STIQ.ai (Strategic Targeting Intelligence)

What STIQ.ai (Strategic Targeting Intelligence) does

STIQ.ai (Strategic Targeting Intelligence), legally operating as Lupinebytes (Netherlands), is an AI-powered M&A intelligence platform purpose-built for European buy-and-build strategies pursued by private equity firms and corporate M&A teams. The platform's core offering is the STIQ Terminal, which combines a proprietary multi-factor scoring methodology (STIQ Score) with AI-powered market mapping and a proprietary database of European SMEs, including private companies and family-owned businesses in fragmented sectors that are often absent from conventional databases. STIQ claims AI models trained specifically on European M&A contexts to assess acquisition suitability, quantify synergy potential, and evaluate integration and cultural risk across DACH, Benelux, Nordics, UK, France, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe, with reported performance metrics of 5x faster target identification, 40% lower sourcing costs, and a 25% higher deal success rate.

The company employs a sales-led, enterprise go-to-market motion built around a 'Request a Demo' lead capture mechanism that collects firm AUM, regional focus, and specific interests. Pricing is quote-based with no public tiers, and revenue is generated through recurring subscriptions to the SaaS platform, with annual contract cadences implied by institutional PE buyer behavior. Marketing is content-led, anchored by white papers (such as a systematic framework for European buy-and-build), the '188 Fragmented Industries in the Netherlands' research report, blog posts on AI in PE deal origination, and a published case study with Dutch physiotherapy platform FGN Physiotherapy Group (40+ acquisitions), from which a referral relationship with PE shareholder HC Partners was generated. The company has 1-10 employees, was founded in 2025, is headquartered in the Netherlands, and shows no disclosed funding, parent company, or acquisition activity, indicating an early-stage, likely bootstrapped operating profile.

Name

STIQ.ai (Strategic Targeting Intelligence)

Legal name

Lupinebytes

Website

https://stiq.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

STIQ.ai (operating as Lupinebytes in the Netherlands) is an AI-powered M&A intelligence platform that provides European PE firms and corporate M&A teams with scored, AI-generated target lists and market mapping for buy-and-build strategies across fragmented industries in DACH, Benelux, Nordics, UK, and France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

M&A Intelligence Software

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Buy-Side Search & Acquisition Advisory (FSAEAIAD)

Keywords

• M&A intelligence platform
• European PE targeting
• Buy-and-build analytics
• Deal origination software
• SME target identification

Headquarters

HQ city

Netherlands

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. AI-Powered M&A Intelligence Platform: SaaS platform providing AI-scored target lists, market mapping, and qualification services for European PE roll-up strategies. Delivered as actionable, prioritized target lists based on investment thesis alignment.
2. Enterprise/B2B Software Solution: Quote-based enterprise pricing targeting PE firms and corporate M&A teams. Sales-led motion with personalized demos, suggesting annual or multi-year contract structures for institutional clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

STIQ provides an AI-powered M&A intelligence platform (STIQ Terminal) that helps European private equity firms and corporate M&A teams identify, qualify, and prioritize acquisition targets in fragmented SME sectors. The platform combines proprietary European SME data (including private companies sourced from KVK and regional registries) with specialized AI models trained for European buy-and-build strategies, delivering AI-scored, prioritized target lists calibrated to the customer's investment thesis in days rather than months.

Product overview

STIQ is a unified AI-powered M&A intelligence platform designed exclusively for European buy-and-build strategies. The core offering consists of the STIQ Terminal platform, which combines the proprietary STIQ Score methodology with AI-powered market mapping and specialized European SME data assets. The platform integrates Deep European SME Data (covering DACH, Benelux, Nordics, UK, and France regions) with Specialized AI Analysis capabilities to deliver comprehensive, AI-scored target lists. The STIQ Score provides multi-factor ranking of candidates based on strategic fit, financial profile, and operational compatibility. The system replaces manual spreadsheet-based M&A research by automating target identification, qualification, and prioritization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• STIQ Terminal STIQ Terminal is the main AI-powered platform delivering comprehensive, intelligently scored target lists for European buy-and-build strategies. It replaces manual M&A research with systematic target identification, qualification, and prioritization, and is intended for European private equity firms and corporate M&A teams pursuing roll-up strategies in fragmented SME sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5x faster target identification (weeks to days)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature9 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• PrivSource: AI-driven private company database focused on mid-market M&A target identification. Comparable niche overlap with STIQ in serving PE deal sourcing teams, with partial feature overlap in scoring and qualification.

Broad incumbents

• CB Insights: Market intelligence platform widely used by corporate strategy and PE teams for company discovery and market mapping. Overlaps with STIQ's market mapping and target qualification capabilities but as part of a broader enterprise intelligence suite.
• PitchBook: Dominant incumbent in PE/VC deal data, owned by Morningstar. Provides comprehensive M&A intelligence, private company data, and deal sourcing — overlapping with STIQ's target identification use case but as part of a much broader data platform.
• MergerMarket (Acuris): Long-established M&A intelligence provider owned by Acuris, offering deal flow intelligence and proprietary intelligence on European and global M&A. Overlaps with STIQ on European deal origination, though with a more traditional research-based model.
• Crunchbase Pro: Broad company intelligence platform used by dealmakers for company discovery. While not specialized in European buy-and-build, it competes in the same workflow of identifying and vetting M&A targets.

Direct peers

• SourceScrub: Target identification platform purpose-built for buy-side M&A and PE deal sourcing. Competes directly with STIQ on AI-driven target list generation, though with a stronger North American footprint.
• Affinity: Relationship intelligence platform for dealmakers that captures relationship data to surface warm intro paths. Comparable to STIQ in serving PE deal teams, though differentiated by its relationship-graph approach versus STIQ's data-and-AI approach.
• Grata: AI-powered private company intelligence and deal sourcing platform for M&A. Grata is the closest direct competitor to STIQ, offering similar target identification for buy-side firms, though with a broader US-centric data footprint.
• Inven: AI-powered private company database originally built in Finland serving European mid-market M&A. Closest European comparable to STIQ in focus on fragmented-market targeting and private company data.
• DealRoom: M&A lifecycle management platform with European roots (originally from Estonia) offering deal sourcing, pipeline management, and due diligence. Comparable to STIQ in European mid-market M&A focus and target identification features.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/stiq_ai
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stiq-ai

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 STIQ.ai (Strategic Targeting Intelligence)