What Vanacore International does

Vanacore International is a privately held, California-licensed private investigation firm specializing in unclaimed property recovery, heir-finding, and pre-escheat due diligence services. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California, with a satellite office in Destin, Florida, the firm operates under California Private Investigator License No. 13515. It serves five primary customer segments: individual property owners seeking recovery of dormant bank accounts, stocks, insurance policies, oil and gas royalties, and other entitlements; heirs and beneficiaries in probate and estate matters; large corporations and financial institutions requiring pre-escheat compliance; attorneys, fiduciaries, and estate representatives; and government agencies and public administrators.

The firm's core technology stack combines proprietary in-house databases with extensive public and semi-public records sources including census records, vital records, passenger immigration lists, cemetery lists, and city directories, supplemented by a network of contacts. Differentiated capabilities include multi-generational family tree construction for complex heir location, and successor-in-interest analysis that traces corporate history through mergers and acquisitions to consolidate claims under former business names. The product portfolio is unified under a single asset and estate recovery offering, with specialized modules for heir hunting, business client compliance services, and a guided recovery process.

Vanacore operates primarily on a contingency fee basis for individual heirs and beneficiaries, absorbing all research and legal costs upfront and collecting only on successful claim payment, with separate flat-fee or hourly engagements available for attorney and fiduciary clients. Go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct phone, email, and fax outreach initiated when assets are identified, supplemented by a success-story blog and Instagram presence for inbound inquiries. With 11-50 employees and no external funding, the firm operates as a bootstrapped professional services business with no disclosed acquisitions, partnerships beyond regulatory and accreditation bodies, or technology platform integrations.

Name

Vanacore International

Legal name

Vanacore International

Website

https://vanacore.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vanacore International is a California-licensed private investigation firm that recovers unclaimed assets, locates heirs, and provides pre-escheat due diligence services for individuals, estates, corporations, and government agencies across the United States on a contingency fee basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Asset Recovery and Heir Finding Services

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Claims Advocacy & Loss Recovery Services (FSAEADAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Debt Recovery & Asset Recovery (Repossession Coordination, Collateral Recovery) (BPAAAEAE), Repossession & Asset Recovery (Non-mortgage) (FSAKAJAF)

Keywords

• Asset recovery services
• Heir finding services
• Unclaimed property recovery
• Pre-escheat due diligence
• Probate research services

Headquarters

HQ city

El Dorado Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Contingency Fees: Primary revenue model. VI contracts directly with heirs and beneficiaries of estates and works on a contingency fee basis. There is no upfront cost to clients; VI is only compensated after a claim is paid at a predetermined and mutually agreed upon fee. If no recovery is made, VI receives nothing and absorbs all research and legal costs.
2. Flat Fee or Hourly Rate Services: For attorneys or fiduciaries engaging VI to locate heirs and beneficiaries, VI offers agreed-upon flat fees or hourly rates. This covers heir hunting and estate services where the client is an attorney or fiduciary rather than the beneficiary directly.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Vanacore International recovers unclaimed property and locates heirs on behalf of individuals, estates, attorneys, fiduciaries, and large corporations. Services include recovering dormant bank accounts, stocks, insurance policies, oil and gas royalties, and accounts payable funds, as well as conducting genealogical research, multi-generational family tree construction, and pre-escheat due diligence for corporate holders of unclaimed assets.

