Bernd is a seasoned revenue leader with a proven track record in establishing and expanding European operations for mostly US-based technology companies.

He currently leads the EMEA expansion for eCommerce Product Discovery Platform Constructor.io and previously built Cloud Security Scale-Up Lacework in Central & Southern Europe, following successful ventures in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for Endpoint Security Company Cybereason, as well as the Database platform MongoDB (Nasdaq: MDB).

Bernd’s software Go-to-Market career began with direct sales roles at SAP HQ and M&A data room provider Intralinks. Currently, he collaborates with select SaaS startup CEOs to build and evolve their GTM operations.

Bernd grew up playing competitive Rugby and in his free time, enjoys being immersed in the world of sports with his two kids or exploring the great outdoors with his wife and dog Wilma.

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Jessica brings more than 20 years of Go-to-Market experience in the software and services industry.

After starting her career in global corporations like Siemens and Yahoo!, Jessica was part of the leadership team at Board International, where during her 10+ tenure she was instrumental to the growth of the business from a niche regional player to a global market leader.

In her various roles, Jessica has developed and executed growth strategies through international expansion, business development and sales excellence, creation of strategic alliances, customer success.  She was nominated among the “Top 50 Women in SaaS 2019” by The Software Report.

Having lived in Ireland and Germany in the past, Jessica is based in the north of Italy, where outside work she enjoys horse riding and spending time with family and friends.

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Onno is an International Finance Executive (CFO) with an extensive experience in public, private as well as PE backed companies. Combining innovation and technology into sustainable value creation has been his passion throughout his career. 

 He was previously CFO of Exact Software BV (International software company headquartered in the NL) while the company was taken private in 2014 and subsequently successfully transitioned through various ownerships cycles. More recently, Onno was the CFO of Kinly Holding BV, an international visual collaboration company. 

Onno is on the supervisory board of Planon BV, a truly global leading software provider for IWMS (Integrated Workplace Management Systems), serving the world’s most successful companies.  

 Onno lives in The Hague Netherlands, is married and has two children. Running, golf and sailing are his other occupations.

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Phill is one of the most accomplished Chairpeople, CEOs, and Non-Executive Board Members in the European software industry. 

Having been most recently CEO at European software leaders Exact Software (NL) and IRIS Software (UK), Phill spent his earlier career as part of the founding EMEA Executive teams at Siebel Systems and Salesforce – during which he moved to Silicon Valley to take up the position of Chief Marketing Officer before returning to the UK. 

Phill is also the Founder of Boardwave, a powerful community of European Founders, CEOs, Chairs, Independent NEDs and their investors – building strong connections that accelerate success in European software. 

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Sion joined Ciphr as its CEO on 1 February 2023. Ciphr operates in the fast-growing human capital management (HCM) market and is backed by ECI.  

Sion has considerable leadership and management experience in growing successful SaaS businesses, and most recently served as general manager of EMEA at GoTo, a business communications and IT support specialist and one of the world’s largest SaaS companies.  

Prior to GoTo, Sion spent most of the last decade as a member of the IRIS executive team, as CEO of the Accountancy and Education divisions. IRIS is the UK’s largest privately held software company backed by Hg. 

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Jidde Douma è un leader finanziario  con una vasta esperienza  in “scale-up” e aziende di grandi dimensioni. Ha supportato la crescita di diverse imprese software nel ruolo di CFO , spesso  in aziende di software/SaaS possedute da Private Equity. Con oltre 10 anni di esperienza nella pianificazione strategica, proccessi M&A, integrazione post-fusione e progetti di pricing,  Jidde combina competenza diretta nella creazione di valore con una visione strategica, E sua convinzione  che la funzione finanziaria sia un fattore chiave per la crescita aziendale, sia per la capacità di limitare il rischio economico sia per la capacità di assumere rischi strategici.

Con un master in contabilità e controllo, Jidde combina una solida base teorica con l’esperienza e la pratica necessarie per determinare il successo. È sposato, ha due figli con i quali ama passare il proprio tempo. Tra i suoi hobby, si diverte a cucinare, stare con gli amici, suonare la batteria e andare in palestra.

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Before joining the Upliift team, Sebastien had been focusing on providing cross functional operational support to portfolio companies at Vitruvian Partners and Expedition Growth Capital.

