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Agilitas backs buy-out of NNIT’s IT infrastructure outsourcing business

Agilitas

Agilitas Private Equity LLP (“Agilitas”), the pan-European mid-market private equity firm, today announces the signing of an agreement to back the buy-out of NNIT’s IT infrastructure outsourcing business including its Hybrid Cloud Solutions business as well as select parts of its Cloud & Digital Solutions business (together “NNIT IO”). NNIT IO is a leading provider of IT infrastructure outsourcing services to some of the largest Danish private and public institutions.

NNIT traces its origin to the Novo Nordisk Group and utilises its deep roots and experience in the pharmaceutical industry to develop critical IT solutions for a broad range of industries for which quality and security are crucial. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, NNIT IO has over 25 years of experience, and specialises in managing customers’ business critical IT systems, providing full and customised outsourcing solutions including data storage, servers, networks and related advising and support services such as IT consulting services in relation to the cloud transition and cyber defence. It is one of the few Danish dedicated IT service providers able to combine the professionalism of a global player with the flexible and local approach required to serve the Danish public and private sector customers.

NNIT IO employs approximately 1,500 staff and has a well-invested asset base, including two fully owned state of the art data centres strategically located in the Copenhagen area. It has long-standing relationships with large Danish blue-chip customers within the life-science sector, financial institutions, and the private and public markets, all of whom have critical IT requirements due to operating in complex environments. NNIT IO also provides a unique service to Danish customers who wish their critical data to be kept in Denmark rather than in offshore data centres, providing a greater level of data security.

 

NNIT IO’s activities are highly resilient, with embedded long term customer relationships and significant transformational potential following the carve-out from NNIT. It serves society by supporting sustainable development in the IT industry, improving IT infrastructure, and developing innovative solutions. NNIT IO is also a sustainability pioneer with 95-100% of energy usage from renewables and very energy efficient data centres.

Kevin Iermiin, Partner of Agilitas who will be joining the board of NNIT IO following closing of the transaction, commented: “This is a pivotal moment for NNIT IO, which we believe will flourish from becoming a standalone company with a dedicated management team. It is a business of high-quality, which is a testament to the talent of its work force. We look forward to working together with the management team and investing further in the business to accelerate growth following closing of the transaction. We will work to ensure continuity, while driving innovative new products and services which will ultimately benefit NNIT IO’s customers. Agilitas has extensive experience of leading investments in Denmark, and a strong enthusiasm for the Danish IT market, having previously backed the buyouts of several Danish companies.” He continued: “The quality of the services provided by NNIT IO and the people behind them have impressed the incoming CEO Henrik Bodskov, who will be leveraging his more than 20 years’ experience in the IT sector, including CEO of IBM Denmark. Henrik will build on the existing platform and bring innovative solutions to help its customers secure and scale their IT infrastructure as they grow.”

Henrik will start as CEO of NNIT IO following closing of the transaction, as he transitions out of his current role at IBM Denmark.

Martin Calderbank, Managing Partner of Agilitas, said: “The IT infrastructure outsourcing market is growing fast, driven by strong digital transformation tailwinds. We are delighted to partner with NNIT IO, whose services are essential to maintain the operations of its public and private sector customers and to ensure the protection of their data and operations. Together with the management team, we will strive to continue to answer their critical needs with innovative and sustainable solutions.”

 

The closing of the transaction is subject to the successful completion of the carve-out and regulatory approvals.

 

Media enquiries to: Greenbrook Communications – James Madsen and Teresa Berezowski

 

+44 20 7952 2000 | agilitas@greenbrookadvisory.com

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Coralogix Closes $142M Series D Funding to Accelerate its Vision of In-Stream Data Analysis for Logs, Metrics, Tracing, and Security

Advent International

New funding round underscores high demand for harmonious, scalable, and cost-effective observability

SAN FRANCISCO / TEL AVIV — June 2, 2022 — Coralogix, a company using streaming analytics to rebuild the path to observability, today announced it has raised a $142 million Series D funding round, bringing the company’s total amount raised to $238 million. New investors Advent International (“Advent”) and Brighton Park Capital (“Brighton Park”) co-led the round with participation from Revaia and existing investors Greenfield Partners, Red Dot Capital Partners, Eyal Ofer’s O.G. Tech, StageOne Ventures, Joule Capital Partners, and Maor Investments. In connection with the funding round, Alek Ferro of Advent and Mike Gregoire of Brighton Park have joined the Coralogix board of directors.

