Partners (Via Century Park): Matt Minnaugh (Century Park) has a direct deal-flow relationship with Incline Equity Partners, stemming from Incline's investment/exit transaction involving MCCi [1]. Actionable Insight: Minnaugh serves as a verified, warm referral node for DeepSignal to approach Incline Equity's BD team prior to the DealMAX event.
  • Sun Capital Partners: Daniel Florian, Managing Director at Sun Capital Partners, is a confirmed user of deal-sourcing tools to support his Business Development team [4].

(Note: Available intelligence yields no current deal-flow or co-investor ties for Ryan Smiley of RLH Equity Partners or Matt Smith of St. Cloud Capital. See Limitations section).

2. Deal-Sourcing & Data Platform Stack Architecture

Understanding the incumbent tech stack of lower-middle-market PE firms is critical for DeepSignal to convert March 19 ACG AI Demo Day POCs into full DealMAX design-partner contracts. PE firms with $100M–$1B in AUM typically maintain a consolidated stack of two research platforms [25], while those with $1B+ AUM expand to 3-4 platforms [31].

Workflow efficiency in these firms is dictated heavily by how well sourcing platforms integrate with internal CRM systems like DealCloud or Affinity [32].

Current Sourcing-Platform Stack Landscape

The table below details the incumbent sourcing platforms currently utilized by DeepSignal's target market, including pricing vectors and known vulnerabilities that DeepSignal's sales team can exploit.

Platform Annual Pricing (Per User) Core Focus & Integrations Known Vulnerabilities / Conversion Wedges
PitchBook $10,000 – $50,000+ [10] (Base tiers start at $10k-$25k) [8] Mid-large PE / IB sourcing. Comprehensive database [10]. Expensive baseline; functions more as a broad database than an AI-driven outreach tool.
SourceScrub $15,000 – $40,000 [2] Proprietary sourcing. Integrates with Affinity, DealCloud, Salesforce [11]. Bounce rates for email contacts can reach up to 15% [19].
Grata $15,000 – $40,000 [6] AI private company discovery (6M+ SMBs) [15]. Users report data inaccuracies and relatively high costs, particularly for early-stage researchers [22].
SourceCo Custom / Tiered Deal sourcing and BD support [4]. Flexible month-to-month contracts [16] mean virtually no lock-in.

Contract Renewals & Pricing Strategy

To aggressively target these firms at DealMAX, DeepSignal must understand competitor pricing and contract structures:

  • The SourceCo Wedge: Sun Capital Partners uses SourceCo [4]. Because SourceCo operates on flexible month-to-month contracts [16], Sun Capital has no long-term renewal blocker. DeepSignal can push for an immediate contract execution at DealMAX.
  • Enterprise Site Licenses: For target firms bringing 10 or more users onto a platform, competitors typically offer site licenses that provide 30-50% savings over standard per-user pricing [33]. DeepSignal should pre-package a "DealMAX Design Partner" site-license tier that undercuts the $15,000–$40,000 per-user costs of Grata and SourceScrub [2], [6].

The CRM Ecosystem

DeepSignal's integration roadmap must prioritize platforms currently entrenched in PE deal pipelines. Affinity is widely deployed as a purpose-built private equity CRM focused on relationship intelligence and automated data capture [3]. Other notable tools include Navatar (which natively integrates with PitchBook) [7], Axial (focused specifically on lower middle-market deal marketplaces) [21], and legacy talent-tracking systems like Clockwork [28]. Carta is utilized for back-office portfolio management but currently features no direct CRM integrations [26].

3. Pre-DealMAX Pipeline Strategy for DeepSignal

To build a targeted pipeline before the April 27-29 DealMAX event, DeepSignal should execute the following plays:

  1. The Century Park / Incline Warm Intro: Leverage Matt Minnaugh at Century Park Capital Partners. Acknowledge Century Park's recent scaling (launch of Green Summit Landscape Group [9] and the hiring of Dan Day [5]). Request a direct introduction to the sourcing team at Incline Equity Partners based on their shared MCCi transaction history [1].
  2. The Sun Capital Direct Attack: Approach Daniel Florian (MD, Sun Capital). Since his current vendor (SourceCo) does not lock him into an annual agreement [16], frame DeepSignal's offering as an immediate, risk-free upgrade to his BD team's workflow [4].
  3. The Integration Pitch: For firms utilizing DealCloud or Affinity, frame DeepSignal as the missing workflow bridge [32], directly attacking the 15% contact bounce rate of SourceScrub [19] and the high-cost data inaccuracies of Grata [22].

Limitations / Open Questions

Based on the provided intelligence dataset, several gaps remain that require further primary research:

  • ACG DealMAX Roster: The provided evidence does not contain the explicit, confirmed attendee list or sponsorship/panelist roster for ACG DealMAX 2026. Assumptions are based on active PE firm behaviors in April 2026.
  • Missing Node Relationships: There is zero verifiable data regarding Ryan Smiley (RLH Equity Partners) or Matt Smith (St. Cloud Capital), preventing relationship mapping for these specific individuals.
  • Exact Renewal Dates: While SourceCo is confirmed as month-to-month [16], the specific contract renewal dates for PitchBook, Grata, and SourceScrub at individual target firms are unknown.

Sources