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. Arcade AI, Inc
Arcade AI, Inc is a developer of AI agent authorization and integration infrastructure that enables artificial intelligence agents to securely take authenticated actions across enterprise and consumer applications. The company provides pre-built agent tools and SDKs that allow developers to integrate AI agents with systems such as Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Salesforce, and other commonly used platforms, while maintaining secure, auditable access controls.
- Sector: Information Technology
- Industry: Software
- Last known transaction date: Seed, $12M announced in March 2025
- Major sponsors/backers: Laude Ventures (lead), Neotribe Ventures, Hanabi Capital, Flybridge, Andy Rachleff
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Arcade AI’s last disclosed financing was a $12M Seed round announced in March 2025, placing the company roughly 12 months post-raise—squarely within the typical window when seed-stage software companies pursue a Series A or explore strategic alternatives. For venture-backed infrastructure software platforms, this timing often coincides with capital needs tied to product scaling, enterprise go-to-market execution, or inbound strategic interest from platform and security vendors.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
2. Octet Scientific
Octet Scientific, Inc. specializes in developing advanced electrolyte additives for non-lithium batteries, enhancing their performance, efficiency, and longevity. Their solutions have led to significant improvements, including a 20% increase in capacity, a 10% boost in efficiency, and a doubling of operating life for batteries. Founded in 2017, the company focuses on supporting the growing grid and stationary energy storage market, which is projected to reach at least $120 billion by 2030.
- Sector: Energy
- Industry: Specialty Chemicals
- Last known transaction date: Seed / Early-stage venture, $2.1M announced in March 2025
- Major sponsors/backers: ICIG Ventures (International Chemical Investors Group), BOLD Ventures, Brian Gale (existing investor)
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Octet Scientific completed a $2.1M financing round in March 2025 to scale and commercialize its electrolyte solutions for non-lithium grid and stationary batteries. As an early-stage materials and energy storage company entering a scale-up phase, the company is likely to seek additional strategic capital to support manufacturing expansion, customer deployments, and commercial partnerships. This timing aligns with typical follow-on fundraising or strategic investment activity from battery manufacturers, energy storage integrators, or chemical and materials companies seeking differentiated lithium-alternative technologies.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
3. Ownright
Ownright (formerly Doormat) is a Toronto-based company specializing in real estate legal services. Founded in 2022 by Robert Saunders, Joel Fox, and Benjamin Berry, the company aims to simplify the property closing process by integrating modern technology with legal expertise. Their services include property closings, mortgage refinancing, and status certificate reviews, all designed to make real estate transactions more transparent and accessible.
- Sector: Real Estate
- Industry: Legal Services / PropTech
- Last known funding round: Seed, $4.5M CAD announced in March 2025
- Major sponsors/backers: Led by Alate Partners and Relay Ventures, with participation from undisclosed angel investors
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Ownright’s $4.5M CAD Seed round in March 2025 places the company within the typical Seed → Series A planning window. Since launch, Ownright has facilitated over 1,000 transactions, processed more than $750 million in transaction value, and is on track to surpass $1 billion by the end of 2025. This level of operational traction, combined with continued geographic and referral network expansion, often drives venture-backed legal and real estate technology platforms to pursue a Series A, strategic minority investment, or partnership-led transaction to support growth and market expansion.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
4. Equipt
Equipt is a B2B value chain management platform specializing in asset purchase and rentals, as well as product procurement and sales. Founded on August 19, 2020, by Indrajit Datta, the company is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. Equipt leverages technological and industrial expertise to streamline and accelerate B2B transactions and communications, aiming to enhance efficiency and reduce costs for businesses.
- Sector: Information Technology
- Industry: Enterprise Software
- Last known funding round: Seed, $3.2M announced March 2025
- Major sponsors/backers: Led by Moneta Ventures, with participation from Cortado Ventures
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Equipt’s $3.2M Seed round announced in March 2025 places the company within the typical Seed → Series A planning window for enterprise software companies. As Equipt scales its AI-powered platform, expands product functionality, and deepens adoption among asset- and field service–driven customers, the company is likely to evaluate follow-on growth capital, a strategic minority investment, or partnership-driven transaction to support commercial expansion and operational scale.
View all private company data in Dakota Marketplace.
5. Pangea Aerospace
Pangea Aerospace is a European aerospace company founded in 2018 that specializes in the development of advanced propulsion systems for the space industry. Based in Barcelona and Toulouse, the company focuses on aerospike engine technology and sustainable propulsion solutions designed to improve performance, reusability, and cost efficiency for launch vehicles, satellites, and orbital transfer systems. Pangea’s technologies aim to reduce launch and in-space mobility costs while supporting next-generation reusable space platforms.
- Sector: Industrials
- Industry: Aerospace & Defense
- Last known funding round: Series A, €23M announced in March 2025
- Major sponsors/backers: Hyperion Fund (lead), CDTI Innvierte, Primo Capital (Primo Space), André-Hubert Roussel
- Why timing suggests a near-term transaction: Pangea Aerospace’s €23 million Series A announced in March 2025 places the company within the typical Series A → Series B planning window for capital-intensive aerospace platforms. As the company advances engineering milestones, customer programs, and European market expansion, it is likely to evaluate a Series B, strategic industrial investment, or non-dilutive funding to support commercialization, production scaling, and long-term contracts with launch and space systems providers.
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!