With proceeds from this round, Coralogix will grow its go-to-market, product, and R&D teams within the Americas, EMEA, UK, and APAC. As the company expands, they are committed to continuing to offer endless data possibilities with its one-of-a-kind 24/7 in-app support and response times under one minute. This announcement reflects the evolution of Coralogix from a best-in-class log analytics platform to a full-stack observability platform with robust capabilities for metrics, tracing, and security data, in addition to logs. With data volumes and costs growing exponentially and coverage options becoming more limited, having all data insights in a centralized platform is critical for DevOps, Engineering, and Security teams.

The company’s flagship Streama© technology enables real-time insights and alerting for all observability data with no reliance on storage or indexing. In addition, the company is announcing a new distributed query engine enabling fast queries on dynamically mapped data from the customer’s remote storage. This enables customers to analyze data in-stream and then query it from their own archive. The platform changes the unit economics of observability to give customers a 40-70 percent reduction in costs while simultaneously improving their performance and data insights.

“Coralogix is an established leader in the modern observability market and is differentiated by its product, mission, and vision,” said Alek Ferro, Director at Advent. “We are confident that Coralogix’s unique data streaming architecture and analytics pipeline will continue to transform the category through its ability to provide superior monitoring coverage, insights, and results while yielding significant cost savings. We’re thrilled to partner with the Coralogix management team as they continue to build on this momentum.”

“Monitoring the applications that now orchestrate much of our economy is a critical piece of the modern software world, and Coralogix’s technology enables its customers to do this at a massive scale without incurring excessive costs or compromising performance or functionality,” said Mike Gregoire, Partner at Brighton Park and former CEO of CA Technologies. “Coralogix’s offering is incredibly powerful, and we see several opportunities to grow their functionality while preserving the highly responsive support their customers are accustomed to. We look forward to partnering with the talented team at Coralogix as they scale into the leading platform in the observability market.”

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of unprecedented growth for Coralogix. In the past year, the company has signed some of the most successful hypergrowth and enterprise customers in the US, Israel, India, and EMEA. The company also expanded into the security market with the launch of Snowbit, a cybersecurity venture focused on helping cloud-native companies comprehensively manage the security of their environments.

“Our approach at Coralogix is to solve the fundamental challenges of ever-growing data volumes and system complexity. Our technology breaks the unit economics of observability to provide our customers with a cost-effective way to centralize and scale across the R&D organization. With this round of funding, we will be expanding our offering into further markets as we continue our journey to provide harmonious observability,” said Ariel Assaraf, CEO of Coralogix.

ABOUT CORALOGIX

Coralogix is the leading in-stream observability platform, using proprietary Streama© technology to provide modern engineering teams with real-time insights and trend analysis for their data with no reliance on storage or indexing.

For more information, please visit: www.coralogix.com

 

ABOUT ADVENT INTERNATIONAL

Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 390 private equity investments across 41 countries, and as of December 31, 2021, had $88 billion in assets under management. With 15 offices in 12 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 265 private equity investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; health care; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology. For over 35 years, Advent has been dedicated to international investing and remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies.

For more information, visit
Website: www.adventinternational.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/advent-international

 

ABOUT BRIGHTON PARK CAPITAL

Brighton Park is a Greenwich, CT-based investment firm that specializes in software, healthcare, and technology-enabled services. The firm invests in companies that provide highly innovative solutions in partnership with great management teams. Brighton Park brings purpose-built value-add capabilities that match the unique requirements of each of its companies.

