For San Diego software and SaaS companies, the leading M&A advisors are Software Equity Group and Livmo, then Vista Point Advisors in San Francisco. Few software-only advisors exist in San Diego. This guide therefore pairs local advisors with California firms that sell software companies for a living and ranks ten on public evidence.
Does location matter? Less than in most sectors, because software buyers are national. It helps if you want to walk into the office and call a few local owners the firm has worked with. San Diego or California presence earned 20 points, enough to count but not enough to outweigh a clear software focus.
Two warnings before you read on. Some well-known local firms are generalists that also sell tech companies, and their entries say so. In California the broker and advisor labels blur too, since a broker licence can sit behind a firm that calls itself an advisory. The FAQ below sets out the difference, and our San Diego M&A advisors page covers the wider local market.
Software buyers go through customer contracts, recurring revenue, staff agreements and code ownership line by line. Early preparation pays off here. A good advisor assembles that diligence packet before the first buyer call instead of after the offer. Ask each firm what it expects you to have ready and how many months it wants.
Looking beyond software? The best M&A advisory firms in Southern California ranks local firms across sectors.
How We Ranked These Firms
The ranking rests on five weighted criteria worth 100 points. Software and SaaS focus is worth 30 and public deal record 25. San Diego or California presence is worth 20, published process and tools 15 and verifiable scale 10.
A firm got no points on any line where it published nothing. Persient and SeaRidge are here because founders search for San Diego firms by place, and their entries label both non-software fits. Livmo is the only ProCloser Deal Network member on this page, and membership carried no weight in the ranking.
Weighted criteria
Software and SaaS Focus (30%): A stated software focus or a record of software sales. Software Equity Group scores highest because it sells only software.
Public Deal Record (25%): Closes named with a dated source such as a deal page, press release or listing.
San Diego or California Presence (20%): An office in San Diego County or elsewhere in California.
Published Process and Tools (15%): Research, indices, process steps or fee information the firm publishes.
Stated Deal Count (10%): A deal count or value stated on the firm's own site.
Sources: the firms' own websites (deal, about and office pages), public deal announcements, and the ProCloser deal index. The firms did not write or review their entries.
Comparison: San Diego Software and SaaS Advisors at a Glance
The table shows where each firm is based, so you can count how many sit in San Diego County and how many work from the Bay Area or elsewhere. Read the size band column carefully. Only iMerge Advisors (published) and Livmo (stated to ProCloser) give a band covering software companies under $50M, and Objective's comes from a 2017 announcement. Most of the others print no band.
| Rank | Firm | HQ | Focus | Stated deal size | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Software Equity Group | Encinitas, CA | B2B software, SaaS and AI | Not published | 175+ deals; 10,000+ buyer relationships; SaaS Index |
| 2 | Livmo Verified · Deal Network | San Diego, CA | Technology and digital businesses | $1M to $20M revenue (stated) | San Diego HQ; founder's $15M app sale named to Axial's Top 12 Deals of 2024 |
| 3 | Vista Point Advisors | San Francisco, CA | Software, AI and internet | Not published | Six dated announcements, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 |
| 4 | iMerge Advisors | Boston, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco | Software and technology only | $3M to $50M ARR | Offices include San Francisco; $3M to $50M ARR |
| 5 | Union Square Advisors | San Francisco, CA; New York, NY | Enterprise software, data, cybersecurity and AI | Not published | Founded 2007; 198 transactions stated |
| 6 | Shea & Company | Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA | Software | Not published | Founded 2005; Boston and San Francisco |
| 7 | RA Capital Advisors | San Diego, CA | Electronics, software and engineering sales | Not published | San Diego HQ; six public closes found |
| 8 | Objective Investment Banking & Valuation | Los Angeles, CA; San Diego | Middle-market companies across industries | $10M to $100M EV (2017 announcement) | Founded 2006; 500+ engagements |
| 9 | Persient | San Diego, CA; Los Angeles, CA | Packaging, chemicals, building products and life science services | Not published | Not a software specialist |
| 10 | SeaRidge Advisory | San Diego, CA | Not published | Not published | San Diego; California real estate broker license |
The 10 Best M&A Advisors in San Diego for Software and SaaS, Ranked
1 Software Equity Group
Public deals on record: 2
Deal Index: credited on 2 tracked 2026 tech deals · view record (as of Oct 2026)
Best for: San Diego County software founders who want a software-only M&A firm with published research.
