We believe we have the largest group of successful entrepreneurs who have founded an investment firm ever. We are incredibly proud of our investors and grateful for their support [of every kind] over the past five years. They have founded and led some of the most important businesses to success and their lessons and wisdom informs every significant move that Ariadne Capital takes.
They are:
Mike Alfant
Michael Alfant started an IT solutions company named Fusion Systems Japan in 1992. After building it from a handful of dedicated entrepreneurs to a multinational with offices in Tokyo and
Boston, he led it to a successful $58m acquisition in March 1999 by IMRglobal Corporation (NASDAQ: IMRS). In March 2000 Mr. Alfant founded Building2 together with 8 other partners. Building2
is a technology investment company located in Tokyo and Boston. Building2’s entrepreneurs commit
their energy and capital to a growing portfolio of private companies, integrating a collaborative network of firms focused on broadband, wireless and 3G telephony infrastructure initiatives. Mr.
Alfant has chaired the High Technology committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) since January 1998. The High Technology committee encompasses the Aerospace, Energy and Telecommunications
subcommittees. As a long-standing member of the ACCJ, Mr. Alfant has been involved in a wide range of technology issues. He has primarily focused on making key emerging technologies accessible
to business people who rely on them to meet an evolving and dynamic competitive environment. He also supports & participates with ACCJ Chubu Chapter in Nagoya with various IT related activities. Mr.
Alfant is a sought-after speaker for numerous IT events & conferences as one of Tokyo’s top IT entrepreneurs with a strong success track record. To highlight few events, Mr.
Alfant was a key speaker at the Finland Embassy with their program, “Wireless Finland Tokyo”. This program was designed for Finnish mobile technology and contents companies. It’s
objective was to guide these companies to internationalization and provide them with information and insight on the 3G telephony market in Asia. The program has visited Silicon Valley and Los Angeles
in the U.S. as well as London in Europe. He was also invited as one of the valuable speakers at the ICA & Japan-America Society’s e-Business Round Table. The Japan-America Society
was represented by a Business & Trade Delegation of 15 U.S. business leaders who were very much interested in exploring opportunities in the Japan e-Commerce market. Prior to Fusion Systems
Japan, Mr. Alfant worked in various technology roles at AT&T Bell Labs, Bankers Trust, UBS, Security Pacific, Citibank, EF Hutton, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Married with
one child, Mr. Alfant was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1961
Michele Appendino
Michele Appendino is the co-founder of Net Partners. Founded in February 1997, Net Partners was the first venture capital firm in Europe to focus exclusively on the arising Internet opportunities. Net
Partners backed QXL, SelfTrade, Bfinance, and Edreams at their seed round, and have raised more than €200 million to date. It has offices in Brussels and Paris. Before co-founding
Net Partners, Michele was a Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, working in media, publishing, retailing, and consumer marketing sectors. In these sectors, Michele worked on strategic,
M&A and operational improvement projects. During his five year tenure at McKinsey, Michele worked in Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Michele graduated from the
Polytechnic of Turin with a degree in Electronics Engineering, and received an MBA from INSEAD.
Jalal Bagherli
CEO of Dialog Semiconductor, former CEO of Alphamosaic, sold to Broadcom, seed investor in Lime Micro
Sabeer Bhatia
Sabeer Bhatia founded Hotmail in 1996, the world’s largest email user base. He sold the company to Microsoft Corp. in 1998 as the and fastest growing worldwide email service. Since
then, Sabeer has actively supported and invested in new ventures. He was received numerous accolades including “Entrepreneur of the Year,” by venture capital firm Draper Fisher
Jurvetson, “Elite 100” by Upside magazine, “TR100” by MIT and named by Time magazine as one of the “People to Watch” in International Business. Sabeer,
an Indian immigrant to the U.S., has a bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Mark Blandford
Founder and Director of Sportingbet Plc, an online global sportsbook and casino. Previously the owner of a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ bookmaker’s chain for over 15
years, Mark recognised the potential of the Internet in the mid 90’s. Having previously completed a Business degree specialising in marketing, Mark pursued this opportunity to its fullest.
