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Flexpoint Ford Announces Appointment of Steve Baranowski as Chief Financial Officer

Flexpoint Ford

Flexpoint Ford, a specialist private equity firm focused on financial services and complementary industries, including business and healthcare services, announced today that Steve Baranowski has joined the Firm as Chief Financial Officer, based in the Chicago office.

Mr. Baranowski joins Flexpoint from Adams Street Partners, where he most recently served as Partner and Head of Client Operations. In that role, he led a team of more than 50 professionals across investment accounting, middle office, tax, treasury operations, and performance reporting and analysis. Prior to joining Adams Street Partners, Mr. Baranowski served as a Tax Managing Director at KPMG, advising private equity, mutual funds, banking, and other investment fund clients. Mr. Baranowski holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.

“We are thrilled to welcome Steve to Flexpoint,” said Chris Ackerman, Managing Partner. “His deep expertise across operations, finance, and reporting will be instrumental in strengthening our fund administration infrastructure and advancing our mission to deliver growth and value to our investors and portfolio companies.”

“Steve’s leadership experience will be an asset to Flexpoint as we continue to grow,” added Don Edwards, Chief Executive Officer at Flexpoint. His ability to build strong teams and implement best-in-class processes will help ensure Flexpoint remains well-positioned for the future.”

“I am honored to join Flexpoint at such an exciting time in the Firm’s growth,” said Mr. Baranowski.  “I look forward to partnering with the leadership team to enhance our finance and operations capabilities and to support the continued success of our investors and portfolio companies.”

The Firm also announced that Steve Haworth, who has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2005, will continue in his role as Managing Director and assist Mr. Baranowski in his transition. Flexpoint is deeply grateful for his many contributions over the past two decades and is pleased that he will continue to provide leadership and guidance in the Firm’s next chapter.

Categories: People

Emerald leads $14M investment in Xampla, accelerating the replacement of single-use plastics

Emerald

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Emerald Technology Ventures, a global leader in climate-tech venture capital, has led a $14m of investment round in Xampla, a University of Cambridge spin-out that has created world-first natural materials from plant protein, to replace the world’s most polluting plastics. Other investors include BGF and Matterwave Ventures, and the funding will support more than ten billion units of single-use plastic replaced with Xampla’s Morro™ materials in the next five years, including plastic linings found in takeaway boxes, coffee cups and sachets.

Investors, including Neil Cameron of Emerald, and CEO Alexandra French of Xampla

Global plastic production is estimated to rise to a billion tonnes annually, and with less than 10% of plastic ever produced being recycled, there are now 8 billion tonnes of plastics and microplastics in our global environment. Xampla’s Morro materials offer a world-first natural polymer alternative. Made from abundant and natural plant protein feedstocks, including peas, rapeseed and sunflower, the materials are completely PFAS and plastic-free, and exempt from the European Union’s Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUPD).

Through partnerships with big names such as 2M Group of Companies, Huhtamaki and Transcend Packaging, Xampla has already replaced polluting coatings on boxes used by food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway and Bunzl Catering Supplies. Unlike plastic, Morro™ Coating maintains the recyclability of cardboard without compromising on grease, oxygen and moisture barrier properties. The company’s Morro™ films, being commercialized through global partnerships, are soluble, giving them the potential to replace polluting plastic PVA films in dishwasher tablets and laundry pods.  They are also food-safe and can be used as edible replacements for packaging a wide range of single-serve products, from sweets to soups.

In addition, Xampla is working in partnership with leading FMCG brands and fragrance houses to deploy Morro™ materials in place of harmful plastic microencapsulates used to convey scents and active ingredients in homecare and beauty products.

Xampla’s Chief Executive, Alexandra French, said:

“This is a major vote of confidence for our revolutionary replacements for polluting plastics, and will see us expanding into Asia Pacific as well as growing in the UK and Europe. We have proven to investors and to brands that Morro™ materials are the real deal in making plastic a material of the past.  In just the next five years, Xampla will replace ten billion pieces of single-use plastic.  This is the technology industry has been crying out for. Our ambition now is nothing less than to see our products – proudly bearing their Morro marque – become the world’s go-to plastic replacement.”

