Allstars 2025

Partner – GP Bullhound

Alexis has broad experience across the technology industry and has led successful M&A transactions in sectors including software, IT services, telecoms, internet and digital media.

Prior to joining GP Bullhound, Alexis was Director of corporate development at Experian where he was responsible for deal origination and execution for the EMEA region. He previously spent more than 10 years working in the technology sector and held international Corporate Development roles at HP Enterprise Services and EDS, where he worked on numerous acquisitions and divestments across Europe.

Alexis holds a BSc Joint Hons. in International Management and Modern Languages from the University of Bath and an MBA from Imperial College Business School.

Partner – Orrick

Chris Grew, a partner in Orrick’s London office, is a member of the Technology Companies Group, which advises high growth technology companies and venture capital firms. Chris joined Orrick in 2008.

Chris advises technology companies in venture capital transactions, public offerings and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He regularly advises high technology (particularly Internet and computer software and hardware) companies with respect to their international business operations and transactions, as well as investment banks, venture capital firms and other financial intermediaries that serve technology companies

David is a partner and the head of Venture Capital at Marriott Harrison, responsible for the delivery of strategic leadership and advice to the firm’s client base of top-tier European and US investors and high growth companies.

Recognised as a leading UK venture capital specialist, David is a regular speaker, commentator and contributor to key industry events and publications and a member of the BVCA committee for early-stage investment model documents.

Partner and Co-President

Deep Shah is a Partner and Co-President of Francisco Partners, and is based in the firm’s London office where he jointly leads European investment activities as well as managing the investment team operations globally. Prior to joining Francisco Partners in 2003, Deep held a range of roles at Morgan Stanley within both their Investment Banking and Private Equity groups. Deep currently serves on the board of directors of BluJay Solutions, ByBox, EG Software and MetaSwitch Networks. He previously served on the board of Attenti, Click Software, C-MAC MicroTechnology, eFront, Ex Libris, Lumata, Masternaut, NexTraq, Operative, Prometheus Group and Smartfocus while being involved in a number of the firms other investments.

Partner – AlbionVC

Ed is a Partner at AlbionVC where he leads the tech investing, focusing on early stage software and deeptech investments.

Aside from investing Ed also plays keyboard in the Allstars band. Ed started his career at ING Barings, working with public companies during the dotcom boom and bust”.

CEO – Octopus Ventures

Erin joined Octopus Ventures as CEO in January, 2025.

Previously, she held the role of CEO at HSBC Innovation Banking UK, formerly Silicon Valley Bank UK. Over two decades in leadership roles with the institution, she established Silicon Valley Bank UK as a standalone, regulated subsidiary before leading the organisation through the transition period following its sale to HSBC in 2023, scaling operations to over 800 people, across six countries and into the market leading position across the sector.

With a career spent in the US, UK and European tech ecosystems, Erin is an active and vocal spokesperson, championing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through partnerships with organisations including Tech Nation, Founder’s Forum and the Newton Venture Program.

She’s been celebrated as a Top Woman in Fintech by Innovate Finance, and selected by Computer Weekly as one of the top 200 Most Influential Women in Tech.

Erin has also held a seat on the boards of both UK Finance and ScaleUp Institute, and remains a UK Trustee at Founders Pledge, an advisory Board member for London Tech Week and a Member of the Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT).

George Coelho is Co-Founder of Astanor Ventures, an investment manager specialized in FoodTech venture finance. Previously he was Chairman of Octo Telematics, Ltd. Coelho also co-founded the European arm of Benchmark Capital, now known as Balderton Capital, a leading venture capital firm. Before Benchmark, he was a founder of Intel Capital, the strategic venture capital arm of Intel Corporation.

Coelho has wide investment experience ranging from early-stage start-ups to public companies and has been involved in more than 100 investments worldwide. Sample transactions where he has been an early investor include: Broadcom and Citrix (US), PCCW (China), Trend Micro (Japan) and Betfair, LoveFilm and ZOPA (UK). Coelho has successfully brought companies to flotation on stock exchanges throughout the world, which today represent over $100 Billion in market capitalization.

Coelho holds a B.S. from The American University and an MBA from The George Washington University. He has been a Trustee of The George Washington University (2008-2016) and was on the Council of the School of Business and The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design. Currently he is on the Board of Human Rights Watch and The American Air Museum in Britain. He is also a lifetime Fellow of the RSA. In 2011 he was awarded the Polish State medal, Pro Memoria.

