15
Oct
Sector focus: Technology and Generative AI
According to Mergermarket, the technology sector remains a dominant investment theme for the private equity industry. In particular, private equity-backed investment surge in generative AI continues to capture attention, although aggressive valuations and heated competition from strategics have caused some GPs to tread cautiously. Our panel of technology GPs and experts will take stock of the market and assess the opportunity set for the year ahead.
- What continues to be the main drivers of technology deal flow, from software to cloud computing?
- How are private equity GPs competing with VCs and strategics for the best deals?
- GenAI: where are we seeing real traction in the private equity space, and where are we a few years away from seeing impact?
- What are some top technology investment trends that GPs predict will emerge in 2025?
-
SpeakersMartin Schwertmann Partner KIRKLAND & ELLIS
Kevin Burke Partner and Head of Strategy SAPPHIRE VENTURES
Alan Cline Head of North America HG
Eugene Esmonde Managing Director - Co-Head TMT Private Equity BCI
Carl Press Partner THOMA BRAVO
Sandeep Swaminathan Senior Managing Director HAVELI INVESTMENTS
Confirm cancellation
Something went wrong.
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
CloseSign-up to join the ION Analytics Community to:
- Register for events
- Access market insights
- Download reports
Martin Schwertmann is a partner in the Technology & Intellectual Property Transactions Practice Group in the Bay Area office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Martin advises clients on the intellectual property and technology aspects of corporate transactions, including carve-outs, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, private equity and venture capital investments, and restructuring and debt financing transactions. In addition to his transactional experience, Martin also advises clients on issues relating to data privacy (from a U.S. perspective and with respect to European privacy questions), the licensing of intellectual property, and other technology transactions.
Kevin is a Partner and Head of Strategy for Sapphire Ventures, where he is responsible for advising the investment teams, portfolio companies, and limited partners on key market trends and dynamics. Kevin works across all Sapphire strategies to help the firm best execute against current opportunities, while also identifying and evaluating future focus areas.
Prior to joining Sapphire, Kevin spent 7.5 years in Corporate Strategy at Microsoft where he was a Senior Director and member of the strategy leadership team. In this role, Kevin worked directly with Microsoft’s Leadership Team on the company’s most critical strategic growth initiatives, with work that touched both existing and new product categories, go-to-market, M&A, and partnerships. Prior to Microsoft, Kevin worked at Booz & Company in the firm’s Technology, Media, and Telecom practice where he consulted for several Fortune 100 technology clients in the software and ecommerce categories, and also was selected as one of the 3 members of the inaugural class of the Katzenbach Center’s Leadership Program.
Kevin is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas-Austin, as well as of Emory University, where he majored in Economics. He currently lives in Austin, TX with his beautiful wife Cassie and their two children, Olivia and Owen.
Alan is Hg’s Head of North America, a Partner and a member of Hg’s Senior Leadership Team. He leads our activity across the USA and Canada.
Alan is a highly respected software investor with 20 years’ experience of backing great companies as one of the early employees of Vista Equity Partners. Alan has a long and impressive track record across leadership, tech investing and operations, having built the Foundation Fund within Vista, following hands on experience as a technology entrepreneur.
Eugene Esmonde joined BCI in 2022 and is based in New York City. He co-leads the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sector team. The TMT team focuses on a broad range of technology verticals including software, digital infrastructure and fiber networks, data and information services, and the evolving cybersecurity landscape. With $250.4 billion in gross assets under management as of March 31, 2024, BCI is one of the largest institutional investors in Canada.
Prior to joining BCI, Eugene was a Principal for the private equity group at Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, based in Toronto. While at CPP Investments, Eugene was focused on investments in the technology, media, telecom, luxury retail, and various other sectors, where he executed a total of ten transactions and two exits, a trade sale and initial public offering (IPO). Eugene was also a significant contributor to portfolio company merger & acquisitions (M&A) transactions; identifying significant cost reductions; debt financings and restructurings; and general asset management of the portfolio’s operating companies. Eugene also led the development of investment strategies for two platform investments. Eugene started his career as a Lawyer in Australia and spent three years working in Shanghai, China, where he was an Investment Analyst for a Chinese and Australian family office.
Eugene holds a bachelor of business in finance, and a bachelor of law, both from Queensland University of Technology, based in Australia.
Eugene currently serves on the board of Verifone Systems, Inc., a global payments and commerce solutions platform.
Carl Press is a Partner at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, he joined the firm in 2015 as a Vice President. Carl is the co-head of Thoma Bravo’s $3.0bn Explore platform, which focuses on investing in high growth middle-market technology companies. He currently serves on the board of directors of Foundation Software, Applitools, Circle, and Bluesight. Previously, he was a Senior Associate at HighBar Partners, an Associate in the Special Situations Group at Oaktree Capital Management, and an Analyst at UBS Investment Bank. GrowthCap named Carl to its list of Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors for 2021. Carl holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar, and a BS, with Honors, in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
.
Sandeep Swaminathan is a Senior Managing Director at Haveli Investments and is based in Austin. Sandeep is an experienced technology investor and operator. At Haveli, he is focused on the entire investment life cycle from sector ideation to exit with special emphasis on portfolio value creation. Prior to Haveli, he was a Partner at Bregal Sagemont, a growth equity firm, and worked at Vista Equity Partners. During his time in private equity, Sandeep has worked on approximately 25 investments across all facets of Enterprise Software and has partnered with portfolio company management to drive growth in revenues and profitability. Sandeep is an Engineer by background and received his MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his MS from The Georgia Institute of Technology. He is married, has two children, and enjoys traveling, running, and spending time with his family.