Curious is a long-term holding company that buys software companies with $2M to $10M in ARR. We're backed by operator LPs with cash on our balance sheet, so there's no financing risk. No ghost equity or complicated structures, just cash for your business, and we close within 60 days.
Most sale processes run on the buyer's timeline and the seller's patience. Ours runs on a calendar you can hold us to. Here is every step, and what we need from you at each one.
Forty five minutes with the person who will actually make the decision, not an analyst. We ask what you built, who it serves, and what you want to happen to it. You ask us anything.
We look at revenue, retention, margins and the shape of the team, then send a range with the reasoning behind it. If the range doesn't work for you, we stop there and no time is wasted.
A short letter, in plain language, with the price, the structure and the closing date. All cash, no financing condition, because the money is already on our balance sheet.
One data room, one list, one team reading it. We confirm what we already believe rather than hunting for reasons to re-trade. Then we wire, and you decide whether you're staying.
Each acquisition we make is in the frame of decades to build companies that can evolve alongside transformational shifts. We're focused on legacy, resilience, and continuous reinvention, not raising additional funds or future exits.
We combine deep software experience with a bias toward emerging technology. We move quickly to adopt, master, and operationalize new tools to improve efficiency, decision-making, and performance.
Our process is built on efficiency and certainty. We close within 60 days and pay cash. Founders decide whether to stay with the business or hand it off. No golden handcuffs.
Structure is where most offers quietly get worse after you sign. These five things are absent from every deal we do, and you can hold the letter of intent up against this list.
The price is the price, paid at close. You don't spend two more years hitting someone else's targets to collect what you already sold.
Founders decide whether to stay with the business or hand it off. Both answers are normal and neither changes the number.
No rolled equity, no seller notes, no options in a holdco you can't value. Just cash for your business.
Backed by operator LPs with cash on our balance sheet, so there's no financing risk and no lender who can walk in week seven.
Sixty days from first call to wire. If we can't get comfortable in sixty days, that's our answer and you have your time back.
Three answers and we'll tell you honestly. Sometimes the answer is no, and it's better you hear that in ten seconds than after six weeks of diligence.
We buy software companies with $2M to $10M in ARR. Pick a band and we'll keep going.
Three things founders ask us to explain before anything else. Each one is defined below and worked through properly on its own page.
Our thresholds for ARR, retention, margin and concentration, written down by revenue band.
Venture money is priced on the assumption that another round follows. When one doesn't, the real question is what a sale at a given price leaves for founders and staff once the investors are paid first. That ordering is the preference stack, and it decides almost everything.
Preference stacks, board consents, and what actually reaches the common stock, with the arithmetic shown.
Money that isn't sitting in a fund with a wind-up date. Nobody has to hand it back by a particular year, so nobody is obliged to sell what it buys. That single structural fact is what separates us from a buyer who needs an exit.
Why an owner with no fund clock behaves differently from private equity, in four columns.
Working with Curious was an incredibly smooth and straightforward process.
From the beginning, they demonstrated quick decision making and a level of transparency that made the entire experience seamless. Unlike many firms that acquire businesses to run out cash, Curious is passionate about the brands they take on. Their dedication to the business was clear, and I'm confident it's in great hands. I couldn't recommend them more highly.
Through the process of finding a new home for Avenue we spoke to tens of potential partners. From our very first meeting, Andrew and Curious stood out for their empathy for our story, curiosity (unsurprisingly!) and a builder's mindset that focused on potential and possibility.
More simply: they just got it. It was refreshing to start from a place of understanding and respect, rather than feeling like every aspect of the company's history and operations was under a microscope.
A fair price in cash, at close, based on ARR, retention and margin. We send the range with the maths behind it in writing, and we don't move it later without a reason we can show you.
One founder reads every one of these, and you'll hear back within two business days. If we're not the right buyer we'll say so, and we'll usually tell you who is.
Curious is a long-term holding company that buys and grows software companies with empathy.
Join the Curious Dispatch to receive our latest thinking, news, and opportunities within our portfolio.
