Disclaimer: Unless noted otherwise, views and analysis expressed here are the author's own and based on public sources. The article is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional for investment decisions.

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Last November, over a coffee in Munich a founder pitched me a Buy & Build in the “finishing trades” space. The pitch resonated; I invited him to Trey Knighton’s famous GP/LP meetup. Barely through the door, my new acquaintance struck up a conversation with a former Operating Partner at a prominent German midcap PE. Someone who happened to know A LOT about real estate. One year later, the platform is fully funded. The Operating Partner joined in as a co-founder. Acquisition #2 is on the way.       

Key takeaways? One, keep pitching! Two, the European Independent Sponsor market bears more than a passing resemblance to buzzy Venture a decade ago. We estimate that Euro ISPs are roughly the same size as Venture in 2017 (€6-7B p.a.), and growing fast with multiple new platforms and investors emerging. Since then, European Venture investment has tripled to become a €20B+ category. Before you brand me a megalomaniac, consider that the global (read, Western) Independent Sponsor market was $65B in 2025 - with the lion’s share of it occurring in the US.   

The reason I keep returning to Munich in late November is the Bright Capital organised Independent Sponsors Summit. Same as last year, my three-day sojourn in Germany’s Private Equity capital has generated so much content I had to split the writeup in two, so as not to overwhelm you. 

Background reading:

Private Equity professionals are leaving in droves to set up “Independent Sponsors”. What are these - and should you start one?

13x growth, fresh faces overlooked & US LPs circling: this is what Europe’s Independent Sponsor market looks like in 2026

Today, check out my keynote from the Summit, called “From niche to asset class: the Independent Sponsor model in 2026”. If you’re pressed for time / don’t feel like paying for a premium subscription, I will give you key takeaways upfront:  

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Hang on, important announcement regarding our latest partnership. Fittingly, it is Bright Capital: Europe's leading debt provider for Independent Sponsors. Here’s me fine-tuning the keynote with Felix and Diyor last week in Frankfurt! 

To appreciate how much the Independent Sponsor market has evolved, you only have to go back to 2020 when institutional funding options for fundless sponsors were extremely limited. You had to be either a searcher or a very seasoned Private Equity executive to pursue this strategy:

Fast forward to 2026: both GPs and LPs are facing a dizzying array of options. 

You no longer need to be 50 to start an Independent Sponsor. Nor is a Private Equity background a prerequisite for raising capital. We’re seeing a proliferation of Buy & Build incubators that bridge the gap between search funds and Independent Sponsors. Venture investors are piling into “AI rollups”. And don't forget about Swedish-style “permanent owners” / HoldCos (Trusta, Seqos, Astra Holding, Everdan, Grupo Olivar etc.): 

But how large is the opportunity?

While no “official” figures exist, we can make some assumptions. Taken as a whole, last year the European buyout market was worth €90B, according to Invest Europe. Of that, Lower Mid-Market (€15-100M deal value) represented €30B. Independent Sponsor share of LMM stands at 15-20%, according to Opera Invest, which implies a market size of €4.5-6B across 150-200 transactions a year.

As large-cap funds grapple with deployment at scale, and more professionals pursue the Independent Sponsor path, this market is going to expand materially, even if overall buyout volumes don’t change materially. Just look at what happened in the US market, where Independent Sponsors now account for 40% of Lower Mid-Market deal flow (source: Opera Invest), more than double the European levels. 

Other ways to measure momentum are to look at new Independent Sponsor launches - which doubled YoY in 2025, according to IPEM; and conference attendance. For this event, 300+ people crammed into a Munich hotel. Roughly the same number as the original McGuireWoods’ US Independent Sponsor conference in 2017… which has since grown 6x:   

2017 is a good reference year for my Venture analogy. Back then, total Venture investment in Europe was <€7B. This year, it’s on track to surpass €20B (source: Invest Europe). That’s right: already today, Independent Sponsors activity is almost one-third of Venture, but a fraction of the attention. 

Now, where is all this funding going? The Independent Sponsor market is not monolithic. We see three archetypes: 

To bring the analysis to life, I threw some logos on the page:

It’s fascinating to see the variety of paths that people are pursuing. 

Later in the Summit, I interviewed Anders Barklöf from Aspira Partners (interview with Anders’ co-founder Andreas Bruzelius) and Alexander Preussner from Nachfolgekapital (interview). Both talented Sponsors who started out around the same time (2019/20). Aspira ended up raising a blind pool and expanding across Europe. Whereas Nachfolgekapital remains committed to the deal-by-deal model, in DACH. There is no right or wrong answer!  

To use the Venture analogy once more, we’re starting to see talent and capital being recycled into the ecosystem. Today’s operators are tomorrow’s Independent Sponsors. This is particularly true in Germany, where the exits of Arsipa, Treysta and Hestia laid the groundwork for the current boom in Buy & Build:

Having said that, the LPs are attracted not only by the exits, but also by the Independent Sponsor calibre, from the firms they know well:

But hang on, the supply of capital is also growing incredibly fast! 

I bucket these “newcomer” LPs into four groups.