For more information about Brighton Park, please visit: www.bpc.com

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CapMan Real Estate strengthens team in Denmark by hiring prominent real estate professional Carsten Kirk

CapMan Real Estate press release

June 01 2022 at 09:00 EEST

CapMan Real Estate strengthens team in Denmark by hiring prominent real estate professional Carsten Kirk

CapMan Real Estate hires Carsten Kirk as Development Director to strengthen its capabilities in Denmark. Mr. Kirk comes with extensive experience and a broad network within the Danish real estate industry. In this new role, he will further execute CapMan Real Estate’s strategy in Denmark and prepare the business for future growth.

CapMan Real Estate has appointed Carsten Kirk to Development Director at CapMan Real Estate Denmark. In this key role, he will be responsible for CapMan Real Estate’s development projects in Denmark. Mr. Kirk will be based in Copenhagen and start in his position on 1 June 2022.

This appointment is a central building block in the execution of CapMan Real Estate ‘s strategic ambitions in Denmark. The team has demonstrated a consistent track record of productive dealmaking and executed on several successful value-add projects. Most recently, the team leased out a unique office space in Copenhagen which is undergoing a complete transformation from a 140-year-old warehouse building, originally used as a storage and brewery for Carlsberg, into high-end office premises. CapMan Real Estate is looking to further expand its scope of activities in Denmark and to further diversify its current platform, keeping ahead of the curve to be able to fulfil future investment needs.

“We are very happy to get Carsten onboard with us. His skill set and character are a perfect fit for CapMan, and we expect our co-operation to be productive on many levels. By appointing Carsten into this new role, we want to further strengthen our existing asset management platform while preparing for future growth. Carsten plays a key role in this development, and as we move forward, executing on our strategy, we expect there will be more hires to follow in the near future,” says Peter Gill, Partner, and Head of CapMan Real Estate Denmark.

“I am very pleased with joining the team at CapMan and bringing my more than 35 years of experience in investing, dealmaking, and developing real estate to good use. I look forward to acquainting myself with the team and tasks and get to work, focusing on value optimization and generating a sustainable and attractive return for CapMan’s investors”, shares Carsten Kirk, Development Director at CapMan Real Estate.

Mr. Kirk has over 35 years of experience working within the Danish real estate industry, where he also has a significant and relevant network. Most recently he worked as Project Director at MT Højgaard Projektudvikling, where he stayed for over seven years. Mr. Kirk is an accomplished real estate professional, having accumulated experience from virtually every segment within the industry, often working on the most demanding cases.

For more information, please contact:

Peter Gill, Partner, Head of CapMan Real Estate Denmark, tel: +45 20 43 55 63

About CapMan

CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value creation. As one of the private equity pioneers in the Nordics we have built value in unlisted businesses, real estate, and infrastructure for over three decades. With over €4.7 billion in assets under management, our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors. We are dedicated to set science-based targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. We have a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. Our investment strategies cover minority and majority investments in portfolio companies and real estate, and infrastructure assets. We also provide wealth management solutions. Our service business includes procurement and analysis, reporting and back office services. Altogether, CapMan employs approximately 180 professionals in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Luxembourg. We have been listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki since 2001. Read more at www.capman.com.

Photo: Carsten Kirk by Richard-Clark

Categories: People

The Specialist Group to be sold to Oaktree and TSG Management

Parcom

The Specialist Group (“TSG”), Parcom and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”) today announced that TSG founder Francois Claeijs and Parcom have reached an agreement to sell their stake in TSG to Oaktree and TSG management.

Headquartered in Moerdijk, Netherlands, TSG is a leading staffing provider of technical engineering specialists for attractive, structurally growing end markets such as power, chemicals, infrastructure, renewables and life sciences. TSG also serves as a key partner to its clients and asset owners, supporting them on their energy transition agenda, a segment underpinned by persistent tailwinds. Parcom acquired STAR Group, TSG’s flagship label, in 2011, and has supported the company’s expansion strategy through the acquisitions of Sentijn in 2018 and Or-Quest in 2020.

The proposed transaction will support TSG as it accelerates its next phase of growth. As an Oaktree portfolio company, TSG will benefit from Oaktree’s expertise in energy transition and from the exposure to the wider portfolio of Brookfield, one of the world’s largest infrastructure and renewable asset owners and developers.

