Financial Services / Europe / 2018
Automating first-pass screening in a venture dealflow pipeline
A growth-stage venture firm was losing partner time to unqualified dealflow. We deployed an assisted screening layer against its CRM and portfolio analytics, shortening review cycles without removing partner judgement from the decision.
Results
- 52%
- Reduction in deal review cycle time
- 38%
- Improvement in high-fit lead identification
Disciplines
- Process automation
- Applied AI
- Systems integration
Context
Inbound volume had grown faster than the firm’s capacity to assess it. Partners were spending disproportionate time on first-pass filtering — work that was necessary, largely mechanical, and the least valuable use of the hours available.
Approach
We built the screening layer against the firm’s existing CRM and portfolio analytics rather than introducing a separate system, so that the fit criteria it applied were derived from the firm’s own history rather than a generic template.
The design point was where to stop. The layer filters and prioritises; it does not decide, and it does not silently discard. Every screened-out opportunity remains visible with its reasoning attached, because a screening system that cannot be audited by the partners it serves will not be trusted by them — and an untrusted system is simply an additional process step.
Outcome
Deal review cycle time fell by 52% and identification of high-fit leads improved by 38% within the first quarter. Partner attention moved to the assessment stage, which was the point of the exercise.