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Dorado, established 15 years ago, operates as a multi-family investment house with two arms: Dorado Capital, actively investing in venture capital and private equity across diverse sectors such as software, services, mining, and electrical cabling contractors; and Dorado Property, offering funding solutions for Australian property projects from pre-approval to post-completion.
Four years ago, Dorado Capital discovered the SF model and embraced it. Tim Moore, the founder of Dorado, can be considered a “searcher.” Two decades ago, he sought to purchase a company, initiated a market search, acquired a software company, and exited it eight years later, selling it to the Carlyle Group. Since then, Dorado raised a specific fund of AUS$10M, with a 35% commitment from Dorado and the remaining 65% backed by other private investors. They have participated in 14 SFs, with half of them successfully acquiring companies such as Grima Recycling, Emerge IT, All Essential Fire & Security, Ace Training in Australia, Space in the UK, and SSS IT Security, the first acquisition made by a searcher in New Zealand.
Currently, Dorado is funding and working with six Australian SFs: Single Trail Capital, Crux Capital Partners, SME 5, Origo Capital, Australian Equity Partners, and Bass Capital, along with a UK searcher, Everest Capital. Jake Maisey, Investment Director at Dorado, explains that the plan is to launch a second, larger fund by the end of this year. The core idea remains unchanged: to support the best searchers in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK to search for and acquire approximately a dozen new companies. Maisey makes the point that initial exits by Australian searchers will be a real inflection point in the development of SF as a compelling asset class in Australia.
