What Founders Advisors does

Founders Advisors is a privately held, boutique middle-market investment banking and M&A advisory firm headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, founded in 2003 by Duane Donner II. The firm employs more than 50 professionals organized across five industry verticals — Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrials, and Technology — and serves founder-owned businesses across the United States, with selective mandates extending globally. Its positioning emphasizes pre-transaction relationship-building and an explicit focus on founder clients rather than institutional sellers, articulated through the firm's self-described "FoundersAdvisor Framework" (Fit, Focus, Frame, Forge, Forward).

Revenue is generated from three professional-services streams: sell-side advisory (representing business owners in M&A exits), buy-side advisory (supporting acquirers through diligence and execution), and capital solutions (refinancing, recapitalizations, growth financings, and special-situations advisory). Pricing is engagement-specific and not publicly disclosed; economics are tied to transaction value across these mandates. Securities-related activities are delivered through a wholly-owned FINRA/SIPC-licensed subsidiary, Founders M&A Advisory, LLC, and certain principals are licensed through M&A Securities Group, Inc. — both regulatory licensing structures that allow the firm to deliver in-house broker-dealer services atypical for a boutique of its size.

Go-to-market is exclusively direct and relationship-driven, with demand generation anchored by the Market Insights content library (140+ pages of sector reports, transactions, and newsletters), the Heritage Forum for owner-operators, the annual Crawfish Boil (in its 19th year), and the Silicon Y'all SaaS/internet summit in the technology vertical. A Strategic Partnerships Group consolidates business development, centers-of-influence relationships, and CEO networks firmwide. In January 2026 the firm promoted four new partners (Gene Bazemore, Brad Johnson, John Sullivan, Chris Weingartner), launched a new Enterprise Group combining Technology, Business Services, and Healthcare under Chris Weingartner, and opened a Dallas / Southlake, Texas regional office anchored by Bazemore as Head of Investment Banking — collectively signaling active buildout of senior talent and geographic surface area.

Name

Founders Advisors

Legal name

Founders Advisors, LLC

Website

https://foundersib.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Founders Advisors is a Birmingham-based boutique middle-market M&A and corporate finance advisory firm that serves founder-owned businesses with sell-side, buy-side, and capital solutions engagements across Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrials, and Technology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Banking & M&A Advisory

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

M&A Advisory (Buy-Side & Sell-Side) (BPAHAOAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Capital Raising Advisory (Equity & Equity-Linked) (FSAEAGAC), Corporate Finance & Capital Advisory (BPAHADAB), Corporate Finance Advisory (Strategic Finance, Capital Structure & Recaps) (FSAEAGAE), Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)

Keywords

• Mergers and acquisitions advisory
• Investment banking services
• Middle market advisory
• Sell-side advisory
• Capital solutions advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sell-Side Advisory: Advisory fees for representing sellers in M&A transactions, guiding business owners through exits and liquidity events.
2. Buy-Side Advisory: Advisory fees for guiding clients looking to acquire businesses, providing due diligence and transaction support.
3. Capital Solutions: Advisory on refinancing, recapitalizations for shareholder liquidity, growth financing, and capital advisory in distressed situations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Founders Advisors is a boutique investment bank that advises middle-market company founders on mergers and acquisitions, executing sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, and capital solutions (refinancing, recapitalizations, growth financing). Service delivery is organized across five industry verticals—Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrials, and Technology—and is structured around a proprietary five-step engagement framework from introductory call through business transition.

