According to a recent analysis by the development bank KfW, around 2 million owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are aged 55 or over. The need for successors over the next ten years is correspondingly high. If no successors can be found within the family, there is often a risk that the businesses will have to close down. The startup DEALCIRCLE offers an alternative; through its platform, it is expected to support around 5,000 succession projects this year.
Stories
September 3, 2026
Dealcircle uses AI to assist with business succession
The founders Kai Hesselmann and Graig Gröbli © DEALCIRCLE
More closures than takeovers planned
In the past, succession planning was rarely an issue in family businesses. Leadership was passed down from father to son across generations. Those days are long gone. Increasingly, there is no one within the family who can take up the baton, and there are no other viable internal solutions either. This is leading to a steadily rising number of closures among businesses that are, in economic terms, actually healthy. The ‘SME Succession Monitoring 2025’ report, published by KfW Research in early 2026, estimates that around 114,000 business closures are to be expected annually by 2029. In contrast, there are 109,000 planned succession arrangements each year.
Finding suitable candidates for this is the job of consultants who specialise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the merging and sale of companies. Kai Hesselmann and Graig Groebli are among the M&A experts. They met whilst working at the investment firm CAPCELLENCE, where they spent several years. During that time, they realised that both buyers and sellers lacked reliable information about the current market situation. They encountered many individuals working on their own who had to rely on their networks and quickly reached their limits.
© Dirk Bruniecki / Deutscher Gründerpreis
IFB programmes have consistently supported DEALCIRCLE
This led to the idea in 2017 of creating a platform that brings both parties together. In 2018, Kai and Graig founded DEALCIRCLE and, in the same year, received funding through the InnoFounder programme run by IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH; in 2022, they were accepted into the Innofintech programme. Hamburger Sparkasse also proved to be a strong partner from an early stage. As a result, DEALCIRCLE was able to grow steadily, so that by 2023, when it was nominated for the German Startup Award, it was already categorised as a ‘Rising Star’ – a category intended for established startups. That year, Florian Adomeit joined as the third co-founder to drive forward the platform business under its then name, AMBER.
In 2024, DEALCIRCLE secured its first round of funding, amounting to millions, from the investment firm Round2 Capital. This was a revenue-based financing model, under which the startup did not have to give up any shares but, in return, committed to sharing a portion of its profits. The next round of funding followed in 2025, this time again with IFB participation via the InnoVentureFonds. The Hamburg-based company builder Hanse Ventures and various tech and software experts also contributed to the total of around 5 million euros.
Graig Gröbli and Kai Hesselmann (DEALCIRCLE), Ayse Mese and Jens de Buhr (DUB) and Florian Adomeit (DEALCIRCLE) © DEALCIRCLE
A takeover and the merger of two platforms
Among other things, DEALCIRCLE used the money to acquire a competitor, the Deutsche Unternehmerbörse (DUB). This had been founded back in 2011 as a platform for business succession by, amongst others, the newspaper Handelsblatt and Commerzbank. For years, the weekend edition of the Handelsblatt included what was effectively a print version of the platform as a supplement. Its target audience was M&A advisers and investment firms interested in companies valued at several million euros. Smaller SMEs were deliberately excluded. DEALCIRCLE, on the other hand, had since expanded its target audience with AMBER and was open to companies of all sizes.
In the planned merger of the two platforms, it was therefore essential to take into account the preferences and habits of the existing user groups. AMBER had around 10,000 users, whilst DUB had around 90,000. An algorithm was therefore developed which takes users’ interests into account when displaying content, in much the same way as is common on social media platforms. The merger also presented a technological challenge. DUB was no longer up to date, but was designed to handle large volumes of data. AMBER was considerably more modern, but had limited scalability. Consequently, a new platform was ultimately programmed to combine all existing data and which still has significant potential for growth. The process was completed in July 2026, and the established name ‘DUB’ was retained.
This development was also made possible by what is, for the time being, the latest round of funding – again in the single-digit millions – which DEALCIRCLE announced in January 2026. The InnoVentureFonds participated once again, whilst heise ventures joined as an investor for the first time. Through the websites of the media company Heise and its marketing agency heise regioconcept, the startup hopes to achieve an even wider reach for its offering. M&A advisers, potential buyers and companies can use this service free of charge initially; a buyer’s commission is only payable upon successful completion of a deal. A matching process, which has become increasingly automated over the years, ensures that this happens,
The managing partners Graig Gröbli, Florian Adomeit and Kai Hesselmann © DEALCIRCLE
Greater productivity with fewer staff, thanks to AI
In 2025, a dedicated business unit for automation was established at DEALCIRCLE. It comes as no surprise that artificial intelligence plays a key role there. A few figures clearly illustrate the impact AI has had on the company’s development. For years, the number of staff grew in line with turnover, peaking at 85 people. By mid-2026, the team had shrunk to just over 50 members. By contrast, the number of successful M&A projects has grown rapidly: in 2019 there were around 300; by 2025 this had risen to around 2,000; and for this year, with the new platform, 5,000 is a realistic target.
This is made possible by AI, which takes care of a large part of the research work. Whereas a team of three used to spend a whole day on this, a single specialist can now handle six projects in the same time. The busiest colleague is now called Claude and is responsible for both website design and part of the software development. Nevertheless, no one was made redundant at DEALCIRCLE. However, when employees left of their own accord, their positions were not refilled, and the number of places for interns and working students was reduced.
Given the demographic trends outlined at the outset and DUB’s repositioning, it is reasonable to assume that there are still several chapters to be added to DEALCIRCLE’s success story. Especially as its potential is far from being fully realised. At a time when starting a startup seems increasingly attractive to many, yet such ventures often fail due to a lack of a viable business idea, a company takeover could represent a genuine alternative. DEALCIRCLE is currently setting up a digital academy to impart even more M&A expertise. Highlighting funding opportunities is also part of the plan. In this way, the startup could make an important contribution to maintaining a diverse business landscape.