In October 1998 he launched Sportingbet.com, which was instantly successful and in January 2001 the company floated on the Alternative Investment Market part of the London Stock Exchange. Sportingbet
plc now boasts the leading position on AIM by market capitalisation with a value comfortably in excess of £1 billion. Mark’s entrepreneurial spirit has lead his company to go from strength
to strength acquiring some of the biggest names in online gaming - Betmaker.com (Costa Rica), Number One Betting Shop (Australia), Paradise Poker (North America), Eurosportwetten (Germany), Sportsbook.com
(USA)
Gerard Bonnevay
Gerard Bonnevay is a Board Director of Credit Agricole C.E./Indosuez Group, Gerard brings to the Venture Capital field a background of entrepreneurship and business development. Soon after
he had accomplished his studies in Lyons, France (Master of Law, Master of Business Administration) and his military obligations, he started a property development company for European investors
in Florida, USA. In 1981, in the worst foreign investment climate period for France, Gerard went back to his home city and took charge of the
international promotion of the Region (Aderly) where he succeeded in bringing in major companies such as Black & Decker, Hewlett Packard, Monsanto, Scherring-Plough, Carrier and Interpol. Then,
after a couple of years with Sage USA, he worked as Chargé d’Affaires to the President of Institut Merieux/Pasteur, the biotech group and vaccines world-wide leader. In the early
days of the Internet surge, his venture-capital activity and long lasting interest in art publishing led Gerard to start Museums On Line SA, a photo agency over the
web.
Nigel Burton
Nigel recently became Finance Director of Granby Oil Group, a UK based oil exploration and production company, which intends to float on AIM before the summer, following four years as Chief
Financial Officer of WILink plc, an AIM listed online international Investor Relations and web based corporate communications business. Nigel has over 14 years of experience of Stockbroking and
Investment Banking at leading City institutions including UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank, principally focused on the energy and utilities industries.
Nigel graduated in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University College London, before undertaking a PhD in Acoustic Imaging. He previously worked in manufacturing, and is a Chartered
Electrical Engineer. Nigel is an active angel investor, focusing on technology, media and energy businesses.
Paul Danowa
Former President and COO of Del Monte International until 2001. Paul Danowa recently retired from a 40 year career at Del Monte where he began his career in 1961, working with the company
in US, European and Asian markets. He has been President and CEO of Del Monte Philippines; Director of Del Monte in London; Director of Operations for Del Monte Fresh in Monte Carlo; and Head of
UK Operations of Del Monte Fresh. Earlier in his career, when Del Monte was taken over by RJ Reynolds tobacco, he moved to Reynolds and helped them establish their Treasury
Operations in Europe, setting up an in-house Finance Company. He also previously worked with the FAO to develop the Greek canning industry, acting as the Pioneering Managing Director between Del
Monte and a local investment bank.
Susan Dark
Susan works for Capio Healthcare; a leading European provider of independent hospital services for public and private patients. She is also a partner in a Jewellery company and a Consulting
firm both of which she started. Susan has an eclectic career spanning film and theatre following which she provided specialist treatment to adolescents with Learning Disabilities before turning
to business where she has consulted and managed companies within the IT/Telecoms & Healthcare sectors. Susan is a member of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Hospice in SW London.
Toon den Heijer
Toon has been active in the venture capital industry since 1985, when he started as investment manager at the € 450 million MIP Equity Fund, before joining Gilde Investment Management (www.gilde.nl)
in 1989. Toon has been instrumental in refocusing Gilde’s activities into dedicated fund areas and increasing total funds under management from € 50 million in
1989 to € 1.5 billion in 2002 and from 10 people to over 50 investment professionals. Since 1998 he was Managing Director of Gilde Investment Management (GIM); GIM manages a number of focused
funds (Buy-Out, IT, Life Sciences, Fund-to-Fund). As managing director of GIM his direct responsibilities were the Gilde IT Funds, focusing on software and communication technology investments in
Europe, US and Israel. In 1999 he raised Gilde IT’s second fund, increasing total funds (IT and IT –related) under management to € 425 million. Toon has managed in his career at
Gilde 28 investments in Europe, USA and Israel, amongst others Baan, Creo, Nedgraphics, Lannet, Seagull, Accord, Data Distilleries and WebCollage. His personal IRR over 14 years exceeds 30%. He
co-founded with Frans van Schaik (Logispring) the Venture Capital Fund for Africa and has been working since 2004 in formulating the mission and the strategy and establishment of the fund. Before
entering the venture capital industry, Toon worked 4 years for Asea Robotics (division of ABB). Whilst at university, he co-founded SDH, a successful software start-up. Toon obtained a degree in
Electronics at the Haarlem Polytechnic in 1976 and has an MBA from the Technical University in Twente.