Prior to this, Sebastien held hands-on operational roles at PE-backed software companies where he ran a portfolio of value creation initiatives focusing on GTM, pricing, and related areas.

Sebastien spent nearly 7 years as a consultant for Oliver Wyman and The Boston Consulting Group.

He holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University and a MA in Economics – Econometrics from the University of Geneva.

Outside of work, Seb enjoys travelling, playing a wide range of sports, socialising and spending time with his two children and his wife.

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Pietro è l’ex Chief Technology Officer di Board International, dove ha iniziato la sua carriera e dove ha fatto parte del team dei founder che ha costruito l’azienda dall’inizio fino a diventare leader globale.

Pietro vanta oltre 20 anni di esperienza nel settore del software come tecnologo. Come CTO, è stato responsabile della strategia di prodotto, dello sviluppo del prodotto e delle operazioni. Ha creato i team di ricerca e sviluppo e di gestione dei prodotti, sviluppando e promuovendo una cultura dell’innovazione e dell’esecuzione. Nel corso del suo mandato, ha guidato il team attraverso importanti transizioni tecnologiche come l’avvento dell’in-memory computing, il passaggio al Cloud e il modello SaaS.

Pietro ha anche fatto parte del team di leadership che ha sviluppato ed eseguito la strategia di crescita e il piano di creazione di valore.

Originario di Milano, oggi vive a Como con la moglie, i due figli e un’infinita attrezzatura per tutti gli sport acquatici che non ha tempo di praticare.

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Lucy Jacobs is a marketing professional with a 30-year career in high-growth software companies. She has made significant contributions to renowned companies including Oracle, Siebel Systems, and Salesforce during periods of rapid growth in Europe.

Lucy gained experience of marketing a European niche software business, while VP Marketing at Invenias. Her tenure was marked by expanding the customer base to over 1,000 clients and profitability, ultimately resulting in the successful acquisition by Bullhorn, backed by Insight Partners.

More recently she transitioned to professional services marketing when she assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer at Erevena, a leading executive search firm specializing in investor-backed start-ups.

In her spare time she enjoys walking in the countryside with her cockapoo and going to the gym.

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Sara assistente di marketing, come parte del team di Upliift Portfolio, lavora a stretto contatto con il Chief Marketing Officer per garantire che la pagina web sia sempre aggiornata, supporta la creazione di contenuti, l’analisi dei dati e la gestione degli eventi.

Si è recentemente laureata in giornalismo con specializzazione in comunicazione strategica. Durante gli studi, Sara ha lavorato come Social Media Manager presso l’agenzia di relazioni pubbliche Millenium Promotion, dove ha acquisito una preziosa esperienza nella creazione di rapporti analitici, nella gestione dei social media, dei sistemi di gestione dei contenuti e nella creazione di vari contenuti per una vasta gamma di clienti.

Sara è iscritta a un programma di formazione incentrato su Internet Marketing e Branding. Al di fuori del lavoro, si diverte con la sperimentazione culinaria e ama rilassarsi con belle serie televisive.

CRO

Sebastian’s responsibilities include deal origination, execution and oversight, along with supporting the other members of the M&A team.

Prior to Upliift Sebastian spent 5 years as M&A Director at Jonas Software, a division of Constellation Software Inc., and a year as M&A Director for ClearCourse.

He closed 22 acquisitions over that time and worked on countless others.

Sebastian is from the UK and lives in the Chilterns.

He originally has an accounting background, moving into M&A in 2017, for the excitement that deal making brings.

In his spare time Sebastian enjoys watching Arsenal, playing golf (poorly), karting and spending time with his wife and 3 daughters.

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Darko’s responsibilities include investment origination and execution.

Prior to joining Upliift Darko was part of the investment team at Constellation Software Inc., where he spent three years focusing on European software companies.

He started his career at Ernst & Young for five years, followed by eight years as an investment professional in the private equity industry.

Darko lives in Zagreb, Croatia. He is a CFA charter holder.

In his spare time, Darko enjoys hiking and spending time in nature.

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Jérémy focuses on investments in France & Spain.

Prior to joining Upliift Jérémy was part of the M&A team at Believe, a French Music-Tech listed company.

He previously spent 7 years working in M&A (advisory and corporate) / investment roles in various tech-related sectors, prior to joining Believe.

