Tracking when private companies are nearing a sale, recap, or financing event has always been a guessing game. With thousands of sponsor-backed firms spread across sectors and geographies, most deal teams are forced to react after the market moves.
Investors, bankers, and service providers struggle to know which private companies are gearing up for a transaction or capital raise. Signals are scattered, opaque, and nearly impossible to track across thousands of PE- and VC-backed businesses.
Dakota centralizes those signals (holding periods, funding rounds, platform acquisition dates, ownership changes, and exit timing patterns) into one predictive transaction-readiness tool. Instead of waiting for headlines, users can see which companies are showing the strongest likelihood of pursuing a sale, recapitalization, or new financing before the market knows.
Below is today’s list of five PE- or VC-backed companies that, based on their hold period, financing stage, and last transaction date, appear to be credible candidates for a sale or next-round raise.
Nothing is guaranteed, but these companies fall squarely within the timing windows where sponsors typically look to generate liquidity or secure additional capital.
Sourced from Dakota Sponsor Backed Companies.
1. Zero Industrial, Inc.
Zero Industrial, Inc. is a private company based in Charleston, South Carolina, specializing in decarbonizing industrial heat. The company focuses on providing thermal energy storage solutions to help industries reduce emissions, lower costs, and mitigate energy volatility. Their services encompass project feasibility studies, equipment selection, project design, permitting, electricity procurement, financing, project execution, and operations and maintenance.
- Sector: Energy / Climate Tech (Thermal Energy Storage, Industrial Decarbonization)
- Last known transaction date: Series A, April 2025 ($10 million)
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Zero Industrial announced its $10 million Series A in April 2025 to accelerate deployment of thermal energy storage projects across North America. With Series A capital now being deployed into project origination, development, and Heat-as-a-Service contracts, the company will likely be focused on demonstrating project execution, securing long-term customer agreements, and scaling its financed project pipeline over the next 12–24 months. Given the capital-intensive nature of infrastructure-style energy development and its fully financed delivery model, follow-on growth equity, structured project capital, or strategic investment could emerge in the 2026–2027 window as projects reach construction or commercial operation milestones.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
2. BioClec
BioClec is a Milan-based biotechnology company focused on developing disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease by targeting microglia, the brain’s immune cells. The company is in the discovery stage and originated from Sofinnova Partners’ Biovelocita II accelerator program.
- Sector: Health Care
- Last known transaction date: Seed, March 2025
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: BioClec’s seed round announced in March 2025 places the company approximately 12–18 months removed from its initial institutional financing by mid to late 2026, consistent with the typical window when seed-stage companies begin preparing for their next raise. As scientific validation, early partnerships, and development milestones progress, the company is likely to evaluate follow-on capital, strategic collaborations, or early acquisition interest.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
3. LICIT Solutions GmbH
LICIT Solutions GmbH is a Germany-based research and development company founded in 2022 that develops active substances and preservation systems for materials protection, cosmetic preservation, and related applications. Its product portfolio includes Aminolipin®, Innolipin®, and INNOBALM®, which are designed to offer effective preservation solutions with an emphasis on safety and regulatory compliance.
- Sector: Materials
- Last known funding round: Series A, March 2025
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: LICIT Solutions GmbH’s Series A announced in March 2025 places the company roughly 12–18 months removed from its most recent financing by mid to late 2026, aligning with the typical timing for Series A companies preparing for their next growth round. As customer adoption and commercial partnerships expand, the company is likely to evaluate follow-on capital, strategic investment, or acquisition interest.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
4. Gallatin AI
Gallatin AI builds an AI-driven logistics platform for the defense sector, providing decision support across first, middle, and last mile operations, integrating manpower, materiel, mission planning, and asset visibility to optimize military supply chains.
- Sector: Defense Technology / AI (Military Logistics & Decision Support)
- Last known funding round: Seed, April 2025 ($15 million)
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Gallatin emerged from stealth in April 2025 with a $15 million seed round led by 8VC, positioning the company at the early commercialization stage of its AI-native logistics platform, Navigator. Seed-stage defense tech companies typically pursue a Series A within 12–18 months as they convert pilot programs into production contracts and demonstrate operational validation with DoD stakeholders. Given heightened federal focus on logistics modernization, contested-environment readiness, and AI-enabled decision support, Gallatin will likely seek follow-on institutional capital in 2026 to scale product deployment, expand integrations across first/middle/last-mile operations, and deepen defense partnerships. Strategic investment from defense primes or growth equity firms could also materialize as the platform gains procurement traction.
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5. Qolab
Qolab is a venture-backed technology company focused on developing utility-scale superconducting quantum computers. The company collaborates on device fabrication, control electronics, and high-performance computing to build quantum systems designed for near-term applications and long-term fault-tolerant operation.
- Sector: Information Technology
- Last known funding round: Series A March 2025
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Qolab’s Series A announced in March 2025 places the company roughly 12–18 months removed from its most recent financing by mid to late 2026, aligning with the typical window when Series A companies begin preparing for their next growth round. As technical milestones and commercial partnerships progress, the company is likely to evaluate follow-on capital, strategic investment, or acquisition interest.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
Use Dakota’s Sponsor Backed Company Intelligence to Spot Likely Exits Before the Market Does
Dakota’s private company data gives you a real-time view into thousands of sponsor-backed companies, including platform acquisition dates, funding rounds, parent sponsors, add-on activity, and sector categorization.
Instead of guessing where companies are in their lifecycle, you can instantly identify which ones are approaching the typical timing windows for a sale or recap.
Fully integrated into Dakota Marketplace, this dataset enables deal sourcers, investor relations teams, and allocators to anticipate transactions, build targeted outreach lists, and stay ahead of market announcements, every single day.
To explore more companies likely to transact, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace!
