Know what your technology business is worth — when it matters.
Independent business valuation and financial decision support for privately owned technology companies.
From raising capital and making major investments to acquisitions, ownership changes and exit, we help management teams and shareholders understand business value and make better-informed decisions.
Business value isn’t just an exit question
For a growing technology company, understanding business value becomes important long before the company is sold.
A new investor may be coming on board. Management may be considering a major investment or acquisition. The business may need additional financing. A shareholder may want to exit. Or the owners may simply want to understand what the company could be worth before taking the next step.
These are different situations, but they share a common question:
What does this mean for the value of the business?
Sustainable Valuations provides independent valuation and financial analysis around the moments when that question matters most.
Where are you in your value journey?
Technology businesses encounter different valuation questions as they grow and mature.
RAISE
Bringing in capital or new shareholders
What is the business worth — and what equity should new capital receive?
A new funding round, shareholder or management participation can make a robust understanding of equity value essential.
We can support with:
- Enterprise and equity valuation
- Share valuation
- Funding and dilution scenarios
- Management participation analysis
- Independent support for shareholder discussions
INVEST
Making a major investment
Will this investment create value?
Technology companies regularly face significant choices around new products, technology, capacity and geographic expansion. The strategic case may be compelling — but the financial value case still needs to work.
We can support with:
- Investment appraisal
- Discounted cash flow analysis
- Scenario and sensitivity analysis
- Return analysis
- Assessment of value creation and downside risk
FINANCE
Raising or refinancing debt
How much debt can the business support — and what does financing mean for value?
Financing decisions can materially change both the opportunities and risks facing a growing business.
We can support with:
- Business valuation
- Debt-capacity analysis
- Cash flow and debt-service analysis
- Downside scenarios
- Capital structure analysis
ACQUIRE
Buying another company or technology
What is the target worth — and what is the maximum we should pay?
An acquisition can accelerate growth, add capabilities or transform market position. But a strategically attractive business is not necessarily attractive at every price.
We can support with:
- Target valuation
- Stand-alone and strategic value analysis
- Synergy valuation
- Acquisition scenarios
- Return analysis
- Maximum-price analysis
TRANSITION
Changing ownership
What is a fair value when shareholders enter or leave?
Succession, shareholder changes, management buy-outs and other ownership transitions often require an independent and supportable view of value.
We can support with:
- Independent business valuation
- Share valuation
- Shareholder entry and exit
- Succession situations
- Management buy-outs and buy-ins
- Ownership and transaction scenarios
EXIT
Preparing for a future sale
What could the business be worth — and what can influence that value?
Understanding value before entering a sale process can help shareholders set realistic expectations, identify important value drivers and evaluate eventual offers from a more informed position.
We can support with:
- Pre-sale business valuation
- Value-driver analysis
- Scenario analysis
- Valuation of strategic opportunities and risks
- Assessment of offers and transaction economics
Technology businesses require a different valuation lens
The value of a technology company rarely comes from its historical financial statements alone.
Business models, revenue quality, intellectual property and scalability can all materially influence how future cash flows — and therefore value — should be assessed.
Depending on the company, important considerations can include:
Recurring vs. project revenue
How predictable and repeatable are revenues?
Customer retention and concentration
How durable is the customer base, and how dependent is the business on individual clients?
Software and intellectual property
Where does proprietary technology create competitive advantage and economic value?
Scalability and operating leverage
Can revenue grow materially faster than the cost base?
Growth vs. profitability
How should investment for future growth be balanced against current earnings and cash generation?
Founder and key-person dependency
How dependent is the company’s performance on individual founders, developers or commercial relationships?
Development expenditure
How much continued investment is required to maintain or improve the product?
Technology and obsolescence risk
How durable is the company’s competitive position as technologies and markets evolve?
Our approach combines established valuation techniques with an understanding of the commercial characteristics that drive value in technology businesses.
More than a valuation number
A valuation should help answer the question that caused you to commission it.
That may be:
“What is my company worth?”
But it may equally be:
“Does this investment create value?”
“What should we pay for this acquisition?”
“How much debt can the company support?”
“What is a fair price for this shareholding?”
“What should we expect if we sell?”
For that reason, our work can extend beyond providing a point estimate of value.
We use valuation, financial modelling and scenario analysis to help management teams and shareholders understand the assumptions, risks and value drivers behind the numbers — and what they mean for the decision at hand.
Independent analysis, focused on your decision
Sustainable Valuations provides independent valuation and financial decision support.
We are not dependent on completing a financing or selling your company to earn a transaction fee.
That allows our analysis to remain focused on the underlying economics, the value of the business and the decision you need to make.
Our approach is:
Independent
An objective perspective on business value and the assumptions that underpin it.
Decision-oriented
Analysis designed around the business decision or valuation requirement, rather than producing a report for its own sake.
Technology-informed
Consideration of the business models, risks and value drivers particularly relevant to technology companies.
Proportionate
A scope and output appropriate to privately owned businesses and the importance of the decision being made.
Sustainability where it affects value
Sustainability does not sit separately from financial value.
Where environmental or social factors materially affect revenues, costs, investment requirements, risk or competitive position, they should be reflected in the financial analysis.
This might include changing customer requirements, energy or resource costs, regulation, capital expenditure, market opportunities or other sustainability-related risks and opportunities.
Our approach is therefore to incorporate sustainability into conventional financial valuation where it is material to business value — rather than applying a separate ESG score to the company.
When should you speak to us?
A conversation may be useful if your business is:
Raising capital or introducing a new shareholder
Investing significantly in growth, technology or a new market
Financing the business or considering its debt capacity
Acquiring another company, product or technology
Transitioning between shareholders, generations or management teams
Preparing for an exit or assessing an offer
Or if an accountant, tax adviser, lawyer, lender, shareholder or other stakeholder has asked for a robust and supportable valuation.
A decision coming up where business value matters?
You do not need to know exactly what type of valuation you require before speaking to us.
We can start with the decision, transaction or situation you are facing and determine what level of valuation or financial analysis would be most useful.