Olivier Verhage, Vice-President, Silicon Valley
Olivier’s experience includes growth equity investing and M&A as well as operational experience as the founder of a VC-backed SaaS company.
Prior to joining Kennet in 2015, Olivier worked in technology M&A at Capitalmind and as an IT project manager. He took a break from investing in 2018 and co-founded a SaaS startup after which he rejoined the Kennet team in 2020.
Olivier was involved with Kennet’s investments in Rimilia (robotic process automation SaaS, acquired by Blackline), CrossBorder Solutions (tax compliance SaaS), Redica Systems (healthcare analytics SaaS), and currently also sits on the board of Intelepeer (communications voice platform, CPaaS).
Olivier holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of Groningen and a Masters Degree in Corporate Finance from City University, London.
Regina Riojas, Associate, Silicon Valley
Prior to joining Savant in 2024, Regina was an Associate at Mainsail Partners, a growth equity investor. Earlier, she held investment banking analyst roles at RBC Capital markets and Barclays. Regina earned an Industrial Engineering degree at Tec de Monterrey in Mexico.
Eric Filipek is US-Based Managing Director with 20 years of investment experience. Eric’s investment interest is in B2B SaaS with a particular emphasis on software companies that leverage AI to automate business processes along the customer lifecycle. Eric led the first institutional investments and is an active board member at Conversica (Building AI First augmented workforces), Impartner (Data-driven enterprise channel management) and SocialSurvey (Data-driven customer experience management). Eric led and exited investments in ThinkHR (Human Capital Management SaaS, acquired by Guidepost Growth Equity); KEMP Technologies (Software-based Application Distribution Controllers, acquired by Mill Point Capital); Recommind (AI First e-discovery software, acquired by OpenText); Schoolwires (K12 education SaaS, acquired by Blackboard); Netpro Computing (Systems management software, acquired by Quest Software); Consul Risk Management (Compliance software, acquired by IBM) and Aarohi (Storage semiconductors, acquired by Emulex).
Before joining Kennet, Eric was a Principal at Broadview, a leading mid-market M&A advisory firm, where is spent 6 years managing sell-side engagements for Founder-led technology companies. Prior to joining Broadview in 1994, Eric worked as a product marketing engineer at Intel Corporation. He has a BS degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Javier is an active speaker and lectures regularly on entrepreneurship and bootstrapping. Javier’s influence can be seen in the success of companies such as healthcare analytics business MedeAnalytics. He is on the boards of IntelePeer, Crossborder Solutions, Spatial Networks, Impartner, and Revolution Prep. He has been instrumental in a number of successful exits for founder-led businesses including NetPro, Adviva, MedeAnalytics, and Prolexic.
Since 2000, Javier has led Kennet’s US investment activities and platform initiatives including SaleSavant and DevSavant.
Before joining Kennet, Javier led investment bank Broadview’s West Coast software and services practice, and specialized in helping founder-led, bootstrapped businesses achieve high exit values.
Javier has also been an entrepreneur, having founded a software company targeting the financial services market. Previously, Javier gained international experience in corporate finance and capital markets at Morgan Stanley in New York and in London. Javier holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School and a BS/BA in Finance and Computer Science from Georgetown University. He speaks fluent Spanish.
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