ZellCo brings the art of M&A dealmaking into the AI age

Irish fintech ZellCo is building an AI-powered M&A platform to help SMEs prepare for investment, find buyers and navigate business exits.

For decades, mergers and acquisitions have relied heavily on personal networks, specialist advisers and labour-intensive processes. While large corporations have access to investment banks and sophisticated financial infrastructure, many smaller business owners face a very different reality when it comes to selling a company, attracting investment or planning succession.

That challenge is what inspired Dublin-based fintech start-up ZellCo.

Founded by Ethan Duggan and Paul O’Dwyer, the company is developing an AI-enhanced platform designed to modernise how small and medium-sized businesses prepare for investment, identify buyers and manage ownership transitions.

Duggan believes there is a significant disconnect between the sophistication of modern financial markets and the experience of many entrepreneurs seeking to navigate major business transactions.

“I’ve always find it fascinating that we live in a world where financial markets have become extraordinarily sophisticated, yet some of the most economically important transactions remain dependent on processes that have changed relatively little over the years,” he says.

According to Duggan, the opportunity extends well beyond businesses that are actively seeking a sale.

“We’re interested in the infrastructure surrounding the movement of capital and ownership across privately held companies,” he says. “That includes accountants, investment bankers, corporate finance advisers, private equity firms and the wider professional ecosystem involved in preparing, originating and executing transactions.”  

The scale of the market is substantial. Duggan points to approximately 400,000 active SMEs in Ireland and an estimated 5.68 million SMEs in the UK, creating a potential customer base of more than six million businesses across ZellCo’s initial target markets.

Building a one-stop shop for M&A

The company’s vision has expanded considerably since its earliest days.

Initially, ZellCo focused on how artificial intelligence could automate investment memorandums, the documents used to present businesses to potential buyers and investors. However, further research into the M&A sector led the founders to believe the problem was much broader.

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“I remember thinking that if we could improve the preparation of these documents, why couldn’t we also improve how businesses identify buyers, engage advisers, manage confidential information and coordinate the wider transaction?” Duggan says.

That thinking led ZellCo to evolve from a single-purpose application into what the founders describe as operating infrastructure for SME mergers and acquisitions.

The platform is being developed to enable advisers to upload financial accounts and commercial documents, access valuations, extract and structure information using AI, and generate professional investment memorandums. Further functionality includes buyer matching, confidential investment teasers, non-disclosure agreements and secure transaction data rooms. [

A key element of the firm’s business model is the development of white-label technology for professional services firms.

“We don’t believe the future of M&A technology involves replacing professional advisers with an automated marketplace,” says Duggan. “I think there’s a considerably more interesting opportunity in equipping those advisers with technology that allows them to expand their capabilities, serve more clients and operate more efficiently.”

Following a pilot rollout with a limited group of users, ZellCo is now developing a more comprehensive version of the platform with a dedicated software engineering team while expanding technical development through partnerships with Data2Sustain and 3035 Tech.

Combining financial expertise and industry experience

The founders bring different perspectives to the business.

Duggan studied Law & Politics at Dublin City University before completing a Master’s in Global Commerce, specialising in Finance, Investment and Trade, at George Mason University in Virginia, where he was awarded a Dean’s Fellowship. He later worked as a Judicial Assistant in the Irish Circuit Court.

His co-founder, Paul O’Dwyer, brings extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and was a founding partner of M&A advisory firm Horgan Hughes.

“Paul brings something extremely important to ZellCo, he has around 20 years of experience with M&A, working personally with the very businesses and professional advisors we are developing the platform to serve,” says Duggan.

Duggan says O’Dwyer made the decision to step back from Horgan Hughes to focus full-time on ZellCo, helping drive relationships with prospective clients, strategic partners and participants throughout the wider M&A ecosystem.

The pair have also spent considerable time speaking with CEOs, investors, wealth management professionals and advisers across Ireland, Britain and the United States.

“I’ve never seen being relatively young as a reason not to approach someone with considerably more experience. If anything, I think it’s a reason to do it,” Duggan says.

Another key influence has been Robert Moore, a senior international wealth management professional that Duggan met while working at Morgan Stanely. “Getting to know someone who had spent decades operating within major international financial institutions gave me a perspective on the industry that extended beyond what I was studying academically.

“What interested me wasn’t simply investing. It was understanding how capital moves internationally, how financial institutions operate, how commercial relationships are built and how experienced professionals approach opportunities. I’ve always been interested in learning from people who have achieved things I aspire to achieve myself.”

Ireland’s fintech opportunity

Duggan is optimistic about Ireland’s prospects as a location for fintech entrepreneurship.

“I think Ireland is an extraordinarily interesting place to be building a fintech company right now, particularly if you’re ambitious about international markets,” he says.

While he acknowledges that established networks can create challenges for younger founders entering the financial services sector, he says many experienced business leaders have been generous with their time and advice.

“There is a sense that people genuinely want to see other Irish entrepreneurs succeed,” he says.

Duggan believes Ireland should become increasingly ambitious about creating globally significant companies.

“I’d love to see a future where Ireland is recognised not only as a destination for the world’s leading technology companies to plant their European HQ, but as the birthplace of companies that go on to shape entire industries.”

Funding discussions continue

ZellCo is currently exploring strategic investment opportunities as it works towards broader commercialisation.

The company is particularly interested in investors with experience in financial technology, investment banking and private capital markets.

“An investor with relevant experience in investment banking, private equity or financial technology may be able to contribute industry knowledge and commercial relationships that are just as valuable as the capital itself,” says Duggan.

The firm’s commercial strategy combines recurring software revenues, transaction-related fees and white-label technology services. Initial market focus remains on Ireland and the UK, although international expansion is part of the longer-term plan.

Building for the long term

Reflecting on lessons learned since launching the business, Duggan says founders must balance ambition with discipline.

“Probably that having a big vision is the easy part,” he says. “You can have a vision for what a business might become in ten years, but you still need to make the right decisions about what gets built this week.”

His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is rooted in practicality and persistence.

“I’d encourage people to stop assuming that the scale of what they can build is determined by their current circumstances,” he says.

For ZellCo, the ambition remains clear.

“We didn’t establish ZellCo because we wanted to create a small software product,” Duggan says. “We established it because we believe there’s an opportunity to build something that could eventually change how an important part of the financial system operates.”

Image at top: Ethan Duggan, co-founder of ZellCo, which is building an AI-powered platform to streamline mergers, acquisitions and succession planning for SMEs