What Participant does

Participant Capital (legal entity: Participant, LLC) is a privately held global merchant bank founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York, with additional offices in Boston and London. The firm advises leading single family offices, select pension and sovereign wealth funds, and family-owned or privately held businesses on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity placement, strategic advisory, and fund formation. Differentiated offerings include direct-investing programs — Private Equity Programs, Venture Capital Programs, Co-Investment Sourcing, and Family Office Formation — that leverage a curated network of more than 500 of the world's largest family offices and long-term investors.

The firm generates revenue primarily through transaction-based fees on M&A and capital-placement mandates, supplemented by recurring strategic advisory retainers and selective fund-formation engagements. There is no proprietary technology platform; services are delivered by founding partners Sean Costello (Managing Partner), Michael Kurdziel (Managing Partner), Daniel Costello (Managing Partner), and Karen Mitchell (Chief of Staff, London), each bringing prior senior experience at Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Barclays, RBC, Merrill Lynch, and News Corp. Securities offerings are executed through a third-party arrangement with Hollister Associates, LLC (Member FINRA, Member SIPC).

Go-to-market is relationship-driven: invite-only, off-the-record Family Office Summits hosted in London (May 2019) and New York (May 2018) in partnership with Bloomberg serve as the principal top-of-funnel channel, with warm introductions among the family office community feeding mid-funnel deal flow. The firm reports serving clients and completing deals across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Thailand, and Australia, and cites deal value benchmarks including more than $1B in transactions led by Kurdziel, $2.5B+ under Daniel Costello's leadership at News Corp, and $75M+ of financing arranged for DealerTrack prior to its 2005 IPO.

Name

Participant

Legal name

Participant, LLC

Website

https://participant.capital

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Participant Capital is a privately held global merchant bank headquartered in New York with offices in Boston and London, advising leading single family offices, select pensions and sovereign wealth funds, and privately held businesses on M&A, capital placement, strategic advisory, fund formation, and direct-investing programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Merchant Banking

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150), Miscellaneous Intermediation (52391)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Venture Capital Fundraising Placement (FSAEALAC)

Keywords

• Mergers and acquisitions advisory
• Debt and equity placement
• Family office advisory
• Fund formation services
• Private capital advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Fees: Transaction-based fees for mergers and acquisitions advisory services including deal sourcing, due diligence, valuation, structuring, and execution.
2. Capital Placement Fees: Fees for debt and equity placement services, helping clients secure capital from traditional investors and the network of 500+ private investors.
3. Strategic Advisory Retainers: Ongoing advisory fees for strategic consulting including growth opportunity identification, corporate alliances, and M&A strategy development.
4. Fund Formation Advisory: Fees for helping raise capital for new and established funds on a selective basis, focusing on differentiated investment strategies.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Participant is a global merchant bank that provides Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory, Debt and Equity Placement, Strategic Advisory, Fund Formation, and Direct Investing Programs to family offices, long-term institutional investors, and privately held businesses. The firm combines senior-led advisory mandates with curated capital placement across private equity, venture capital, co-investments, and family office formation.

Product overview

Participant Capital is a global merchant bank providing advisory and investment services to family offices and long-term investors. The company operates across two primary service lines: Advisory Services (Mergers and Acquisitions, Debt and Equity Placement, Strategic Advisory, and Fund Formation) and Direct Investing Programs (Private Equity Program, Venture Capital Program, Co-Investment Sourcing, and Family Office Formation). These services are designed to connect long-term capital sources with investment opportunities, serving as a trusted partner and advisor to clients seeking to invest in or acquire companies with exceptional growth potential.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory Buy-side and sell-side M&A advisory for family offices, long-term investors, and family-owned or privately held businesses.
• Debt and Equity Placement Sourcing and placement of private debt and equity capital for clients, leveraging the firm's network of family offices and institutional investors.
• Strategic Advisory Strategic advisory engagements for clients navigating capital structure, ownership, and long-term planning decisions.
• Fund Formation Structuring and formation of private investment vehicles, including private equity, venture capital, and family office platforms.
• Direct Investing Programs End-to-end direct investing programs encompassing private equity and venture capital deployment, co-investment sourcing, and family office formation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ family office network
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 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 minor.

• BloombergminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBloomberg hosted the Family Office Summit in London, May 2019. High-profile media partnership for exclusive invite-only family office event.
• Duke University's Fuqua School of BusinessminorOthersSean Costello sits on the European Advisory Board of the Fuqua School of Business. Multiple team members (Sean Costello, Michael Kurdziel, Daniel Costello) hold MBAs from Duke. This creates talent pipeline and academic credibility.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Allen & Company: Highly selective, relationship-driven boutique merchant bank that famously convenes the Sun Valley conference. A close analogue to Participant's invite-only Family Office Summits and its emphasis on private, off-the-record dialogue among principals of large family-controlled enterprises.
• Centerview Partners: Boutique independent advisory firm founded by former top-tier investment bankers. Closely comparable to Participant in business model (M&A and capital advisory, relationship-driven, principal-led) and in serving high-net-worth and institutional clients, though Centerview typically operates at substantially larger deal scale.

Broad incumbents

• Rothschild & Co: Global advisory house with a heritage of advising family-controlled and long-term capital. Shares Participant's emphasis on private, multigenerational clients and long-term capital, and competes for cross-border M&A and family-capital advisory mandates.
• Perella Weinberg Partners: Independent advisory firm providing M&A, capital placement, and restructuring advice to corporates, sponsors, and family-controlled businesses. Comparable in founder-led model and emphasis on long-term capital, but with deeper sector franchises and larger deal scale than Participant.
• PJT Partners: Independent advisory firm offering M&A and capital placement to a mix of family offices, corporates, and institutional investors. Overlaps with Participant in capital placement and family-capital advisory but operates at much broader scale.
• Moelis & Company: Independent, founder-led global advisory firm providing M&A, capital markets, and strategic advisory. Comparable in boutique, principal-driven origins and service mix, though Moelis is much larger and more diversified across sectors and geographies.
• Lazard: Global financial advisory and asset management firm with a long-established family office and M&A advisory franchise. Competes head-on with Participant for placement and advisory mandates from family offices and long-term investors, but at materially larger scale and broader service menu.
• Evercore: Independent investment banking advisory firm with deep M&A and capital placement capabilities. Comparable to Participant in core advisory service offering and target client overlap (family offices, institutional investors, private businesses), but with far broader coverage and public-company advisory strength.

Emerging players

• Tiger 21: Membership-based peer organization for high-net-worth investors that hosts roundtables, investment education, and curated peer deal sharing. Adjacent to Participant's Family Office Summits in that it aggregates UHNW investors for knowledge exchange and potential co-investment, though without the M&A execution capability.
• Cambridge Associates: Global investment advisory firm serving endowments, foundations, pensions, and family offices on private investment sourcing and portfolio construction. Overlaps with Participant's investor-side advisory and direct investment program work for family offices, but is asset-allocation oriented rather than transaction-execution oriented.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Participant