Axial: Reinventing the Way Companies are Bought and Sold

The Silicon Review

Proper management of working capital is essential to a company’s fundamental financial health and operational success as a business. A hallmark of good business management is the ability to utilize working capital management to maintain a solid balance between growth, profitability and liquidity. A business uses working capital in its daily operations; working capital is the difference between a business's current assets and current liabilities or debts. Working capital serves as a metric for how efficiently a company is operating and how financially stable it is in the short-term. An effective working capital management system helps businesses not only cover their financial obligations but also boost their earnings. Managing working capital means managing inventories, cash, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Axial is a private deal network serving professionals who own, advice, and invest in North American lower middle market companies. Axial’s deal-sourcing and deal marketing tools are used to facilitate the discovery and execution of transactions. It is the trusted financial technology platform for business owners and their M&A advisors to safely and intelligently research, connect and transact with strategic and financial capital partners. Axial has facilitated over 2000 closed transactions, and built a network with over 10,000 financial investors, M&A advisory firms and company executives active in the lower middle market. Axial members focus on change of control, minority equity, debt, and co-investment transactions involving US & Canadian businesses doing $5M - $250M in revenue.

Capital Management Made Simple

Sell-Side M&A and Raising Capital: Axial puts the lower middle market’s capital partners at your fingertips. Research the buy-side by current deal criteria, transaction experience, and reputation, and then confidentially reach out with complete control and discretion when it’s time to go to market. Axial helps you find lesser-known targets such as family offices, strategic acquirers, and newly emerged financial sponsors to complement existing buy-side targets you have in mind. Axial's Advisor Finder program guides business owners through the M&A Advisor identification, interview, and hiring process. Leveraging 10 years of behavioral data and relationships on the Axial platform, the firm helps you choose the right advisor for your business.

Acquiring and Investing: Originate targeted, actionable M&A, minority equity, debt, and co-investment opportunities from owners, M&A advisors, and independent sponsors operating across the lower middle market. Over 6,000 deals go to market every year on the Axial platform. Whether you are a generalist private equity investor or a niche strategic buyer, Axial makes it easy to articulate the exact types of investments you’re targeting. Your Axial member profile is how you put your best foot forward with over 3,500 intermediaries, explaining why you and your firm are the right fit for the deals they are representing given your unique experience and positioning. Generating over 1 million page views of targeted traffic each year, Axial’s lower middle market directory is a critical digital destination. The free member profile tools make it easy for you to maximize your visibility with exit-minded business owners, dealmakers assembling buyer lists, and investment and operating talent.

Digital Marketing: Axial's content, leaderboards and member directory rank at the top of Google for the most widely searched terms in the lower middle market, driving deal flow and new business opportunities to your Axial profile. Once there, visitors can view your closed deal badges and closed deal history, making it the most accessible venue on the internet to convey your credibility and reputation. Axial provides a host of badges that members can earn to display on their Axial profiles, which is accessible whenever any member is looking to engage with you within the platform, as well as via the SEO-optimized directory pages. Badges are earned for your closed deals with other members, as well as for being featured on Axial’s league tables or an Axial leaderboard, with many more to come. Presence on these features is reserved for members that are the most active contributors on its platform, and those with the highest ratings and reviews from other Axial members. Members will include these features in pitches to new potential clients and decks sent to potential fundraising partners, along with displaying the accolades on their website and in their email signatures.

Meet the Leader Behind Axial's Success

Peter Lehrman is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axial. He is responsible for delivering the company’s vision to become the trusted platform where private companies and their trusted advisors connect with capital. Prior to Axial, Peter worked in private equity at SFW Capital Partners and was part of the founding team at Gerson Lehrman Group, where he helped to build the company’s global technology platform for on-demand business expertise. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and received his MBA from Stanford Business School. He lives in New York with his wife Eve and their four children.