General Catalyst set aside $1.5 billion for what it calls AI-enabled roll-ups. The playbook: build an AI platform, then acquire established services firms in fragmented, labour-heavy sectors where agents can automate 30–70% of workflows.
The stated goal is to lift EBITDA margins from the typical 5–10% toward 30–40%. Disclosed examples include Long Lake in property management, which has raised $670 million and acquired 18 businesses, and Crescendo in contact centres, which acquired PartnerHero.
The maths is right: services margins are where AI pays back fastest. Where we differ is sequence. Buying a firm and retrofitting agents means rewiring culture, contracts and pricing all at once.
We start from operators who already work agent-first — Cloud Nine screens for hands-on agentic experience from the first interview — and grow the client book around them. It makes fewer headlines. We think Southeast Asia’s talent base favours building over buying, and that both models will produce winners.
If a roll-up fund calls, ask what happens to your team in month thirteen.
Our views, not investment advice.