Origination engine
We find the owners, sellers and buyers worth approaching, draft the approach, and keep the follow-up current in the CRM your firm already uses. A partner at your firm approves everything that goes out.
Connected to
HubSpot
Salesforce
DealCloud
Outlook
PitchBook
Companies House
Excel
The problem
When the team is busy on a mandate, the next one gets no attention. Lists go stale, follow-ups slip, and the pipeline is empty just as the mandate closes. Project Oak is the made-up deal this site uses as its example.
What it does
That figure is from Project Aspen, where we read every active UK company on the register and ranked about 10,300 in a search fund's size range. Your own universe depends on your criteria and your market. The engine does this work every week rather than once.
5 of 5 rankedCompany A, Central Ontario
- Why it fits
- Founder-owned, second site opened last year, no successor named
- Sources
- Company website, trade press, public filings
- In your CRM
- No earlier contact
- Status
- First note drafted. Waiting for partner approval.
Company profileOwner profileCRM recordFind
Owners, sellers and buyers that fit your criteria, each with the reason it fits and the source behind it.
Target record- Business
- Owner-led food distributor
- Why it fits
- Founder-owned, second site opened last year, no successor named
- Sources
- Company website, trade press, public filings
- In your CRM
- No earlier contact
- Status
- First note drafted. Waiting for partner approval.
Approach
A first approach drafted in your firm's voice, from what is on record about that company. A partner reads it before it goes anywhere.
DraftTo: Owner, Company A
You opened a second site last year and the business is still yours. We advise owners of distribution businesses on what comes next, whenever that is.
Would a short call be useful?
A partner at your firm
Follow up
Replies and next steps are tracked, so nobody is chased twice and nobody is forgotten.
4 open- Company APartner to callReplied, asked for a call next month
- Company BSecond note due ThursdayNo reply to first note
- Company CRecorded, no further notesDeclined for now
- Company DPartner owns next stepIntro call held
Record
Everything sits in your CRM, so the relationships belong to the firm rather than one inbox.
Firm recordTarget added
With its sources
First note approved
By a partner
Note sent
From your firm's address
Reply logged
Asked for a call
Next step set
Partner to call
Control
Nothing leaves your firm without a person at your firm approving it, unless you decide otherwise later. You set how far that goes and you can move it back.
Your CRM
The engine works inside the CRM your firm already uses, under your firm's own licence. Your team sees the same records, and every approach is logged where it belongs.
What we have built
Finding the right companies is where origination starts, and it is work we have delivered.
Further reading
Notes from our insights on the CRM, the paperwork and the choices behind an origination engine.
Common questions
What is an origination engine?
Origination run for your firm. We find the owners, sellers and buyers worth approaching, draft the approach and keep the follow-up current in your CRM, and a partner at your firm approves what goes out.
How do you find owners who are ready to sell?
From filed records first: accounts, ownership, and directors' ages and tenure, plus dated signals such as no named successor. Succession is a large share of supply. Dealsuite's survey of 106 UK and Irish firms attributed 41% of sales in the second half of 2025 to age and no successor (February 2026), and Statistics Canada found 20.3% of Canadian businesses intend to sell or transfer within ten years (September 2026). Every name comes with its reason and its source.
Can you build the buyer universe for a sell-side mandate?
Yes. We screen strategic and financial buyers against the mandate, take out the names your firm has already approached, and tier the rest with a reason and a source for each. It comes back in your template, and your partners decide who is approached.
Will it send messages in our name without approval?
Not unless you decide it should. Nothing leaves your firm without a person there approving it, unless you decide otherwise.
Can you promise a number of mandates, or a first meeting?
No, and we do not offer either. We do the finding, the drafting and the follow-up, and we show you what it produced. If you want a view on how your firm runs its own outreach, ask and we will give you one.
What if we do not have a CRM, or do not like ours?
We start from what you have and tell you plainly if something needs to change. The licence stays in your firm's name either way.
How fast does it start?
Most briefs come back within 48 hours, and a straightforward one, such as a founder call brief, within 12. We start with one target profile, get it right with your partners, and widen from there.