Founders Everywhere: Federico Baradello
Federico Baradello is the founder and CEO of Finalis, the AI system of record transforming how deals get done in the private markets.
Welcome to Founders Everywhere, where we highlight the incredible people behind the companies we’ve backed at Everywhere Ventures, a global pre-seed fund supported by a community of 500 founders and operators.
In investment banking, the focus has always been on finding and closing deals, not on improving the back-office. This inefficiency hits small and boutique investment banks the hardest, especially as more independent firms launch.
Finalis flips this paradigm. By embedding regulatory compliance into workflows and layering on AI, Finalis is building the central nervous system for private capital—streamlining deal execution, capturing mandated first-party data at the source, and unlocking new market opportunities. The platform supports a wide range of transactions, from M&A and capital raises to private placements, fintech marketplaces, and alternative investment sponsors.
Founded in 2020, Finalis has grown into one of the largest and fastest-growing investment banks in the world—as a software company—powering over 900 bankers across 24 countries, 8,000+ ecosystem users, and $22B+ in closed deals.
Federico Baradello, founder and CEO, has a background as an M&A attorney at Kirkland & Ellis and experience supporting cross-border investments at a London-based private equity firm. He brings deep industry expertise to his work. Beyond Finalis, he is committed to impactful ventures, including refugee initiatives and supporting entrepreneurs across Latin America. He also taught corporate law and regulation at Hult International Business School and is a Limited Partner at Alaya Capital, an Argentine venture firm. Federico shares more about how Finalis is reimagining how deals get done in the private markets.
Why Finalis and why now?
I’m a recovering M&A lawyer who spent years on middle-market tech buyouts for private equity sponsors. I saw the irony of working on cutting-edge tech buyouts while using a 40-year-old tech stack. Finalis came from frustration at how fragmented, manual, and opaque private capital markets were, especially in compliance. I saw an opportunity to turn compliance from a burden into an advantage by embedding it into workflows and capturing first-party data to make the system proactive and intelligent.
What is Finalis’ North Star?
We are building the AI system of record for private capital, the go-to platform for bankers, buyers, and sellers to transact, report, and understand the private capital markets efficiently, securely, and intelligently.
Why is Finalis going to win?
Unlike other AI companies that rely on manually uploaded data, Finalis’ regulatory infrastructure mandates the capture of deal data and documents at the source. This structural advantage fuels its network effects, strengthens retention, and compounds intelligence over time.
How does Finalis inspire customer love?
By reducing compliance review times by over 60%, eliminating fragmented tools, and preventing data loss in email threads, Finalis frees bankers to focus on what they do best–closing deals.
Tell us about some recent milestones that Finalis crushed.
One of the most exciting developments we're seeing on the platform is the AI-powered acceleration of buy- and sell-side flywheels of the industry. On the sell side, we're partnering with premier, world-class bulge-bracket investment banks that uniquely leverage Finalis to connect deals that they're seeing in the market (that might be too small for them), with top-tier investment bankers on the Finalis platform. On the buy side, we’ve just launched a new AI solution called Deal Match, which is already proving effective at routing the best-fit deals to capital allocators like growth equity funds, search funds, independent sponsors, and venture funds.
How has your background influenced you as a founder?
I don’t believe we would have achieved the scale and success we have without the sensibility afforded by my legal training. It’s helped me approach problems with an integrated perspective, considering them from multiple angles. Our core solution delivers regulatory infrastructure, which requires a clear and strategic approach to managing risk as the business grows. You have to weigh a wide range of factors. Each is important, but none can be considered in isolation. Integrating these priorities in harmony requires good judgment, something my legal background has deeply honed.
Fun Fact:
English is my third language, which I learned after moving back to the U.S. at the age of seven. My first language is Italian and my second is Spanish. Maybe that explains why I have such a love for Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, which I could happily eat every day without ever getting bored.
With our data moat compounding and our network effects accelerating, no major deal will close without touching Finalis.
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