LONDON VENTURE PARTNERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- CO - FOUNDER
- GENERAL PARTNER
David joined EA as the 11th employee in 1982 and went on to found the European business unit in 1986. Leading the unit from 1995 where he grew it to $1B in gross revenue and 1200 employees. David became part of the global management team based in California in 2004 after the European success. His expanded responsibility included international growth into Asia and he was responsible for nearly half of the company's annual revenue when he departed in 2007 to return with his family to live in Europe.
David became CEO of Atari S.A. to complete a childhood dream of running the most famous name in computer games. The turnaround objective was marked by the successful sale of Atari's physical distribution company, the privatisation of the US public entity and the purchase of Cryptic studios which delivered the majority of the company revenue and R&D spending into the new digital economy. In 2007 he was awarded an OBE on Her Majesty's birthday honours list for services to British business and is Vice President of Games for BAFTA.
Job Titles:
- CO - FOUNDER
- GENERAL PARTNER
David was the founder and CEO of Criterion Software and In the early 2000s his game engine, RenderWare, powered hundreds of titles as varied as Grand Theft Auto, Pro Evolution Soccer, Rayman, Tony Hawks Pro Skater and Mortal Kombat, and his games included the AAA franchise, Burnout. From 2009, through what became Lvp, David was an investor and advisor at a number of gaming startups, including the sector- defining companies Supercell and Unity, where between 2009-2010 he was non-executive Chairman.
David holds degrees in Mathematical Statistics & Operations Research and a PhD in Computer Science.
Gavin is an ACA qualified accountant with 20 years' experience scaling and financially managing high growth enterprises.
Previously founder of an award-winning VC firm raising £120m in equity funding for gaming & television companies. In his career, Gavin has structured over £1.2bn in project finance with Disney, Universal & TWC.
Job Titles:
- PRINCIPAL
- Lvp As an Analyst
Harry is a Principal focussing on engaging with games entrepreneurs, LPs, due diligence, deal execution and supporting existing portfolio companies.
He is currently on the boards of Treehouse Games, NAG Studios, Betadwarf and PnkFrg.
Harry joined Lvp as an Analyst in 2019, having previously worked in the Ventures team at Oxford Capital investing into early stage UK digital tech start-ups. He also is a project lead at Diversity VC, contributing to their Diversity in VC reports. Prior to his roles in VC, Harry worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Ministry of Defence.
Harry holds a first in History and Economics from Oxford University.
Matt joins with 30 years of proven leadership in video games, sports and technology. Working across marketing, publishing, strategy, operations and managing some of the biggest studios in the world at Electronic Arts. Matt was part of the leadership team responsible for the turn around of the FIFA franchise, the creation of Ultimate Team and the early live service phenomenon that is now a staple of most games across the world. The FIFA business grew from $200M to now well over $1.5BN annually.
After successfully running multiple development studios in North America, Europe and EA's mobile and F2P business in Asia Matt spent his last term at EA as part of the Executive Team with responsibility for strategic growth for the company across partner development, EA's self publishing and subsctipion platform, Asia growth as well as eSports and M+A.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Associate at LVP
Pontus is an Associate at LVP and is responsible for sourcing, vetting and evaluating new investments and opportunities, while also supporting existing portfolio companies.
Prior to joining LVP, Pontus worked in the M&A team of Nomura's Investment Banking division advising large TMT and Consumer clients. Following a career in finance he gained entrepreneurial experience as a start-up COO and independent advisor to gaming / media founders.
Pontus holds a Distinction in Finance & Accounting from Imperial College in London and has lived and worked in six countries.
Rosie joined Lvp in 2019, and is EA to the General Partners.
She also provides day-to-day and project support to the wider team. Prior to joining Lvp, Rosie worked for Hitachi High-Tech in Oxford, where she was Finance Assistant and interim PA to the MD. Before this, Rosie studied at Oxford Media & Business School, where she graduated with a diploma in Media & Business.