Sil Hoeve, Chief Executive Officer at The Specialist Group: “In Oaktree we found a partner that can help us accelerate our strategy, adding scale, diversification and complementary offerings to the existing platform of TSG. We are grateful for the support and opportunities that Parcom has provided to TSG over the past years and we look forward to working with Francesco and the Oaktree team in the years to come. ”

Anouar Noudari, Board Member at The Specialist Group: “Throughout our ownership period, TSG has been on a steady growth trajectory. Sil and the TSG team have done an outstanding job leading the transition from a world class niche staffing business in the Oil & Gas industry to a highly scalable, multi brand specialist staffing platform for engineers driving the energy transition.”

Francesco Giuliani, Managing Director in Oaktree’s Power Opportunities Group: “Building on TSG’s established platform and track-record of successful acquisitions, we see a clear path to take TSG to the next phase of growth both organically and through additional acquisitions with a focus on energy transition. Working closely with Sil and the broader team, our goal is to create a European leader in white collar technical engineering recruitment services with a focus on enabling the energy transition for key companies across various target industries.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q3 2022.

About The Specialist Group
Group is a platform that deploys technical specialists on a secondment and project basis. TSG serves >350 clients across technical end-markets such as power, chemicals, infrastructure, renewables and life sciences with a focus on enabling the energy transition. The Company operates via five labels (STAR Group, Sentijn, Or-Quest, Fellow and ECC Solutions) and provides regional coverage across the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, focussing on both young professionals and experienced candidates. More information: https://www.thespecialistgroup.com/.

About Oaktree
among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $164 billion in assets under management as of 31 March 2022. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in credit, private equity, real assets and listed equities. The firm has over 1,000 employees and offices in 20 cities worldwide. More information: http://www.oaktreecapital.com/.

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Industry Leader Caroline O’Connell Joins Motive Partners

Motive Partners

Financial industry strategic and innovation leader brings broad expertise across financial services, wealth management and insurance industries to further enhance portfolio company growth as Industry Partner
New York and London, June 1, 2022 – Motive Partners (“Motive”), a specialist private equity firm focused on financial technology, today announced the appointment of Caroline O’Connell as an Industry Partner.
Motive Partners believes the adoption of new digital channels, innovative processes, and technologies will yield value-creating opportunities for forward-thinking investment firms that attract and develop world-class talent. As an Industry Partner, Caroline will advise the Motive Funds’ portfolio companies, bringing her unique expertise across the financial technology space as a seasoned operator. In this role, Caroline will focus on several areas including the design and execution of marketing, communications, human resources, and procurement strategies.

Before joining Motive Partners, Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee and the first Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer of Equitable, a financial services and insurance firm. Prior to Equitable, Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee of BNY Mellon and the Executive Committee of BNY Mellon Investment Services, where she was the first Chief Marketing Officer.
In addition, Caroline was the first Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at BNY Mellon Pershing, building Pershing’s marketing function from the ground up and leading strategy, communications, and product management.
Rob Heyvaert, Founder & Managing Partner at Motive Partners, commented: “As we continue to prove that technology has the ability to unlock huge value for financial technology portfolio companies, building out our team of world-class talent is an area of critical focus at Motive Partners, and one that I remain more passionate than ever about. With Caroline’s appointment, we continue to extend our edge, and look forward to working closely with Caroline as we design and execute our value creation plans with our portfolio companies.”

