Serava is free, and covers off-market SMB targets SourceScrub does not.
SourceScrub
SourceScrub is a PE-focused data platform that aggregates company financials, ownership data, and deal history from conference attendance, industry reports, and public filings. It is designed for deal teams running proactive outreach at mid-market and upper-LMM deal sizes.
Serava
Serava provides off-market acquisition intelligence for the lower middle market: service businesses, trades, healthcare, and professional services with $1M to $30M in revenue, sourced from government registries and scored by exit readiness signals.
Feature
Serava
SourceScrub
Annual cost for buy-side
Target size focus
Business types covered
Market stage of targets
Owner tenure signal
AI fit scoring
Revenue estimates
Target universe size
Geographic coverage
Contract commitment
Suitable for search funds
Suitable for independent sponsors
Bottom line
SourceScrub is a strong tool for PE firms that do 5 to 20 transactions per year at mid-market deal sizes and can justify a five-figure annual contract. Serava is for buyers focused on the lower middle market who need off-market SMB deal flow at no cost, including search fund principals, independent sponsors, and smaller PE funds.
SourceScrub aggregates data from conference attendance lists, industry reports, and proprietary research, which requires significant ongoing data acquisition and curation. The price reflects the PE firm customer base, which has large AUM and high willingness to pay for quality data. For buyers focused on smaller transactions, the cost-per-deal math rarely works.
SourceScrub's coverage is strongest for companies with over $10M in revenue that appear in conference lists, trade publications, or public filings. It has limited coverage of plumbers, HVAC companies, dental offices, property managers, and other LMM service businesses that Serava systematically covers via NPPES, SBA loan data, and business license registries.
For LMM targets (sub-$30M revenue), Serava provides broader coverage of off-market companies than SourceScrub at no cost. For targets in the $30M to $150M revenue range, SourceScrub may have more data depth. The right choice depends on your deal size thesis.
Serava sources companies from NPPES (US healthcare provider registry), SBA loan records, contractor license databases, Companies House (UK), and OpenStreetMap business data. These government registries capture owner-operated SMBs that are largely invisible to conference-based data aggregators like SourceScrub.
Free for buyers. No subscription. Full access from day one.