Cerralvo Capital

What Cerralvo Capital does

Cerralvo Capital is a privately held search fund investment firm founded in 2018 and headquartered in North Palm Beach, United States, with additional presence in Mexico City. The firm partners with world-class entrepreneurs — typically MBA graduates and former operators — to acquire, operate, and grow established privately held businesses over a 6-10 year hold period. Cerralvo provides capital, operational expertise, mentorship, and active board involvement throughout the full search fund lifecycle: fundraising, search and acquisition, operating, and exit. The firm operates with a flat three-partner structure (Mario Sicilia, Jaime Alatorre, Santiago Perez Teuffer) supported by two strategic advisors (Will Thorndike, author of "The Outsiders," and Gerald Risk, former Asurion executive), a general counsel, and an office manager. Notably, Cerralvo does not have proprietary technology, software products, or AI capabilities; its offering is the human capital, network, and investment judgment of its partners and advisors.

The firm has built a globally diversified portfolio of 50+ companies spanning at least 16 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Portfolio companies cover diverse industries including construction SaaS (Anterra), ice production (Aguafria), leasing (Rentandes), CPaaS (Auronix), healthcare (Halsey Health), education technology (Namencis Education, dotCMS), real estate (Mita Residential), automotive CRM (Syonet), cybersecurity (OneAxiom), PropTech (Velis), restaurant ERP (Soft Restaurant), agriculture (ProAgro), and nearshoring services (The Nearshore Company). The firm generates returns through equity appreciation and exit proceeds on its portfolio investments; pricing, fund size, and management fee structures are not publicly disclosed, consistent with the private partnership model typical of search fund investors.

Cerralvo's go-to-market motion is enterprise-level, direct partnership-driven: the firm identifies and engages search fund entrepreneurs primarily through its professional network, business school relationships, and referrals within the search fund ecosystem. It runs a structured MBA internship program at six top business schools (Stanford GSB, Harvard, Kellogg, Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, Wharton) to cultivate future searcher talent. The firm markets itself through an informative website (cerralvo.com), team LinkedIn profiles, and educational resources on search fund investing. The customer base is segmented horizontally across portfolio companies, with primary segments being search fund entrepreneurs seeking capital and the acquired portfolio businesses themselves, supplemented by MBA students as a pipeline segment.

Name

Cerralvo Capital

Legal name

Cerralvo Capital

Website

https://cerralvo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cerralvo Capital is a privately held search fund investment firm founded in 2018 that partners with entrepreneurs to acquire, operate, and exit established businesses. With 50+ portfolio companies across 16+ countries, the firm provides capital, board involvement, and operational support throughout the search fund lifecycle.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Search Fund / Private Equity Investing

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Equity Capital Advisory (Private Equity Placements, Growth Capital) (BPAHAOAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Venture Capital Fundraising Placement (FSAEALAC)

Keywords

• Search fund investing
• Private equity investments
• Acquisition financing
• Portfolio company management
• Business acquisition capital

Headquarters

HQ city

North Palm Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Search Fund Investment Returns: As a search fund investor, Cerralvo generates returns through equity ownership in acquired companies. The firm partners with searchers who raise capital from aligned investors, acquire operating businesses, and grow them over a 6-10 year period before exiting. Returns are generated through equity appreciation and exit proceeds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Cerralvo Capital is an active Search Fund investor that partners with world-class entrepreneurs to acquire, operate, and grow elite businesses. The firm provides capital, operational expertise, active board involvement, and mentorship throughout the search fund lifecycle (fundraising, searching, acquiring, operating, and exiting). It supports a global portfolio of 50+ companies across multiple industries and continents.

Product overview

Cerralvo Capital offers Search Fund investment services as its core offering. The company operates as a Search Fund investor, partnering with world-class talent to acquire and operate elite businesses through a four-stage model: fundraising, searching and acquiring, operating, and exiting. Beyond the core investment services, the firm provides active portfolio company management with board involvement, and offers an MBA internship program for students from leading business schools. The portfolio spans diverse industries including SaaS (Anterra, dotCMS, ECP, Labsoft, Neoassist, Soft Restaurant), education (Namencis Education, Milton Education), healthcare (Halsey Health, MSI), real estate (Mita Residential, Rentandes), and various other sectors across multiple geographies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Search Fund Investment Services
• Portfolio Company Management
• MBA Internship Program

Named customers20 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Decisive Point: Search fund investor backing entrepreneurs acquiring and operating SMEs, often with a focus on technology-enabled businesses. Comparable to Cerralvo in capital structure and operator partnership model, with overlap in SaaS-leaning portfolio.
• Trilogy Search Partners: Search fund investor focused on funding and supporting individual searchers pursuing SMB acquisitions. Directly comparable to Cerralvo's core activity of providing capital and mentorship to entrepreneurs through the search-to-exit lifecycle.
• Imperial Valley Capital: Specialized search fund investor financing and supporting entrepreneurs through the acquisition and operation of small businesses. Closely aligned with Cerralvo's four-stage (fundraising, search, operate, exit) model.
• Cambrian Ventures: Search fund investment firm that partners with entrepreneurs to acquire and grow small businesses. Closely comparable offering to Cerralvo in both capital commitment and active board engagement.
• Pacific Lake Partners: One of the largest and most established dedicated search fund investors in the US, backing individual searchers and traditional search funds. Closely comparable to Cerralvo in business model (equity capital to searchers, active board involvement, exit-driven returns) but materially larger in scale.
• E Search: Dedicated search fund investment firm providing equity capital to aspiring searchers acquiring SMEs. Mirrors Cerralvo's role as a capital provider and active partner to search entrepreneurs across geographies.
• Heron Capital: Search fund-focused investment firm providing capital to operators acquiring SMBs. Directly competes with Cerralvo for high-quality searchers and shares the active board/value-add engagement model.
• Novus Capital Partners: Search fund investor backing individual searchers and search fund acquisitions of small businesses. Comparable investment thesis and direct partnership model with search entrepreneurs, with similar focus on small-to-mid-cap operating companies.

Emerging players

• One Small Step Capital: Emerging search fund investor providing early-stage capital to first-time searchers. Less established than Cerralvo in headcount and portfolio breadth but operates the same direct-partnership model with search entrepreneurs.
• Aequum Capital: Search fund-focused investment firm supporting SMB acquisitions by individual searchers. Comparable in mandate and structure to Cerralvo but at an earlier stage of platform and portfolio build-out.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cerralvo-capital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Cerralvo Capital