Neil Cameron, Partner in Emerald’s sustainable packaging investment fund, added:

“Working with Xampla is part of our mission to turbocharge a revolution in innovative packaging. This technology hits the sweet spot I search for: a big solution to a big problem that can reap big rewards. And with its current global traction, there is huge potential to scale even further. The global barrier coatings market alone is set to be worth over $30bn by 2032, and that is just the beginning.”

Rowan Bird, Investor at the BGF, said:

“Xampla’s technology stands out as a truly scalable and practical alternative to plastic. Its patented, entirely natural and PFAS-free material is not only strong in performance but also drop-in ready for existing manufacturing lines, making it an attractive option for brands looking to adopt more sustainable solutions. We believe in the strength of the team, the quality of the product, and the positive role Xampla can play in helping reduce reliance on polluting plastics. We’re excited to support their continued growth as they bring this innovation to more partners and applications.”

Ines Kolmsee at Matterwave Ventures, added:

“Xampla’s mission fully aligns with ours: they are tackling a major sustainability issue with smart technology that can be used in existing manufacturing equipment, making it both easy to adopt and capital efficient. What really wowed us is their global team.  These are real experts, drawing on the best science from the University of Cambridge and elsewhere.  But this isn’t an academic exercise. They have got their product out of the lab and into the market.  It is a remarkable achievement and I know they will now go from strength to strength.”

For more information: www.xampla.com/morro-materials

More on Packaging and Materials at Emerald:

Shaping the Future of Packaging: Emerald’s Formed Fiber Sprint

Packaging and Materials

Emerald Invests in Cajo Technologies, Sustainable Laser Marking Leader

About Emerald Technology Ventures

Emerald is a globally recognized venture capital firm, founded in 2000, that manages and advises assets of over €1 billion from its offices in Zurich, Toronto and Singapore. The firm invests in start-ups that tackle big challenges in climate change and sustainability, with four current funds, hundreds of venture transactions and five third-party investment mandates, including loan guarantees to over 100 start-ups.

This is Emerald.

Bold Ideas. Bright Future.  www.emerald.vc

CONTACT FOR EMERALD:

info@emerald.vc

About Xampla and Morro™ materials

Xampla is a materials innovation company unlocking the power of plants to create natural materials that change the world. Its range of world-first Morro materials are natural alternatives developed to address the plastic pollution crisis, and have been designed to eliminate the worldʼs most polluting plastics.

400 million tonnes of plastic waste produced every year globally according to figures from the  United Nations.. Morro™ materials re designed to leave nothing harmful behind.

Made from plants with no chemical modification, they are completely plastic-free, home compostable, fully biodegradable, and SUPD exempt. In scaling their Morro™ materials, Xampla has partnered with leading organisations including 2M Group of Companies, ELEMIS Skincare, Transcend Packaging, Just Eat and Gousto.

Find out more at www.xampla.com/morro-materials

Media contact:

Catherine Kitchen
Catherine@higginsonstrategy.com
+44 7763 671 844

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Clearlake-Backed Dun & Bradstreet Announces the Appointment of Stephen Tulenko as Chief Executive Officer

Clearlake

Data and Analytics Industry Veteran to Drive Innovation and AI Solutions at Dun & Bradstreet

Jacksonville, FL, Sept. 3, 2025/PRNewswire/

Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”), today announced Stephen Tulenko as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. Mr. Tulenko joins from Moody’s Corporation, where he built a distinguished 35-year career, most recently serving as President of Moody’s Analytics. Mr. Tulenko succeeds Anthony Jabbour, who will continue to serve in an advisory capacity to ensure a seamless transition.