About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City and London, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.
More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com
For more information please contact:
Sam Tidswell-Norrish
Managing Director, Investor Relations
+447855910178 | sam@motivepartners.com

Biography
Caroline O’Connell is an innovator and accomplished marketing, strategy, and client experience executive who has added value to special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), venture capital and private equity firms, and Fortune 200 and 500 global companies across the financial services, wealth management, and insurance industries. Caroline is recognized for her strategic impact by leading and delivering innovative B2B, D2C, and B2B2C marketing strategies, human-centered design approaches, and transformational initiatives.
Caroline is an Independent Director and member of the Compensation Committee of Kingwood Acquisition Corp., a New York Stock Exchange-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on the wealth management industry. She is a Senior Advisor and member of the Omega Network for Omega Venture Partners. She is also an Advisor to Provable Markets and Trove Collective.
Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee and the first Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer of Equitable.
Caroline O’Connell, Industry Partner at Motive Partners commented: “I am thrilled to join the talented team of investors, operators and innovators at Motive Partners. This is a terrific opportunity to bring my experience, knowledge, skills, and industry relationships together to help build a transformational set of solutions for the Motive wealth management ecosystem. Working with Rob and the team, I look forward to helping the portfolio of companies further realize their significant potential. It is my firm belief that investment firms that combine capital with transformational capability will be well placed to create significant long-term value for all stakeholders.”
Prior to Equitable, Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee of BNY Mellon and the Executive Committee of BNY Mellon Investment Services, where she was the first Chief Marketing Officer.
Caroline was the first Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at BNY Mellon Pershing. She built Pershing’s marketing function from the ground up and led strategy, communications, the chief of staff function for the Chief Executive Officer, innovation, and product management.

Caroline was a member of BNY Mellon’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Operating Committee, the first co-chair of Pershing’s Diversity Advisory Board, and was a member of the BNY Mellon Women’s Initiative Network Executive Committee at its inception.
The Financial Communications Society (FCS) awarded Caroline the Jamie E. DePeau Leadership Award, its highest honor, in recognition of her work that inspires others to think big and perform at their highest potential. She was an invited participant at the Aspen Institute Roundtable for Institutional Innovation. She was nominated to attend Harvard Business School’s Women’s Leadership Forum and the Next Women 50 Executive Leadership Forum. She was also a guest lecturer in the Executive MBA program at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

Caroline is active in industry organizations and board service. She is a member of Extraordinary Women on Boards and is a founding member of the Outthinker Chief Strategy Officer Network and Chair of its Advisory Board. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Securities Industry Institute® (SII) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Board of Directors of the Insured Retirement Institute. She was also a member of the FCS Marketing Leadership Roundtable.
Caroline earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

Important Information
Forward-looking statements herein are based on the beliefs and assumptions using information currently available. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. They also involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Motive’s Industry Partners are third-party consultants engaged for their recognized expertise to advise Motive personnel and are not employees of Motive Partners.

Categories: People

CVC Credit provides PEI Media with facilities to support its continued strategic development

CVC Capital Partners

CVC Credit provides PEI Media with facilities to support its continued strategic development

14 Jun 2022

CVC Credit is pleased to announce that it has provided further debt facilities to PEI Media (“PEI”), the global provider of insight, market data and business conferences for alternative assets professionals. The new facilities include both senior and acquisition financing and will support the company’s ongoing strategic development.

CVC Credit has supported PEI since 2018, when it financed Bridgepoint Development Capital’s acquisition.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, PEI provides alternative asset management professionals globally with news, analysis, data, marketing solutions, as well as must-attend events and conferences. In 2018, the business partnered with Bridgepoint Development Capital to further its growth ambitions and over the last four years has, significantly grown revenues and profits.

CVC, having supported Bridgepoint with the acquisition of PEI, was identified as the preferred lender and was able to quickly offer a solution tailored to the company’s size and strategic position. The facilities provided have been designed to facilitate the company’s next phase of growth and have factored in sustainability considerations through the inclusion of an ESG margin ratchet.

Simone Zacchi, Managing Director at CVC Credit, commented: “Since partnering with Bridgepoint, PEI Media has proven itself an innovative and resilient company, with the capability and drive to meet the needs of its fast-growing market. We look forward to continuing to support their ongoing development.”

John Empson, Partner & Co-Head of Private Credit at CVC Credit, added: “Our approach, is to build trusted partnerships and to provide bespoke solutions. This allows us to develop deep long term relationships with experienced sponsors and management teams as they define and execute their strategies to deliver great performance and growth in the companies they manage and advise.”

