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GoldenSource launches investment book of record

The additional functionality was created in partnership with MAIA Technology

Profile: Phillipe Laval, Jolt Capital

The deep tech investor’s CTO dives into software, data and the intricacies of his role

Workato partners with Lionpoint

The partnership aims to improve operational processes with latest technological advancements

Intapp partners with Equilar

Partnership aims to provide access to corporate leadership data

Profile: Kerrie Chung, Welkin Capital Management

The finance director discusses the firm’s setup when she joined, differences between fund administration for Cayman funds and local RMB funds, as well as Welkin’s tech stack

Profile: Kenta Shima, J-STAR

The head of operations & IR discusses the Japanese private equity market, challenges within his role, J-STAR’s tech stack and setting up the firm’s latest fund

TDA 2022: COO of the Year: Steven Whitaker, Equistone

We explore the operational improvements Whitaker made that enhanced the overall capabilities of the firm

TDA 2022 Technology: CRM & Deal Origination winner: DealCloud by Intapp

Ben Harrison, president of financial services at DealCloud talks about the enhancements the team made to the platform in 2021, which impressed the judges

TDA 2022 Technology: Investor Relations winner: PEARonline

The team describe their strong foundation with GPs and LPs, which has enabled them to work on a new version of the platform as well as expands its sales and marketing resources

Data analytics should be top priority for service providers

EY believes off the shelf solutions will no longer work to achieve GPs’ data requirements

Altvia receives investment

Marlin Equity Partners has provided a majority growth investment to the alternative asset CRM provider

Profile: Bonnie Kraus, Crane Venture Partners

The COO discusses her career path to Crane, what PE could learn from VC as well as what’s in store for the firm in Q1 2023

Valuations expected to drop

PE firms believe valuations will fall in the next six months

Operational lens: Summa Equity Fund III

Summa’s latest fund was almost quadruple the size of its predecessor, despite being raised remotely. General counsel Martin Sjölund, talks us through their Swedish fund structure, the bespoke onboarding solution, tackling compliance heavy ODD and Summa’s supportive partners.

Profile: Patrick Camenisch, Evoco Private Equity

The director of finance and operations discusses automating processes, fund administrator challenges, and why Evoco switched fund domicile from Jersey to Luxembourg

Rising costs threatens tech adoption

GP survey respondents say increased overhead costs is the top challenge when it comes to adopting new technology

Operational lens: Circularity backs P2i

With a circular economy investment strategy framework, Circularity Capital delves deep into the details when it comes to deals. We take a look at the operational work behind the firm’s recent £8m investment into P2i

5 minutes with… DealsPlus

We caught up with founder Venkat Subramaniam to discuss how the platform is standardising deal closing and investment management processes

Profile: Susan Wilkins, Actis

The COO discusses her pathway from Actis portfolio company to the GP, taking over management of Abraaj funds and her role as a member of the inclusion & diversity committee

And the nominees are…

SyndicateRoom’s Graham Schwikkard recounts his journey from COO to CEO by bringing the firm’s tech function from Portugal to the UK, leading to the creation of a bespoke nominee platform to run its EIS fund

Profile: Razzak Akbar, Freshstream

The CFO discusses Freshstream’s spinout from Bregal, the ongoing relationship between the two firms and setting up the Dutch office

Techwork 2022: Juri Pervjakov, BaltCap

“With increasing workloads, we’ve had to consider the new role of the back office, how to streamline processes and automate workflows"

Techwork 2022: Peter Tucker, IK Partners

“Running an IT department for almost 200 users (and growing), requires all areas of the IT service to evolve with the business”

Techwork 2022: Lyndon Arnold, Triton Partners

“The ultimate objective is to use technology to improve manual processes and facilitate growth in every area, from capital raising through to investment activity”

Unlimited partnership

Over the past year, there has been a surge of partnership agreements between various private equity-focused tech providers. Additionally, these same tech providers have joined forces with a number of service providers. But who is doing what, with who?

Due diligence goes digital

A new report found the majority of survey respondents intend to use more technology and tools to get diligence done in the future

Techwork 2022: Mark Gully, InvestIndustrial

"In addition to our digital transformation programme there are a number of innovative ideas being explored that, once they come to fruition, will make an impact across the PE industry. Watch this space!”

CTOs: Dealing with (unfair?) pressure

Alex Tyler and Ingolv Urnes of psKINETIC look at the challenges and successful coping strategies

Techwork 2022: Victor Davies, Bregal Investments

“We want to build in more automation and use data in a more intelligent way to make decisions, across our IT and investment teams.”