President and Managing Partner – Ventech

Jean Bourcereau is President and Managing Partner at Ventech and has joined the company since in 2000.
As President, Jean leads the Partners Committee defining Ventech’s global development strategy and is a veteran investor driving investments notably in hardware and communications. With his high-end education background in engineering and thorough knowledge in telecommunication and physics, Jean has not only led numerous investments and exits in remarkable tech companies such as such as Olyzon, Leocare, Ogury, Intercloud, Altitude Télécoms (ILD), Arteris (QCOM), Ateme (ATEME), Ekinops (EKI), Musiwave (MSFT), Muzicall (RNWK), Wengo (VIV) and Withings (NOK), but also serves as a board member for multiple firms.
Jean began his career in the US (AT&T Bell Labs) and South America (Telecom Argentina), and then went on to develop from 1997 new business opportunities within the ALTRAN Group in the Semiconductors and IP Networks sectors. He also co-founded a subsidiary for the Group dedicated to strategic due diligences for Private Equity investors. Jean is also a member of the investment committees of T-Source, a seed capital fund specializing in telecommunications, and of Emertec, a seed capital fund focused on hardware technologies.

Previously Board Member and Vice President at France Digitale and Member of VC Council at Invest Europe, Jean is dedicated to fostering the development of the European tech ecosystem for over two decades. He holds an engineering degree in Physics at École Polytechnique, the leading French engineering school, and also earned a degree from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications.

Kerry co-founded IQ Capital in 2006 and is one of the UK’s most experienced VC investors with over 20 years deep-tech venture capital experience. She joined Venture Technologies in 1998, investing in the first wave of UK deep-tech companies and has focussed on deep tech early-stage technology over her five funds which invest from seed to £30m to portfolio outperformers.

Kerry specialises in GTM, Strategic Marketing, Competitive Intelligence and heads up IQ’s cybersecurity, supervisory and reg tech, big data and neuro-tech portfolio. She sits on several boards and has conducted several exits and IPOs.

She is known as a contributor to best practice in venture capital, from ESG and a 2018 in-depth study on Investment Committee best practice and decision making across Private Equity and Venture Capital. She is the Chair of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), a Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge (Judge Business School) and Board Advisor to All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.

Co-Founder and Managing Partner – GP Bullhound
Manish Madhvani is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GP Bullhound. Manish has executed M&A and capital raising transactions since 1997, involving some of the best known global internet, software and media companies, including: Spotify, King.com, Believe Digital, WPP, Wipro, Fjord, Hearst Corporation, Accenture, Newscorp and Experian.
Manish who was selected as one of the top 40 dealmakers globally by M&A Advisor, started his career at Barclays Capital’s Private Equity team. He has advised the Treasury on Entrepreneurship and graduated from Southampton University with an LLB in Law / MA in Marketing.
Manish is a regular speaker on Bloomberg and CNBC and is currently an Ambassador for London Technology Week. He was recognised as one of the leading Entrepreneurs in the UK by the Sunday Times / Maserati 100.

Matthew is the Managing Partner and CEO of Hg, a leading investor in European and transatlantic software and services businesses.

Matthew leads Hg, day-to-day, with a focus on the Mercury and Genesis funds. He is also Chair of the Investment Committees and is a member of the Board.

Joining Hg in 2010, Matthew led the creation of the Mercury funds before taking on his current role in 2018. He has acted across many of the investments in the Mercury and Genesis funds. Prior to joining Hg, Matthew was a Partner at Apax Partners.

With a vast European network and strong presence across North America, Hg’s 400 employees and $65 billion in funds under management support a portfolio of around 50 businesses, worth over $130 billion aggregate enterprise value, with over 100,000 employees, consistently growing revenues at more than 20%.

As a lapsed engineer, my passion has always been building, which now translates into building businesses. Businesses that delight their customers, scale and add jobs over the long term. My greatest delight comes from witnessing the range of successful companies that we have built and working with the leaders that built them.

Partner – GP Bullhound

Matt is a Partner at GP Bullhound focused on the Software sector.
Matt’s broad software banking experience includes financial applications, governance risk & compliance, Internet of Things, edtech, human capital management, supply chain, data & analytics, proptech, communications and cybersecurity.

Prior to GP Bullhound, Matt built and led the Software practice at Acuity Advisors. His investment banking experience is established from over 75 deals at Acuity, Commerzbank and Deloitte in London. Matt has also worked in Corporate Development for Dun & Bradstreet, focused on software and data assets across European and international markets.

Matt holds a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Bath including time at the Robins Business School, University of Richmond. Matt started his career at PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Partner, EMEA – Softbank

Max is a Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund, based in London, where he leads minority investments into disruptive, high growth businesses across Europe. Prior to joining SoftBank in 2017, Max worked in a variety of investment banking roles advising on M&A, Equity Capital Markets, and Debt Restructuring transactions, most recently at Moelis & Company in London.

Max holds 1st class undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics from New College, Oxford. Outside the office, he’s passionate about yoga, skiing, and tea. Max and his wife Vanessa are expecting their first baby in April 2025.

