Featured Startup Pitch: Opportunity Network’s curated network connects potential business partners across the globe, anonymously

By BRIAN PALLAS, OPPORTUNITY NETWORK FOUNDER AND CEO

ELEVATOR PITCH

Opportunity Network is an online membership network that helps companies grow and succeed by finding trustworthy business partners across the globe. We anonymously connect the senior executives of businesses, high net worth individuals, and family offices from all over the world to valuable growth opportunities of many kinds, such as mergers and acquisitions, commercial partnerships, and investment opportunities.

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Our network consists of companies with annual revenues ranging from $10 million to $1 billion—with a core between $50 and $500 million—that want to grow business and seize opportunities offered by the global marketplace. Our members come from every industry, including manufacturing, healthcare, technology, financial services, agriculture, real estate, and wealth management.

Opportunity Network acts as a ‘broker of trust’ by curating members through partnerships with highly reputable banks, service providers and associations worldwide. These trusted partners vet potential members by providing access only to their top clients and affiliated businesses to our platform. This ensures the highest quality of members and opportunities on the network. On our platform, members can share strategic business opportunities. Once members have expressed a mutual interest in a specific opportunity, we connect the counterparties so they discuss the opportunity directly.

Since launching our platform globally nine months ago, we have grown to more than 3,000 members, and have facilitated over 500 connections between members to pursue business opportunities. We are building relationships with banks, service providers, and trade associations across the world, while fostering their ability to help the businesses they serve seize strategic opportunities and compete in the global marketplace.

FOUNDER’S STORY

I started Opportunity Network while earning my MBA at Columbia University. As a native of Italy whose family owns a business there, I was involved with the Columbia Family Business Club. During my time, I observed members looking for business opportunities, but not being transparent about what they were looking for or offering, for fear of being disadvantaged. As a result, I started collecting opportunities anonymously and sharing them through the club newsletter.

After conducting successful partnership introductions, I decided to take my model to other top business schools, such as Harvard Business School, Wharton, London Business School, and INSEAD, establishing partnerships and increasing Opportunity Network’s membership base. Once we identified a successful matchmaking model with business schools, we decided to take our platform to banks, associations, and service providers all over the globe.

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MARKETING/PROMOTION STRATEGY

We have a global team of community managers, marketing, and PR professionals to ensure we develop a strong relationship with our current and future partners and members.

MARKET OPPORTUNITY

We haven’t found a competitor that can provide the scale, geographic scope and diversity of opportunities through a network built on trust similar to Opportunity Network. However, we found other players who are mainly focused on M&A curation for the U.S. market and with a different fee structure.

HOW WE’RE UNIQUE

At Opportunity Network, we offer a simple and strict member vetting system that our competitors do not offer.

Furthermore, unlike similar platforms, Opportunity Network allows companies to connect with trustworthy business partners on any kind of business opportunity, and they can do so anonymously. The range of opportunities shared is very broad, including commercial partnerships, fundraising, and asset optimization opportunities, among others.

Lastly, we have cultivated a diverse global team from different backgrounds and culture experiences. We currently have a team of around 30 people, with almost 20 different nationalities, in offices in New York City, London, Barcelona, Dubai, and Italy.

BUSINESS MODEL

Opportunity Network members are currently paying a yearly membership fee to take advantage of the network’s offerings.

CURRENT NEEDS

We are constantly looking for talent to grow our team both in the U.S. and in other locations, particularly in Barcelona, where our product back office is based.

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HEADQUARTERS: New York City