- Deal sizes: Not published
- Location: Encinitas, CA (681 Encinitas Boulevard, Suite 407)
- Sectors: B2B software, SaaS and AI, sell-side only
- Founding year: Not stated on its own site (it cites more than 25 years of practice)
- Public deals: ID Plans (Polaris Growth Fund); PickTrace (Terminus Capital Partners); Cherre (RealPage).
For software, Software Equity Group is the strongest firm within driving distance of San Diego. It works from Encinitas, which is in San Diego County but outside the city, and sells only B2B software, SaaS and AI. The site cites 175+ deals, 10,000+ buyer relationships and an 87% buyer response rate. It describes more than 25 years of practice and gives no founding year.
The record is public. Its transactions pages name Cherre (RealPage), ID Plans (Polaris Growth Fund) and PickTrace (Terminus Capital Partners), and our deal index credits it on PickTrace (October 13, 2026) and Cherre (July 14, 2026). It also publishes the SEG SaaS Index and quarterly reports. No size band is printed, so ask about minimums. A dated record, a software-only focus and a local base earn it first place.
2 Livmo Verified · Deal Network
Public deals on record: 1
Deal Index: credited on 1 tracked 2026 tech deal (as of Oct 2026)
Best for: San Diego founders who want a local advisor and fall inside its stated $1M to $20M revenue band.
- Stated deal sizes: $1M to $20M in revenue
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Sectors: Technology and digital businesses, including SaaS, apps and agencies
- Founding year: Not published
- Public deals: InfoSentience to Paradium.AI (August 2026, Livmo credited as advisor in the ProCloser Deal Index). Founder Khaled Azar represented the seller in a $15M kids' educational app sale that Axial named to its Top 12 Deals of 2024. Its site also shows a sold educational app (40M+ downloads, 89K paying subscribers) and a HubSpot SaaS and customization agency shown as sold at $3.5M.
Livmo is a San Diego M&A advisor for SaaS and digital businesses and states a $1M to $20M revenue band. Khaled Azar leads it and says he has over 25 years of experience in technology, digital advertising and entrepreneurship, and that he has sold two companies of his own. No other San Diego firm here states or publishes a lower floor, and that matters if your company is too small for a bank.
On the public record, the deal index credits Livmo as advisor on InfoSentience's sale to Paradium.AI (August 21, 2026), and founder Khaled Azar represented the seller in a $15M kids' educational app sale that Axial named to its Top 12 Deals of 2024. The site shows a five-step sale process and also lists businesses for buyers, so its work is not limited to sellers. Livmo belongs to the ProCloser Deal Network, so the disclosure at the foot of this page applies. It ranks behind Software Equity Group on volume of public record and ahead of the rest on size fit and local presence.
3 Vista Point Advisors
Public deals on record: 3
Deal Index: credited on 3 tracked 2026 tech deals · view record (as of Oct 2026)
Best for: California software founders who want a San Francisco firm with a current, dated record.
- Deal sizes: Not published
- Location: San Francisco, CA (555 Mission Street, Suite 2650)
- Sectors: Software, AI and internet, sell-side only
- Founding year: Not published
- Public deals: EasyLlama (investment from Inverness Graham, September 15, 2026); Spin.AI (investment from K1, March 11, 2026); Bonsai (Zoom, announcement titled pending).
Vista Point Advisors is at 555 Mission Street in San Francisco, acts for sellers only and sticks to software, AI and internet companies. Six dated announcements run on its news page from October 2025 to September 2026, among them EasyLlama (investment from Inverness Graham, September 15, 2026) and Spin.AI (investment from K1, March 11, 2026).
The deal index names the firm on three SaaS deals this year. A San Diego founder can reach the Bay Area by a short flight, and few generalists here match its sector focus. We found no San Diego office, size band or founding year. It earns third on focus and record and loses ground on distance.
4 iMerge Advisors
Public deals on record: none yet in the Deal Index
Best for: Software founders at $3M to $50M ARR who can accept a firm with no San Diego office.
- Deal sizes: $3M to $50M ARR
- Location: Boston, Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco (no headquarters named)
- Sectors: Software and technology only
- Founding year: Not published
- Public deals: Virtual Staging AI to Zillow; Datatrac to Valsoft; ConnectALL to Broadcom (named in image text only).
iMerge Advisors does software and technology and nothing else. It states a $3M to $50M ARR range and lists offices in Boston, Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco, so a Californian would work with the Bay Area team.
