An AI-native platform that aims to transform the deal origination sector has raised £1.7m in pre-seed funding.
London-based Handshaik is the brainchild of Gen Z founder Joshua Port, who came up with the idea while working in M&A at KPMG.
The 26-year-old, who is the son of serial entrepreneur and BigChange founder Martin Port, realised that AI and workflow automation could streamline the process of identifying potential targets.
After building in stealth for 15 months, he launched Handshaik to the market earlier this year and has already compiled 5.5 million company profiles and attracted hundreds of users to the platform.
The startup recently closed a £1.7m pre-seed fundraise from more than 20 angel investors.
“I left school in Leeds at the age of 18 and landed a job as an apprentice at KPMG in London,” he said.
“After three years I started working in deal origination and realised quickly how inefficient the process was.
“The technologies on offer were expensive, often lacked focus, delivered low-quality data and, crucially, failed to support the way originators actually work.
“From speaking to my peers in the market, it was obvious the problems I was encountering weren’t unique to me and that technology could offer a solution.
“Handshaik is a variation on the word ‘handshake’ because deals are built on relationships. That first introduction right through to completion is exactly where we come in.
Gen Z founder: Joshua Port, Handshaik
“Because AI is at the centre of what we do, it’s also at the centre of our company name.”
Handshaik creates analyst-grade profiles on every UK company.
Its AI identifies the best-fit opportunities based on a user’s brief, using easy-to-understand language on why each company is a fit.
Relevant contacts are then enriched with verified emails and mobile numbers. From there, teams can monitor and nurture targets through a collaborative pipeline workflow, without manual admin.
“Deal origination is evolving,” said Port. “There is more data and more tools than ever before.
“Teams spend hours turning data into an actionable pipeline and this is time that could be spent building relationships.
“We saw an opportunity to rebuild that entire experience and create the first operating system for deal origination.”
Handshaik consolidates data on millions of UK companies into a single, comprehensive, real-time view of the market.
The platform draws on official filings from Companies House, backing it up with data from company websites, news sources and more.
The data is analysed and cleansed to make it usable and actionable. Handshaik’s proprietary data layer then supports decision-making throughout the workflow.
Handshaik is also being used by accountants, software and B2B firms.