Established in 1984 by Stanford Business School professor Irving Grousbeck, Search Funds are an innovative asset class that combines fundamental elements of both Venture Capital and Private Equity in order to invest in stable yet high growth SMEs. As a form of entrepreneurship through acquisition, Search Funds have been well established in the USA and are gaining traction in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

This whitepaper delves deeper into the asset class, outlining:

• The gap in the market in which Search Funds operate in
• The origin of Search Funds and the market participants
• The Search Criteria
• The stages of a Search Fund
• Similarities and differences between Search Funds and its peers in the Private Equity sphere