AI is everywhere – but, as with the original dot.com boom, it’s about making the right choices in a vast and bewildering universe. Datasite’s mission is to find you the right kind of AI – the kind that lightens your workflows while lighting up data, to enable faster decisions. In short, it’s about AI that accelerates and illuminates, giving a game-changing advantage to your dealmaking: light speed.

At our recent Front of the Line tech showcase, we put these latest innovations in the spotlight. Here’s a flashback.

Vision through acquisition

Since Datasite is all about M&A, evolving through acquisitions is pretty apt. We’ve identified the best dealmaking tech (so you don’t have to) to power up the platform that you already use. These include:

Sourcescrub and Grata – private company data

Two outstanding sources of information on the private market, Sourcescrub and Grata each use AI in their unique ways to pull in data that traditional sources often lack. Both are especially useful for providing insights on smaller companies in the mid-market that may otherwise be overlooked. 

In combination, they make a formidable pairing, delivering a unique dataset for dealmakers covering more than 20m companies. Feeding into the Datasite platform, they enable professionals in corp dev, PE, and investment banking to develop hypotheses and identify targets more confidently than ever.

Blueflame AI – data plus agentic workflows

As if that weren’t enough, the acquisition of Blueflame AI adds yet another data source on the private capital markets. As well as reinforcing the data from Grata and Sourcescrub, it enhances both research and diligence processes thanks to its agentic AI. ‘Agentic’ means that it is goal-oriented, with an element of self-steering – it breaks down big goals into smaller goals, strings together a chain of prompts to achieve those goals, and so deliver more complex workflows than other forms of AI. Starting with a fairly simple prompt, it can execute quite a complex workflow as an M&A professional might. For instance: Build a target list → enrich with proprietary/public data → draft outreach emails → prepare executive brief.

Connecting to multiple data sources (e.g. Grata, CapIQ, Salesforce, Outlook, SharePoint), it consolidates this data into usable workflows. Blueflame can also run ‘Blueprints’ – predefined, reusable workflows for tasks such as memo generation for investment committees, due diligence reviews, fireside brief preparation, and of course target sourcing.

Pipeline integration

Rather than being mere add-ons, these new technology assets are being woven into the fabric of the existing Datasite platform. A shining example of this is the way that Datasite Pipeline® now channels the power of Grata.

For some time, dealmakers have dreamed of being able to update Pipeline data automatically, without having to conduct ongoing research and re-enter it manually. Now that dream is a reality, with Grata’s private company intelligence flowing directly into Pipeline in near-real time. It automatically updates fields such as growth rate, founding year, revenue, and headcount – but you can still enter data manually, and perform side-by-side comparison of Grata vs. user-updated values.

The upshot? Enriched company profiles fed live to your deal pipeline, which you know are always up to date. It means faster target evaluation, and a smoother transition from sourcing to launching the deal.

‘This has been a great set of tools to add to our portfolio,’ he said. ‘They're changing the way that private capital evaluates, does diligence, sourcing, and overall research workflows across the business.’ He added, ‘We're just super excited to partner with these incredibly competent leadership teams that have built very strong operating businesses in and of themselves.’

Besides evolving through acquisitions, Datasite is also turning out a host of home-grown innovations. Highlights covered at the Front of the Line webinar include:

Full document translation and redaction

Translation tools are everywhere, but the security hazard they pose is significant. With Datasite’s full document translation, there’s no leaving the safety of the data room, and no uploading to third party sites. The deal moves forward without a hitch, and cross-border transactions move more swiftly.