The firm's figures are 150+ deals, over $1B in value and 90% of engagements closed. Its home page shows logos for Datatrac (Valsoft), ConnectALL (Broadcom) and Virtual Staging AI (Zillow), but with no per-deal pages we can't date any of them. Strong focus and size match, no California base: fourth.
5 Union Square Advisors
Public deals on record: none yet in the Deal Index
Best for: California software founders aiming for larger strategic buyers.
- Deal sizes: Not published
- Location: San Francisco, CA (1 Embarcadero Center) and New York, NY
- Sectors: Enterprise applications, data infrastructure, cybersecurity, healthtech, vertical software and AI
- Founding year: 2007
- Public deals: Cogito to Verint Systems (December 2024); Science Exchange to Waud Capital (October 2024); Scientist.com to GHO Capital Partners (September 2025).
Carter McClelland and Ted Smith founded Union Square Advisors in 2007, and it works from San Francisco and New York. The site contradicts itself: body text says 198 strategic transactions, while a statistics block on the same page says 100 deals since inception. It never explains the gap, so we print both.
The firm also claims over $125B in transaction value and publishes no size range. Its named closes lean toward larger enterprise software and data companies, so a founder under $20M should test fit first. Fifth place weighs a strong record against a likely size mismatch.
6 Shea & Company
Public deals on record: 1
Deal Index: credited on 1 tracked 2026 tech deal (as of Oct 2026)
Best for: California software founders at the larger end of the middle market.
- Deal sizes: Not published
- Location: Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA
- Sectors: Software, with clients across North America, Europe, Israel and APAC
- Founding year: 2005
- Public deals: Not published on the page we read.
Shea and Company dates from 2005 and has offices in Boston and San Francisco. Its clients are across North America, Europe, Israel and APAC, and its about page claims more than $50B in completed transactions.
There is no deal list. The page we checked named no closes and no size band. Our deal index names Shea on the EasyLlama sale alongside Vista Point, though we didn't confirm that match by hand. Sixth place: scale and a Bay Area base, held back by the missing record.
7 RA Capital Advisors
Public deals on record: none yet in the Deal Index
Best for: San Diego owners of technical businesses who are open to a generalist local advisor.
- Deal sizes: Not published
- Location: San Diego, CA (11988 El Camino Real, Suite 350)
- Sectors: Closes span electronics, software and engineering businesses
- Founding year: Not published
- Public deals: Electrical Power Products to Flex; Sonatech to Kongsberg; FoodCalc's LabelCalc to Datacor.
RA Capital Advisors is at 11988 El Camino Real in San Diego and describes a team of former CPAs and due diligence specialists. Its site gives no founding year or size band. The only values we found in public releases were $325M and $1.1B, both on larger sales.
Releases tie it to Electrical Power Products (Flex), Sonatech (Kongsberg) and FoodCalc's LabelCalc (Datacor). Only LabelCalc is software; the others are engineering and electronics. A credible local firm with real closes but a thin software record lands seventh.
8 Objective Investment Banking & Valuation
Public deals on record: none yet in the Deal Index
Best for: Founders who want a Southern California valuation and banking firm and can accept a generalist.
- Deal sizes: $10M to $100M enterprise value, from a 2017 Los Angeles office announcement; the home page does not repeat it
- Location: Los Angeles, CA, with San Diego, Orange County and Denver locations (the San Diego registered office does not accept mail)
- Sectors: Middle-market companies across industries
- Founding year: 2006
- Public deals: Toft Group Executive Search to ZRG Partners; Freeberg Industrial Fabrication, investment from Hill & Smith PLC (June 24, 2026).
Objective Investment Banking and Valuation began in 2006 and cites more than 500 advisory engagements. Its main office is at 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, and it has offices in Orange County and Denver. The San Diego address, 11622 El Camino Real, is a registered office for legal use that takes no mail.
Its range, $10M to $100M in enterprise value, comes from a 2017 announcement that the home page doesn't repeat. Named closes include Toft Group Executive Search (ZRG Partners) and a Hill and Smith PLC investment in Freeberg Industrial Fabrication (June 24, 2026). Neither is software, so it lands eighth.
9 Persient
Public deals on record: none yet in the Deal Index
Best for: San Diego owners outside software who want a local sell-side firm.