James Pade, Partner and Managing Director at Clearlake said, “Steve is the ideal leader to guide Dun & Bradstreet into its next phase of growth and innovation. Building on a strong record of driving results at Moody’s Analytics, Steve brings deep understanding of the business and is a thought leader in innovating with Generative AI. His leadership, respected across the industry, will help Dun & Bradstreet uncover new opportunities to drive innovation and support its customers in leveraging the full potential of their data.”

“Dun & Bradstreet provides data and analytical insights that power global commerce, and I am excited to have the opportunity to build upon a remarkable legacy,” said Tulenko. “As we move forward together as a private company, my focus will be to drive growth that springs forth through the trust and confidence Dun & Bradstreet brings to every business relationship. For over 180 years, this organization has been delivering value to customers, and as we look to the agentic future, we believe the best is yet to come. Our customers’ success is our success, and we aim to generate a lot of it.”

“I believe Steve not only brings the right experience and vision to guide Dun & Bradstreet forward, but also a genuine appreciation for the capabilities that we have and the transformation that we have achieved,” said Jabbour. “His impressive tenure at Moody’s Analytics is marked by a history of driving meaningful results and energizing teams, a testament to the caliber of leadership he brings to this role. To support this transition, I look forward to remaining engaged in an advisory capacity, as Steve leads the team forward. I would also like to thank the incredibly talented team at Dun & Bradstreet for all their contributions to our business.”

About Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, enables companies around the world to improve their business performance. Dun & Bradstreet’s Data Cloud fuels solutions and delivers insights that empower customers to accelerate revenue, lower cost, mitigate risk, and transform their businesses. Since 1841, companies of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to help them manage risk and reveal opportunity. For more information on Dun & Bradstreet, please visit www.dnb.com.

About Clearlake
Clearlake Capital Group is a global investment firm managing integrated platforms spanning private equity, liquid and private credit, and other related strategies. Founded in 2006, the firm has more than $90 billion of assets under management and has led or co-led over 400 investments globally. With deep knowledge and operational expertise across the technology, industrials, and consumer sectors, Clearlake seeks to partner with experienced management teams, providing patient, long-term capital and aiming to drive value through its active hands-on operating approach, O.P.S.® (Operations, People, Strategy). Headquartered in Santa Monica, Clearlake maintains a global footprint with offices in Dallas, New York, London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For more information, please visit clearlake.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

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£10.2m investment in green materials innovation company Xampla

BGF

The funding from Emerald Technology Ventures, BGF and Matterwave Ventures will support Xampla’s mission to replace single-use plastics with plant-based alternatives.

3 September 2025
Xampla investors

A major injection of more than £10 million in private capital is set to accelerate UK materials innovation company Xampla’s mission to replace single-use plastics with alternatives made from plants.

The round has been led by Emerald Technology Ventures (which runs Europe’s first specialist, venture-backed investment fund targeting the full packaging lifecycle), alongside BGF and Munich-based Matterwave Ventures.

Over the next five years, the funding will see Xampla’s revolutionary Morro™ materials replace more than 10 billion units of the most polluting single-use plastic, including plastic linings found in takeaway boxes, coffee cups and sachets.

Global plastic production is estimated to rise to a billion tonnes annually, and with less than 10% of plastic ever produced being recycled, there are now 8 billion tonnes of plastics and microplastics in our global environment.

Alexandra French, Chief Executive at Xampla, said: “This is a major vote of confidence for our revolutionary replacements for polluting plastics, and will see us expanding into Asia Pacific, as well as growing in the UK and Europe.

“We have proven to investors and to brands that Morro™ materials are the real deal in making plastic a material of the past. In just the next five years, Xampla will replace 10 billion pieces of single-use plastic. This is the technology the industry has been crying out for. Our ambition now is nothing less than to see our products – proudly bearing their Morro marque – become the world’s go-to plastic replacement.”

Xampla’s Morro™ materials offer a world-first natural polymer alternative. Made from regenerative plant proteins, they are completely plastic-free, biodegradable and home compostable.

