A boutique M&A practice for founder-led transactions in digital infrastructure, AI, fintech, regulated markets, and entertainment.
Transactional mandates, founder advisory, and selective fund advisory across the same categories.
Most founder-led M&A is run by people who didn't found anything. The standard advisor process — bulge-bracket and mid-market alike — is built for scale, committee, and deal volume. It is not built for the situations where the founder is the deal, where the buyer fit is non-obvious, or where the counterparty mix matters more than the auction mechanics.
The interesting work in this category is no longer happening in rooms the standard banker rolodex reaches. A founder-led music tech business selling at $80M needs the three sovereign-capital allocators in the Gulf who quietly built positions in the sector last year. A regulated AI infrastructure business needs the family office in Singapore that just hired its first ML researcher. A frontier payments business needs the strategic acquirer in Brazil that is not on a single banker's strategic-buyer list.
"These rooms exist. They are not on PitchBook. They do not take cold calls from associates at Lazard."
Specialist M&A from people who’ve sat on every side of the table.
Matterblack's work is being in those rooms before the mandate signs, not finding them after. The firm runs a small number of mandates each year across digital infrastructure, AI, fintech, regulated markets, and entertainment — categories where standard banker vocabulary does not reach the right buyers, and where founder context matters more than process volume.
The firm declines more often than it accepts. When it does take a mandate, the buyer universe is usually narrower and more specific than a generalist banker would predict — and the result is a transaction that runs at the top of the comp range, not the middle.
Founder-Operated
Former founders, operators, and investors. We understand the business because we have built, scaled, and exited businesses ourselves.
Senior-Led
Every mandate is run by the partner directly. No analyst chains, no junior coverage, no handoffs. The same person you meet on day one runs the process through to close.
Cross-Border by Default
The firm's relationships and mandate history run across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Most processes touch at least three jurisdictions; the firm is structured for that to be the baseline rather than the exception.
Digital Infrastructure
SaaS platforms, marketplaces, data businesses, infrastructure.
AI & Emerging Tech
Machine learning, automation, quantum computing, robotics, space, defence, medical, next-gen tech.
Regulated & Frontier
Fintech, crypto, web3, prediction markets, gaming, compliance-heavy.
Entertainment, Music & Rights
Music tech and platforms, live and festivals, ticketing and primary/secondary infrastructure, rights catalogues and admin, artist-services, venue groups, and IP-led transactions across the entertainment stack.
Mandates are typically cross-border. The firm runs processes that span North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, and is structured for jurisdictional complexity to be the baseline.
The firm runs a small number of transactional mandates each year, supported by a smaller number of ongoing advisory engagements.
Sell-Side
Sell-side mandates for founder-led businesses. Where the founder is the deal — where buyer fit, narrative, and timing matter more than process volume. Small, senior processes designed for situations that wouldn't survive a bulge-bracket auction.
Buy-Side
Buy-side and merger advisory in regulated and frontier categories. Where the strategic case is real but the regulatory, technical, and counterparty diligence is non-standard. We bring sector context and a thin, senior team.
Rights & Catalogue
Rights, catalogue, and IP-adjacent transactions. Where the asset is a contract stack as much as a P&L, and the buyer universe sits across strategics, funds, and operator-investors.
Selective Representation
Selective representation on transactions where category context matters more than scale. Frontier categories, founder situations, or buyer pools where a generalist banker would slow the deal down.
Alongside transactional mandates, the firm works with a small number of founders and funds on the strategic decisions that shape future transactions.
Founder Advisory
Long-running engagements with founders of category-leading businesses — typically covering geographic expansion, GTM positioning, and capital strategy. Not a fractional CXO model; this is senior counsel on the decisions that determine whether a business is a $50M outcome or a $500M one.
VC Advisory
Portfolio company exit readiness — working with funds in the twelve to twenty-four months before a transaction, on process design, narrative positioning, buyer universe mapping, and the operational work that determines whether a sale runs at the top or the middle of a comp range. Also fund-level engagements: portfolio strategy, fund positioning, and selective LP-side work.
TRANSACTIONAL MANDATES: $1M – $500M
Founder-led businesses where the situation wouldn't survive a bulge-bracket auction. EBITDA positive or with a clear path. Ready to move inside a 6–12 month window. Complex or regulated categories preferred.
Strategics, funds, family offices, and operator-investors with a defined thesis and the capacity to transact above $10M. Discretion valued over breadth.
A monthly field note on what we're seeing — category dispatches, anonymized deal mechanics, and the occasional contrarian read.
Mandates and advisory engagements begin with a written introduction. Tell us a little about the situation, the category, and the timeline. We read every message and respond within two business days.
Buy-side enquiries, rights and catalogue introductions, fund advisory conversations, and selective banker-to-banker outreach are all welcome here.