AI startup Handshaik raises £1.7m to automate deal origination
This article covers Handshaik, an AI startup, which has closed a pre-seed funding round of £1.7m to build an AI-native platform for deal origination. The development aims to automate data and contact enrichment and to help corporate finance teams, advisers and corporate development teams find and qualify acquisition targets.
Handshaik, a London-based AI startup, has closed a pre-seed funding round of £1.7m to build an AI-native platform for deal origination — a push that could change how corporate finance teams and advisers find and qualify acquisition targets by automating data, contact enrichment and pipeline workflows.
Why it matters
Deal origination remains a labour-intensive part of M&A and corporate development. Handshaik’s early traction — it says it has compiled 5.5 million company profiles and attracted hundreds of users after 15 months in stealth — suggests there is demand for tools that turn raw data into a usable pipeline rather than leaving teams to stitch spreadsheets, emails and third-party data feeds together.
The raise also points to growing interest from AI investors in products that automate repetitive sourcing work and surface higher-quality leads for originators, advisers and corporate development teams.
Inside the product
Handshaik creates what it describes as analyst-grade profiles on UK companies by combining Companies House filings with data from company websites, news sources and other public signals. The platform rates opportunity fit against a user’s brief and explains, in plain language, why a firm might be a target.
Contacts are enriched with verified emails and mobile numbers, and teams can monitor and nurture targets through a collaborative pipeline workflow that aims to reduce manual administration. The company says accountants, software firms and other B2B businesses are already using the service.
Who are the investors?
Handshaik’s announcement says the pre-seed round raised £1.7m from more than 20 angel investors. No lead investor was named in the release. At this stage the capital and network provided by angels typically support product development, data acquisition and early commercial traction rather than large-scale expansion.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Joshua Port, founder at Handshaik, said:
I left school in Leeds at the age of 18 and landed a job as an apprentice at KPMG in London,
In the announcement, Joshua Port, founder at Handshaik, said:
After three years I started working in deal origination and realised quickly how inefficient the process was.
The technologies on offer were expensive, often lacked focus, delivered low-quality data and, crucially, failed to support the way originators actually work.
From speaking to my peers in the market, it was obvious the problems I was encountering weren’t unique to me and that technology could offer a solution.
Handshaik is a variation on the word ‘handshake’ because deals are built on relationships. That first introduction right through to completion is exactly where we come in.
Because AI is at the centre of what we do, it’s also at the centre of our company name.
In the announcement, Joshua Port, founder at Handshaik, said:
Deal origination is evolving,
There is more data and more tools than ever before.
Teams spend hours turning data into an actionable pipeline and this is time that could be spent building relationships.
We saw an opportunity to rebuild that entire experience and create the first operating system for deal origination.
Port is 26 and worked in M&A at KPMG before founding Handshaik. The press release notes his family connection to entrepreneur Martin Port; the detail illustrates the founder’s background but does not alter the product focus.
The bigger picture
Handshaik joins a wave of UK startups using large-scale data and automation to serve niche professional workflows. For advisers and corporate teams squeezed by time and rising data costs, the core value is in reducing manual triage and improving lead quality.
The company’s focus on UK company filings and contact enrichment positions it to address a domestic market where Companies House remains a central public data source. As investors and buyers look for efficiencies across deal origination, expect more experimentation with AI-first tooling in the M&A and corporate development stack across the UK and Europe.
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