Market intelligence
at the speed of dealflow

Competitive analysis with market sizing, live competitor signals, and ecosystem mapping for acquisition screening, portfolio positioning, and IC memos. Built on 400K+ real products and 10M+ mapped user intents.

You can't move at the speed of dealflow with research that takes weeks

A new acquisition target surfaces. Before the IC meeting, your team needs a competitive landscape, market positioning analysis, and evidence for the investment thesis. Commissioning external research means weeks of lead time. Doing it internally means pulling analysts off other work. Either way, the voice-of-customer layer is usually the piece that's missing.

External research doesn't scale to screening

Research firms are valuable for deep-dive engagements. But you can't commission external work for every target in a pipeline. Screening needs a faster, lighter tool.

Timing mismatch

Deal timelines don't wait for research timelines. By the time a thorough external report arrives, you may have already needed to make a go/no-go decision.

Missing the customer layer

Financial diligence covers revenue and churn. But what do the target's customers actually think? Where is their product weak? That voice-of-customer layer is often the blind spot.

Built for the PE workflow

Acquisition screening

Run quick market analyses on potential targets before committing to deep diligence. Understand the competitive landscape, customer sentiment, and market positioning in under an hour.

Typical use: The deal team identifies 15 potential targets in a sector. Run BuildSherpa on each to narrow to the 3-4 worth pursuing with full diligence.

Commercial due diligence

Deep comparative analysis benchmarking the target against its competitive set. Feature comparison, pricing analysis, ecosystem stickiness, market sizing, and customer feedback patterns that support or challenge the investment thesis.

Typical use: The deal is in exclusivity. Supplement financial diligence with a product-market analysis that covers what customers actually think about the target vs. competitors.

Portfolio company positioning

Help portfolio companies understand their competitive position with objective, data-driven analysis. Track discussion momentum, monitor competitor launches and partnerships via live signals, and identify feature gaps that create defensibility.

Typical use: Annual strategy review for a portco. Provide the management team with an independent competitive assessment based on real customer data, not their internal assumptions.

IC memo support

Every analysis produces evidence-backed findings, risk assessments, and strategic recommendations structured for investment committee review. Pull data points and findings directly into your memo format.

Typical use: Pull key findings, competitive positioning data, and evidence chains directly into the IC memo. Data-driven market assessment in the format your committee expects.

Where BuildSherpa fits in your research stack

External research firms

Deep bespoke analysis for final-stage diligence. Expert interviews, primary research, custom modeling.

Best for: 2-3 deals per year that reach final IC

BuildSherpa

Automated competitive landscape with user feedback, pricing, market sizing, live signals, and ecosystem data. Ready in minutes.

Best for: Screening dozens of targets, early diligence, portco reviews

Internal desk research

Analyst-driven research from public sources. Flexible scope but time-intensive and quality varies.

Best for: Ad-hoc questions, proprietary datasets, non-tech sectors

We don't replace your research firms or your analysts. We give your deal team a fast way to get the voice-of-customer layer that's usually the hardest to compile.

What every analysis includes

1
Executive summary

Market landscape, competitive dynamics, biggest opportunity and risk. Adapted to your stated research purpose.

2
Competitive landscape & positioning

How competitors cluster, where differentiation exists, and market maturity assessment.

3
Voice of customer analysis

Aggregated strengths, pain points, and unmet needs with mention counts and coverage percentages.

4
Market sizing

TAM, SAM, and SOM estimates with confidence levels. Cross-reference against management's projections.

5
Pricing, features & ecosystem

Structured pricing tiers, feature matrices, integration landscape, and enterprise readiness assessment.

6
Live signals & momentum

Recent competitor launches, funding, partnerships, and discussion momentum trends. See who's gaining traction and who's stalling.

7
Key findings with evidence chains

5-8 prioritized findings, each backed by specific data points and linked to implications for your thesis.

8
Strategic recommendations

Prioritized actions categorized as opportunities, risks, competitive, pricing, or positioning moves.

Data sources behind every analysis:

400K+

Products indexed

10M+

Mapped user intents

Real-time

Pricing scraping

Live

Scraped at analysis time

Underlying data sourced from review platforms, community forums, and product pages. Analysis is AI-generated from that real data, not from LLM training data.

Built for ongoing portfolio intelligence

Every analysis is designed to travel. Export it, share it with stakeholders, and keep it current throughout the hold period.

Branded PPTX export

Export to PowerPoint with your firm's branding. Ready for IC presentations, board decks, or LP updates.

Shareable report page

Password-protected analysis under your firm's domain. Share with the deal team, portco boards, or co-investors. View analytics built in.

Monthly auto-update

Competitor data refreshes monthly. Monitor portfolio company markets throughout the hold period without re-running the analysis.

Version & market history

Every update is versioned. Track competitive shifts across the hold period. Useful for annual reviews and exit prep.

Common questions

We're not trying to replace deep, bespoke research engagements. BuildSherpa is designed for the screening and early diligence phases where speed matters most. Use us to evaluate 20 targets quickly, then commission your research firm for the 2-3 that make it to final diligence. We also complement traditional research by adding the voice-of-customer layer that most firms don't cover well.

Every finding includes an evidence chain: the data point, its source (aggregated from N reviews, M products), and its implication. The analysis is structured specifically for investment contexts, with key findings, risk assessments, and thesis support sections. It's not a replacement for expert interviews, but it provides a quantitative market assessment that strengthens any memo.

Our database is strongest in technology and SaaS markets, which is where most of our data sources are concentrated. If your target operates in a technology-adjacent space, we likely have relevant coverage. For purely offline or non-tech sectors, the analysis may be less comprehensive. We're transparent about data coverage in every report.

All analysis data is private to your account. We don't share analyses between users, and we don't use your research queries to improve analyses for others. Your deal pipeline and research activity remain confidential.

Screen any market before your next IC meeting

Your first analysis is free. Run a competitive landscape on a target you're currently evaluating. See what real customers think about the market before you commit to deep diligence.

Analyze a market now
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