We work alongside founders from growth through exits of up to $300 million — bringing the vision, creativity and precision from corporate development to transaction execution that define the industries we serve.
Driving Value for Complex
Technical, Founder-Owned Businesses
Strategic Financial Advisory + M&A Investment Banking
Audacity is an award-winning strategic financial advisory and investment banking firm that helps founders build, grow and exit technically complex businesses.
FOUNDER M&A
TRANSACTIONS
COMPLETED
45+
EXIT VALUE
DELIVERED TO
FOUNDERS
$4B+
AVERAGE
TRANSACTION
VALUE
$100M+
PRINCIPAL EXPERIENCE ACROSS AUDACITY IB AND PRIOR FIRMS
MULTIPLE M&A AWARD WINS | SINGLE-PRINCIPAL PRACTICE
Up to $50M | Industrial
Up to $50M | MedTech
$50M+ | Private Equity
ABOUT AUDACITY
Strategic Financial Advisory Services + M&A Investment Banking
Audacity is a strategic financial advisory and investment banking firm built for founders of technically complex businesses.
Banking is part of our DNA, but our model extends well beyond a traditional M&A engagement.
We work with a select portfolio of founder-owned companies, often years before an exit, helping to build enterprise value, navigate complexity, raise capital, prepare for transactions and ultimately execute successful exits.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIES EXPERTISE
Our core sectors include Advanced Manufacturing, MedTech, Robotics and Automation, Engineered Products, AI-Enabled Products and Services and related technical industries.
We specialize in sectors where founders are often engineers, scientists, technologists, physicians and other domain experts who have built businesses around deep technical expertise and innovation.
PROVEN GROWTH-TO-EXIT PARTNERS
We go beyond traditional investment banking by taking a hands-on role inside founder-owned businesses — helping founders build enterprise value, navigate critical decisions and ultimately prepare for and execute an exit.
We bring real operating and transaction experience to help founders design, strengthen and scale their businesses toward a successful premium first-time exit.
CURATED CLIENT PORTFOLIO:
1-5 YEAR EXIT HORIZON | FIRST-TIME FOUNDERS
In addition to representing clients in near-term transactions, we work deeply and intentionally with founder-owned businesses at different stages of growth.
We take a long-term value creation approach, often partnering with founders for years.
In select situations, we also invest alongside our clients through equity ownership.
PRINCIPAL-LED BY DESIGN
Audacity is a single-principal practice. Our model provides senior-level attention, continuity, and accountability across projects and stages of a client's growth. We believe founders benefit from having a consistent point of ownership from strategic advisory through exit.
And in regard to our investment banking services, every M&A and capital raise securities transaction engagement is personally led and executed by our Principal.
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CAPABILITIES
Traditional financial advisory engagements often focus on a single functional area — finance, operations, growth or transactions. Our model is designed to navigate the interconnected financial, strategic, operational, and transaction challenges that emerge as founder-owned businesses grow toward an exit.
And unlike the traditional investment banking model that typically begins near the finish line, our approach brings an exit-oriented perspective to value creation years before a transaction.
INTEGRATED FROM GROWTH TO EXIT
When the time comes for an exit, our investment banking and securities transactions are conducted through our FINRA-registered broker-dealer, Audacity Capital Partners LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC). This integrated structure provides continuity from strategic advisory through transaction execution.
Importantly, the same principal who has worked alongside the founder during growth ultimately leads the exit — from positioning and negotiation through closing.
WE HELP DESIGN & BUILD COMPANIES
We work alongside founders to help design and build more valuable companies — shaping strategic and financial architecture, growth strategy, capital allocation, organizational infrastructure and the critical decisions that drive enterprise value.
Drawing on our experience across investment banking, operations and strategy — including years advising founders through successful exits — we identify the attributes sophisticated investors and acquirers ultimately value, then work backward with founders to build them into the business over time.
The objective is not simply to prepare a company for an exit or growth capital transaction, but to build a stronger, more valuable company long before either is on the horizon.
BUILT FOR COMPLEXITY
Clients Value Our Ability to "Get Things Done" that Others Could Not
Our clients value our grit, vision and ability to find a path through difficult strategic, operating and financial problems — and then do the hands-on work required to actually solve them.
They value personal accountability, resourcefulness and an advisor willing to stay with a problem until it is resolved.
This is particularly valuable when challenges cross disciplines.
Rather than navigating layers of specialized teams and organizational hierarchy, founders work directly with an experienced advisor who can move fluidly across strategy, finance, operations and transactions — connecting the pieces, making decisions and getting things done.
COMPLEX PROBLEMS. SOPHISTICATED TRANSACTIONS.
The best businesses do not always fit neatly into a standard mold. The greatest obstacles to a successful exit or growth capital raise are not always found in how a company is marketed.
Often, they are embedded within the business itself — in its strategy, financial model, operations, growth trajectory, capital structure or other complexities that can limit value or create friction in a transaction.
We work alongside founders to identify and directly solve these issues before and during the transaction process — strengthening the business, clarifying its underlying drivers of value and preparing it to withstand the scrutiny of sophisticated buyers and investors.
