Phil Bacal
Managing Director
Get their honest, personalized take on your startup.
Sign in to pitch Phil →At a glance
- Full Name
- Phil (Phillip) Bacal
- Title
- Managing Director, Bullet Trade Services (former Managing Director / Partner, Searchlight Capital Partners)
- Firm
- Bullet Trade Services (current); Searchlight Capital Partners (2012–2024)
- Firm Type
- Private equity professional / operating owner-manager (the "Angel Investors / Seed Round" label in aggregator databases does not match his actual track record, which is control-oriented private equity)
- Investment Stage
- Buyout / control equity and growth (Searchlight); the seed/angel classification is unverified
- Sector Focus
- Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT); industrial/mechanical services (current)
- Geographic Focus
- North America (Canada/US), with prior deal experience in Europe and Israel
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Background
Phil Bacal is a Toronto-based investment professional who spent more than a decade in private equity before moving into operating ownership. He earned an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He began his career in investment banking as an analyst at Credit Suisse in London (2007–2010), then returned to Toronto as an associate at The Catalyst Capital Group (2010–2012).
In 2012 he joined Searchlight Capital Partners, a global private equity firm, where he rose to Managing Director/Partner and focused on the firm's TMT (Technology, Media & Telecommunications) investments. Over his 11-plus years at Searchlight he worked across the firm's London, New York and Toronto offices and took board roles at portfolio and related companies, including B Communications Ltd. (the Israeli holding company associated with Bezeq), TouchTunes Entertainment (part of the Octave Group), and Care Advantage, Inc. He also served on the board of Roots Corporation from December 2015 to October 2017, during Searchlight's ownership period.
In July 2023 Bacal, together with partners Eric Silber, Steve Henhoeffer and Prasanna Ranganathan, acquired a controlling stake in Bullet Trade Services, a roughly 15-year-old Ontario industrial-services company that provides mechanical maintenance and skilled millwright labor to manufacturers. He formally announced his departure from Searchlight in January 2024, framing the move as a decision to "bet on myself" and build something "truly mine" as an owner-operator rather than a financial investor.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Career focus at Searchlight was control and structured private equity in TMT — not early-stage angel/seed investing, despite how some investor databases classify him.
- Interested in businesses with structural tailwinds: for Bullet Trade Services he cites tight skilled-labor supply and consolidation/M&A opportunity in fragmented industrial services.
- In his own words on the career pivot: he wanted "something truly mine" and to "bet on myself," and expects hands-on operating experience to "enhance my investment expertise."
- Comfortable with board-level governance and value creation over multi-year hold periods (Roots, B Communications, Care Advantage, TouchTunes).
Notable Investments
- Bullet Trade Services — Ontario industrial/mechanical-maintenance company; acquired a controlling stake and became Managing Director (July 2023).
- Care Advantage, Inc. — Searchlight acquired a majority stake in this home-care provider (2021); Bacal held a board seat.
- TouchTunes Entertainment / Octave Group — digital jukebox and out-of-home entertainment platform; Searchlight portfolio, Bacal on the board.
- B Communications Ltd. — Israeli telecom holding company (linked to Bezeq); Bacal served as a director (appointed ~2019).
- Roots Corporation — Canadian apparel brand; Searchlight-era board member (Dec 2015–Oct 2017).
Unlock the full research
Get how to approach them, recent activity, sources, contact links — plus pitch their AI twin for a candid read on your raise.
One-time. Stays unlocked for you.