Julian Hardy
Julian Hardy is a well known media executive. He is a serial entrepreneur and has been involved in numerous start ups and business projects. As co-founder in his latest venture Sennari
Entertainment Inc, he aims to bring loyalty platforms and new forms of gaming from traditional platforms to the mobile device. Whilst his interests are now primarily focused on the wireless
(mobile) media sector his experience is diverse. Julian has extensive experience in mobile games publishing having worked with two of the industries larger players. As the President of EMEA for
Sorrent he managed the team that was responsible for the launch of a number of Atari consoles titles on mobile throughout Europe including Driv3r the most successful mobile game of 2004 and a execution
that changed the way mobile games are marketed to consumers. Hardy was then instrumental in the acquisition of Macrospace a London based developer by Sorrent leading to a broadening of their operations
in Europe and Asia and a balancing of their global revenues. He is the former EMEA president of MFORMA, the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher. While at MFORMA, Julian managed
the growth of the EMEA as a stand alone business taking it from start-up to a multi-million dollar operation, with the most extensive market share across Europe. Prior to MFORMA, Julian was CEO
of Scan Mobile, an SMS applications company building leading edge products for mobile carriers including Vodafone, T Mobile and Orange but also corporate customers such as Argos and Littlewoods. Julian
was also a managing director at Freeserve, the UK's first free ISP and portal managing the portal operations and overseeing the transition from pure ISP to media and commerce based portal; vice
president Europe for MTVi, a division he formed and rapidly built across Europe, in preparation for IPO; and commercial director for IPC Electric, a part of IPC Magazines Group Ltd., where he shaped
its digital strategy across six operating divisions. Earlier, Julian was commercial director at Capital Interactive, part of Capital Radio Group, an innovator of digital entertainment and
cross media promotion, and a co-founder of EMAP Online, part of EMAP PLC )one of Europe’s largest media groups. Julian is also an investor or advisor to the following companies: Navio
Inc, Telcogames Ltd, The Music Solution Ltd, KiBi Technologies, Middleware Systems, and Games Theory.
Stephen Harlow
Stephen Harlow is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Stephen entered the Profession in 1972 with a small City Firm and Qualified in 1976, later joining
Ernst & Young in Guernsey in 1977. He became a partner at Ernst & Young in 1980, and Senior Partner in 1992. In 1998 he stepped down as Senior Partner and in the following year became part
of the group of partners that transferred when the Fiduciary business was sold to Royal Bank of Canada. Although during his professional career Stephen has dealt with a variety of corporate
clients, lately he has been heavily involved in the Trust practice dealing with Private Clients. Stephen left RBC at the end of May 2002 and is currently looking for other interests. He joined Ariadne
Capital as an Investor in June 2002.
Finn Helmer
Nicknamed as the “GIGA Man” in Denmark, Finn Helmer is best known for GIGA A/S, the company he joined in 1992 that pioneered advanced high speed communications chips used in optical
networking and communications products. In the period until GIGA was acquired by Intel in March 2000 for $1.25 billion, the company enjoyed several distinctions including a place among the top 5
companies in the prestigious Gazelle award 6 years running for fastest growing company in Denmark. Prior to GIGA, Finn had a successful career at Texas Instruments, the company he joined after
completing his Masters of Science in Electronics at DTU – The Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen in 1980. Most recently the entrepreneurial spirit and experience that grew GIGA
from 6-person start-up is now in play in an advisory role at 7 Scandinavian start-ups and in a visionary Fiber to the Home (FTTH) project. An entrepreneur from childhood, Finn
has been involved in over 40 start-ups in his career.
Gerhard Huber
Gerhard Huber is one of Europe’s pre-eminent entrepreneurs in the financial services sector. The companies that he has founded and run include: Xelector Limited, a leading supplier of
market places and bespoke solutions for the financial services and utilities markets; Gerhard is also Chairman ENBA, a European retail services provider, which was sold to Direkt Anlage Bank in
Germany and factor-e, a third generation banking solutions provider Direkt Anlage AG, Germany’s first discount broker, pioneered the concept of execution-only brokerage in Germany H.E.L.B.
