Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT)
The Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors are among the most dynamic in the global economy, marked by continuous disruption, reinvention, and convergence. Over the past decade, these industries have delivered a volatile mix of outcomes for investors: from spectacular flameouts and overhyped unicorns to underappreciated legacy assets and niche verticals that quietly compound value. The sector's volatility is matched only by its scale and strategic importance.
One of the most profound shifts in TMT has been the horizontalization of software. What was once a standalone vertical is now deeply embedded across nearly every other sector. The phenomenon has given rise to a wave of "verticalized technology" plays, including AgriTech, ClimateTech, HealthTech, FinTech, Consumer Tech, EdTech, RetailTech, Ad/MarTech, PropTech, LegalTech, GovTech, and more. Each of these verticals demands a unique blend of domain expertise and fluency in how technology is applied, adopted, and monetized within that specific context.
These plays often span the full spectrum of technology modalities—from pure software to hardware, software-enabled services, and hardware-enabled software. Take RestaurantTech as an example: a sub-vertical of RetailTech that includes bundled and unbundled offerings across POS systems, kitchen automation, inventory management, and customer engagement tools. These solutions combine specialty devices, SaaS platforms, legacy software, implementation services, and ongoing support—creating a complex web of interdependencies and switching costs.
Similar dynamics are at play in industrial automation, healthcare delivery, government services, and business operations. In many cases, technology is the hidden engine of transformation—driving efficiency, enabling new business models, and reshaping customer experiences. Yet, it often goes under-credited in traditional sector analyses. When aggregated across verticals, technology arguably becomes the largest and most complex sector in both the U.S. and global economies.
For investors evaluating opportunities in TMT, especially in verticalized tech, fluency in the following is essential:
- Adoption drivers and inhibitors: What accelerates or slows uptake? Is there latent demand or structural resistance?
- Headroom for growth: Are we looking at a winner-takes-all market or a fragmented landscape with room for multiple players to thrive?
- Breakthrough barriers: What segmentation, churn dynamics, or switching costs define the market?
- Drivers of Choice: How do customers evaluate options in crowded or fast-moving categories?
- Best-of-breed vs. platform plays: Is the market favoring specialized solutions or integrated horizontal platforms?
- Customer trust and access rights: What does it take to earn trust and budget from buyers and users, who often have distinct roles?
These questions are not academic. Many digital offerings carry immense operating leverage, characterized by high fixed costs and low marginal costs, making the stakes incredibly high. A misread on adoption or retention can have a significant impact on outcomes. That's why Voice of Customer research is indispensable. VoC provides direct insight into how decision makers for a given good or service actually drive decisions, what pain points exist, and how value is perceived.
Navigating this terrain requires engaging a wide range of stakeholders: users, buyers, competitors, implementation firms, channel partners, OEMs, and software collaborators. Each plays a role in shaping market dynamics and influencing adoption curves.
Matters Graph brings deep experience across the whole tech stack—from foundational hardware (e.g., silicon, data center infrastructure) to networking, software, digital marketplaces, and streaming entertainment. We've completed nearly 200 TMT projects in recent years, spanning every major verticalization and touching every layer of the stack. Our approach combines primary research with data science to test hypotheses at scale, ensuring our clients have a robust, evidence-based view of the opportunity.
Recent Matters Graph Technology, Media, and Telecommunications project examples include (for details on Matters Graph Diligence exercises covered by PitchBook, click on the PitchBook 
icons below to view deal details):
Software
Software: Applications
- Accounting and expense management software
- AI for healthcare administration and clinical services (in-hospital)
- Application tracking systems
- Archiving and compliance solutions/software
- Athletic performance SaaS
- Automotive—dealer management systems and CRM
- Bank “core” and adjacent management systems
- Cloud based facility access control
- Commercial real estate data services and management SaaS platform
- Community engagement software
- Computer aided facilities management (CAFM) software
- Construction cost estimating tools
- Contact center SaaS solutions
- DJ and music production software
- Data management software & services
- Data room software
- Decision-making SaaS
- Document management software
- E-commerce software and marketing services
- E-learning L&D SaaS platform
- Electrical distribution recloser relays and management software
- Employee experience software
- Emergency workforce resource optimization and management platform SaaS
- Facilities management software with embedded vendor management
- Federal budgeting SaaS
- Financial analysis and visualization software
- FOIA management software
- Global asset tracking SaaS
- Housing management SaaS
- Human capital recruiting SaaS
- Integrated Practice Management and EMR
- Investigation and case management software
- Litigation discovery and litigation hold business process SaaS
- Manufacturing Execution Software (MES)
- Marketplace and transaction services for corporate employee gifting
- Municipal government stakeholder workflow solutions
- Municipal services SaaS platform
- Online service aggregation platforms—B2B & B2C
- Partner (channel) relationship management software
- Pharma R&D and medical affairs SaaS platforms
- Practice management software for behavioral therapists
- Practice management software provider
- Procurement and contract management software
- Productivity software
- Project management software (SaaS)
- Property management SaaS
- Remote monitoring & management (RMM) and professional services automation (PSA)
- Risk management cloud services
- Staffing & rostering systems
- Stakeholder relationship management software
- Strategy alignment SaaS
- Track and trace quality control management SaaS
- Workforce management SaaS
- Workforce skills platform, cybersecurity training
Software: Platforms, Infra, & Tooling
- Automation testing tools
- AWS services
- B2B e-commerce SaaS platform
- Cloud native monitoring platform (SaaS)
- Container orchestration/visibility (DevOps)
- Content management systems
- Cybersecurity—IAM and CIAM services partner
- Data and control center security
- Data processing and hosting
- E-commerce payment gateways
- E-commerce platform provider
- Forensic analysis software and services
- Identity management systems
- Information security services
- MSP software
- Network observability analytics and tools
- Product information management provider
- Software license compliance and software asset management
Hardware & Connectivity
- Airside/airport ground automation
- Communications assurance and analytics solutions
- Distributed metering technology
- Drone systems
- Embedded digital controls and IoT for hardened industrial products
- Lone worker safety solutions (devices and software)
- Network taps and broker appliances
- Solid-state programmable controls
- Subsea IT infrastructure
- Telecom repair, maintenance and installation services
- Telecom resellers
- Telematics systems and services
- Vehicle telematics software and solutions
- Wired and wireless telecoms
Content: Media & Data
- Ad-supported streaming services (AVOD and FAST)
- Cable and subscription programming
- Digital music consumer services
- Education technology database
- Higher education media platform
- Human capital data as a service (DaaS)
- Long-form video content (TV and Film)
- Mass media studio and field operations
- Mobile gaming development & publishing
- Online gaming platforms
Services (MarTech, App Dev., MSPs, etc.)
- App development services
- Developer talent marketplace and RPO
- Digital advertising management platforms
- Digital agency services
- Digital media marketing
- Digital product development services
- Digital recruitment services
- Digital transformation services
- Earned media and social media listening and campaign management tools
- ERP implementation services
- ERP systems
- Identity and access management software & services
- Outsourced user acquisition services
- PR newswire services
- SAP implementation consultancy
- Semiconductor manufacturing equipment maintenance, installation, and de-installation services
- Social media marketing services
Marketplaces
- Digital recruitment services and marketplaces
- Facilities management vendor SaaS marketplace
- Gig work platforms
- Online car rental platforms
- Online healthcare diagnostics and delivery services
- Rental property listing engine/service
- Virtual supply chain
