I’m 27 Years Old With a Business Managing $500 Million in Deals. My Clients Might Already Be on Your Phone.

This as-told-to communicative is based connected a speech pinch 27-year-old Evelin Herrera, laminitis and CEO of EHVM Apps Capital, an M&A patient moving exclusively pinch mobile app businesses. Founded successful 2025, EHVM Apps Capital closes up to 25 mobile app M&A deals a month. Currently, the patient manages astir $500 cardinal successful progressive woody value. The portion has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Image Credit: Courtesy of EHVM Apps Capital. Evelin Herrera.

I worked successful apps for 5 years, doing some trading and business development, truthful I sewage to cognize different players successful the manufacture by attending conferences and talking pinch companies nonstop. Also, I ne'er had a location base; I had an Excel expanse of each the companies that I wanted to meet connected Earth, astir 30,000. I wanted to recreation and meet arsenic galore arsenic possible. Eventually, that led to gathering very high nett worthy individuals. One of them asked maine if I could get him immoderate companies to bargain successful the mobile app manufacture because he didn’t cognize anyone. That’s really my business started.

M&A: The chance to go a millionaire faster

With M&A, from time one, it was a different relationship pinch founders — because it’s giving them the chance to go millionaires aliases multi-millionaires. It’s different from raising VC, wherever possibly you tin execute occurrence 10 years from now. In M&A, you tin adjacent the section and materialize your occurrence tomorrow aliases six months from now. M&A for user tech wasn’t arsenic well-known. Everyone saw user tech much for illustration You tin only execute a large exit if you’re Spotify. But actually, if you’re a mini euphony app, you tin besides unafraid a really bully exit. 

The business is fully bootstrapped. I had immoderate savings from my erstwhile full-time job, and that was it. We person 2 full-time labor successful summation to freelancers and consultants. 

Through talking astir this connected societal media, I built 2 funnels. One was for buyers from LinkedIn, truthful much corporate. And past from X, it was much founder-to-founder. Like, “Hey, I’m building this company. Today I saw this. Today I said pinch this founder. We are doing a founder’s dinner.” So it was organization building connected X.

Our attraction connected mobile app companies only is an advantage. We don’t do commerce, SaaS. We don’t effort to do it each and judge immoderate client. Just apps. Also, it’s not elemental capable to beryllium an app; you must person bully metrics and not beryllium a transcript of different app.

Image Credit: Courtesy of EHVM Apps Capital

Managing half a cardinal dollars successful progressive woody value

EHVM Apps Capital is managing half a cardinal dollars successful progressive woody value. I’ve unlocked that milestone by focusing connected the firm’s work and results — because group talk. Particularly successful smaller industries, everyone knows each other. So for us, each clip we adjacent 1 deal, we get five to 10 referrals. Roughly 60% to 70% of our deals are done referrals, and past the remainder done inbound. 

Another valuable strategy is gathering group successful person. Right now, we’re touring 22 cities successful 4 to 5 weeks, and I’ll beryllium gathering 50 CEOs galore different manufacture players haven’t met before. An further concealed is, if I’m astatine a array of five, I want to person astatine slightest 1 aliases 2 group who already activity pinch me, either connected the bargain aliases waste side, who tin advocator for my services. 

Making a lawsuit to awesome players arsenic a young founder

One of the biggest challenges is erstwhile we talk pinch investors successful different Fortune 500 companies and nationalist companies and effort to person them that this manufacture is worthy their clip and investment. You mightiness get a euphony app that wants to beryllium sold to Spotify. But Spotify mightiness spot it as, “Oh, this is simply a very mini business. Nothing caller for me.” 

Also, I’m 27 years old, and my squad members are 25, 26, truthful sometimes group spot america and make judgments connected property and gender aliases really we talk, because I don’t speak arsenic formally arsenic a emblematic firm leader. 

Educating founders connected the mobile app manufacture

Another situation is educating founders. Now pinch societal media, truthful galore group station YouTube videos claiming they became millionaires overnight. Maybe, but you besides paid 50% of that successful taxes. There are truthful galore specifications group time off out. Also, the App Store takes 30% of your revenue. So correct distant you person a 30% tax. If you’re conscionable starting, they person immoderate mini business programs that return 15%, but arsenic soon arsenic you get big, they complaint 30%. 

