Meridian: TurningDeal Flow intoDeployed Capital
- Industry
- Real Estate Private Equity
- Service
- Web App, Responsive & AI Design
- Client
- Rowan Capital · Fund II
- Tools to run the fund5 → 1One linked platform
- Data points per deal card4Detail moved to side panels
- Sideways scroll on pipelineNoAll six stages on one screen
(01) Overview
Project Description
Committed capital only earns once it is deployed. Rowan Capital’s team was sourcing multifamily deals across email, listing exports and spreadsheets. Meridian brings market research, deal pipeline, portfolio and an AI analyst into five linked pages, so a fund can find, judge and close its next asset from one place.
(02) The challenge
Problem
Every month a fund holds uninvested capital, that money earns close to nothing while investors wait for returns. The deals existed. The problem was the time and guesswork it took to find the right ones and keep them moving.
- Problem 1
Dry powder sat idle while the team searched, dragging on fund returns every month.
- Problem 2
Market data, listings and underwriting lived in separate tools, so comparing two metros took hours.
- Problem 3
With 30+ deals in flight, stalled deals went unnoticed until the seller moved on.
(03) Our approach
Solution
Each page answers one question for the fund. Essentials stay on screen and detail moves into side panels. Green marks what you can act on and amber marks what deserves a closer look, so the eye knows where to go first.
- Solution 1
A dashboard that leads with deployment, dry powder and deals closed, with Meridian AI one click away.
- Solution 2
A map of 28 metros scored by opportunity, with a yield vs. growth chart to pick markets on evidence.
- Solution 3
A six-stage pipeline that fits on one screen. Drag to move a deal, click to open its details.
(04) Key features
Built for the decision
Four interactions carry most of the product. Each one shortens a step that used to happen in a spreadsheet or an inbox.
Opportunity map
28 metros as amber bubbles. Size shows matched listings, intensity shows the opportunity score.
Drag to advance
Move a deal to its next stage by dragging the card. The whole six-stage board fits on one screen.
Ask Meridian AI
Questions about deals and markets get answered from the same data the team is looking at.
(05) Business impact
Designed to move capital, not just pixels
A fund makes money by deploying capital into the right assets, fast. Each part of Meridian was designed around one of the ways that happens.
- 01
Faster deployment
Shorter time from committed capital to closed asset. Dry powder starts earning sooner and the fund reaches carried interest earlier.
Dashboard · Pipeline - 02
Sharper selection
Analysts screen more deals per week from ranked markets, so the fund chooses from a larger, better-qualified set.
Market explorer - 03
Fewer broken deals
Weak deals are cut at screening, before legal, inspection and appraisal fees are spent in diligence.
Deal side panel - 04
A stronger next raise
A live, legible view of pipeline and portfolio gives the partners a clear track record for Fund III investors.
Portfolio · Dashboard
Before Meridian
- Market research
- Spreadsheet exports
- Deal tracking
- Email threads
- Stalled deals
- Found too late
- Investor reporting
- Rebuilt each quarter
With Meridian
- Market research
- Scored map of 28 metros
- Deal tracking
- One drag-and-drop board
- Stalled deals
- Visible on the board
- Investor reporting
- Live portfolio view
Revenue model · Fund II
What faster, sharper deal flow is worth
- Dry powder
- $152M
- Months faster to deploy
- 3 mo
- Cash yield on deployed capital
- 6%
- Broken deals avoided per year
- 3
- Cost per broken deal
- $120K
- Analyst hours saved per year
- 1,400 h
Modeled value to the fund, per year
$2.77M
1.82% of dry powder, returned every year
Reduced cash drag
Dry powder × yield × months saved
$2.28M
Broken-deal costs avoided
Deals cut early × cost each
$360K
Team time returned
Hours saved × $90 loaded rate
$126K
Illustrative model for a fictional fund. Replace the inputs with the client’s own figures.
(06) Meridian AI
An analyst that has read every deal
Meridian AI is an acquisitions copilot. Ask it about a deal, a market or the portfolio, and it answers with underwriting, risks and the documents behind them.
- 01
Grounded in the fund
Answers draw on Fund II, the buy box and 1,284 live listings, with every source shown.
- 02
Underwrites in seconds
Levered IRR, cash-on-cash, DSCR and equity multiple at the offer price, checked against the hurdle.
- 03
Flags risk and upside
Tax reassessments, lease rollover and below-market rents surface before diligence money is spent.
- 04
Turns answers into action
Open the model or draft an LOI straight from the answer.
(07) How we worked
Design Process
We mapped how a deal travels from first signal to closing, gave every page one job, then edited each screen down until only the decision-making information remained.
- 01
Discover
Traced how a listing moves from broker email to closing, and where each role loses time.
- 02
Define
Gave each of the five pages one question to answer for the fund.
- 03
Design
One sidebar, one typeface and two signal colors across every page.
- 04
Refine
Moved everything secondary off the board and into side panels.
- 05
Adapt
Reflowed every page from wide desktop to phone.
(08) Visual language
Style Guide & Component
- #F2F3F1
Canvas
Page background
- #FFFFFF
Card
Content
- #0E1311
Sidebar
Navigation, AI
- #16A34A
Action Green
Actions, positive returns
- #F59E0B → #FBAE2C
Signal Amber
Scores, highlights
- Light
- Regular
- Medium
- Semibold
(09) A day with Meridian
Workflow scenario
An analyst opens Market Explorer and sees Dallas glowing at a score of 91. She filters to matched listings, drags the best one into Underwriting, and asks Meridian AI how it compares with recent comps. By the time the partner checks the dashboard, the deal has a score, a next step and a memo ready for the investment committee.
(10) Outcome
The Result
Five tools became one platform. Fund II can see where every dollar sits, where the next opportunity is and which deal needs attention today. Faster deployment, fewer late-stage surprises and a cleaner story for the Fund III raise.
- 28US metros scored by opportunity
- 31Deals on one board, no sideways scroll
- 4Facts per card, down from eleven
Next on the roadmap
- 01Document upload for OMs, T12s & rent rolls
- 02Stuck-deal amber border
- 03Transactions
- 04Notifications
- 05Reports
Rowan Capital and Fund II are fictional. Figures are illustrative.
More work