HYPO EDV Leistungen Für Banken GmbH His latest venture is in property development. He founded Duboko Plavetnilo d.o.o., a Croatian company which develops waterfront property in
the region of Dalmatia in Croatia. Gerhard graduated from New York University School of Law, Graduate Tax Program as a Candidate for the Master of Law [LL.M]. He has a PhD
and JD from the University Salzburg, Juridical Faculty, and an MBA from the Wirtschaftuniversitat Vienna.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, MA FCA (54), founded Elderstreet in 1990 and is its executive chairman. For the past 20 years, he has specialised in raising finance and investing in the smaller companies
sector. Michael is also chairman of FTSE 100 companies The Sage Group Plc and Partygaming plc. He is a director and investor in many other quoted and unquoted companies, including Planit
Holdings PLC, Netstore PLC, CS Group Plc and Micromuse Inc. Michael studied law at Cambridge University, and qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers and Lybrand before spending five
years in marketing for various US multinational technology companies.
Michael Janssen
Michael Janssen (Germany) -- Founder and Managing Partner of Auxell Private EquityGmbH, a consulting firm in the area of Private Equity. Auxell supports companies and investors in all areas
of financing and growth management, and also acts as an co-investor. Previously Michael worked in different management positions for commercial banks where he gained valuable experience
in the finance business. As manager of electronic distribution channels and Assistant Manager to the CEO Janssen helped to establish the first discount broker in Germany, Direkt Anlage Bank, AG. Janssen
was co-founder of Brokat AG and acted as its Chief Financial Officer from 1996 until 2002. Within Brokat he arranged the financing for Brokat and was responsible for the arrangement of several
venture capital transactions. He also was responsible for its IPO at Neuer Markt and for its listing on the NASDAQ.
Candace Johnson
Candace Johnson is an international telecommunications expert and entrepreneur. She is co-initiator of the Astra satellite system and SES Global, the largest satellite system in the world. She
is also founding President of Europe Online, the world’s first and largest Internet via Satellite network, and founder of Loral Cyberstar-Teleport Europe, Europe’s first independent
private trans-border satellite communications network. Ms. Johnson is also founding President of the VATM, the Association of Private Telecom Operators in Germany and founding President of
the Global Telecom Women’s Network – www.gtwn.org. Candace has continued to be a long-time Member of the Board of Directors of all of these companies and organizations at
various times throughout the years. Currently, Ms. Johnson is also President of Johnson Paradigm Ventures (JPV). JPV is a principal founding shareholder with AXA, Caisse des Depots,
Bayerische Landesbank, and the SPEF in Sophia Euro Lab, Europe’s first trans-border early-stage investment company based in Sophia Antipolis. Ms. Johnson is a Member of the Board of
Directors of Sophia Euro Lab. In her personal capacity, Ms. Johnson is a minority owner of FMN, a German telephone manufacturing company, and a member of their Supervisory Council. She
is also a minority owner of Alpha Com, a wireless data manufacturing company. Ms. Johnson is also a Member of the Board of Tornado Technologies, a 3D “Power Point” technology company,
as well as a member of the Advisory Board of numerous European and US ventures. Ms. Johnson was also Vice President Worldwide of Iridium and brought it into the GSM MoU, the ITU and ETSI. She
also was Director of Marketing for the German manufacturing company Fuba. Ms. Johnson has been featured in articles in Time Magazine, the Financial Times, the Economist, Le Monde, WirtschaftsWoche,
and Manager Magazin, to name a few. She has been decorated as an Officer of the Bundesverdienst Kreuz and the Couronne de la Chene respectively by the German and Luxembourg governments for
her work in deregulating and privatizing telecommunications and media across Europe. She is also the second recipient ever of the United Nations-sponsored World Teleport Associations’ “Founders
Award” and has been named by Time and Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 most powerful women in Europe. Ms. Johnson holds Masters Degrees with Honors from the Sorbonne and Stanford Universities
and a Bachelors Degree from Vassar College
Benoit Leleux
Dr Leleux is the Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at IMD – the International Institute for Management Development. He coordinates all venture capital and
entrepreneurship-related activities in both MBA and executive education programs. He was previously Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the 3i VentureLab at INSEAD
(Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires) and Associate Professor and Zubillaga Chair in Finance and Entrepreneurship at Babson College, Wellesley, MA (USA) from 1993
to 1999; this program at Babson has been the No. 1 program in entrepreneurship for the past consecutive nine years. He obtained his Ph.D. at INSEAD, specializing in corporate finance and venture
capital.