Techwork 2022: Adrian King, Pollen Street Capital

“We want to streamline our processes and the way we communicate with our key stakeholders, to enable us to scale deals and AUM efficiently”

InvestorFlow merges with Cloud Theory

The combined business has also secured a $30m series A investment from Ambina Partners

Techwork 2022: Frédéric de Frésart, Argos Wityu

"Our IT infrastructure has evolved into a single hybrid network. Everyone uses and shares the same tools. That has been a huge evolution for our employees because it completely changed the way we work"

Techwork 2022: Hind el Gaidi, Astorg

“Our ultimate aim is to capture the full value chain. From fundraising right the way through to exits, we want to ensure we have best of breed systems in place that will help us to ensure every part of the process is going well.”

Techwork 2022: Patrick Gloor, Montana Capital Partners

“The most important part of my work was and still is, constantly improving cyber security while maintaining the flexibility needed by our employees.”

Techwork 2022: Marc Boullier, PAI Partners

“I want to digitalise deal sourcing, taking into consideration finance, ESG and procurement”

Techwork 2022: Neil Hendricks, Hg

“We encourage a feedback culture, so people can tell us what is working, what isn’t and what helps with their day jobs. That’s the best way to ensure our technology is constantly fit for purpose”

Techwork 2022: Ash Patel, ECI Partners

“Some of my main achievements for the firm include outsourcing our IT services to a managed service provider (MSP) so I can put a greater focus on the strategy and governance part of IT"

The Techwork 2022

Our annual Techwork report charts the industry’s digital progress by focusing on a select group of individuals responsible for this crucial work

“Every PE firm should have a CTO” - Jolt Capital

The need for PE firms to have a CTO is becoming increasingly important, and could become key to a firm's survival

Real-time data reporting remains a source of friction between LPs and GPs

KKR's Catherine Cutts: "The demand for more granular data versus the ability for GPs to produce that is a source of friction in LP-GP relations"

GP tech adoption looms large on LP investment decisions

The majority of LPs' investment decisions are influenced by GPs’ level of technology adoption, according to a recent survey by Brackedale consulting and AssetMetrix

Entrilia launches PE & VC operations solutions

Phase one of the launch includes private equity and venture capital fund accounting, investor insights as well as business intelligence solutions

PE and private debt still behind on digital transformation

Broadridge’s latest report found only 12% of PE and private debt respondents identified as leaders when considering their digital maturity level, compared with 41% of other investment and asset managers

Grata closes $25m series-A

The private company intelligence engine will use the fresh capital to accelerate the platform’s ability to access data on mid-market companies

Profile: Richard Drover, Apis Partners

The CFO discusses his responsibilities outside the finance function, his 100-day plan of action to improve and enhance Apis' processes as well as the challenges of joining a new firm

Finance function seeks tech talent

Intertrust’s latest survey found most CFOs expect to hire professionals with this skill set over the next three years

Improved tech solutions can drive operational efficiencies

Panellists at the recent Real Deals Mid Market conference agreed ODD, deals and the full investment period could greatly benefit from collaborative software solutions

Operational Lens: Pantheon Secondary Opportunities Fund (PSOF)

With a total AUM of $52.3bn, Pantheon is a machine when it comes to fundraising. We take a look at the $624m PSOF, to discover how the pros get the job done.

Blow it all up and start again

Could the rise of 'corporation zero' - designing a fund's operations from scratch - be the remedy to private equity's tricky tech upgrade?

Your data: Time to take the steering wheel

Private capital firms cannot let off-the-shelf software solutions control data strategy, writes Ingolv Urnes of psKINETIC

IQ-EQ partners with DealCloud

DealCloud’s CRM system will enable IQ-EQ to enhance the firm’s client relationship management

Operational forecast for 2022

We take a look at Alpha FMC’s predictions for PE operations this year, as well as individual forecasts for CFOs, COOs, CTOs, CDOs and heads of compliance

High profile collection

Selection of The Drawdown’s favourite profiles with key operational professionals in 2021

LISTEN: Talking tech transformation

Hear the insights and expert views of five PE and VC finance and tech professionals on key tech trends

Allvue launches platform for emerging PE and VCs

"It is essential that smaller firms have the necessary infrastructure to hold their own against industry peers."

Blockchain and big data most important future tech tools

Intertrust Group’s latest report found 46% of respondents cited blockchain/DLT as the most important tech tool for private capital funds over the next five years

LISTEN: The Drawdown speaks to Private Equity Technology Podcast

Alice Murray, editor of The Drawdown, speaks to Lisa Weaver-Lambert and Alex Agran of the Private Equity Technology Podcast

The Drawdown Awards 2021: Winners announced

Congratulations to the winners of our recent 2021 Drawdown Awards

AnaCap spins out its tech platform

“Equipped AI allows individuals and companies to analyse vast lakes of data in real-time, helping to map and execute investment strategies across multiple geographies.” -- Mike Edwards

Profile: Frédéric de Frésart, Argos Wityu

The chief information officer discusses the firm's digital transformation, key considerations to ensure security isn't breached for hybrid working models as well as why blockchain is one to watch