Innovators at Brussels-based advisory firm ISFIN have launched DealFox, a global dealmaking platform connecting investors and trusted advisors.
DealFox is a Luxembourg-based spinoff created by Laurent Marliere and Zineb Bensaïd, which builds on the consultancy’s 30+ years of experience supporting companies with international trade and development through its network, advisory expertise and deal-making. “For ten years, we manually facilitated deals between companies and investors until we decided to use our knowledge to create a spinoff,” explains DealFox Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) Zineb Bensaïd.
The marketplace, which was officially launched at the International Bar Association Conference on 2 November, responds to a growing need for matchmaking between investors and trusted advisors like law firms and accounting firms.
“It helps advisors match off-market assets with the right investor profiles thus significantly increasing deal flow,”
Zined Bensaïd, Chief Knowledge Officer at DealFox
Laurent Marliere and other co-founders began developing the platform internally in 2021. In the summer of 2023, the startup raised an undisclosed amount from smart investors and has already signed its first clients.
“It is the first platform of its kind because we focus on trusted advisors and professionals. Plus we already have the trust of the lawyers and accountants because we have been active in the sector for so long,” says Bensaïd.
The CKO explains that the technology works like a dating platform, with an algorithm that helps match the client via their lawyer with the right investor based on their specific criteria. “It helps advisors match off-market assets with the right investor profiles thus significantly increasing deal flow,” she says.
DealFox has three operational founders, including Bensaïd, who is working in parallel in her role as vice president head of market intelligence at IsFin. She hopes to join the new venture full-time in the coming months. Beyond that, the company is looking to raise more funds to expand in the Benelux and European markets before exploring other markets.
