How Aviara Partners runs private capital raises with FirmRoom

Situation

Aviara Partners runs a hybrid process that blends sell-side M&A and deal-by-deal fundraising for independent sponsors and similar capital seekers. On each deal, Aviara raises equity and/or debt over a ~2–3 month process, moving investors under NDA and distributing a curated diligence package.

Historically, Aviara has used multiple virtual data rooms, including FirmRoom, Firmex, Datasite, Intralinks, and iDeals. Because many of their clients pay deal costs out of pocket, economical pricing is an important consideration. Traditional tools sometimes impose lower storage caps or multi-month minimums, creating friction for cost-conscious clients running lean, curated rooms.

Solution

When Aviara spun out ~1.5 years ago, they researched more economical options and built relationships with several providers. FirmRoom became one of Aviara’s go-to solutions and has been used on about half of their closed deals to date.

On every engagement, a data room is opened, with the contract typically between the client and the VDR, while Aviara stages and manages the room, investor access, and updates throughout the process.

What resonated with Aviara was month-to-month billing, a practical feature set — including permissions, watermarking, and basic reporting at “the right level” without bloat — and ample baseline storage, with 5GB included on standard plans.

Results

FirmRoom supports Aviara’s deal-by-deal fundraising by providing a clean, simple, and economical due diligence flow that works for curated investor packages and can scale to M&A-sized rooms when needed.

Deal velocity and flexibility

Month-to-month terms align with Aviara’s typical 2–4 month process (with some deals running 6–8 months), removing lock-in concerns and making budgeting easier for independent sponsors.

Storage that de-risks surprises

The 5GB baseline reduces anxiety around large files, such as occasional video or heavy Excel models, helping avoid last-minute storage cap issues common with lower-tier providers.

“Just-right” functionality

Core controls — permissions, watermarking, and basic reporting — cover the majority of Aviara’s needs without paying for advanced features that are rarely used.

As a result, FirmRoom enables Aviara to run active deals with predictable costs, sufficient storage, and a practical feature set — without unnecessary complexity.