People and Company News, Week of November 1, 2024
- John Berberich was appointed managing director, Food & Beverage Concepts, by RSE Ventures, a NY-based private investment firm founded by Stephen M. Ross and Matt Higgins. Berberich previously served as the VP of EMEA and North America at Shake Shack. Prior to Shake Shack, he built Burger King’s first global procurement team and drove non-traditional franchise growth.
- John Catrabone has joined insurance distributor Novate Risk Group as VP of carrier relations. In addition to managing and growing these relationships, he will be responsible for procuring new strategic alliances and partnerships. Catrabone has over 30 years of experience in various sectors of the insurance industry including U.S. surplus lines carrier, global carrier, global broker, retail agency executive, Big-4 risk consulting, and global retail agency management.
- Christopher Adams was appointed CMO by Global X ETFs. With over 14 years of marketing experience at Goldman Sachs in addition to his time spent at UBS as head of Americas marketing strategy, global markets, he will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of the firm’s go-forward brand and marketing strategy in the U.S. Adams will report to Ryan O’Connor, CEO of Global X ETFs.
- Joe Lockwood has been named CEO of Open Banking Solutions by investment firm Black Dragon Capital. The Open Banking Solutions platform includes digital banking, digital account opening of all product types, workflow engine, management dashboards and reporting, loan collections. Lockwood was part of the team responsible for growing and enhancing the DNA Platform, a third-generation core solution.
- James (Jim) Wechsler was named EVP, chief commercial banking officer, effective January 1, 2025. Wechsler will join the executive leadership team, reporting to Art Bacci, EVP and COO and oversee commercial & industrial banking, CRE, treasury management, capital markets and equipment finance. Steve Clark will step into a new role of senior advisor focused on business development, relationship management, and leadership support as part of WSFS’ succession planning. Wechsler joined WSFS in 2010 and most recently held the role of COO, commercial banking.
- Jessica Malkin was named chief growth officer and executive managing director by Cresset, a multi-family office and private investment firm. Malkin joined Cresset in 2019 as an advisory board member before joining full-time as EVP. She has served as CMO since 2021 and will continue in that role. As chief growth officer, Malkin will lead the advisor team lift out program, the firm’s digital marketing initiatives, client experience, branding, communications and other key national initiatives.
- MAI Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor focused on investment and financial planning for HNW individuals and families, has bought Hyperion Partners. Headquartered in Berwyn, PA, Hyperion primarily serves businesses and HNW individuals. Founded by Jeffrey Leber and Vaughn Schill in 2018, the firm had nearly $529M in assets as of September 30, 2024. Hyperion will adopt MAI’s brand identity.
- LPL Financial LLC, has added advisors Randy Petrilli, Matt Goodwin, Travis Whitaker and Jeff McWhorter from Fort Collins, CA-based Goodwin Petrilli Financial with approximately $205M in assets to its broker-dealer, RIA and custodial platforms. They join LPL from Cambridge Investment Research.
- OceanSound Partners, a private equity firm that invests in tech and tech-enabled services businesses serving government and enterprise end-markets, has purchased Antenna Research Associates Inc., a provider of integrated radio frequency and communications products to the aerospace and defense end-markets. ARA maintains specialization in active electronically scanned array antenna capabilities utilized in size-, weight-, power- and cost-constrained environments.
- Hilco Global and TPG Angelo Gordon have formed a new JV that will identify, acquire and finance consumer brands and IP in partnership with Bluestar Alliance LLC. The JV has completed a series of inaugural transactions, including an approximately $190M investment in a securitization transaction established by BR Brand Management LLC, a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial Inc. financing certain brands managed, licensed, and co-owned by Bluestar.
- Wildfire Systems Inc. secured $16M in Series B funding co-led by Intuit Ventures and Mucker Capital. New investors Cohen Circle, Samsung Next, Evolution VC, and Gaingels, and existing investors TTV Capital, QED Investors, B Capital, DLA Piper, Moonshots Capital, and Citi Ventures participated in the round. The new round brings Wildfire’s total funding raised to date to $36M. The platform offers loyalty and reward programs, shopping companions, and content monetization for financial services organizations and tech companies.
- Brightwave, an AI financial research platform, closed its $15M Series A funding round led by Decibel Partners with participation from OMERS Ventures. Th round brings Brightwave’s total funding to $21M following an oversubscribed Seed round in June. Led by Mike Conover, co-founder and CEO, the platform is constructed from SEC filings, earnings call transcripts, breaking news, and public internet content, that describes the structure of global markets.
- Latii, a NYC-based proptech startup for high-end dealers, architects, and homeowners, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round, which brings Latii’s total funding to $8.3M, was led by Leadout Capital, with participation from Era Ventures, Act One, Nine Four Ventures, and RADV. Led by CEO Santiago Bueno, and COO Juan Pascual, Latii is a managed marketplace and supply chain automation tool for construction materials.
- DoorLoop, a Miami, FL-based property management software company, raised $100M in Series B funding led by JMI Equity. Led by CEO Ori Tamuz, DoorLoop provides property managers and owners with a software platform that helps simplify property management by automating tenant and lease tracking, rent and fee collection, accounting and reporting, maintenance requests, and more, through software.
- Databento, a financial data provider, closed on $10M in additional funding, increasing its total Series A round to $30M. The round features follow-on investments from existing shareholders, along with new participation from Belvedere Trading, Clear Street, Lightscape Partners, and several “prominent” asset management firms.
