Search funds: young entrepreneurs at the helm of SMEs

It is an initial investment to get the programme off the ground, but the intention is then to gradually increase the initiative’s resources. This intention is justified both by how the initiative is progressing (the holding company has already approved 13 investments, 12 of which are in searcher and one in an SME) and by the decidedly promising market trends.

In fact, according to data from the 20026 report by the IESE Business School, Europe, with 291 search funds, accounts for 59.1 per cent of the 492 international search funds surveyed in the study (excluding the United States and Canada): Spain is the leading European market, with 98 search funds, accounting for 33.7 per cent of the total, followed by the United Kingdom (17.9 per cent).

Italia ranks third, although the number of search funds launched in the country as at 30 June 2026 has risen from 38 to 52, according to the latest research by the Search Fund Observatory at the Politecnico di Milano: 30 are in the research phase, 15 have already completed an acquisition and two have realised an exit, with a success rate of 77 per cent, in line with the international benchmark.

The profile of the searchers confirms the model’s potential for ‘brain gain’: a median age of 34, with 45 per cent having returned to Italia after working abroad. The acquired companies generate, on average, €11.2 million in revenue and €2.6 million in EBITDA. Fifty-two per cent of the capital in Italian search funds comes from institutional investors, but only 26 per cent (according to the PoliMi Observatory) comes from Italia: there is still ample scope for Italian investors.

As regards Gda Search, the 12 selected searchers come from the fields of strategic consultancy, private equity and corporate management, often with experience gained abroad. The thirteenth investment, on the other hand, involves the acquisition of a stake in an Italian SME by a search fund launched before Gda Search was established.

“We are planning to gradually increase our resources, so as to support the market’s growth in an ever broader and more structured way,” reiterates Michele Grimolizzi, chairman of Gda Search and director of the Giordano Dell’Amore Social Venture Foundation (the strategic and operational arm of the Cariplo Foundation in impact investing),

Looking ahead to the future, once the initiative has become established in the next two years, “we will be able to consider setting up a dedicated fund for activities focused on social and environmental impact,” Grimolizzi announces.

According to the IESE Business School report, the proportion of international search funds set up by multiple entrepreneurs (partnerships) has fallen slightly, standing at 37 per cent of the total sample and 31 per cent for those launched in the two-year period 2024–2025.

By the end of 2025, 676 entrepreneurs had set up a search fund. The age of entrepreneurs at the time of setting up their funds shows a slight upward trend, with ages ranging from 23 to 55 and a median age of 34 – five years higher than ten years earlier.

In particular, amongst new entrepreneurs, there is a lower proportion of those holding an MBA (60 per cent compared with 71 per cent of the overall sample) and of those who set up a search fund within a year of graduating (19 per cent compared with 37 per cent).

Of all the MBA graduates included in the study, 39 per cent obtained their degree from US business schools and nearly 54 per cent attended a course on entrepreneurship through acquisition (as of 2021).

The proportion of women amongst entrepreneurs remains largely unchanged compared with the previous study, standing at 7 per cent for search funds launched since 2022 and at 5 per cent in the overall sample.

One of the appealing aspects of the search fund model is the variety of career paths followed by successful entrepreneurs, which confirms that success does not depend on any specific professional profile. This also confirms that, when properly implemented, the traditional search fund model prepares entrepreneurs to successfully take on the role of CEO.

Management consultancy remains the most common career path amongst entrepreneurs, albeit with a declining share (22 per cent). This is followed by experience in private equity (18 per cent), corporate management and general management (14 per cent) and operations (9 per cent), which have overtaken those in investment banking and financial services (8 per cent).

Meanwhile, the proportion of entrepreneurs with previous business experience has doubled, reaching around 8 per cent.