Jérémy is originally from Perpignan, France, and now lives in Paris. He is a graduate from SKEMA Business School where he studied Corporate Finance.

Besides French, Jérémy speaks English and Spanish.

In his spare time, Jérémy enjoys exercising, cooking, spending time with his family and learning bass.

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Valentina is as an M&A Manager supporting investment origination and execution.

Prior to joining Upliift, she spent three years at Constellation Software working on a number of transactions within European portfolio.

Valentina started her career working as a sell-side advisor in an M&A boutique.

Valentina lives in Zagreb, Croatia.

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Nicola is an M&A Manager focusing on investments in Italy.

Prior to Upliift, Nicola spent the last year as CFO of RE-Lender, a lending crowdfunding company.

Before this Nicola was at Bain and Company where he focused on working with Banks and Telco firms and in Intesa Sanpaolo in the CIB division as VP in the Coverage and M&A team for Telecom, Media & Technology industry.

He studied at L. Bocconi University in Milan, where he graduated with a Master of Science in Management.

Outside of work, Nicola enjoys CrossFit and kick boxing along with spending time travelling.

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Kristina is an M&A Analyst, and as a part of the Upliift M&A team she supports the entire transaction journey, from identifying potential target companies to finalizing deals.

Before joining Upliift, Kristina worked in Financial Advisory at UniCredit where she gained valuable experience in financial analysis, investment strategies and client interactions. During her studies Kristina served as a student assistant at the department of finance and won prestigious Rector’s awards for academic and community contributions.

Outside work, Kristina finds joy in cultivating her passion for cuisine and staying active at the gym.

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Before joining the Upliift team, Marlon (Anthony Don) Schmidt spent nearly two years at a strategy, M&A, and transformation consulting company in Dubai, where he worked on various projects in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, gaining valuable international experience. Prior to that, he completed internships in the USA and Croatia within the healthcare industry. 

He holds a BSc in International Management and an MSc in Management from Modul University Vienna, where he graduated with distinction and received the Dean’s List award for academic excellence. 

Outside of work, Marlon enjoys staying active by going to the gym and taking his dogs for strolls around the city. He also likes socializing with friends, cooking, and exploring new cities when possible. 

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Ivana è una research analyst; il suo ruolo in Upliift è quello di identificare e analizzare i mercati europei relativi a software verticali e di potenziare le aziende in portafoglio.

Ivana ha conseguito un Master in Finanza presso la Facoltà di Economia e Commercio dell’Università di Zagabria. Durante i suoi studi, ha lavorato come assistente nel Dipartimento di Finanza e nel Dipartimento di Marketing. È stata vincitrice di una borsa di studio per studenti con risultati accademici eccezionali e ha ricevuto il riconoscimento del Rettore per le attività extracurriculari durante gli studi. Ivana è stata team leader di un’associazione studentesca, dove ha promosso attivamente l’alfabetizzazione finanziaria tra i giovani. Prima di Upliift, ha maturato un’esperienza lavorativa in un fondo pensione volontario come fixed-income analyst.

Ivana ama trascorrere del tempo con il suo cane nella natura e socializzare con gli amici.

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Andro è research analyst e, come parte del team di portafoglio di Upliift, sfrutta le sue capacità analitiche per condurre ricerche di mercato ed identificare trend ed opportunità nei mercati europei dei software verticali. Le sue responsabilità comprendono la ricerca di potenziali obiettivi di M&A, il supporto alla due diligence degli investimenti e le ricerche di mercato per supportare la crescita delle aziende all’interno del portafoglio di Upliift.

Prima di entrare in Upliift, Andro ha lavorato come equity analyst presso il Fondo Pensione Assicurativo Volontario Croato, creando modelli di valutazione e analizzando i rapporti finanziari delle aziende. Ha lavorato anche presso l’Istituto per l’Energia Hrvoje Požar, sviluppando modelli di prezzo dell’energia e studi di fattibilità per entità energetiche. Ha conseguito una laurea in Matematica ed Economia aziendale presso la Scuola di Economia e Management di Zagabria.

Al di fuori del lavoro, Andro ama trascorrere il tempo con la famiglia e gli amici, praticare l’orienteering e giocare a paddle come hobby. È anche molto interessato a seguire i mercati azionari globali e la gestione patrimoniale.