Wayne Lochner
Wayne has fundamental expertise in all areas of the I.T. and Brokerage business. He spent 15 years with international company MW Marshall & Co, where he held a number of positions including
Group Treasurer. In this role, he was active in the development and negotiation of the Group's £180 million management buyout from British & Commonwealth. As Chief Executive
and Managing Director of MAI plc (now United News & Media) for Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, Wayne managed circa 1,000 staff in nine countries and negotiated the buyout of its Hong Kong
operation, purchase of a New Zealand operation, management buyout of an Australian competitor, an MBO of a Middle East competitor and established joint ventures in Indonesia and India. Wayne
founded Affinity Internet Holdings PLC (“Affinity”) in 1995 with the aim of establishing a company that specialised in the provision of financial information, technology and marketing
solutions to institutions within Europe. Through the establishment of strategic partnerships with Cisco, Cable and Wireless, Fujitsu, Vodafone and BT, Affinity became one of the UK’s fastest
ever growing FTSE listed companies. Wayne left Affinity in 2002 in order to be the Chairman of Global Bet Broker Ltd - http://www.betbrokers.com/ - which
has completed recently three months of trading, and received blue-chip investment from global investors. Wayne won the Ernst & Young award for ‘London’s E-Business
Entrepreneur of the Year’ in June 2000.
Tidu Maini
Dr Tidu Maini is the Pro Rector, Development and Corporate Affairs at Imperial College London. Dr Maini is responsible for the commercialisation of the College's intellectual assets (Innovations
Ltd and ICON Ltd), development and alumni relations, and strategic business alliances. He is a member of the Rector’s Management Board, serves on several other academic and business
committees of the College. Dr Maini has a wide range of commercial and strategic management experience. From the time of acquisition of Sema plc by Schlumberger in April
2001 until January 2002 he was a Senior Vice President of Schlumberger. He was with Sema plc for eight years where he was a Senior Vice President and a member of the Main Board in charge of
Strategy and Corporate Development. Dr Maini spent several years in key management positions in GEC plc and his last appointment was Deputy Chairman of GEC Marconi the Defence Electronics
Company. GEC Marconi the Defence Electronics part of the GEC plc company prior to its take over by British Aerospace was a $7billion company. Dr Maini is a former student of Imperial
College, gaining both a BSc and a PhD in Engineering. He spent three years after his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley as a Post Doctoral Fellow and a short period at the Sloan
School of Management, MIT. Dr Maini is a Senior Advisor to Schlumberger Inc. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the London Symphony Orchestra, a Trustee of the British Retinitis
Pigmentosa Society and a member of the Higher Education Funding Council’s Business and Community Committee.
Julie Meyer
Julie Meyer has 18 years of experience with high-growth technology businesses in Europe and the United States. Ariadne Capital, her fourth venture for which she is the seed investor and
chief executive, is an investment and advisory firm. In 1998, Julie established First Tuesday, the largest global network of entrepreneurs, which ignited the Internet generation
in Europe. Julie drove the expansion of First Tuesday to 100+ cities and 500,000 registered users worldwide - with no marketing spend. From an initial cash injection of £50,000 of her
seed capital, she built an internationally recognised, entrepreneur-friendly community dubbed, “the best-known networking brand in the IT world,” by the media. First Tuesday was sold
for $50 million in cash and shares in July 2000 to Jerusalem Global Ventures. Named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, Julie Meyer was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year Award
in October 2000 by Ernst & Young U.K., has raised more than $100 million of capital for start-ups in Europe [lastminute.com, ArcCores, WGSN] in addition to overseeing the documented $150 million
of seed capital found for start-ups through First Tuesday. In 1998 and 1999, Julie was one of the early team at NewMedia Investors [which became NewMedia Spark, an early stage investment firm,
in October 1999]. Earlier in her career, Julie helped to build the PowerPC consortium for Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector where she consulted from 1994 to 1996. She has
also consulted for Hewlett Packard and 3Com in France from 1988 to 1993. Julie earned an MBA from INSEAD and a BA degree from Valparaiso University. She also
studied in Cambridge, England in 1986. She has lived in Europe since 1988. She is a Non-Executive Director of Nettworx PLC.