Omri Benayoun is General Partner at Partech, responsible for the Growth fund. He joined in May 2014.

He currently sits on the boards of Brandwatch, EcoVadis, NA-KD, Evaneos, Rohlik and UrbanSportsClub.

Before joining Partech, Omri had senior executive positions at worldwide retail leader Casino Group: he joined the executive committee in 2010 as EVP Corporate Planning and Strategy and in 2012, he was promoted to Deputy CEO at Cdiscount.com, the #3 eCommerce player in Europe and #1 in France. Omri also worked for Dassault Systemes, where he led Corporate development department for the worldwide leader in Product Lifecycle Management software from 2007 to 2010. He started his career, from 2002 to 2007, as a high-level civil servant at the Ministry of Economy, where he implemented government programs for start-ups and SMEs.

Omri holds a Master’s Degree in Sciences from the Ecole Polytechnique summa cum laude and is an alumnus of the post graduate Corps des Mines program.

General Partner – HV Capital

With two decades of experience in the venture capital industry, Rainer Märkle is an expert in VC and has been with HV Capital for the past 16 years. Rainer has worked with category-defining companies like Zalando and HelloFresh from seed investments to post-IPO. His strong educational foundation—an MSc in Electrical Engineering from University of Technology, Munich and an MBA from INSEAD— and early professional career, including working as an engineer in the high-tech industry and as an investor for 3i, gives him a unique blend of technical and business acumen, essential to building enduring companies. At HV Capital, Rainer pursues investments and sits on the boards of companies such as Scalable Capital, FINN, Alasco, and Outfittery. Rainer increasingly focuses on managing the firm and strengthening investor relations, including having led the fundraising for HV Capital Fund IX.

Partner – Connect Ventures

Rory is a Partner at Connect Ventures, a thesis-led venture capital firm based in London and investing across Europe. Connect leads seed investments in purpose-led founders, obsessed with solving hard problems at scale, by creating products and companies that people love. Rory is passionate about technology, entrepreneurship and leadership development, and has spent the majority of his career working in start-ups and venture capital. Prior to Connect he was a partner at MMC Ventures and a co-founding partner at BGF Ventures. He’s invested at seed, series A and series B stage, in both B2B and consumer software companies. He now spends most of his learning and investing in fintech.

Partner – Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Stacy Kim is a leading American cross-border technology lawyer, strategic business advisor, and a co-founding partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s London office.
Stacy advises technology and life sciences companies at all stages of the corporate life cycle (including formation, U.S. “flips,” financings, collaboration/joint ventures, and exits); and leverages the Wilson Sonsini platform to help companies and investors compete and win on the global stage. She supports companies in diverse industries such as agritech, AI, digital media, fintech, IOT, life sciences, semiconductor, and software, as well as the venture capital firms that invest in these companies.
Stacy is passionate about advancing women in technology in the UK by collaborating with and sponsoring certain events, including her mentorship activities with Blooming Founders and Declare.

Marriott Harrison is a legal transactional and advisory firm, best known for its market-leading work alongside ambitious entrepreneurs and insightful investors who build, evolve, and monetise globally successful companies. From its base in London, its multi-disciplinary team manages transatlantic and pan European work, often involving the world’s top-tier technology investors.

.ART is the internet domain for the world’s art and creative community. Launched in 2016, .ART is one of the fastest-growing top-level domains for creatives, with more than 250,000 domains registered to date. In 2019, .ART launched “Digital Twin” to securely archive art and cultural object metadata. As part of the company’s ongoing philanthropic activities, a portion of .ART’s revenue goes to support the charitable Art Therapy Initiative. .ART’s global team across London, Beijing, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. shares the mission to bring technology and art together, creating a digital infrastructure for the international creative community.

For more information, visit www.art.art.

Based in London, Mishcon de Reya services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply. The work we undertake is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex.

Our clients are dynamic and sophisticated and we reflect that in our belief in challenging the conventional or accepted ways of working. We like to solve problems quickly. We fiercely guard our clients’ interests, recognising the significant nexus between business affairs and personal affairs and the ways in which this affects our clients.

We appreciate the privilege of sitting alongside our clients as a trusted advisor. Building strong personal connections to our clients and their businesses is important to us. It is for these reasons we say ‘It’s business. But it’s personal’.

Paddle is a complete payments infrastructure provider, helping thousands of digital product companies to operate and grow automatically. As a merchant of record, Paddle powers growth and removes operational burden by handling billing, tax, subscriptions, pricing, retention, and fraud.

Email Address
fraenze.gade@gpbullhound.com

Phone
+49 15 12 30 42 063

Email Address
sophie.tomlinson@gpbullhound.com

Phone
+44 772 912 0084