Toronto · Canada
Miguel
Financial analyst at a Canadian bank, without a master's degree and from a non-target university.
Investment Analyst offer · Toronto
Private Equity Accelerator · By application
Break into Private Equity.Build the evidence a fund is willing to hire.
Build the positioning, access, investment capability and interview readiness required to compete for a Private Equity offer — a selective, hands-on programme built around your actual recruiting bottleneck, not a standardized path through another finance course.
Built by a former Private Equity Investment Analyst who broke into the industry through the same investment-led approach now used inside Ithaca.
Dedicated mentorship
Personalized recruiting strategy
No payment at application stage
5/9
Offers secured
7/9
Offer or active PE process
6 markets
Toronto · New York · London · Madrid · Milan · Riyadh
Miguel · Toronto · Investment Analyst offer
Adi · London · Internship offer
Kamal · Madrid · Internship offer
Lorenzo · Milan · Internship offer
Wayne · Riyadh · Associate offer
Joseph · New York · Active process
Filippo · New York · Active process
§ 01 · Candidate outcomes
The goal is not to finish another course. It is to become a candidate a fund is willing to interview, trust and hire.
Different backgrounds. Different markets. Different starting points.
New York · United States
Joseph
Hedge fund analyst from a non-target university, targeting the Private Equity buy-side.
Active process · Wall Street industrial fund
New York · United States
Filippo
Harvard Mechanical Engineering student with no previous finance or economics experience.
Active internship process · Industrial fund
London · United Kingdom
Adi
Mechanical Engineering student at a non-target university in London.
Internship offer · Industrial mid-market fund
Madrid · Spain
Kamal
Economics student at a non-target university in France.
Internship offer · Generalist mid-market fund
Milan · Italy
Lorenzo
Candidate from a non-target university in Milan.
Internship offer · Generalist mid-market fund
Riyadh · Saudi Arabia
Wayne
Senior professional transitioning into Private Equity.
Associate offer · Riyadh fund
Current cohort
7 outcomes
Five offers secured and two active Private Equity recruitment processes across a cohort of nine.
5 offers · 2 active processes
§ 02 · The problem
Private Equity recruiting rarely breaks for one reason.
A strong university is not investment proof. Technical knowledge is not investor judgment. Applications are not access. Interviews are not offers. An unconventional background is not necessarily a disadvantage — if it is positioned where it actually matters.
01
Positioning
The market does not understand why your background belongs in Private Equity.
02
Access
You may be credible, but the right investors are not speaking with you.
03
Judgment
You know the technicals, but cannot yet demonstrate how you think about an investment.
04
Conversion
You are getting opportunities, but not converting them into offers.
Ithaca starts by identifying which problem you actually have — then the programme is built around it. One Harvard engineering candidate didn't need more prestige. He needed investment proof.
§ 03 · The Ithaca system
Not a content library.
A personalized recruiting system.
Four interconnected dimensions. The weighting changes according to your starting point.
01 / Positioning
Become relevant.
Ithaca identifies the strongest investment signal already inside your background and builds positioning around where it can matter.
Miguel: Project Control → Strategic Finance → Investment Analyst offer
02 / Access
Get into the room.
A targeted fund universe and, where appropriate, investment-led outreach give relevant investors a substantive reason to engage.
Adi: Generic networking → fund-specific work → senior PE engagement
03 / Judgment
Think like an investor.
Move from knowing the mechanics of an LBO to deciding whether a company should be acquired, at what price and through which value-creation plan.
Joseph: 30 companies → 1 priority add-on → 14-slide IC case
04 / Conversion
Win the room.
Preparation becomes specific to the fund, the interview stage and the weaknesses that can still prevent conversion.
Kamal: Generic preparation → fund-specific case → internship offer
§ 04 · The evidence
See what candidates actually build.
Ithaca is not based on generic networking advice. Candidates build fund-specific work around their background, the fund's strategy and a real investment situation. Don't take the methodology at face value — see the work.
Investment opportunity · Adi
Engineering insight became an aerospace investment thesis.
A mechanical-engineering profile was matched with an industrial investor and a live aerospace-components situation.
Anonymised output
Fund-specific industrial investment case
Industrial platformAnonymised
Aerospace components manufacturer
£45.1m FY2025 revenue · £6.5m EBITDA · 14.4% margin
Fund fit
Aerospace manufacturing, forced-sale timing, operational uplift, intellectual-property monetisation and bolt-on potential matched the investor's industrial mandate.