Xampla team developing Morro materials in the lab

Through partnerships with big names such as 2M Group of Companies, Huhtamaki and Transcend Packaging, Xampla has already replaced polluting coatings on boxes used by food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway and Bunzl Catering Supplies.

Unlike plastic, Morro™ Coating also maintains the recyclability of cardboard without compromising on grease, oxygen and moisture barrier properties.

The company’s Morro™ films, being commercialised through global partnerships, are soluble, giving them the potential to replace polluting plastic PVA films in dishwasher tablets and laundry pods. They are also food-safe and can be used as edible replacements for packaging a wide range of single-serve products, from sweets to soups.

Xampla is also working in partnership with leading FMCG brands and fragrance houses to deploy Morro™ materials in place of harmful plastic microencapsulates, used to convey scents and active ingredients in homecare and beauty products.

Made from abundant and natural plant protein feedstocks, including peas, rapeseed and sunflower, the materials are completely PFAS and plastic-free, and exempt from the European Union’s Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUPD).

Rowan Bird, Investor at BGF, commented: “Xampla’s technology stands out as a truly scalable and practical alternative to plastic. Its patented, entirely natural and PFAS-free material is not only strong in performance, but also drop-in ready for existing manufacturing lines, making it an attractive option for brands looking to adopt more sustainable solutions.

“We believe in the strength of the team, the quality of the product, and the positive role Xampla can play in helping reduce reliance on polluting plastics. We’re excited to support their continued growth as they bring this innovation to more partners and applications.”

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Ampersand Capital Partners Expands Global Presence with London Office, Appoints Matthew Norton as General Partner

Ampersand

BOSTON and LONDON, Sept. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ampersand Capital Partners (“Ampersand”), a global private equity firm specializing in life sciences and healthcare growth investments, today announced the opening of a new office in London. The move further strengthens the firm’s European footprint, building on the success of its Amsterdam office launched in 2017.

As part of this expansion, Ampersand announced that Matthew Norton has joined the firm as a General Partner based in London, where he will lead its European efforts. Matt brings more than 15 years of healthcare private equity experience, most recently serving as a Partner at Cinven. In that role, he helped shape the firm’s healthcare strategy and led transformative growth initiatives across Europe and the United States.

In addition, Marina Pellon-Consunji. Partner will be relocating to London. Marina was instrumental in establishing Ampersand’s Amsterdam presence, leading multiple platform investments and add-on acquisitions across Europe. She will continue to drive these efforts from the new London office.

“We are pleased to announce the addition of Matthew Norton to Ampersand’s team, along with the opening of a London office,” said Herb Hooper, Managing Partner of Ampersand. “With Matt’s and Marina’s experience and leadership, we are well-positioned to continue identifying and scaling the next generation of global healthcare and life sciences companies.”

The new London office underscores Ampersand Capital Partners’ long-term commitment to building exceptional growth-stage companies worldwide. For more than 30 years, Ampersand has focused on building market-leading companies in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, by accelerating growth across lab products, lab services, contract manufacturing, pharma services, and specialty products companies. Together with its established offices in Boston and Amsterdam, the London presence positions Ampersand as a global leader in healthcare and life sciences private equity.

Matthew Norton, General Partner
Marina Pellon-Consunji, Partner

 

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With hubs in Boston, Amsterdam, and London, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit www.ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn

Categories: People

Adams Street Opens Office in Abu Dhabi

Adams Street

Leila Kaissi named to lead the firm’s GCC presence

CHICAGO, IL – September 3, 2025 – Adams Street Partners, LLC, a leading private markets investment management firm with more than $62 billion in assets under management (“Adams Street”), announced the opening of its Abu Dhabi office, the firm’s first presence in the Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”). The new office is in ADGM, one of the region’s most dynamic financial districts. Adams Street’s on-the-ground presence will enhance the firm’s long-standing relationships across the GCC and support its growing investors and strategic partners.