We then translate that work into a compelling investment narrative that resonates with the market and carry our deep knowledge of the business directly through transaction execution — from positioning and competitive tension through negotiation and closing.
For certain clients, we have delivered exit values exceeding twice the expectations communicated by the market and other advisors prior to our engagement.
READY TO SERVE WHEN BUYERS OR INVESTORS CALL
Founders often engage Audacity after receiving unsolicited interest from a strategic buyer, private equity firm or other investor. In these situations, we are brought in to quickly assess the opportunity, its risks and its potential value — and determine the best path forward.
We then move rapidly to build strategic optionality, negotiating leverage and competitive tension — helping founders make informed decisions while protecting and often significantly increasing transaction value and improving terms.
SOPHISTICATED BUYERS. COMPETITIVE PROCESSES.
Audacity markets companies and investment opportunities to discerning strategic buyers, private equity firms, family offices and other sophisticated investors.
Our experience spans complex strategic and private equity transactions, including highly competitive auction processes designed to create competitive tension, strengthen negotiating leverage and drive value and terms for founders.
FOUNDER-LEVEL INTENSITY
Our model is intentionally selective. We work with a limited portfolio of companies and bring an unusual level of depth and personal involvement to each engagement — from building and strengthening the business and preparing for a transaction through negotiation and closing.
That intensity is fundamental to Audacity.
AUDACITY — MORE THAN A NAME
“Audacity” reflects our values and the discipline to do what is right when the stakes are high — to go further, dig deeper, bring clarity to complexity and stand alongside founders doing the hard work of building the future.
Proudly standing founder to founder, entrepreneur to entrepreneur.
FOUNDER M&A
TRANSACTIONS
COMPLETED *
45+
EXIT VALUE
DELIVERED TO
FOUNDERS *
$4B+
AVERAGE
TRANSACTION
VALUE *
$100M+
OUR SERVICES
Growth | Capital | Exit
AUDACITY ADVISORY℠
Strategic Financial Advisory
Audacity Advisory℠ works alongside founders and management teams on the financial and strategic issues that shape enterprise value.
Our work includes financial and operating strategy, business operations and reporting transformation, growth initiatives, transaction readiness, valuation and value creation, strategic alternatives and other complex financial advisory assignments. Relationships are often long-term.
We may begin working with a company years before a potential transaction — helping strengthen the business, mitigate financial and operating risk, evaluate strategic alternatives, prepare for growth and build toward an eventual liquidity event.
Every Audacity Advisory℠ engagement is led by Audacity's Principal, with experienced professionals and specialists involved when their expertise adds value.
AUDACITY IB℠
Capital Raising & M&A Investment Banking
Audacity IB℠ provides award-winning growth capital raising and M&A services to founders and privately held companies, with deep expertise in technically complex businesses across Advanced Manufacturing, MedTech, Robotics and Automation, Engineered Products and Services and related technical sectors.
Every investment banking engagement is personally led and executed by Audacity's Principal — from transaction strategy, valuation and positioning to buyer/investor identification, preparation and outreach to transaction negotiations, diligence and closing.
An Audacity IB℠ engagement may represent the culmination of a multi-year Audacity Advisory℠ relationship or begin as a standalone transaction.
Alternatively, we may be engaged to sell a company when timing is of the essence, including for clients where we executed complex competitive M&A transaction processes in less than five months, start to finish.
Either way, the objective is the same — rigorous preparation, sophisticated execution and relentless representation of the founder's interests.
AUDACITY ADVISORS℠
Specialized Expertise When It Matters
Audacity Advisors℠ is our in-house team and network of experienced professionals and specialists, including professionals whom we have worked directly with over many years. Depending on the engagement, we may also bring together relevant financial, operational, industry, accounting, transaction or other specialized expertise, while still holding ultimate accountability for the outcome.
Audacity Advisors℠ complement rather than replace our principal-led model. Audacity's Principal remains directly involved and accountable for the engagement while assembling the right capabilities for the situation.
AUDACITY AI℠
Strategic Financial Advisory + Investment Banking for AI-Enabled Businesses
Audacity AI℠ extends our technical industries expertise to founder-owned businesses developing and applying artificial intelligence to differentiated products, services and business models.
We are particularly interested in businesses where AI intersects with complex technologies, physical products, industrial applications, healthcare, automation and other technical markets.
Through Audacity AI℠, we provide strategic financial advisory services throughout a company's growth and development, as well as capital raising and M&A investment banking services when founders and shareholders are ready to pursue a transaction.
We also integrate proprietary AI tools into our own strategic advisory and investment banking work to enhance research, analysis, financial insight and transaction execution.
THE AUDACITY MODEL℠
Selective by Design. Principal-Led by Definition.
Banking is part of our DNA, but our hard work often begins long before a transaction.
We take hands-on strategic and financial roles alongside founder-owned businesses, helping to build enterprise value and prepare companies for what comes next. Sometimes that journey culminates in an Audacity-led exit. In other situations, we remain alongside the founder while another advisor leads the transaction.
We intentionally work with a select portfolio of companies at any given time. Our relationships can span years, with a long-term focus on value creation and an eventual successful exit.