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Industry Leader Caroline O’Connell Joins Motive Partners

Financial industry strategic and innovation leader brings broad expertise across financial services, wealth management and insurance industries to further enhance portfolio company growth as Industry Partner
New York and London, June 1, 2022 – Motive Partners (“Motive”), a specialist private equity firm focused on financial technology, today announced the appointment of Caroline O’Connell as an Industry Partner.
Motive Partners believes the adoption of new digital channels, innovative processes, and technologies will yield value-creating opportunities for forward-thinking investment firms that attract and develop world-class talent. As an Industry Partner, Caroline will advise the Motive Funds’ portfolio companies, bringing her unique expertise across the financial technology space as a seasoned operator. In this role, Caroline will focus on several areas including the design and execution of marketing, communications, human resources, and procurement strategies.
Before joining Motive Partners, Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee and the first Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer of Equitable, a financial services and insurance firm. Prior to Equitable, Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee of BNY Mellon and the Executive Committee of BNY Mellon Investment Services, where she was the first Chief Marketing Officer.
In addition, Caroline was the first Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at BNY Mellon Pershing, building Pershing’s marketing function from the ground up and leading strategy, communications, and product management.
Rob Heyvaert, Founder & Managing Partner at Motive Partners, commented: “As we continue to prove that technology has the ability to unlock huge value for financial technology portfolio companies, building out our team of world-class talent is an area of critical focus at Motive Partners, and one that I remain more passionate than ever about. With Caroline’s appointment, we continue to extend our edge, and look forward to working closely with Caroline as we design and execute our value creation plans with our portfolio companies.”
About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City and London, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.
More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com
For more information please contact:
Sam Tidswell-Norrish
Managing Director, Investor Relations
+447855910178 | sam@motivepartners.com

Biography
Caroline O’Connell is an innovator and accomplished marketing, strategy, and client experience executive who has added value to special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), venture capital and private equity firms, and Fortune 200 and 500 global companies across the financial services, wealth management, and insurance industries. Caroline is recognized for her strategic impact by leading and delivering innovative B2B, D2C, and B2B2C marketing strategies, human-centered design approaches, and transformational initiatives.
Caroline is an Independent Director and member of the Compensation Committee of Kingwood Acquisition Corp., a New York Stock Exchange-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on the wealth management industry. She is a Senior Advisor and member of the Omega Network for Omega Venture Partners. She is also an Advisor to Provable Markets and Trove Collective.
Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee and the first Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer of Equitable.
Caroline O’Connell, Industry Partner at Motive Partners commented: “I am thrilled to join the talented team of investors, operators and innovators at Motive Partners. This is a terrific opportunity to bring my experience, knowledge, skills, and industry relationships together to help build a transformational set of solutions for the Motive wealth management ecosystem. Working with Rob and the team, I look forward to helping the portfolio of companies further realize their significant potential. It is my firm belief that investment firms that combine capital with transformational capability will be well placed to create significant long-term value for all stakeholders.”

Prior to Equitable, Caroline was a member of the Operating Committee of BNY Mellon and the Executive Committee of BNY Mellon Investment Services, where she was the first Chief Marketing Officer.
Caroline was the first Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at BNY Mellon Pershing. She built Pershing’s marketing function from the ground up and led strategy, communications, the chief of staff function for the Chief Executive Officer, innovation, and product management.
Caroline was a member of BNY Mellon’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Operating Committee, the first co-chair of Pershing’s Diversity Advisory Board, and was a member of the BNY Mellon Women’s Initiative Network Executive Committee at its inception.
The Financial Communications Society (FCS) awarded Caroline the Jamie E. DePeau Leadership Award, its highest honor, in recognition of her work that inspires others to think big and perform at their highest potential. She was an invited participant at the Aspen Institute Roundtable for Institutional Innovation. She was nominated to attend Harvard Business School’s Women’s Leadership Forum and the Next Women 50 Executive Leadership Forum. She was also a guest lecturer in the Executive MBA program at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

Caroline is active in industry organizations and board service. She is a member of Extraordinary Women on Boards and is a founding member of the Outthinker Chief Strategy Officer Network and Chair of its Advisory Board. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Securities Industry Institute® (SII) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Board of Directors of the Insured Retirement Institute. She was also a member of the FCS Marketing Leadership Roundtable.
Caroline earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.
Important Information
Forward-looking statements herein are based on the beliefs and assumptions using information currently available. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. They also involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Motive’s Industry Partners are third-party consultants engaged for their recognized expertise to advise Motive personnel and are not employees of Motive Partners.

