SMEs
SAEPIO: Amir Nooriala and Daniel Cárdenas
Saepio is a UK company operating in the cybersecurity industry, a very sophisticated and technical market, constantly changing due to the evolution of cybersecurity threats, which requires highly specialized and experienced personnel to advise on the subject. Saepio’s core business is advising and reselling software to mid and large companies. The company assesses the clients’ needs and chooses the best solution, implementing a software or a combination of them and following up the correct functioning of it. What makes this company attractive are the certifications granted by industry bodies and by the software developers, a staff with extensive knowledge of the sector, and a long track record, which gives it recognition throughout the industry.
Amir Nooriala has a Computer Science Bachelor from the University of Nottingham. He has 15 years of expertise running IT services in-house and managing IT MSPs being Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald and Director at Barclays. He has been the COO and CSO of OakNorth Bank, being a key person in transforming the bank into the first profitable digital bank in Europe, and COO of Callsign, where he helped to scale the revenue 10x.
Daniel Cárdenas holds an MBA from the IE Business School and a bachelor’s in business administration from the Royal Holloway, University of London. Daniel has served as an Investment Director at Triple Point Venture Capital Fund and Principal at Notion Capital. He has invested and sat on the boards of 20 companies.
Effisus: Miguel Costa Freire and Pablo Álvarez
Effisus is a multinational provider based in Portugal that specializes in premium weatherproofing solutions for ventilated façades and buildings. They work with top-of-the-class materials, certified at the highest fire rate levels, in order to maximize performance and building useful life, and protect from fire, offering the best technical solution for each of their clients. Ventilated façades not only protect buildings from adverse thermo-atmospheric conditions but also are the most energy-efficient solution for façades currently, making them ESG-friendly.
Miguel Costa is a partner in Viriato Capital and holds an MBA from INSEAD. Despite his youth, he has a large experience in corporate finance, consulting and management, having worked for top companies like Bain, Miura Private Equity, J.P. Morgan and UBS. He has participated in more than 20 transactions with a combined value of +10B€. He also held P&L responsibility as Country Manager and Head of Corporate Development, which made him manage multi-million-euro operations and gave him experience in leading teams.
Pablo Álvarez, the counterpart of this tandem, is also an MBA by INSEAD. His professional experience does not detract from Miguel´s, having a greater focus on the consulting industry, management and operations. He has developed his professional career in Nestlé and McKinsey, where he worked in the London office, focusing his work on value creation and growth for Private Equity portfolio companies. He has participated in +10 private equity transactions and has also acquired experience working in the invested companies, leading 15 growth transformations and generating +8B€ of value.
ASP: Pierre Donvez and Rafaël Dufour
ASP is a French group that offers a wide range of services in the cutting tool industry. They are dedicated to restoring tool geometry and cutting properties mainly, having an emergency service that can dispatch within 24 hours; besides, they have cutting-edge technology that consists of coating tools in order to enhance their longevity and technical properties. They are the only one company in France offering both services, which combined with their third sales line, designing and manufacturing special cutting tools, makes ASP a one-stop-shop where every cutting tool-related service can be achieved.
Pierre Donvez holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance from LSE (2011-2014) and is an MBA from IESE Business School (2018-2020). He started his career by working for Deloitte as a Senior Consultant, focusing on Strategy and Corporate Finance Advisory. Working at Deloitte gave him deep financial knowledge that he applied when he became Interim Chief Financial Officer at Besedo, a software company that made him work in six offices around Europe, Latam, and Asia. In 2021, shortly after graduating from IESE, he founded his own Search Fund, Sillage Partners, and after a long period of search, has ultimately partnered with Rafael Dufour in Sharp Tools Group to acquire ASP Group.
Rafaël Dufour holds an MSc degree in Industrial Engineering from the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Lyon (INSA) and an MBA from IESE Business School. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) Charterholder. He has 11 years of international experience in purchasing, sales, business development, strategy and general management in manufacturing and consumer goods industries in France, Spain, Morocco, China and Australia. Over the last eight years, he has built a track record in managing crisis situations and organic growth strategies in medium-sized private companies (20 million euros to 90 million euros revenue), both as General Manager and Director of Strategy and Business Development.
French married with aspirations to be an entrepreneur by acquisition, he founded a Search fund in early 2022, Relais du Dirigeant, that would grant him the opportunity to partner Pierre Donvez and create Sharp Tools Group to acquire ASP Group.
SDEC: Stéphane Gounari
SDEC, founded in 1991, designs, produces, and sells equipment for radiological monitoring of atmospheric emissions in nuclear and industrial locations. They also manufacture products for analyzing and measuring soil, sediment in the water, and gas emissions, often acting as a one-stop-shop for a wide variety of products. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, SDEC has a resilient business model, with recurring sales and a highly fragmented customer base with minimal seasonality. The company headquarters are located 30km south of Tours, France in a 3,000m2 facility.
Stéphane has an impressive academic background. He obtained his MSc from the International Space University and his MBA from The Truck School of Business at Dartmouth. He worked for more than three years at McKinsey & Company, where he led and supported due diligence, transformation, and strategy projects for various industries, including financial institutions, aerospace, software, and technology.
DSD SYSTEM: Benjamin Givelet
DSD SYSTEM offers installation services for maintenance management software, as well as training, to enable you to make the most of your chosen solution.
DSD SYSTEM accompanies companies from all sectors in their CMMS and QHSE software deployment project.
DSD SYSTEM is your partner of choice in all your CMMS and QHSE software deployment projects, from the design of your IT systems, to the staff training and long-term accompaniment.
Benjamin holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Manchester and an engineering diploma from HEI and an MBA from IESE Business School. He worked for 7 years in a French multinational company, Safran, as industrial manager managing a team of 30 people and a budget of €50M, later on he was project manager in ASML and finally he ended up as a searcher.
CROPSALSA S.A.
Company specialising in the development of sauces for Horeca and food. “We make tailor-made sauces and for this we work with the most prestigious chefs in the Michelin Guide. In the Horeca channel, we work a lot with the franchised chains, working hand in hand with the franchisers, we start the developments with them from the beginning and we continue by their side when they grow, which establishes a relationship of great loyalty”.