John O’Connell
John O'Connell is actively pursuing a new career of investing in and being an non-executive of IT and related companies, having recently retired as Executive Vice President of Tibco Software
Inc. a Palo Alto, Californian based software infrastructure company. He is now working on a part-time consulting basis with Tibco. Tibco acquired, for approx $220 million in June of
2004, the London Stock Exchange listed Staffware plc, where John was Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The transaction was widely regarded at the time as being an excellent return
for the shareholders of Staffware, being an approx 45% premium over Staffware’s share price immediately before the announcement. Having had a variety of accounting roles
in his early career, John switched to computing in the seventies. John then founded a financial software company in 1980, which changed its name to Staffware plc in 1994. Staffware was acknowledged
as the leading workflow and business process management (BPM) software company worldwide and one of Europe's top software companies. Staffware employed approx 400 people in 22 countries,
with the majority of its business outside of the UK and had a profitable track record throughout virtually all of its 10 year history, whilst still investing an average of 18% of its sales in R&D,
growing sales revenue at an average rate of 38% compound during that period. Staffware graduated from AIM, where it floated in 1996, to the main London market in 2000. At the time of
its acquisition in June 2004, John had reported a second successive year of record profits with approx. £25 million of cash in the bank and no debt. John is recognized as
one of Europe's top entrepreneurs. He holds a Master of Information Technology from the Washington DC based AIIM International and is also a member of their Company of Fellows. He served on the
board of AIIM International as a non-executive director for 6 years, culminating as Chairman in 1999/2000.This year, in New York, he was awarded the Carl E. Nelson Innovation Award for 'leadership
in expanding the utilization of workflow and business management technologies.' John is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCCA). His hobbies
include Rugby - he is a director/shareholder in London Wasps; Football and most other sports and is an active Tennis player. He completed the 2003 London Marathon for the charity Sparks. He also
has a keen interest in another charity, being Founder Member and Patron of the Technology Leadership Group of the Prince's Trust. John enjoys most forms of music and is a Friend of the Royal Opera
House.
Markus Pedriks
Managing Partner, Baring Communications Equity (BCE). Markus’ career to date has been spent in media telecommunications. He started his career in Sales and Business Development in the
cellular industry moving on to become the General Manager of DBI (formerly part of AirCall Group plc). While at DBI, Markus launched MTV’s teletext service and assisted in the development
of Silent Radio UK, an early LED display based media for bars. From 1992–1999 he co-founded and chaired the Levicom Group. Levicom was the largest private media and telecom company in
the Baltic Republics, operating in Cable Television, Cellular, Printing and Publishing. From 1996, Markus has led Baring Communications Equity (BCE) as its Managing Partner. BCE is a specialist
media and telecom venture capital fund. Markus is also the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Finance in Estonia and he chairs the fund-raising committee for Friends of Rainbow.
Bundeep Singh Rangar
Bundeep Singh Rangar has 14 years combined experience in technology, consultancy, media and banking. He co-founded Ariadne Capital, and helped secure over $30 million
in capital and revenue for European, Israeli and U.S. companies in the software, communications and telecoms sectors. He takes a special interest in peer-to-peer, business intelligence
and security software as well as technologies addressing the automotive, digital home, media and wireless industries. Bundeep has advised some of the biggest European, Indian and U.S. companies
on corporate development, technology innovation and European market entry strategies. He is a leading authority on best practices in outsourcing and off-shoring to emerging markets, particularly
India. He was previously Managing Director of Technology Markets at Quartz Capital, a unit of NASDAQ’s largest market maker Knight Securities. Prior to that, he served as interim CEO
at MeMedia. He has also consulted for companies such as IT consultancy Razorfish and staffing company Aquent. Earlier in his career, Bundeep created Europe’s first index of
Internet stocks at Bloomberg L.P. He also hosted Europe’s first daily live TV show on the Internet and Technology where he spotted and initiated coverage of some of Europe’s biggest
technology companies when they were still largely unknown. Bundeep is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been profiled in several industry publications. He frequently writes
for journals such as Always-On, Tornado Insider and Silicon.com. He is a Charter Member of TiE and on the Advisory Boards for the European Identity Management Summit, the European Technology
Forum China Summit, Cal-IT 2004 and on the Judging Panel at the Always-On Network’s Innovation Summit ’04 at Stanford University. Bundeep is a frequent guest on CNBC Europe, CNN
and Sky News and an Agenda Setter for Computing Magazine Agenda and CNET’s Silicon.com as an authority on technology trends and related business. Bundeep holds a MSJ degree from Columbia
University, New York; a BA from McGill University, Montreal; a Diploma in Advertising from the University of California, Berkeley; a Diploma in International Relations from the University of Vienna,
Austria; and a Diplome des Etudes Collegiales in Commerce and Pure and Applied Science from Marianopolis College, Montreal. He has recently founded IndusView, an IndusView is an India-focused
corporate finance and M&A advisory firm.
