GrowthPal Revolutionizes M&A Deal Sourcing: How Amar Shirsat is Using AI to Unlock the $50 Million Mid-Market Opportunity

In the high-stakes world of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), there is a massive "blind spot" that traditional investment banks refuse to touch. While billion-dollar deals make the front pages of the Wall Street Journal, thousands of companies worth between $1 million and $50 million are constantly looking for buyers or sellers. This "mid-market" is too small for the relationship-heavy, 7% fee structure of big banks, yet too large and complex for a simple Google search. The result is a fragmented ecosystem where ambitious companies miss out on growth because they simply can't find each other.

Enter Amar Shirsat, the co-founder and CTO of GrowthPal. With a 30-year career that includes building startups acquired by giants like Symantec and Tenable, Amar is now applying his deep data engineering expertise to the M&A space. By tracking 3.5 million companies globally and deploying AI agents that monitor competitor strategies in real-time, GrowthPal is transforming M&A from a one-time "event" into a continuous, data-driven SaaS workflow.

The Problem: The "Inorganic Taper" and the Discovery Gap

Amar identifies a fundamental law of business growth: The Organic Taper. When a company reaches a certain size, its ability to grow organically (through its own sales and marketing) inevitably slows down. "You can't grow beyond 15-20% once you reach a certain size," Amar explains. "To bridge that additional 10% gap, ambitious companies must look toward inorganic growth—acquisitions."

However, discovering the right target is a nightmare. A buyer might want to expand into Healthcare in Europe or add a specific AWS Cloud integration capability. Finding a company that fits these exact parameters, has a healthy culture, and has the intent to sell is like finding a needle in a global haystack.

The Technology: Moving Beyond Standard Attributes

GrowthPal isn't just a database of company names. It's an enrichment engine. Traditional search looks at revenue and employee count. GrowthPal looks at indirect signals: Is the company hiring new executives? Have they acquired a new marquee client? Are they mentioned in the news for a specific technical partnership?

"Our data collection agents constantly monitor the entire internet for these signals," says Amar. "If an IT services company claims a capability in Salesforce but their employees' LinkedIn profiles show zero Salesforce skills, our AI classifies that as a weakness, not a strength. We rank targets based on the Synergy with the buyer's existing portfolio."

The Confidentiality Paradox: The "Blind Profile"

One of the biggest hurdles in automating M&A is the extreme sensitivity of the data. A seller doesn't want their employees or clients to know the company is for sale. A buyer doesn't want to tip their hand to competitors.

GrowthPal solves this with a multi-layered consent architecture. Public information (LinkedIn, websites) is available to all, but the "Intent to Buy/Sell" is hidden. When a match is found, GrowthPal shares a "Blind Profile"—a description detailed enough to pique interest (industry, size, core skills) but generic enough to hide the exact identity. Only when both parties provide consent and sign NDAs are the names revealed.

The Future: Agentic M&A and Competitor Monitoring

Amar is particularly excited about the shift toward Agentic Workflows. Early next year, GrowthPal is releasing an AI agent that acts as a 24/7 strategist for CEOs.

"This agent doesn't just wait for you to search," Amar explains. "It monitors your competitors. If a rival acquires a startup in your 'white space,' the agent instantaneously alerts you and recommends a counter-acquisition target from the market that can neutralize that threat." This level of real-time strategic defense was previously the domain of expensive consulting firms; now, it's a SaaS feature.

Amar's Philosophy on Talent and Culture

Building a complex platform requiring expertise in AI, Data Science, and Finance is expensive. Amar's secret to hiring in a hyper-competitive market is finding "Entrepreneurs within the company." He looks for people who are willing to trade a portion of a corporate salary for the chance to solve a massive, global problem. "As long as you are true to your problem statement and solving a big enough problem, passionate individuals will stay with you," he advises.

Conclusion: Democratizing the Deal

By focusing on the underserved mid-market and replacing manual labor with AI-driven discovery, Amar Shirsat and GrowthPal are doing for M&A what Zerodha did for retail trading: they are democratizing access. Whether it's a cross-border acquisition between India and Europe or a niche technology play, GrowthPal is ensuring that no growth objective is held back by a lack of data. In the age of AI, the best deal isn't found at a cocktail party; it's found in the patterns of three and a half million companies.