AI is making the marketplace much competitory too. For an app that has 1 usage case, for illustration you return a image of your nutrient and get the nutrients, that’s truthful easy to develop. To create a business 15 years ago, you needed to supply overmuch much worth than today. Now, you person influencers trading an ebook that they created pinch AI for $150. And past you person apps that person 1 functionality charging $29 per period connected subscription.

Image Credit: Courtesy of EHVM Apps Capital

M&A is simply a finance business that hinges connected relationships

EHVM Apps Capital relies much connected automations than AI. For instance, erstwhile we get an NDA signed it notifies the team, aliases erstwhile we motion a caller statement it prepares a imaginable database of buyers, and truthful on. But AI itself for us, I only spot that it decreases value. If I create an AI summary and nonstop it to my team, they don’t publication it. They springiness it to their AI to springiness them a summary. And past it’s conscionable connection done AIs. I request my squad to usage their brains. 

M&A is simply a finance business, but it’s besides a narration business. If I nonstop you an AI archive that I didn’t cleanable up first myself, I’m putting the activity connected you to spell done AI slop. I don’t for illustration to tally our process based connected AI. I tally it based connected knowing who’s connected the bargain broadside and what they want to see. We besides customize worldly depending connected the reader, and truthful on. 

Why each Fortune 500 institution should person a mobile app

Looking ahead, I want each azygous Fortune 500 company, nationalist institution to person their own mobile app business because it makes truthful overmuch sense. If you’re immoderate business that doesn’t person an app, you’re not interacting pinch your users daily. An app is the only measurement of interacting regular because everyone uses their telephone for hours each azygous day. It doesn’t matter if you’re retail, experiences, beautiful overmuch thing — it’s the only opportunity that you person to person regular touch points. And that’s truthful crazy valuable. It’s the only measurement to go portion of people’s lifestyle. 

The manufacture is only getting bigger, and entrepreneurs willing successful breaking into it should talk to group who person been doing this for 5 years. Then determine if you want to beryllium a seven-figure, eight-figure aliases nine-figure business, because it’s a wholly different path, and location are only a fewer apps that deed the $1 cardinal range. Deciding that upfront tin thief you travel up pinch your imagination arsenic a founder. Maybe you want to build a portfolio institution and person 10 apps successful wellness and fitness, aliases possibly you stake connected 1 to go a $200 cardinal company. That’s very important. The execution is wholly different depending connected your goal: the team, the vision, the audience. 

This as-told-to communicative is based connected a speech pinch 27-year-old Evelin Herrera, laminitis and CEO of EHVM Apps Capital, an M&A patient moving exclusively pinch mobile app businesses. Founded successful 2025, EHVM Apps Capital closes up to 25 mobile app M&A deals a month. Currently, the patient manages astir $500 cardinal successful progressive woody value. The portion has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Image Credit: Courtesy of EHVM Apps Capital. Evelin Herrera.

I worked successful apps for 5 years, doing some trading and business development, truthful I sewage to cognize different players successful the manufacture by attending conferences and talking pinch companies nonstop. Also, I ne'er had a location base; I had an Excel expanse of each the companies that I wanted to meet connected Earth, astir 30,000. I wanted to recreation and meet arsenic galore arsenic possible. Eventually, that led to gathering very high nett worthy individuals. One of them asked maine if I could get him immoderate companies to bargain successful the mobile app manufacture because he didn’t cognize anyone. That’s really my business started.

M&A: The chance to go a millionaire faster

With M&A, from time one, it was a different relationship pinch founders — because it’s giving them the chance to go millionaires aliases multi-millionaires. It’s different from raising VC, wherever possibly you tin execute occurrence 10 years from now. In M&A, you tin adjacent the section and materialize your occurrence tomorrow aliases six months from now. M&A for user tech wasn’t arsenic well-known. Everyone saw user tech much for illustration You tin only execute a large exit if you’re Spotify. But actually, if you’re a mini euphony app, you tin besides unafraid a really bully exit.