DiligenceSquared uses AI, voice assistants to make M&A research cheaper

The process of mergers and acquisitions is often time-consuming and expensive, even for large companies with the best employees. In addition to spending countless hours meeting with senior management on potential goals and estimating financial results, these teams spend millions of dollars on outside consultants: accountants, lawyers, and management consultants.

Since the fees of external consultants are not returned if the deal fails, PE firms wait until they are sure of their interest before meeting with expensive experts such as consultants from McKinsey, BCG, or Bain to do extensive business research on the market and the target company.

DiligenceSquared, a startup that was part of YC’s Fall 2025 class, says that with the help of AI, it can provide high-quality business research at a low cost of traditional methods.

The co-founders, Frederik Hansen and Søren Biltoft, have deep expertise in the private sector. Hansen was previously a senior executive at Blackstone, where he provided these reports for a multi-billion dollar acquisition. Meanwhile, Biltoft spent seven years in BCG’s private practice and managed the brand’s efforts.

Since starting in October, Hansen and Biltoft’s industry experience has helped DiligenceSquared complete several projects at the world’s largest PE firms and middle-market funds, Hansen tells TechCrunch.

This early adoption led Damir Becirovic, a former Index Ventures partner, to lead DiligenceSquared’s $5 million seed round at his new VC firm, Constantly.

Instead of relying on expensive consultants, startups use AI voice assistants to conduct interviews with clients of companies that PE firms are considering buying.

DiligenceSquared is using the same AI-interview technology seen in consumer startups like Keplar, Outset, and Listen to Labswhich in January raised $69 million at a cost of $500 million. But Hansen and Biltoft argue that their efforts and end results are very different from the consumer research done by these startups.

PE firms might pay $500,000 to $1 million to McKinsey, Bain, or BCG to interview dozens of clients, including C-suite executives, and produce 200-page reports that combine that information with market data, Hansen said. To ensure the accuracy of the analysis, DiligenceSquared includes senior consultants who ensure the accuracy and commercial knowledge of the final results.

Since AI is doing so much, the founders say they can provide analysis for only $50,000.

“We’re taking big data sets that were previously reserved for very big decisions, and now we’re making it easier,” Hansen said. Due to lower costs, PE firms are now willing to engage with DiligenceSquared early in the process, before they have a strong appetite for participation.

DiligenceSquared isn’t the only company trying to disrupt the diligence market. His greatest rival, The Bridgetown Surveyraised $19 million Series A led by Accel and Lightspeed in February 2026.

In addition to Hansen and Biltoft, DiligenceSquared was founded by Harshil Rastogi, a former Google engineer.