- Deal sizes: Not published; disclosed values run from $17M to $500M
- Location: San Diego and Los Angeles (no street address published)
- Sectors: Packaging, chemicals, building products and life science services
- Founding year: Not published
- Public deals: Vector ($32M); PLP ($122M); FriendFinder ($500M).
Persient is a San Diego firm with a second office in Los Angeles and no published street address. Its team page lists founder Ashish Jariwala alongside Brian Gallagher, Alan McFarland and Drummond Bell III. Founders search by place, which is why it appears here. It isn't a software specialist.
Its published closes are Vector ($32M), PLP ($122M) and FriendFinder ($500M), with values from $17M to $500M. FriendFinder is an online business. The rest of the work is in packaging, chemicals, building products and life science services, and that sector mismatch puts it ninth.
10 SeaRidge Advisory
Public deals on record: none yet in the Deal Index
Best for: Founders curious about a new San Diego firm who are ready to ask for references.
- Deal sizes: Not published
- Location: San Diego, CA (no street address published)
- Sectors: Not published
- Founding year: Not published
- Public deals: None named.
SeaRidge Advisory is a San Diego firm founded by Dave Carlson and Matt Lowd. It says it holds a California real estate broker license and is not a broker-dealer. The site lets buyers register interest. We found no street address, size band, sector list or named close.
As of October 29, 2026 a founder has little here to test, so SeaRidge ranks tenth and is marked a non-software fit. If you weigh it, ask for dated closes and the licensing basis in writing.
What the Deal Data Shows About Local Advisors
Most announcements never name an advisor. The deal index holds 2,201 deals from January 2 to October 29, 2026. Only 226 of them (10.3%) name an advisor, and those use 167 distinct advisor names. Narrow it to the 716 deals with a US target and 115 (16.1%) name an advisor.
| Firm | Base | Index rows crediting the firm |
|---|---|---|
| Software Equity Group | Encinitas, CA | 2 (PickTrace, Cherre) |
| Livmo | San Diego, CA | 1 (InfoSentience) |
| Vista Point Advisors | San Francisco, CA | 3 (EasyLlama, Countfire, Roofle) |
| iMerge, Union Square, Objective, Persient, SeaRidge | Various | 0 by name match |
The local picture is thinner. No row in the index has a San Diego County place name in the target, acquirer or advisor fields, so public announcements give a local founder no local precedent. Five of the ten firms here are based in the county: Software Equity Group, Livmo, RA Capital, Persient and SeaRidge. Objective keeps a registered office in the city that doesn't accept mail.
References and whatever the firms publish themselves are what remain, and the profiles above rely on them. The index tracks only public deals. Zero local rows says something about reporting, and nothing about whether local sales happened.
Method. Data: the ProCloser Deal Index (deals.json), rows rated high or medium confidence, January 2 to October 29, 2026. A deal is advised when either advisor field is filled. Firm counts come from a name match we didn't check by hand. For place names we searched every field for San Diego, Carlsbad, La Jolla, Encinitas, Chula Vista, Oceanside and Escondido.
How to Choose a San Diego Software Advisor
Software focus comes first and location second. A local generalist who has never sold a software company won't help much, while a local advisor who has will. Ask each firm for its last three software sales and the buyer of each.
Next, broker or advisor? Brokers usually run a listing process for smaller businesses, while advisors contact strategic and private equity buyers directly. Past $5M in revenue an advisor is normally the better fit. Our guide to business brokers versus M&A advisors covers fees and process in detail.
Then ask about money and paperwork. Who holds the licence or registration? How is the success fee calculated? Is there a retainer, and does a tail period apply after the mandate ends? SeaRidge says it holds a California real estate broker licence and isn't a broker-dealer; other firms may differ, so get answers in writing. Retainers are due whether or not you sell, so price a quick sale and a slow one before signing. Our Southern California guide shows how local firms describe their terms.
California tech founders should ask a few extra questions. Does the firm have buyers outside the state, or does it mostly call on acquirers it knows nearby? Has it handled an earn-out or a rollover with a California company? Who on the team runs your process day to day, and how many mandates are they carrying? Firms rarely volunteer these answers. Ask early and compare what you hear with the closes they name in public.
One more check is worth the time. Call two owners the firm sold for, not the two it suggests, and ask what they would change. Local networks make San Diego advisor clients easy to find, and a firm with a real record won't mind.
Last, test the buyer list. Ask which buyers each firm contacted in the past year and which closed. Distance shouldn't rule anyone out, since Vista Point Advisors and iMerge Advisors both run remote processes.
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