The office will be led by Leila Kaissi, who has joined the firm as a Principal, Investor Relations. Kaissi will focus on developing and deepening institutional client and consultant relationships throughout the GCC. She will also work closely with clients in the management of their portfolios and aid in the development and monitoring of their private equity programs.

“The opening of our Abu Dhabi office is another milestone for Adams Street and a natural progression of our global expansion. Having a local presence marks our commitment to further developing strategic and long-standing partnerships in the region,” said Jeffrey Diehl, Managing Partner & Head of Investments at Adams Street.

“I am excited to lead Adams Street’s efforts in the Gulf,” commented Leila Kaissi, Principal, Investor Relations and head of the Abu Dhabi office. “GCC investors are eager to access investments in global venture capital, growth equity, buyout and private credit markets. Adams Street has a long and successful history delivering innovative investment opportunities in these areas. I look forward to building on the strong demand in the region and deepening our existing relationships.”

“I am delighted to have Leila at Adams Street to expand and build on all the work that we’ve done so far in the region,” added John Kremer, Partner & Head of Investor Relations (EMEA). “The GCC is strategically important to Adams Street’s global business objectives and a presence there will allow us to better serve our existing clients, strengthen client relationships, and capitalize on significant opportunities to match our ambitions in the region.”

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM said, “The decision by leading international firms like Adams Street to establish offices in Abu Dhabi speaks of the tremendous opportunities that the UAE’s capital offers. As the richest city globally, Abu Dhabi is strategically positioned to attract world-class businesses in the asset management sector, and ADGM is proud to support its positioning. We are pleased to welcome Adams Street to ADGM’s vibrant and expanding ecosystem and look forward to seeing their growth strategy unfold in Abu Dhabi and the region.”

Prior to joining Adams Street, Leila was a Vice President at Gulf Capital where she was responsible for institutional investor relationships, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, corporates, and family offices in the GCC and across the globe. She also played an active role in the development of Gulf Capital’s investor relations strategy, managing co-investment opportunities, and overseeing investor due diligence.

About Adams Street Partners

Adams Street Partners is a global private markets investment manager with investments in more than 30 countries across five continents. The firm is 100% employee-owned and has $62 billion in assets under management across primary, secondary, growth equity, credit, and co-investment strategies. Adams Street strives to generate actionable investment insights across market cycles by drawing on over 50 years of private markets experience, proprietary intelligence, and trusted relationships. Adams Street has offices in Abu Dhabi, Austin, Beijing, Boston, Chicago, London, Menlo Park, Munich, New York, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. Visit www.adamsstreetpartners.com

Media Inquiries:
SEC Newgate
Daniela Gorini
daniela.gorini@secnewgate.ae
+971 (0) 58 129 3083

Ihab Youssef
ihab.youssef@secnewgate.ae
+971 (0) 55 768 4150

Categories: News

Novacap Financial Services Completes its First Continuation Vehicle

Novacap

The new fund will support the growth of Revau, accelerating their strategic expansion into the U.S. market

Novacap, a leading North American private equity firm, today announced that its Financial Services team has successfully closed its first continuation vehicle transaction, and the fourth for Novacap, in Revau.

The continuation vehicle is led by a consortium including funds managed by Northleaf Capital Partners, Export Development Canada (EDC) and Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and includes participation from several key institutional investors such as Manulife Investment Management. The transaction involved the continuation vehicle acquiring an interest in Revau from Novacap Financial Services, along with certain other shareholders. The transaction offered existing Novacap limited partners the option to receive liquidity or rollover while providing Revau with access to additional capital.

The transaction follows Revau’s recent U.S. acquisitions of Brazos Specialty Risk Insurance and Twenty Mile Insurance Services, two U.S.-based Managing General Agents (MGAs) specializing in trucking and construction-focused liability solutions. These acquisitions mark Revau’s strategic entry into the U.S. market, substantially broadening its footprint across North America and positioning it for future growth plans in the U.S.

