Background
A global mid-market private equity fund knew exactly what a high-performing origination engine looked like. They were already running one in the U.S.: a 10-person team turning banker-sourced deals into sharp two-page summaries for the investment team.
Europe was a different story. There, one team handled both origination and evaluation, and as deal volume climbed, the structure started to crack. The obvious fix, rebuilding the 10-person U.S. machine on a second continent, meant a year of hiring and a permanent cost base. They wanted the model without the headcount.
The new European function had to:
Uphold the firm's rigorous analytical standards
Integrate seamlessly with existing CRM and reporting systems
Match the U.S. team's efficiency with a far leaner structure
The Challenge
In Europe, the same people sourced deals and evaluated them, and rising volume meant both jobs were getting squeezed. Matching the depth and rigor of the U.S. model would normally take a dedicated 10-person team, and nobody wanted to spend a year and a U.S.-sized budget building one.
The Solution
The firm deployed Raylu as the core of a standalone European origination function, built around two people instead of ten:
Analyst-grade accuracy. Raylu captures critical insights at 99% accuracy and 96% recall, holding the bar the firm's U.S. team had set.
Best-in-test extraction. In the firm's own evaluation, Raylu surfaced key information 30% more effectively than every other AI tool they tested.
Zero-friction integration. Raylu slotted into existing workflows, templates, and CRMs with minimal disruption. The investment team kept its trusted two-page summary format, now produced by a fraction of the headcount.
With Raylu, our newly established European origination team rapidly matched the rigorous, data-driven output of our long-standing U.S. operation, while running far leaner and at a fraction of the cost.
- COO, Global Mid-Market Private Equity Fund
The Results
Greater origination efficiency
Data accuracy
More effective than other AI tools tested
Ten people of output, from a team of two
The two-person European team now matches the output of the 10-person U.S. operation: 5x the efficiency, at a fraction of the cost.
Insights that fit the firm
Raylu's output aligns with the firm's strategic criteria and investment perspective, not a generic screen anyone could run.
ROI from week one
Onboarding took days, not quarters, and deal screening got faster and sharper immediately.
Net effect: the U.S. playbook now runs in Europe, leaner, cheaper, and just as rigorous.