Independent sponsor / Lower middle market
The right deal, underwritten fast, backed by real capital.
Diverseafi sources and underwrites acquisitions of established industrial and software businesses, then closes them alongside committed capital partners and the operator each company needs next.
Capital partners
We don't buy alone.
On larger transactions, Diverseafi co-sponsors with experienced acquirers, pairing our deal origination with their capital and closing experience.
Co-sponsor
James Richardson
Founder and Managing Partner, The Harwood Group
Franklin, Tennessee. Former Director in PwC's Turnaround and Restructuring practice in the Southeastern U.S.
Co-sponsor
Shep Strong
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Juniper Equity
Dallas, Texas. Seventeen years at Accenture across 42 transactions worth more than $3 billion before moving to principal investing.
Additional equity partners disclosed under NDA.
How a deal moves
Wide at the top. Ruthless in the middle. Certain at the end.
Most buyers are slow because they are not sure or not capitalized. We read a high volume of opportunities, model the real ones the same week, and only bring a deal to our capital partners when the numbers and the story both hold. That discipline is why we can move quickly once we say yes.
Broker relationships, proprietary outreach, and platforms. Every teaser gets read against a clear buy box.
A first LBO model inside the week. Quality of earnings red flags, customer concentration, debt capacity, and a realistic returns case.
Only the best reach our partners. Independent sponsors, family capital, and lenders weigh in early, not after an LOI is signed.
Equity and debt arranged before exclusivity. No financing contingency surprises for the seller.
The right operator, day one. We back a strong existing team or recruit a proven CEO, then govern for long-term value.
What we buy
Two lanes. Real businesses that make, build, move, and run things.
We focus where we can underwrite with conviction: industrial businesses we understand from the job site up, and software businesses we understand from running their revenue.
Manufacturing
Precision, fabrication, and specialty production with repeat customers and tenured crews.
Construction and building services
Commercial contractors, specialty trades, and maintenance with recurring work.
Specialty distribution
Value-added distributors and industrial services with sticky accounts.
B2B SaaS and tech-enabled services
Managed IT, vertical software, and services businesses with recurring revenue.
Acquisition criteria
What makes a deal worth our time
If it is close, send it anyway. We will tell you quickly and plainly whether it fits.
- EBITDA
- $1M to $15M
Larger transactions pursued alongside capital partners. - Geography
- Southeast U.S. preferred
Open to the broader U.S. for the right business. - Situations
- Owner retirement and succession, partial liquidity with continued involvement, corporate carve-outs.
- Leadership after close
- We back a strong existing team, or recruit and install an experienced operator.
- What we value
- Recurring or repeat revenue, a tenured team, and a reason the business wins that is not the owner's phone number.
- Response time
- A direct answer within 48 hours of reviewing a CIM. If it is not a fit, we will say why.
Who we work with
Built for the people on both sides of the table.
Sellers need certainty. Capital partners need discipline. We are organized to give each of them exactly that.
For brokers and owners
A buyer who does the work before asking for your time.
- Fast, direct answersWithin 48 hours of reviewing a CIM, you know where we stand and why.
- Capital that is realEquity and debt are arranged before we ask for exclusivity.
- No manufactured retradesIf we see a problem, you hear it early, not in week eleven of diligence.
- Your team protectedWe keep what works, back strong leaders, and bring in an experienced operator only where the business needs one.
For capital partners and operators
Deal flow that is already filtered, modeled, and pressure-tested.
- Volume with a filter50+ CIMs a month screened against a written buy box. You see the few that earn it.
- Models built to be challengedSources and uses, debt capacity, coverage, and returns sensitivity before you are asked for an opinion.
- Speed to LOIPartners weigh in early, so we can move decisively when a deal is right.
- Seats for operatorsExperienced CEOs and GMs looking for their next platform are welcome to reach out.
Leadership
Three decades of building revenue engines, and the teams that run them.
Matt Beagle is the Managing Partner of Diverseafi, a private investment firm where he sources, underwrites, and leads acquisitions of lower middle market industrial and software businesses alongside a network of capital partners and operators.
Matt brings 30 years of revenue leadership and go-to-market strategy to every deal he evaluates. He spent 20 years at T-Mobile, where he built new sales verticals from the ground up across the Fortune 500, state and local government, education, and federal markets, standing up the teams, pricing, and pursuit strategies to win in segments the company had not previously served. Most recently he served as Chief Revenue Officer of a managed IT services and cybersecurity provider, growing revenue 21% in his first year.
That experience shapes how Diverseafi underwrites a business. Matt reads a CIM the way a CRO reads a pipeline: where the revenue really comes from, how durable it is, and where a sharper go-to-market plan can grow it after close. A degree in construction and hands-on field work give him the same fluency on the industrial side.
Above all, Matt believes culture is what makes a business worth owning. The companies he pursues are built by people, and his approach after close starts with protecting the team, keeping what works, and giving good people the support to do their best work.
Areas of expertise
Where Matt adds value before and after close
Revenue generation
Building and scaling sales organizations, pipeline discipline, and forecasting that holds up.
Go-to-market strategy
Segmentation, channel design, pricing, and launching into markets a company has never sold to.
Fortune 500 and enterprise
Complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles and executive relationships at the largest accounts.
Public sector
State and local government, education, and federal markets, including procurement and contract vehicles.
Culture and people
Hiring, developing, and retaining teams. Protecting what makes a company a place people want to work.
Deal sourcing and underwriting
High-volume screening, LBO modeling, and getting the right deals in front of capital partners fast.
How we work
Three rules we don't bend.
Owners are trusting someone with what they built. Partners are trusting us with their capital. Both deserve the same standard.
Know the business
When we ask for a call, we have read everything you sent, built the model, and have questions that prove it.
Say the hard thing early
If a deal has a problem, you hear it from us first, not at the eleventh hour. Retrades built on manufactured surprises are not how we operate.
Earn it, don't assume it
The owner knows the business better than we do. Year one is about learning it, protecting the team, and only then making it better.
Have a business or a deal that fits?
Send the teaser. You'll get a straight answer, fast.
Brokers, owners, capital partners, and operators: a description is enough to start. Everything is held in confidence.