“This continuation vehicle represents an important milestone for Novacap Financial Services, reflecting the value created at Revau to date and our commitment to support Revau in its future endeavours,” said Marcel Larochelle, Managing Partner at Novacap. “Our partnership with Revau’s strong management team has transformed the company into a Canadian leader. We look forward to continuing our collaboration as Revau executes its strategic vision to build a leader in the specialty insurance market in North America.”

Revau, a Canadian market-leading, tech-enabled MGA, has seen transformative growth since Novacap’s initial investment in October 2020. The company has significantly expanded from a regional player into Canada’s largest independent MGA, diversified across more than 30 products and programs, and has successfully executed nine strategic acquisitions.

Jean-François Raymond, President and CEO of Revau, added, “Novacap’s continued commitment and additional capital support through the continuation vehicle will help fuel our projects for the next phase, enabling us to leverage powerful data analytics and AI capabilities and further expand our specialized insurance offerings. With our recent U.S. acquisitions, we are now well positioned to capture significant opportunities in the much larger U.S. market, enhancing our ability to deliver tailored products and value-added service to brokers, carriers, and insureds across North America.”

UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive advisor for the continuation vehicle. Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP acted as legal counsel.

 

About Revau

Revau Advanced Underwriting Inc. is a leading Canadian Managing General Agent (MGA) specializing in property and casualty insurance. With a strong presence across Canada and an expanding footprint in the United States, Revau delivers tailored insurance solutions for specialized and niche risks through its national network of brokers. Headquartered in Quebec, with offices and teams located in Quebec, Ontario, the Maritimes, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Texas, and Florida, Revau combines deep industry expertise with a cutting-edge digital platform to simplify the commercial insurance process and deliver exceptional value to brokers and their clients.

For more information, please visit www.revau.com

About Novacap

Novacap is a leading North American private equity investor and one of Canada’s most experienced private equity firms. Founded in 1981 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs, Novacap focuses on middle market and lower-middle market companies in four core sectors: Technologies, Digital Infrastructure, Industries and Financial Services. Novacap combines deep sector specific expertise and strategic and operational excellence to partner with entrepreneurs and management teams. Since its inception, the firm has made primary and add-on investments in more than 250 companies. With over C$14 billion in assets under management and a presence across offices in Montreal, Toronto, and New York, Novacap accelerates value creation through strategic growth initiatives and a strong focus on execution.

www.novacapcorp.comFor more information, please visit www.novacapcorp.com

Categories: News

Aliter backed legal services group completes investment in Carter Bond

Aliter Capital

Deal supports scale-up strategy to create a UK leader with a national footprint

 

Aliter’s legal services portfolio company has completed its investment in commercial law firm Carter Bond for an undisclosed sum.

 

Carter Bond now becomes part of the existing group alongside BBS Law (BBS) which completed its investment from Aliter last year. The emerging group is rapidly growing to become a UK wide legal services provider, offering a full range of services to a customer base including high-growth, ambitious small-to-medium sized businesses, entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals.

North London based Carter Bond specialises in commercial and corporate law, with particular strengths in the healthcare sector. The firm has a consistent track record of impressive organic growth across the UK.

 

This transaction is a further investment in the Aliter-backed legal services group, since it completed the investment in BBS in October 2024.

 
Dov Black, Reena Popat and James Davies

Dov Black, Reena Popat and James Davies

Dov Black, Managing Partner and Head of Corporate, BBS said: “There is a great fit between BBS and Carter Bond, and we also believe strongly their arrival brings significant additional experience and resources to help us accelerate the next stage of the group’s development.”

 

Reena Popat, Managing Partner, Carter Bond, said, “After ten years of sustained organic growth at Carter Bond, this move comes at an ideal time. We are enthused about the opportunity to become part of this exciting journey to create a UK market leader and we look forward to realising the new opportunities it will bring for our clients and colleagues at Carter Bond.”