Senia Rapisarda
Senia Rapisarda joined London Business School and the Private Equity Institute after 15 years in private equity as principal and adviser. She was previously Managing
Director and Head of the Technology PE Team at Nomura International, managing a proprietary fund of over £300 million and investing in early stage technology companies in Europe, Israel and
California. Previously she was Vice-President in the Telecommunications and Technology teams of Salomon Smith Barney and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, mainly involved in
structured finance and equity investments in Eastern Europe. Before that she practiced law at Debevoise and Plimpton LLP, a large New York based firm that specialized in buy-outs. Italian-born,
Senia has a Law Degree from LUISS University in Rome and a Masters in Law & Economics from Columbia University in Rome.
Roman Stanek
Roman Stanek is the founder and CEO of Systinet. His previous company, NetBeans, was sold to Sun Microsystems, Inc. in 1999. Its software is included in every Java Software Development Kit. Roman
then served at Sun as Director of Engineering for Software Platforms and Products at Sun Microsystems, Inc. An entrepreneur as well as a seasoned engineer, Roman was responsible for delivering the
Forte for Java Community and Internet Edition products, which form the basis of Sun's Java tools strategy. Prior to this, he was Sybase's Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe.
Alan Turner
Alan Turner is a director at James Hallam Insurance, active angel investors and early investors in the U.K.’s broadband video-on-demand service Video Networks Ltd. After lengthy and
comprehensive experience in corporates, Alan Turner broke away from the mainstream to form the Alan Turner Group on 4th January 1982, from his Barbican flat. The company stemmed from many ideas,
resulting in two main divisions: the insurance brokers 'James Hallam', and the Insurers of the previously uninsurable motorists, 'Sabre'. When faced with
the choice of floating or selling, the Alan Turner Group sold off Sabre to General Accident and retained the remainder of the business under private ownership.
Paul Turner
Paul Turner is a director at James Hallam Insurance, active angel investors and early investors in the U.K.’s broadband video-on-demand service Video Networks Ltd. After lengthy and
comprehensive experience in corporates, Alan Turner broke away from the mainstream to form the Alan Turner Group on 4th January 1982, from his Barbican flat. The company stemmed from many ideas,
resulting in two main divisions: the insurance brokers 'James Hallam', and the Insurers of the previously uninsurable motorists, 'Sabre'. When faced with
the choice of floating or selling, the Alan Turner Group sold off Sabre to General Accident and retained the remainder of the business under private ownership.
Stefan Roever
Stefan Roever (Germany) - President, CEO and founder of Navio Technologies. Prior to Navio, in 1994, Stefan co-founded Brokat Technologies, and served as CEO. Stefan grew Brokat from a
five-person start-up into one of the world's most respected software companies, and successfully took the company public in 1998 on the German market; in 2001, Brokat was dually listed on the NASDAQ. Stefan
is also active worldwide in fostering m-commerce, and is a popular speaker at business and technology conferences. In 1998 he was awarded Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of
the Year” in Germany. In 2000, he was ranked by Time as number 11 on its Digital 25 A-List of "25 people who will change the way you work, phone and play." In 2000 and 2001, he
was one of five members of the German Federal Monopoly and Deregulation Commission.
Martin Velasco
Martin Velasco is an international Entrepreneur; dubbed the leading "Business Angel" by the Wall Street Journal European edition of June 1999. As member of the Board
of Directors of Telefónica SA from 1997 to 2000, he participated actively in the transformation of a telecommunications based, regional company, into a service based, world leader in telecommunications,
mobile, media and Internet. Previously, he was co-leader of the McKinsey worldwide telecommunication group.
