Build a first profile of a target
TodayAn adviser sends you a company name, and you need to say within an hour whether it deserves a call.
With PerplexityA sourced one-page profile and five questions for a first call.
- 15 min
- every week
AI training · Finance and accounting
AI training for private equity teams
A deal means hundreds of documents, models to review and comps files to keep current. At expert level, AI sifts through the documents, checks an LBO model and prepares the materials: the team keeps the price, the structure and the decision to invest.
In brief
AI for private equity teams, in brief
AI helps private equity teams with tasks such as “Build a first profile of a target,” “Screen targets in PitchBook from Claude,” and “Query the reports of a listed target.” Start with a single task, in Perplexity: allow 15 minutes the first time, and always review the result before you use it.
- 9concrete use cases
- 6recommended tools, 3 of them free to start
- 15 to 45 minper use case, the first time
The tasks where AI helps most
- Sourcing and screening targets
- Building and reviewing LBO models
- Keeping comps and precedent transactions up to date
- Working through the due diligence data room
- Writing the investment committee memo and deck
- Tracking the deal pipeline
Use cases
9 concrete AI use cases for private equity teams
For each task: how it goes today, then with the tool. And the time it takes the first time.
PitchBook · Connection in Claude
Screen targets in PitchBook from Claude
TodayThe list of a hundred companies is built by hand, filter after filter, and changes with every new idea.
With PitchBookA list of targets with profile, shareholders and latest transactions.
- 25 min
- every week
Gemini Notebook · One notebook per company
Query the reports of a listed target
TodayThree years of reports to find out whether the business holds up without the margin of the flagship division.
With Gemini NotebookA table of points to watch for a listed target, with the page of each number.
- 20 min
- as needed
Also
Get an LBO model reviewed
A list of anomalies with the tab, the cell and the effect on returns.
- 30 min
- as needed
Claude · Claude in Excel
Refresh the comps table
A dated comps table, with the moves flagged.
- 25 min
- every month
Claude · Claude in Word
Write the investment committee memo
A memo in the fund’s template, with contradictions flagged.
- 45 min
- as needed
Claude · Project
Prepare the due diligence questions
A list of questions sorted by theme and priority, ready to review.
- 25 min
- as needed
Claude · Claude in PowerPoint
Build the committee deck from the memo
A ten-slide deck in the fund’s template.
- 30 min
- as needed
Keep the deal pipeline up to date
A list of justified status changes, to approve before saving.
- 20 min
- every week
One use case, start to finish
Perplexity for private equity teams: build a first profile of a target, step by step
- 15 min
- every week
What to check
No confidential document received under an NDA goes into a tool your compliance team has not approved.
Build a first profile of a targetPerplexity- Open Perplexity and turn on web search.
- Paste the prompt below with the company name and its country.
- Open the cited sources and discard sites that give no dated figure.
- Carry over to your pipeline tracker only what you have checked.
The prompt to copy
Write a profile of [company], [country], using public sources only. Contents: business and products, customers and markets, known shareholders, management, revenue and earnings as published with the fiscal year, direct competitors, recent transactions (acquisitions, fundraisings, disputes). For each fact: the source and the date. Separate what is published from what is estimated, and mark what is missing as “not found”. End with the five questions that would decide a first call.
My path
What you’ll be able to do, one step after another
In Nova, “My path” starts from your level: one next step at a time.
Talk to AI like a colleague
The first moves, with free tools.
Write faster, without mistakes
In your jobWrite the investment committee memo
Get answers from your documents
In your jobGet an LBO model reviewed
Find an answer you can trust
In your jobRefresh the comps table
Never retype anything again
In your jobBuild a first profile of a target
For a team: everyone moves forward in their own job. You see the team’s progress and who finished a training you ask for, never the rest of one person’s activity.
The tools
AI tools for private equity teams, and what they cost
Claude
Free to startThe panel in Excel to build and check a model, the Word and PowerPoint documents for the investment committee, and connectors to your licensed data.
Recommended planFree to try, with no internal documents. Panel in Excel: Pro, $20 per month ($17 per month if billed yearly). For a company: Team, $25 per user per month ($20 if billed yearly).
Gemini Notebook
Free to startThe published reports of a listed target in one notebook: every answer points back to the page of the document.
Recommended planFree: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 questions per day.
Perplexity
Free to startA first profile of a target or a sector, with the source and date of every number.
Recommended planFree: 3 “Pro” searches per day and 1 “Research” report per month. Then: Pro, $20 per month (€22 on the French App Store).
PitchBook
Companies, deals, investors, cap tables and investors’ fund commitments, right inside the conversation with Claude.
Recommended planEnterprise subscription, see the vendor’s website. The connection to Claude requires a PitchBook licence.
Rogo
Agents that review an LBO Excel file, refresh comps and find precedent transactions.
Recommended planEnterprise subscription, see the vendor’s website.
Datasite and Blueflame AI
The deal’s data room, with AI assistance to ask questions and spot gaps in the documents.
Recommended planEnterprise subscription, see the vendor’s website.
Prices taken from the vendors’ official pages, dated on each tool page. These subscriptions are not included in Nova. Brands are named to identify the tools. No affiliation.
Ground rules
The rules to follow with AI in this job
Always do this
- NDA: no document received from a seller goes into a tool that the seller and your compliance team have not approved. A data room has its own download rules.
- Inside information: a listed target, or a listed buyer, makes the deal sensitive. No non-public information in a consumer assistant or a personal account.
- Every number in a model, memo or deck can be traced back to the original document. An assistant can misread a table or confuse reported and adjusted figures.
- Price, structure and recommendation commit the fund: AI prepares and checks, the team negotiates and decides.
Never hand this to AI
- Setting a price, an exit multiple or a financing structure on the sole answer of an assistant.
- A market figure, a precedent transaction or a multiple given by an assistant without a source you have opened.
- Data room documents in a tool the seller has not authorised.
Questions
Frequently asked questions about AI for private equity teams
Which AI tools should private equity teams use?
Nova recommends 6 to start with: Claude, Gemini Notebook, Perplexity, PitchBook, Rogo, and Datasite and Blueflame AI. 3 of them can be used for free to get started.
How does Claude help private equity teams?
The panel in Excel to build and check a model, the Word and PowerPoint documents for the investment committee, and connectors to your licensed data. The plan to choose: Free to try, with no internal documents. Panel in Excel: Pro, $20 per month ($17 per month if billed yearly). For a company: Team, $25 per user per month ($20 if billed yearly).
Where should private equity teams start with AI?
With “Build a first profile of a target,” in Perplexity. Allow 15 minutes the first time. A sourced one-page profile and five questions for a first call.
Is this an accredited course that leads to a certificate?
No. Nova is software, not an accredited training provider: it issues no diploma or certification. It costs $22 per month for one person, and $149 per month for a team of up to ten people.
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