The Data Dilemma in Deal Origination and What To Do About It

April 8, 2025

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5 min read

Origination success often comes down to timing, precision, and insight, with Origination teams across Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Corporate M&A being held back - not by a lack of ambition, but often by a lack of data agility.

The truth is, while deals continue to move at speed, the infrastructure across many Origination functions is still in the process of catching up.

The new demands of Origination

Historically, deal sourcing relied on relationships, networks, and good instinct. But today’s environment is more competitive. There’s more capital chasing fewer opportunities, and the best deals are often snapped up by firms that can move quickly—and prove why they should win the deal.

That speed, however, is only possible when you can see the right opportunities early and act with confidence. And this is why insight and instinct combined provides the best results.

Three core challenges facing Origination teams today

1. Fragmented Data & Blind Spots

Origination analysts are often stuck stitching together information from CRMs, Companies House, spreadsheets, scraping websites, and tapping internal notes. There’s no single view of the market, which means opportunities are missed—or spotted too late.

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“Sourcing is as much about what you can’t see as what you can.”
– Origination Manager, UK Mid-Market Fund
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2. SIC Codes Are Not Enough

Traditional methods like SIC codes offer broad classifications; ‘software’, ‘consulting’, ‘retail’. But they lack the depth needed to understand the nuance of a business. Without richer profiling, differentiation between a niche AI provider and a generic software agency is all but impossible.
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3. Speed vs. Accuracy Trade-off

By the time pipeline reports are updated and due diligence documents collated, that window of opportunity might already be closing. Today’s deal flow doesn’t reward perfection - it rewards confidence built on clean, contextualised data.

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What the future looks like

Forward-thinking origination leaders are shifting focus:

From manual research to automated data enrichment
From SIC codes to real-world business signals
From gut feel alone to data-informed decision-making

They’re not replacing instinct, but reinforcing it with better intelligence.
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So how can Origination teams get ahead?

It starts with thinking about data differently, not just as a supporting act, but as an engine for origination strategy.
Platforms like Configur were built with this mindset. Not just for analysis, but for acceleration.

Market Visibility in One View
Bringing together proprietary deal pipelines, Companies House, Funding rounds, press mentions, awards, and website activity, all into a single live dashboard. No more scattered tabs.
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Deeper, Faster Profiling
Identify high-potential targets in seconds. Filter by ownership structure, growth trends, sub-sector, financial triggers, or hiring patterns.
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Conversational AI for Live Insight
Want to know which portfolio businesses have grown revenue YoY? Just ask. Tools like Abi (Configur’s conversational AI) enable you to query your data in plain language, with no need to write a report or build a dashboard.
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Automated personalisation for outreach
Intelligent outreach doesn’t mean spam. Configur can use real-time signals, like leadership changes or expansion news to generate tailored outreach emails that feel personal, not generic.

Why it matters: data as a deal enabler

The real differentiator for Origination teams won’t be volume - it will be velocity and relevance. The winners won’t just be those who find the most businesses to approach. It will be those who find the right businesses first and at the right time of their growth journey.

And while data alone can’t make the decision for you, it can accelerate your ability to make the right one.
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