Paul Barry-Walsh
Chairman of Netstore, and Founder of the Fredericks Foundation, a successful entrepreneur
Peter Wakeham
Peter Wakeham is the chief executive officer of WILink plc. He co-founded WILink.com with Graham Morse in 1989. Peter has more than 35 years’ experience working for blue chip
multi-nationals and in entrepreneurial ventures. He worked in the 1970s and 1980s for Mars Inc and PepsiCo Inc, where he held senior international marketing and general management positions in the
UK, Sweden, Japan and the United States. During this period, he also undertook consultancy assignments in Scandinavia, Australia and the UK as an engagement manager with McKinsey & Co Inc. In
1988, Peter was a founder member of the buy-out team which acquired Bricom, a business services conglomerate, from British and Commonwealth Holdings Plc. He then became Divisional Director, Business
Services Europe for BET Plc until its acquisition by Rentokil-Initial Plc in 1996. He accepted the full-time role of CEO of WILink plc.
Jo Wood
Jo is the COO of Ariadne Capital. Most recently Jo was Managing Director of Avanquest UK Ltd, following the acquisition of MediaGold by Avanquest’s parent company BVRP. She co-founded
MediaGold UK and, with further offices and bases in France, Italy, Spain and Germany, created an entity that gave US software publishers access to the European market place. The UK-based company
experienced high growth and solid profitability between 1998 and 2003 and the business was sold to French company BVRP at the end of 2003. Clients included Intuit, Random House, Serif, IMSI, IBM,
Scansoft, Lernout & Hauspie, Expert Software and SAS. Jo was responsible for the general and financial management of the business as well as for strategic sales. Jo continues to consult
for BVRP/Avanquest, primarily on M&A pre-diligence projects, and is also non-executive Director of a small software startup,TBSC, which focuses on sales direct into the SME space.
Vinay Kantak
Vinay is a seasoned professional with a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit, diverse skill set, and over 21 years of experience in the areas of information technology, management consulting,
operations, and financial management. After completing his training as a Chartered Accountant (CPA) in with special focus on analysis and audit of business systems, Vinay started his career
in the field of Information Technology as a developer. Then over the years Vinay carried various responsibilities ranging from technical lead, architect, consultant, and project manager, to operations
manager, director, VP, CTO, and COO. For the past 10 years, Vinay has worked in executive management positions with either startup/early stage companies or new business units of large
companies, crafting business models, devising product and solution strategies, creating technology frameworks, as well as streamlining business and technical operations to meet business objectives. In
1996, while at SAIC, Vinay led the formation of a Logistics and Supply Chain business practice built around new concepts in the b2b space combined with emerging internet-based technologies at the
time. In 1998, Vinay joined Synetics Corp. to help build a new business unit focused on providing consulting services and software solutions to customers in the financial services industry.
Then in 1999, Vinay co-founded Acurion, a spin-off of Syentics’ Financial Services business unit, as an eCommerce Service Provider focused on eProcurement solutions for purchasing of network
services or bandwidth. From April 2001 through August 2005 Vinay was engaged as the COO of NAVIN Communications, Inc. in Mountain View, CA. His assignment started as an invitation from NAVIN’s
Board of Directors to assess the business and technology at NAVIN, and to help restructure the organization in the wake of economic downturn and to provide the best chance for its survival and
growth. Vinay participated in the transformation of the company from a small provider of global voice-messaging services, into an organization that currently provides carrier-grade value-added
solutions to mobile carriers in telecom markets in Southeast Asia. These efforts led to refinancing of the company in September 2002. NAVIN has now expanded its operations to other telecom markets
including those in US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Vinay continues to serve as an advisor/consultant to the company, especially in its efforts to develop and position its business internationally. As
the owner and principal of iTISTRY, a management and technology consulting practice, Vinay continues to advise numerous entrepreneurs and companies in helping them turn their ideas into reality. Vinay
is a practicing martial artist and a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Shaolin Kempo style of Karate. He is also training in Jade Forest Praying Mantis Style Kung Fu, and Tai Chi. Vinay also studies
percussion - Indian, African, and Latin - and performs as a musician whenever his schedule permits.
Shamsa Rana – Bio is found on Page 12 in the Ariadne Capital Team section
Yogesh Patel
Yogesh is the CTO of Navin – www.navinmail.com – and a serial entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded several start-ups including Hotvoice
Communications Int’l which was funded by SoftBank. HotVoice was the world’s largest unified messaging service provider with pops in 70 cities and 40 countries around the
world; it was acquired by Call Sciences. Yogesh also co-founded Rincon, an IT consulting company acquired by Starcom, RISPL India Pvt. Ltd, a technology solution provider, and he worked
at the IBM Storage Division as Team Lead for ASIC chips for Storage products.