Across every engagement, the fundamental model remains the same — One principal. A select portfolio of founder clients with exceptional growth and exit potential. Specialized hands-on expertise. Deep involvement from growth through exit.
We Are Unafraid to Tackle Complexity
+
Finance, Growth
& Operations
Assignments
0
0
+
Completed M&A Transactions
($100M Avg. Trx Value)
0
We drive and protect exit value and care about our client companies as much as our founders do
Advanced Product Design / Manufacturing |
Industrial Robotics & Automation Company
“Audacity IB executed with tireless commitment and energy in representing us during the selling process, and worked with us intensely daily for several months to ensure an optimal transaction outcome.
Their ability to move with unmatched speed while digging incredibly deep into the details of the business sets them apart and ensured the best possible outcome.”
— Founder & CEO
MedTech & Life Sciences |
Complex Medical Devices & Lab Tools Company
“Audacity IB did an incredible job, not only in representing us throughout the selling process; but in working with us daily for many months prior to the sale, to help us build operations and accelerate growth well before the company was sold.
Finding a quality, trustworthy M&A investment banker capable of also effectively serving in the trenches with a founder as a trusted long-term co-executive partner is very rare.”
— Founder & CEO
Sustainable Food & AgTech |
Aquiculture Product Sourcing Company
“Simply put, the deal team did unbelievable work for us from start to finish and we are very thankful that we selected Audacity IB to lead this fast-paced and highly complex transaction.
We were very impressed with their aggressiveness, creativity, and ability to run a process and close a transaction in less than five months from start…while delivering an outcome and strategic partnership that significantly exceeded our expectations.”
— Founder & CEO
Information Technology |
B2B Software-as-a-Service Company
“We engaged Audacity IB looking for more than just banking advice. They impressed us with their financial advisory depth, technical rigor, and ability to rapidly synthesize our business, and advise us on strategic alternatives.
They also stepped in as a true financial leadership partner, not only clarifying our options but preparing us for growth. On top of that, they were amazing to work with!"
— Techstars Founder & CEO
Deep Private Equity Expertise |
Highly Collaborative & Effective on Complex Transactions
“This is a great example of a true collaborative legal and financial deal team effort. We were fortunate enough to work with Audacity IB, which was committed to getting the best overall outcome and worked tirelessly to run a full competitive auction.
As a team, we moved through the deal process in an extremely efficient and effective manner in the best interest of our shared client.”
— Head of Private Equity, Leading M&A Transaction Law Firm
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
-
Stanford University,
Graduate School of Business
-
Thunderbird,
School of Global Management
-
Northern Illinois University,
School of Business, Accountancy
-
FINRA Licenses: Series 7, 24, 63 and 79
JEFFREY SCOTT SHIPPY, MBA, CPA
Founder, CEO & Managing Principal
Jeff Shippy brings extensive multi-dimensional experience across investment banking, strategic advisory, operations and executive leadership. He has advised 200+ companies, personally executed 45+ M&A transactions and served in senior operating roles including as CFO and EVP for innovative founder companies from growth through exit.
Jeff's brings more than 32 years of experience, including at Audacity and prior organizations. His experience includes more than 20 years dedicated to investment banking, including with Houlihan Lokey and Stout in Los Angeles, plus more than 12 years in senior operating roles with founder companies and as a licensed CPA with BDO Seidman and a strategy and operating management consultant with Accenture in Silicon Valley.
He has also served in direct private equity investing roles, giving him perspective across all sides of a transaction — as banker, operating advisor, investor, and executive.
His experience spans technically complex businesses across Advanced Manufacturing, MedTech, Life Sciences, Healthcare, Technology, and related sectors, with extensive expertise in sophisticated transactions, including private equity and large strategic transactions. He also has experience in special situations, including business restructuring and transformation.
In 2020, Jeff founded Audacity and its registered broker-dealer, Audacity Capital Partners LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC) for securities-related M&A and capital raise transactions. Since, Audacity has earned numerous industry awards for advisory excellence in completing complex founder transactions in deep technical industries.
Jeff is an alumnus of Stanford Graduate School of Business, Thunderbird School of Global Management and Northern Illinois University. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance and International Management and a B.S. in Accountancy, is a licensed CPA and maintains FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 registrations.
CONTACT US
Los Angeles Office
10866 Wilshire Blvd, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Silicon Valley Office
2100 Geng Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
© 2026 Audacity IB. All rights reserved. Securities are offered through Audacity Capital Partners LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Audacity IB is a trade name for Audacity Capital Partners LLC and Audacity Consulting Partners LLC. “Audacity IB”, "Audacity Advisory", "Audacity" or the “firm” refer to these two affiliated companies. Audacity IB is not a CPA firm.
The firm's Silicon Valley office is operated by Audacity Consulting Partners LLC. It is acknowledged that the content of this website is for general information purposes only and is not intended to constitute an offer to sell or buy any securities or other assets or promise to undertake or solicit business and may not be relied upon in connection with any offer or sale of securities or other assets. The above reference to 45+ completed M&A transactions delivering $4+ billion in combined transaction value and an average transaction value of $100+ million refers to engagements completed by our Principal at Audacity IB and at prior firms.
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