Categories: People

Why we invested in Komon: Web3 platform to empower creator communities

Adara

We are pleased to announce our recent investment in Komon, a platform that permits creators to launch NFT-powered communities. Adara participated in the $2 million pre-seed round alongside Samaipata, Inveready, Shilling, and several business angels.

We are excited to back Komon founders Sebastián Fernández-Medrano, former Principal at Samaipata, and Manuel Bevilacqua, a computer scientist with years of experience in companies such as Capchase, Returnly, and Stubhub.

Both founders share a deep passion for art in all its forms. Beyond their professional experience, Sebastián is a trained actor and Manuel is a professional violinist, which has led them to take the leap to change creative industries through technology.

The challenge: One-sided creator platforms

Digital creators face many challenges, often sacrificing ownership over their audiences and potential revenue depending on the platforms they choose to distribute their work. First-generation models (YouTube, Twitch, Spotify) have helped creators make money primarily through digital ads but still require a significant following and traffic numbers to generate meaningful revenue. And while second-generation models (Patreon, OnlyFans) have helped creators unlock additional revenue by charging fans subscription fees to access content, dependence on any one platform forever limits the creator’s potential audience size, engagement, and revenue.

Enter Komon: Enabling direct creator-community relationships

Komon offers an alternative to these existing models, helping creators regain control over their entire content production, monetization, and distribution processes.

The Madrid-based startup is developing a platform that will allow creators and artists to build and manage a community and engage directly with their audiences. Community members can unlock access and rights to a creator’s exclusive content through utility-focused NFTs, or “Komon Keys,” which are governed by smart contracts. Members can also resell, rent, or give away “Komon Keys” to transfer their community membership to someone else.

Komon will use the funding to develop the platform and build out its team in Europe and the US.

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The Adara view: Web3 & and empowering the new creator economy

We’re fascinated to see how Web3 will harness the power of digital communities and the future of commerce. To build and run these communities is time-consuming, costly, and complex, and we believe creator tools and platforms like Komon will catalyze audience engagement in the same way that e-commerce infrastructure has unlocked distribution for D2C brands.

We were very impressed with Sebastian and Manu’s deep “Problem-Founder Fit,” having both experienced firsthand the current difficulties the creative industry faces, and we believe they have a product-first approach to a very large market opportunity. The potential for NFTs to provide creators with more autonomy over how they engage with their audiences and monetize their work is enormous. We are thrilled to support Komon on their mission to help creators worldwide build income in a way that truly enables their creative work.

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Cottonwood recruited Patrick Claessen as Partner

Cottonwood Technology Fund is happy to announce that Patrick Claessen will be joining Cottonwood Technology Fund as Partner starting June 1, 2022. He will be working at our office in the Netherlands. Patrick has 25+ years’ experience in investment management of innovative technology-driven businesses

Before joining Cottonwood Technology Fund, Patrick worked at Brightlands Venture Partners, an impact venture capital fund manager in the Southern Netherlands with a focus on renewable chemistry and materials, agrifood, sustainability and health. As a Senior Investment Manager of BVP Fund IV, Chemelot Ventures and the Brightlands Agrifood Fund, Patrick acted as a shareholder representative and board member for several portfolio companies.
Furthermore, Patrick held various positions at Essent during his 10-year employment at the company, including Senior Participations Manager, leading several corporate venture investments, and director of multiple joint ventures in the energy sector.
Prior to that he worked as an Investment Manager at the Brabant Development Agency (BOM), where he was responsible for investing in technology-driven early stage ventures, and as an Analyst at Van Lanschot Corporate Finance as well as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (formerly Sakura Bank).