Product overview

Vanacore International (VI) operates as a single unified service offering centered on asset and estate recovery. The core service encompasses unclaimed property recovery for individuals, while specialized modules include Heir Hunting and Estate Services for genealogical research and beneficiary location, Business Client Services for corporate asset recovery and pre-escheat compliance, and a structured Recovery Process that guides clients through claim submission. VI has been in operation since 1989 as a licensed private investigation firm, recovering assets including stocks, bank accounts, insurance policies, lost payments, and oil and gas royalties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Asset and Estate Recovery Comprehensive asset recovery service helping individuals reclaim unclaimed property including bank accounts, insurance policies, stock certificates, lost payments, oil and gas royalties, and other entitlements, operated on a contingency fee basis with no upfront costs.
• Heir Hunting and Estate Services Probate and estate investigation services including multi-generational genealogical research, heir location, and inheritance recovery for estates, attorneys, fiduciaries, government agencies, and public administrators.
• Business Client Services Asset recovery and due diligence services for corporations and financial institutions, including state and federal pre-escheat compliance, successor-in-interest analysis, merger and acquisition history reviews, and large mailings to locate lost account owners.
• The Recovery Process Guided claim processing service in which account managers forward claim packages, itemize required documentation, and manage the end-to-end claims process from initiation to final payment over a typical 3-18 month timeline.

Quantifiable outcome

• Claims process takes 3-18 months typically, though some cases extend several years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative ServicescoreOthersLicensing authority for private investigators. Vanacore International holds Private Investigator License No. 13515 issued by this department since 1989. This regulatory partnership establishes the company's legitimacy and legal authority to conduct investigative work and access records for asset recovery purposes.
• Better Business Bureau (BBB)coreOthersBBB Accredited Business status demonstrates commitment to ethical business practices and customer satisfaction standards. Accreditation provides third-party verification of business trustworthiness.
• National Genealogical SocietycoreOthersProfessional membership organization for genealogists. Affiliation demonstrates expertise and professional standards in genealogical research methods used for heir location and estate claim services.
• California Association Licensed InvestigatorscoreOthersProfessional association for licensed investigators in California. Membership provides networking, continuing education, and industry best practice alignment for investigative services.
• El Dorado Hills Chamber of CommerceminorOthersLocal business chamber membership providing networking opportunities and community connection within the regional business community.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• TransUnion: Major consumer credit and skip-tracing data bureau used by asset recovery and collections firms to locate individuals. Functions as upstream infrastructure for VI-style heir location work rather than a direct competitor.
• LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Data and skip-tracing infrastructure provider whose records and identity-graph products underpin the work of firms like Vanacore. Adjacent rather than directly competitive: a potential supplier/platform dependency rather than a substitute service.

Direct peers

• Kelmar: Long-tenured unclaimed property compliance and due-diligence firm serving corporate holders. Directly competes with Vanacore's enterprise pre-escheat offering on successor-in-interest analysis and holder outreach programs.
• Discoveries Research International: Genealogical and probate research firm focused on locating heirs and beneficiaries for attorneys and estates. Comparable to Vanacore on the heir-hunting service line and B2B fiduciary client base.
• Kinsearch Research: Long-running probate and genealogical research firm providing heir location, vital records research, and estate claim support. Closely overlaps with Vanacore's heir-hunting and estate services, particularly for the attorney/fiduciary segment.
• HeirSearch: Specialist heir-finding and probate research firm serving attorneys, trustees, and beneficiaries. Directly comparable in service line, customer base, and contingency-fee-style engagement to Vanacore's Heir Hunting and Estate Services module.
• BKM Total Source: Specialist unclaimed property audit and recovery firm serving state treasurers and holders. Comparable to Vanacore on due-diligence and asset-location work, but focused on government and corporate clients rather than heirs.

Broad incumbents

• Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN): Public-company services firm offering unclaimed property/holder solutions including communication and shareholder-location services. Comparable to VI on the corporate holder outreach and location-of-lost-owners capability but at much larger scale.
• Eide Bailly (Unclaimed Property Practice): Top-30 U.S. accounting firm with a dedicated unclaimed property and escheat compliance practice serving corporate holders. Competes with Vanacore's enterprise compliance offering but as part of a much broader assurance/tax portfolio.
• Ernst & Young (Unclaimed Property / State and Local Tax): Big-4 advisory practice with significant state and local tax and unclaimed property services for enterprise holders. Overlaps with Vanacore's pre-escheat due diligence at the high end of the market where VI does not directly compete on scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/vanacore
• Xx.com/JeffVanacore
• Facebookfacebook.com/vanacoreinternational

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Vanacore International