Candidate fit
Adi converted mechanical-engineering credibility into differentiated industrial insight and a decision-ready aerospace thesis.
Investment opportunity · Kamal
A scaled platform became a full buyout underwriting case.
Verified financials, entry structure, value-creation levers and exit routes were assembled into an IC-ready recommendation.
Anonymised output
European consumer buyout case
Consumer platformAnonymised
Scaled Italian food-services platform
€588m FY2024 revenue · €36m EBITDA · €42.2m net cash
Fund fit
Founder ownership, succession dynamics, procurement-led margin expansion and buy-and-build potential supported the investment case.
Candidate fit
Kamal demonstrated full buyout underwriting from verified financials and entry structure through IC recommendation and exit routes.
Judgment · Joseph
30 companies screened. One investment case selected.
Existing equity-and-credit judgment was translated into control-investing evidence for a middle-market PE mandate.
Output
14-slide IC-style investment case
Add-on opportunityAnonymised
Engineering and testing services add-on
$37–53m estimated revenue · ~$6–11m implied EBITDA
Fund fit
The opportunity filled a national electrical-testing and commissioning capability gap identified in the sponsor's published add-on screen, subject to an immediate employee-ownership feasibility gate.
Candidate fit
Joseph converted hedge-fund research skills into an IC-ready US add-on thesis with explicit ownership gates and diligence boundaries.
Personalization · Filippo
Candidate × Company × Fund.
A strong engineering profile had no institutional transaction evidence. The strategy built around his technical edge instead of erasing it.
Output
25-slide fund-specific investment thesis
This case illustrates diagnosis and personalization. It is not presented here as causal interview or offer evidence.
Technology capabilityAnonymised
Autonomous mobile robotics company
Private company · revenue/EBITDA undisclosed · 2,500+ AMRs · 200+ sites
Fund fit
The company added a missing autonomous-mobility layer to an industrial automation platform and expanded software, service and cross-sell economics.
Candidate fit
Filippo's mechanical-engineering background made the robotics thesis authentic while demonstrating industrial and operational fluency.
Outcomes show what happened.
Evidence shows how the work gets done.
§ 05 · How it works
Four phases.
One personalized execution plan.
Your diagnosis determines where the greatest bottlenecks are — and where your time should be concentrated across the 12-week Accelerator.
Phase 01
Profile Audit & Positioning
Know exactly where you stand.
Your experience, recruiting history, technical readiness and positioning are assessed before the strategy is built.
- Candidate Diagnostic
- PE Narrative
- CV & LinkedIn
- Career Action Plan
- Target-Fund Universe
Phase 02
Investment-Led Access
Give the right fund a reason to engage.
Where appropriate, connect Candidate Edge × Fund Strategy × Investment Situation before outreach.
- Fund selection
- Opportunity identification
- Candidate × Company × Fund fit
- Investment thesis
- Outreach and follow-up
Phase 03
Technical & Investment Preparation
Learn what you need. Apply what you learn.
Access the Ithaca Private Equity Academy and concentrate on the gaps identified in your diagnostic.
- PE Fundamentals
- Origination & Deal Flow
- Accounting
- Corporate Finance
- Commercial DD
- Valuation
- LBO Modelling
- Transaction Execution
- Value Creation
- Portfolio & Exit
Phase 04
Interview Preparation & Conversion
Prepare for the interview you actually have.
Preparation becomes fund- and stage-specific as recruiting opportunities emerge.
- Human Mock Interviews
- Technical drills
- Case study practice
- Fit and behavioural preparation
- Offer conversion support
§ 06 · Effort
Breaking into PE still requires serious work.
Ithaca does not remove the thinking, modelling, research or interview preparation. It removes unnecessary trial and error.
No random research
Start from a prioritized target universe built around your profile.
No generic curriculum
Concentrate preparation on the gaps that actually matter.
No blank page
Where appropriate, start from researched, pre-screened opportunities.
No guessing
Execute a sequenced plan with direct feedback and clear next actions.
§ 07 · What you get
The infrastructure behind the Accelerator.