 

James Davies, Partner, Aliter Capital added: “Through our deep-seated knowledge and experience of the group’s main target markets, we will continue to support the continued drive for growth and provide access to capital for further expansion.”

 

Categories: News

Advent to acquire Australiaʼs Automic Group

Advent

Sydney, 03 September, 2025 – Advent, a leading global private equity investor, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Automic Group (“Automicˮ). Automic is a market leading technology company delivering financial market infrastructure to serve the mission-critical needs of investors and issuers in Australia and New Zealand. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Automic is a proven disruptor in registry, employee share plan, shareholder analytics and fund administration services, with a proprietary cloud-native platform that supports multiple services in one solution to deliver a smarter, more efficient offering to its clients. The company leverages technology to provide insight-led services supporting over 1,400 companies and funds across Australia and New Zealand, with technology designed to be portable and scalable into new markets. Over the past 5 years, Automic has been the top performing share registry for IPOs and listed transitions in Australia.

“We see strong alignment between Automic Group and Adventʼs investment philosophy. We have identified a high-quality business in one of Adventʼs key sectors: business and financial services. We are confident we can deliver significant value creation by applying our hands-on, in-market, and global operational expertise,” said Beau Dixon, Managing Director and Head of Australia and New Zealand at Advent. “We are pleased to be making our first acquisition since opening Adventʼs Sydney office, and we look forward to working closely with Automic Groupʼs management team to support its next phase of growth.ˮ

“We are excited to be partnering with Advent, leveraging their global best practice and industry knowledge, long track record of value creation to deliver continued growth, and market leading solutions to our customers,ˮ said David Raper, CEO of Automic Group.
Hayden Neeland, Director at Advent, added, “Automic Group is a proven industry disruptor with a robust cloud-native technology platform that is scalable with significant growth opportunities ahead. We are excited by the companyʼs demonstrated track record of customer acquisition and ability to innovate, launch, and grow new products.ˮ

Advent has strong global investing experience in the business and financial services sector, with more than 95 investments made across 25 countries over the past 30+ years. Since 2008, Advent has invested more than USD $6.6 billion in 17 fintech companies worldwide. The Automic transaction continues Adventʼs efforts to pursue business opportunities in Asia Pacific and embed its local know-how alongside its global network and operating expertise in the region, which includes significant investments in India and China.

This transaction builds on Adventʼs existing Australian investments including luxury fashion brand ZIMMERMANN, Transaction Services Group (now part of Xplor Technologies), a leading provider of business management software and integrated payments solutions, as well as its investment in Ultra Electronics, a leading defence, aerospace and technology company with operations in Australia.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

About Advent

Advent is a leading global private equity investor committed to working in partnership with management teams, entrepreneurs, and founders to help transform businesses. With 16 offices across five continents, we oversee more than USD $100 billion in assets under management* and have made 435 investments across 44 countries.

Since our founding in 1984, we have developed specialist market expertise across our five core sectors: business & financial services, consumer, healthcare, industrial, and technology. This approach is bolstered by our deep sub-sector knowledge, which informs every aspect of our investment strategy, from sourcing opportunities to working in partnership with management to execute value creation plans. We bring hands-on operational expertise to enhance and accelerate businesses.

As one of the largest privately-owned partnerships, our 675+ colleagues leverage the full ecosystem of Advent’s global resources, including our Portfolio Support Group, insights provided by industry expert Operating Partners and Operations Advisors, as well as bespoke tools to support and guide our portfolio companies as they seek to achieve their strategic goals.

To learn more, visit our website or connect with us on LinkedIn.

*Assets under management (AUM) as of June 30, 2025. AUM includes assets attributable to Advent advisory clients as well as employee and third-party co-investment vehicles.