Patrick holds a MSc degree in Business Economics from Tilburg University and a master’s degree in Financial & Strategic Management from VLEKHO Business School.

Categories: People

Planet DDS Announces Significant Investment from Aquiline Capital Partners

Aquiline

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. and NEW YORK, June 1, 2022 – Planet DDS (the “Company”), a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for dental practices in North America, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be recapitalized by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC (“Aquiline”). Aquiline is a private investment firm based in New York and London with $8.7 billion in assets under management, which focuses on investing in companies across the financial services and technology, healthcare, and business services industries.

In conjunction with Aquiline’s investment, Level Equity Management, LLC (“Level Equity”), a New York-based private investment firm specializing in capital-efficient, rapid-growth companies, will roll a portion of its existing equity in Planet DDS and invest additional capital. The investments from Aquiline and Level Equity will be used to accelerate the Company’s growth plans.

Since its founding in 2003, Planet DDS has improved the efficiency and operational performance of dental practices through innovative industry-leading technology. The Company’s solutions provide customers with practice management, dental imaging, and patient engagement and retention capabilities that enable them to streamline operations. The Company is growing rapidly with current partners and customers including American Dental Partners, the U.S. Army and Navy, and Dental Care Alliance.

“Today’s announcement is an exciting next chapter in our story as we continue to scale and improve our offerings to meet the needs of the dental industry,” said Eric Giesecke, CEO of Planet DDS. “Aquiline brings new capabilities to the business that will help drive growth. Level Equity has been a great partner since 2019 and I am excited they will continue to support the business.”

“Eric and his team have built a comprehensive and highly scalable platform that is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for cloud-based dental practice management software,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Aquiline Capital Partners. “We are excited to partner with Level Equity and the Planet DDS management team to provide our expertise and network to further accelerate the Company’s growth.”

“It is simply amazing what Eric and the Planet DDS team have accomplished since our acquisition less than three years ago,” said Ben Levin, Co-Founder and CEO of Level Equity. “The Company has completed three strategic acquisitions allowing them to deliver the most comprehensive offering in the dental market and the only purpose-built, fully cloud-based solution for solo practitioners and DSOs alike. Organic growth has accelerated meaningfully with recurring revenue growing over 500%, and they have assembled a world class set of managers. We had a wealth of choice in selecting a new equity partner and were all compelled that Aquiline was the ideal partner to help Planet DDS become the dominant market leader in dental. Their deep healthcare and payments experience are ideal complements and we could not be more excited to partner with them.”

SVB Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Planet DDS and Level Equity. Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to Planet DDS and Level Equity, and Ropes & Gray LLP acted as legal advisor to Aquiline. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 subject to customary closing conditions. Additional financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Planet DDS

Planet DDS is a leading provider of cloud-enabled dental software solutions serving over 10,000 practices in North America with over 60,000 users. The company delivers a complete platform of solutions for dental practices including Denticon Practice Management, Apteryx XVWeb Digital Imaging, and Legwork Patient Relationship Management. Planet DDS is committed to creating value for its dental practice clients by solving the most urgent challenges facing today’s dental practices in North America. For more information, please visit www.planetdds.com.

About Aquiline Capital Partners

Aquiline Capital Partners, founded in 2005, is a private investment firm based in New York and London investing in companies across financial services and technology, healthcare, and business services. The firm had $8.7 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2022. For more information about Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, please visit www.aquiline.com.

About Level Equity

Based in New York and San Francisco, Level Equity is a private investment firm focused on providing capital to rapidly growing software and technology-driven businesses. Level provides long term capital across all transaction types in support of continued growth. The firm has raised $3.0 billion in committed capital and has made over 90 investments since inception. For more information, visit www.levelequity.com.

Media Inquiries:

Planet DDS: Innsena Erin Van Zomeren erinvanzomeren@innsena.com

Aquiline Capital Partners: Prosek Partners Josh Clarkson / Maria Jose Gonzalez jclarkson@prosek.com / mjgonzalez@prosek.com

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