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Kompella Technologies

Private Equity · Operating Partner Engagement · From $10,000/month

Fractional CTO Services for Private Equity Firms & Portfolio Companies

Senior fractional CTO leadership for PE operating teams and the portfolio companies they manage. Pre-close diligence, post-close value creation, CTO replacement, and multi-portco thematic engagements.

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Private equity sponsors use fractional CTOs in three patterns: pre-close tech due diligence (often alongside specialist DD firms), post-close value-creation augmentation at the portfolio company level, and CTO replacement during full-time searches. PE engagements typically run 20–30% above standard fractional tiers, span 6–18 months per portco, and increasingly involve multi-portco thematic engagements where one fractional CTO works across 2–4 companies under operating-partner oversight.

Engagement Patterns

Four ways PE firms engage us.

Pre-close tech due diligence

Senior architecture and team review before transactions close. Often complementary to specialist DD firms (Crosslake, West Monroe) — we provide a continuous engagement that bridges into post-close work, rather than a one-time DD report.

Post-close value-creation augmentation

Most common pattern. Embedded in the portfolio company for 6–18 months executing the value-creation tech thesis from the diligence report. Cloud migration, security uplift, AI rollout, ERP modernization, M&A integration playbook.

CTO replacement during transition

Portfolio company CTO leaves; the board needs continuity for 6–12 months while running a full-time search. Embedded-tier engagement replaces the departed CTO during the search and helps recruit the permanent replacement.

Multi-portco thematic engagements

One fractional CTO works across 2–4 portcos on a coordinated theme — AI rollout, cybersecurity uplift, post-merger integration, cloud migration playbook. Operating-partner-managed engagement structure.

Two Engagement Models

Firm-level vs. portco-level engagement.

Firm-level engagement

Operating-partner-managed engagement where one fractional CTO works across multiple portfolio companies on coordinated themes (AI rollout, cybersecurity uplift, post-merger integration). The operating partner provides governance and prioritization; the fractional CTO works directly with portco CEOs and engineering leaders. Best for sub-$5B AUM firms with 8–25 active portcos.

Portco-level engagement

Embedded fractional CTO at a single portfolio company for 6–18 months, executing the value-creation thesis from diligence or replacing a departed CTO during a transition. Reports primarily to the portco CEO with dotted-line accountability to the operating partner. Best for portcos under $200M in revenue where a full-time CTO isn't yet justified.

Pricing

Premium reflects PE engagement scope.

PE engagements typically run 20–30% above our standard fractional CTO tiers due to scope (deeper engineering teams, stricter timelines, harder deliverables), operating-partner reporting cadence, and the LP-aligned documentation work. Most PE engagements operate at the Embedded tier.

Portco Embedded

$30,000 / month

3+ days/week, 6–18 months

Embedded fractional CTO at a single portfolio company. Value-creation execution, CTO replacement, or exit-readiness work.

Multi-Portco Thematic

$50,000 / month

2–4 portcos, 12 months

One fractional CTO across multiple portcos on a coordinated theme (AI, security, integration). Operating-partner-managed.

Pre-Close DD Support

Project-scoped

2–6 weeks per transaction

Tech and team review on transactions, complementing or substituting for a specialist DD firm. Bridges into post-close work.

Selected Engagements

PE-relevant work we've shipped.

Our PE engagements typically operate under NDA. Public examples below are non-PE-backed but demonstrate the value-creation patterns that translate directly. We can share PE-specific references under NDA on request.

Healthcare SaaS scale

Scaling an EMR platform to 4,000+ US clinics — translatable to PE-backed healthcare SaaS scale playbooks

Cost takeout / value creation

Saved $1M+ at Mercer by killing wrong tech investments — direct fit for PE value-creation theses

Exit readiness

A'alda from founding through Tokyo IPO — exit-readiness patterns for PE hold-period preparation

FAQ

PE-specific questions.

Yes, increasingly. Operating teams at sub-$5B AUM PE firms in particular use fractional CTOs for portfolio company augmentation rather than hiring full-time CTOs at every portco. The pattern is most common at firms with 8–25 active portfolio companies where staffing a full-time CTO at each is neither budgeted nor feasible.
Tech DD firms (Crosslake, West Monroe, Newforth) produce reports for transaction decisions; fractional CTOs embed in portfolio companies post-close and own outcomes. Most PE firms use both — DD firms for the transaction itself, fractional CTOs for the post-close work where the value-creation thesis actually plays out.
Yes. Multi-portco thematic engagements are increasingly common — one fractional CTO managing AI rollout, cybersecurity uplift, or post-merger integration patterns across 2–4 portcos under operating-partner oversight. Pricing is typically bundled at $40K–$60K/month for the multi-portco scope.
PE engagements run 20–30% above standard fractional CTO tiers due to scope, timeline pressure, and reporting demands. Most PE engagements operate at the Embedded tier ($25K+/month) rather than Advisory or Fractional. Multi-portco engagements bundle pricing.
Yes. Late-cycle PE engagements often focus on exit-readiness: clearing technical debt that would surface during diligence on the next transaction, producing diligence-ready architecture and security documentation, and ensuring the engineering team can defend the asset during exit DD. Typically 12–18 months ahead of expected exit.
Yes. PE engagements typically include monthly operating-partner updates and quarterly LP-aligned tech updates that get aggregated into LP reports. We follow the operating partner's reporting cadence and templates rather than imposing our own.

Operating partner conversation in 30 minutes.

We'll talk through your portfolio, the value-creation thesis, and where embedded fractional CTO leadership fits. No deck, no pitch — just an honest read on whether we're the right shape.

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