A faster, more focused path to better longlists
How NovaBridge®, a sales-origination partner for M&A advisors, moved from manual research and tool-hopping to a focused, higher-quality longlisting workflow with StrategyBridgeAI.
The essentials at a glance.
Most valuable
Personal, responsive support from the StrategyBridgeAI team
Longlist for targeted, sell-side target searches
Continuous product development based on direct user feedback
Most frequently used
Longlist for sell-side target searches
Cross-industry, cross-size target lists tailored to each M&A advisor partner
Generating large lead lists (in the hundreds) for partner mandates
What works well
Fast, personal response times, even for edge cases
Steadily improving lead quality over time
Easy to learn and to act on the results
A concise view of the case study.
StrategyBridgeAI in three words
Dynamic · Efficient · Sustainable
The difference compared to before
StrategyBridgeAI has simplified and accelerated the way NovaBridge® works, and made the team more open to questioning its own processes.
Most used and valuable modules / services
Longlist
The full story.
Initial Situation & Challenges
When Denise Ley founded NovaBridge®, she found that structured target research was a gap many advisors expected NovaBridge® to help close from the start, rather than only stepping in once leads were ready to be approached.
As a result, the team found itself building a research process from scratch, without a clear methodology or tooling in place, while client expectations around lead quality and turnaround were already growing.
The main challenges before adopting StrategyBridgeAI were:
No established research process in place when the company was founded
The first two to three months were handled fully manually, with improvised use of search engines and business registers
Early, unstructured experimentation with generic AI chatbots that was not yet part of a reliable workflow
Several months spent testing different specialized platforms via free trials and outreach
Hesitation around long-term licensing commitments after a disappointing experience with an earlier tool
Usage & Impact
Today, NovaBridge® uses StrategyBridgeAI's Longlist as its primary research tool. The team works exclusively on the sell-side, searching for target companies across industries and company sizes, with the exact scope of each search defined by the requirements of the individual M&A advisor partner they are working for.
Choosing a platform was not an easy decision. After a disappointing experience with a previous annual-license tool, Ley approached new platforms with considerable skepticism, particularly around being locked into another year-long commitment. Two factors ultimately stood out in the decision for StrategyBridgeAI: repeated touchpoints with the brand through industry events and conversations with partners, and a level of personal, hands-on support that distinguished it from less personal digital tools.
The impact has been felt in both speed and quality. The team is now able to generate large target lists far faster than with its earlier manual approach. Platform improvements over the past six months have also visibly increased lead quality in the team's experience.
Just as important, settling on one main research platform rather than continuing to test multiple tools in parallel has let the team extract significantly more value from StrategyBridgeAI over time.
The solution is used especially for:
Sell-side target longlists across a wide range of industries
Target searches spanning small, mid-sized, and larger companies, depending on the partner mandate
Generating large lead lists, often in the hundreds, for individual partner mandates
Impact in daily work
Impact in daily work:
Faster generation of large, high-quality target lists for partner mandates
Steadily improving lead quality as the platform has been refined over the past six months
More value extracted from the platform through sustained, focused use rather than switching between tools
Quick resolution of edge cases through direct, responsive support from the StrategyBridgeAI team
Quotes
Denise Ley
Founder, NovaBridge®
"What I value most is the personal support. Not just that I can reach the team directly myself, but that every email gets a quick reply, no matter who on my team sends it or when. That kind of responsiveness toward the whole team, not just toward me, is something I really don’t take for granted."
"StrategyBridgeAI has simplified and accelerated the way we work, and also made us more open to questioning our own processes."
"StrategyBridgeAI was an absolute game changer for how I think about using AI in this area. I’d recommend StrategyBridgeAI to anyone. Working with them genuinely changes how you think about your own processes."
About the company
The interview partner is Denise Ley, Founder of NovaBridge®.
NovaBridge® is a sales-origination partner founded in April 2025, acting as a bridge between M&A advisors and entrepreneurs. The company builds and runs sales structures and sales processes on behalf of M&A advisory firms, working at the front end of the deal process: sourcing and engaging potential clients up to the point of mandate, before handing the engagement over to its M&A advisor partners. NovaBridge® works exclusively on the sell-side, sourcing target companies across industries and company sizes according to each partner's specific requirements. Since its founding, the team has grown to four people
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