About Automic Group

Automic Group is a leading provider of registry and fund administration services across Australia and New Zealand. The Group was founded in 2014 by Paul Williams and now serves more than 1,400 companies and funds. Automic combines innovative technology with a client-focused approach to enhance service quality, strengthen data security and support organisations as they scale.

Media Contacts

Peter Folland
Vice President, Advent
pfolland@adventinternational.co.uk

For Australia and New Zealand:
Katherine Kim
katherine.kim@teneo.com
+61 2 9063 5119

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Search, Perfected for AI: Why We’re Doubling Down on Exa

Lightspeed

Exa Co-Founders Will Bryk and Jeff Wang.

AI agents and AI-native products are here. These AIs need access to information, critical context that helps them perform at their best. “Garbage in, garbage out” still applies — no matter how intelligent the model, its reasoning is contingent on the availability of fresh, accurate data. In other words, they need search. Application builders are rapidly integrating and embedding search capabilities into a range of AI products – from consumer apps to B2B tools. This is where Exa comes in.

Exa is an applied AI lab training a search engine optimized for AI agents to perfect web search and improve upon the “ten blue links” paradigm that Google defined in the early days of the web. Exa’s goal is to create the world’s most powerful search technology, and unlike Google, they aren’t bound by optimizing for consumer clicks and SEO.

When Lightspeed led Exa’s Series A round last year, agents were only just beginning to take off. Now, they’ve taken over.

Exa has become the leading search engine for AI. For example, AI coding products like Cursor use Exa to retrieve technical documentation to output well-informed, up-to-date code. Today, thousands of developers, AI startups, and enterprises are building on top of the Exa API.

It’s why we’re excited to double down on our investment as part of Exa’s $85M Series B round, led by Peter Fenton at Benchmark Capital, alongside participation from YCombinator and NVIDIA Ventures. Peter served on the board of Elastic, the last major search company built, so we are delighted to see he shares our conviction about this massive opportunity.

Agents are merely large language models paired with appropriate tools. We believe search is one of the two big “killer tools” for agents, along with code execution. With code execution, agents become “Turing complete”, enabling them to write programs on the fly. With search, agents become “information complete” — they can acquire any public information needed to accomplish a task.

While AI models are trained on increasingly vast sums of data, AI models cannot perfectly memorize all the information on the public web, as their recall is unreliable. Further, there’s always a “last mile” of data — private data, alternative data sources, etc. — which will never end up in the training data of these models. For AIs to work with and reason about this data, they require search capabilities.

Exa is strategically positioned to power search for AI. Exa indexes billions of web documents, processes through them all with their custom models, and serves them through a state-of-the-art search and retrieval stack. The quality and craftsmanship of the Exa team is evident through benchmarks, where Exa is best-in-class in terms of relevance and latency.

This incredible performance is no longer limited to AI consumption — Exa now serves human users too via its new product, Websets, an agentic search tool for extracting structured information from the unstructured web. Non-technical users can write a query asking for lists of people, companies, and more (e.g., “US-based startups that have raised over $10M USD focused on longevity healthcare”) and get hundreds of results matching the exact criteria, verified by Exa’s AI agents. Websets has become incredibly popular for recruiting, lead generation, and market research use cases.

But they aren’t stopping there: the Exa team has set out an aggressive product roadmap for the coming years, with the goal of powering every AI app, indexing beyond the public web, and becoming the AI world’s data layer.

We are heading toward a future where AIs search far more than humans, where most search queries actually originate from an AI of some kind rather than a human. We believe this new world will require AI-native search infrastructure to support this new, rapidly growing consumer of the web.

That’s Exa — a single API to get any information from the web, built specifically for AI products. Lightspeed is proud to continue supporting Exa’s vision of perfect search. If you want to work on industry-changing, high-impact, massive-scale challenges, apply here.

 

The content here should not be viewed as investment advice, nor does it constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Certain statements herein are the opinions and beliefs of Lightspeed; other market participants could take different views.

Authors

Guru Chahal

Guru Chahal

Nnamdi Iregbulem

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