Your Strategy
Candidate Diagnostic & Gap Map
Personalized Career Action Plan
CV, LinkedIn and PE narrative
Customized target-fund universe
Your Access
Fund-specific recruiting strategy
Opportunity identification where appropriate
Investment-material preparation
Outreach execution support
Your Preparation
Full Ithaca PE Academy
Models and investment frameworks
Technical Office Hours
Human Mock Interviews
Your Execution
Weekly Investment & Recruiting Lab
1 onboarding + 6 milestone 1:1 reviews
Direct mentor support
Private candidate community
§ 08 · Candidate stories
Hear it from them.
Voice of the candidate — recorded after the outcome.
Investment Analyst offer
Miguel · Toronto
“Around 400 candidates applied. Seven reached the final round, and three of us received an offer.”
Private Equity offer
Adi · London
“The access is the number one thing in these firms — and thinking like an investor, it's possible to get it.”
Private Equity internship
Kamal · Madrid
“They said it was the first time a candidate had done this. I got into the recruitment process.”
PE internship offer
Lorenzo · Milan
“I built key relationships that got me my first interviews in PE and investment banking.”
§ 09 · Continued support
The programme ends. Support does not necessarily end with it.
12 weeks of execution
Eligible Full Mentorship candidates who complete the programme requirements and have not secured a qualifying PE offer during the 12-week Accelerator receive continued support for up to an additional 12 weeks, subject to programme terms.
No additional charge.
A continued-support commitment, not an employment guarantee.§ 10 · Fit
Ithaca is selective because execution matters.
Built for
- Candidates seriously committed to Private Equity.
- Non-target, unconventional or adjacent backgrounds.
- Strong profiles not translating into recruiting outcomes.
- Candidates prepared to build real investment work.
- People who execute and act on direct feedback.
Not built for
- Anyone looking only for a passive video course.
- Anyone expecting automatic introductions.
- People unwilling to do substantive investment work.
- Anyone expecting payment to produce an automatic offer.
- Candidates undecided between PE and unrelated paths.
§ 11 · Built by someone who walked it first
Giovanni Pagano
I did not come from a target university, an Investment Banking programme or an established Private Equity network. I studied Management Engineering in Palermo and began without the conventional path into investing.
When traditional applications failed, I travelled to Milan and presented a real investment opportunity — showing how I could contribute before being hired. That approach helped me enter Private Equity shortly before graduating and became the starting principle behind Ithaca.
Don't only tell a fund you could be useful. Build evidence of it.
110/110 Cum LaudeManagement Engineering
Former PE Investment AnalystAI-focused €300M target fund
€2B deployedAcross the wider PE group
Ithaca conversations
Inside the investor's room.
Conversations with investors, executives and public leaders on capital, companies and decision-making.
Quadrivio Group
Walter Ricciotti
CEO & Co-Founder
Watch conversation →
Tamburi Investment Partners
Claudio Berretti
General Manager
Watch conversation →
Business Integration Partners
Nino Lo Bianco
Co-Founder & President
Watch conversation →
Italy
Carlo Cottarelli
Economist and former Italian Senator
Watch conversation →
Mexico
Eduardo Romero Ramos
Former Secretary of Public Administration
Watch conversation →
§ 12 · FAQ
Before you apply.
No. Ithaca has worked with candidates from engineering, economics and adjacent professional backgrounds. The diagnostic identifies the investment evidence your profile still needs.
Plan for approximately 5–10 hours per week, depending on the phase and your active recruiting opportunities. The work includes live learning, research, modelling, investment materials, outreach and interview preparation.
No. The four dimensions remain consistent, but their weighting and sequence change according to your diagnosis, market, experience and current recruiting bottleneck.
No. It is used where candidate, fund and opportunity fit make it a credible route to access. Ithaca does not force the same origination mechanism onto every profile.
Your application is reviewed before a strategy call. The call assesses fit, your present bottleneck and whether Ithaca can materially improve your route into Private Equity. There is no payment at application stage.
There are different levels of engagement depending on where you are in your recruiting process. Pricing is discussed on the strategy call, once the diagnosis is clear and both sides can assess fit.
No. The method is market-agnostic; the execution is not. Fund selection, outreach framing and interview preparation are built around the market you are actually targeting — current candidate outcomes span six markets across three continents.
By application
Build evidence.Earn the room.
Apply to assess your current bottleneck and whether Ithaca is the right system for your next step.