Product overview

Founders Advisors is a merger, acquisition, and strategic advisory firm serving middle-market companies. The firm provides sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, and capital solutions services across five industry verticals: Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrials, and Technology. The firm operates as a boutique advisory practice with a relationship-driven approach, helping business owners prepare for and execute liquidity events, access growth capital, and make acquisitions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sell-Side Advisory Sell-Side Advisory represents business owners and shareholders as the seller's exclusive financial advisor in M&A transactions, guiding founders through exit preparation, buyer identification, valuation, negotiation, and transaction execution. The service is targeted at founder- and family-owned middle-market companies across the firm's five industry verticals (Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrials, Technology).
• Buy-Side Advisory Buy-Side Advisory advises corporate and private equity clients on acquisitions, including target identification, due diligence, valuation, deal structuring, and transaction support for inorganic growth initiatives. The service is targeted at acquirers in the firm's five industry verticals.
• Capital Solutions Capital Solutions provides advisory on refinancing, recapitalizations for shareholder liquidity, growth financing, and capital advisory in distressed situations. The service supports founder- and family-owned middle-market businesses seeking capital structure optimization or liquidity outside of a full sale.
• Founders M&A Advisory Securities Services Securities-related advisory services delivered through the wholly-owned subsidiary Founders M&A Advisory, LLC, which is a member of FINRA and SIPC. Certain principals of Founders Advisors are licensed through this entity to provide securities-related services in connection with M&A and corporate finance engagements; the firm explicitly disclaims providing investment advice.

Named customers57 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• M&A Securities Group, Inc.coreOthersLicensing partner for securities-related services. Certain principals of Founders Advisors are licensed with M&A Securities Group, Inc., a member of FINRA and SIPC. M&A Securities Group and Founders are unaffiliated entities.
• Founders M&A Advisory, LLCcoreOthersA wholly-owned subsidiary of Founders Advisors, LLC, providing securities-related services. Principals are licensed through this entity, which is a member of FINRA and SIPC.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Harris Williams: A large, established middle-market M&A advisory boutique with deep sector coverage across consumer, healthcare, industrials, and technology. Closely comparable to Founders Advisors in target client (founder/PE-owned middle-market) and service mix (sell-side, buy-side, capital solutions), but materially larger in headcount and league-table presence.
• Lincoln International: Global middle-market M&A advisory firm with a strong mid-market and lower-mid-market franchise, organized around sector verticals similar to Founders. Directly competes for the same founder-led sell-side and recap mandates Founders pursues, with broader geographic reach and a deeper bench.
• Brown Gibbons Lang & Company: Middle-market investment bank focused on M&A advisory and capital solutions across diversified industrials, consumer, and business services. Comparable client base (founder/family-owned middle-market) and service offering to Founders Advisors, with similar boutique positioning.
• Cascadia Capital: Middle-market M&A advisory firm with sector verticals including industrials, consumer, healthcare, and technology. Comparable boutique scale and founder/owner-led deal mix to Founders Advisors, with similar focus on sell-side advisory for closely held businesses.
• Livingstone Partners: Global mid-market M&A advisory firm serving founder, family-owned, and PE-backed companies across business services, consumer, healthcare, and industrials. Closely analogous in client profile, deal size band, and service offering to Founders Advisors.
• EdgePoint: Boutique M&A advisory firm serving founder-led and family-owned mid-market businesses across diversified industries. Comparable boutique scale, founder-focused positioning, and middle-market deal sizes to Founders Advisors.
• Generational Equity: M&A advisory firm focused exclusively on selling founder-, family-, and privately-held middle-market businesses. Closely comparable in target client (business-owner exit), transaction size band, and service mix, particularly for owner-led transactions under $50M in enterprise value.

Broad incumbents

• Houlihan Lokey: Larger, publicly-traded global investment bank with a sizable middle-market M&A practice across industrials, consumer, healthcare, and technology. Competes with Founders for middle-market sell-side and capital advisory mandates, but with significantly greater scale, capital markets capabilities, and international reach.
• Robert W. Baird: Large, employee-owned investment bank with a substantial middle-market M&A advisory practice. Competes for the same founder-led mid-market sell-side and capital solutions mandates as Founders, but operates at materially greater scale and across more sectors and geographies.
• William Blair: Employee-owned global investment bank with a strong middle-market M&A practice focused on founder/PE-owned businesses across business services, consumer, healthcare, industrials, and technology. Competes in the same deal-size band and sector verticals as Founders Advisors, but with broader geographic reach and capital markets capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Founders Advisors