Airbridge Equity Partners

After his study Business Administration (Business Informatics track) at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (Drs.), Rick was actively building out the Dutch Internet ecosystem in the nineties. After being a database marketing consultant at Ogilvy & Mather, he helped to build Planet Internet from scratch, and he founded BOL.com for Bertelsmann in 1999. Rick has taken key positions at Bertelsmann Direct Group, European Directories and did a management buy-in at DQ&A Media Group in 2010, a global digital marketing company that he led for seven years. Two years after he initiated a global merger with the SA based multinational Incubeta he left the company to co-found Airbridge Equity Partners in 2017.

Robin finished a double master program at Radboud and Tilburg University: Business Administration, Strategy track and Finance, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) track. He started his career at Dela and Shiftvision in the areas of risk management and IT. In 2013 Robin moved to Main Capital, the company that he helped build out as a business analyst, investment manager and later on as their senior investment officer. He was responsible for deal sourcing, deal execution and portfolio management and held several supervisory board observer seats. Robin also took responsibility for operations & investor relations. Robin joined Airbridge Equity Partners in May 2018 and and completed the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) program.

After her master’s study in London, Jingyi started her career at Shell as a management trainee in China and the Netherlands, where she built expertise in organizational development and people management. Then she transitioned to be a management consultant at Accenture and advised multinationals on digital transformation, where she worked on enterprise software and connected to startups and VC ecosystems.

Then she worked for Newion for 4.5 years and focused on B2B SaaS early-stage investment. She worked on the seed round funding in Deliverect, Passendo, and Briqsafe and supported four other Newion’s portfolio companies as a board observer. Jingyi enjoys connecting with founders and figuring out business opportunities and how people and culture can enable company success.

Pepijn pursued both a bachelor and a master in System Engineering and Policy Analysis at the TU Delft. When looking at challenges, Pepijn prefers to combine his analytical skills with an entrepreneurial mindset. He has advanced this skillset working for start-ups, as well as different investment firms. As a Private Equity Intern at Nedvest Capital, Pepijn has been responsible for numerous in-depth company and market analyses, as well as strategic portfolio work. Pepijn joined Airbridge Equity Partners as an Investment Analyst at the start of 2022. At Airbridge Pepijn is involved with deal sourcing, deal execution, and active portfolio management and support.

Ekaterina is a recent graduate of the Digital Business and Innovation master’s program at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Prior to her master’s she obtained a bachelor’s in international business. She started her career in digital transformation and management consulting in Germany, and then worked in the IT architecture transformation sector at Heineken. By being a part of a startup incubator program and working on an HR-tech initiative, she is able to understand founders’ entrepreneurial journeys. Ekaterina entered the world of VC by being a part of a student pre-seed fund, ASIF Ventures, during her master studies, and then started at Airbridge as an intern, prior to joining the team full-time.

Sjacora worked for more than 19 years at ABN AMRO and ABN AMRO MeesPierson in various positions within Security Operations, Investments and Treasury & Structured Products. Within these departments she was responsible for administration, order processing, operational control & risk management and financial reports. Sjacora joined Airbridge Equity Partners in June 2019 and is responsible for Finance.

Frederick obtained his master’s in finance and accounting (cum laude) with specialisations in Venture Investments and Mergers and Acquisitions at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Prior his master’s, he obtained a bachelor’s in civil engineering. The combination of the financial aspect of his master’s degree and the project management of his bachelor’s degree enabled him to build and commercially support companies.

Frederick initially started within Airbridge as an Investment Analyst. Meanwhile, he worked in his free time on his own business. As this company expanded with more than 20FTE, he transitioned to the role of Venture Partner at Airbridge. In this capacity, he now supports our portfolio companies with their e-commerce operations.

Hester has a bachelor degree (cum laude) in International Management. After her study she found her passion in HR and has become an HR professional with a proven track record for more than 20 years of which 12 years in a global role. She is involved with our ventures in implementing their HR strategies, performance management, recruitment, employee benefits, employer branding, competence and talent management as well as their organisational development and strategic planning. Prior to joining Airbridge Equity Partners she was Director of Human Resources at DQ&A Media Group (part of the Incubeta Group) for 12 years. Within DQ&A Media Group she has build up HR from a 25 people company into a global organisation.

Onno is a legal advisor with a proven track record in international business, with a focus on M&A, financing, restructurings and commercial contracts. He has gained experience in media and telecom, private equity, utilities and manufacturing. He obtained his master’s degree at Leiden University. Thereafter, he held various positions, including General Counsel at UPC NL where he was lead counsel for the acquisition and financing of a large number of cable networks. He turned to private practice in 2002 where he successfully advised clients on transactions within and outside of the Netherlands. He joined Airbridge in 2018. With his extensive and wide-ranging experience he combines legal expertise with a sound understanding of the business side.

With a formal background in Business Informatics and Computer Science certificates, Emile is still  a development engineer at heart. He has been passionate about the evolving ICT landscape for his entire career. Always fascinated by the technical opportunities that were presenting themselves, Emile has served in roles as Consultant, Software Engineer, Development Lead and CTO in various companies across the e-commerce and digital media landscape. As owner of 26Digits he provides ICT consultancy for long-term clients and is also involved with innovative startups in the digital space.

Marcel holds a Master Degree in Business Economics (Drs) and during his career succesfully finished the 3-year Register Controllers Program (RC). During his professional career Marcel has been involved in various Finance functions. In 2003 he became part of the management buy-in team that, together with private equity partners, purchased De Telefoongids from KPN. During the years with De Telefoongids, Marcel became responsible as CFO/COO and in that function managed next to Finance&Legal, the backoffice and ICT departments. He led the merger with Gouden Gids, building a company of 1400 employees. After stepping out DTG/GG, he settled as financial consultant/interim CFO and as such has held CFO positions in various international companies involved in online marketing, startups/scale ups and publishing. In the most recent years Marcel was responsible for the financial due diligence for Airbridge and has completed a large number of FDD’s.