Investment community · Investor networks · Entrepreneur networks
Searchfunder
Search fund entrepreneurs (searchers), the investors who back them, plus lenders, business brokers and advisers working in the lower middle market
A profile page holds what the organization publishes and what named sources report: who it admits, what it costs, how it is structured, where it operates, and how it has changed. Every figure carries the date it was checked. A dash means the organization does not publish that fact.
Founding — Not publicly disclosed — Searchfunder does not publish a founding year on its site, and no reliable dated source was found. The team appeared on a podcast discussing the platform in February 2019.
Searchfunder is an online community and deal platform for the search fund and entrepreneurship-through-acquisition market. It brings together searchers looking to buy and run a company, the investors who fund them, plus lenders, business brokers and advisers in the lower middle market. The platform provides a member directory, a list of active search funds, discussion forums organised by topic and geography, job and internship boards, and a facility for brokers to post deals. Paid members also get licensed research: the site describes access to more than 15,000 industry reports and 50,000 transaction financials, company contact data, and monthly credits for sourcing outreach. Pricing is published on the homepage at $79 a month, $19 a month billed annually, or $432 once for a lifetime account; members who hold a continuous account for more than four years are given permanent access without further payment. Registration is required to see the directory, the search fund list, or to post. The team behind the platform includes co-founders Luke Tatone and Mark Yuan and chief operating officer Karen Spencer.
How it works
Anyone can register a free account; a subscription unlocks the directory, research library, contact credits and posting. Activity happens in public and topic-specific forums, through deal and job postings, and via the searchable directory of searchers, investors and funds. There is no chapter structure and no in-person programme run by the platform itself, although it references the wider ETA conference circuit.
Typical member
Members are searchers pursuing entrepreneurship through acquisition, search fund and independent sponsor investors, lenders, brokers and service providers. The site notes that many members come from dedicated ETA programmes at Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB and Chicago Booth, while also saying that searching is no longer limited to those routes.
Membership requirements
Requirements in detail, with history →Requirements are the tests the organization itself publishes — an age ceiling, a company-revenue floor, a net-worth minimum, a role. Where a figure straddles a range, the organization's own assessment decides. Local chapters can apply stricter tests than the published standard.
| Criterion | Published requirement | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Other criterion | Registration required to access the directory, search fund list and posting features | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ |
Published criteria as verified on the dates shown. Final eligibility and admission decisions belong entirely to Searchfunder. See how you compare against these criteria →
Initiation fees are paid once on joining; dues recur. Chapter dues, retreats, travel and events are usually additional and are listed separately when the organization discloses them. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown — not quotations.
| Cost | First year | Three years | Provenance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual duesa year | $228 | $684 | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Monthly duesa month, counted ×12 | $948 | $2,844 | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosed — no joining fee is published; basic registration appears to be free | |||
| Other costonce | $432 | $432 | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Estimated total, disclosed figures only | $1,608 | $3,960 | Not counted: Initiation fee. | |
Structure and programming
Independent context
Searchfunder occupies an unusual position in this batch: it is a software product with a community around it rather than a membership association, so it has no board, no code of conduct on the public pages, no dues cycle and no published vetting. The strongest claim it makes about its own reach — that over 80% of people involved in search funds hold an account — is unverifiable and self-reported. Pricing is a genuine oddity: $79 a month against $19 a month billed annually is a roughly four-fold gap, and the $432 lifetime option undercuts two years of annual billing, which suggests the monthly rate exists mainly to push people to commit. Founding year, ownership, member count and headquarters are all absent from the site. Treat it as a useful deal and directory utility, not as a selective network.
Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.
Similar organizations
Alternatives, grouped by need →History and changes
Site-wide change log →- milestoneThe Searchfunder team appeared on the Think Like an Owner podcast to describe the platform, one of the earliest dated public references found ↗
Milestones as published by the organization or reported by a named source. “Record” entries are changes to this site’s own record of the organization, kept in the public change log rather than overwritten.
Take the next step
Check how you compare
Run the published criteria against a profile given in ranges. Nothing is stored.
Open the qualification toolRequest membership information
We pass on only what you agree to share, and only where the organization participates. You see exactly what is sent before you send it.
Request information Apply on their site ↗Follow this organization
One email when its requirements or fees change.
Sources
- Searchfunder — leading online community for search funds, independent sponsors and private equity in the lower middle market, Searchfunder.com. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Get to Know Searchfunder, Searchfunder.com. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
- Team from Searchfunder.com — Think Like an Owner, Think Like an Owner, February 2019. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 7
Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.
Is something wrong or out of date?
Represent Searchfunder? Verified representatives can submit corrections to fees, criteria, chapters and contact details, and add approved material. Submissions are reviewed by an editor and shown as organization-supplied; they never overwrite independent research.