KKR
21.6.2021 09:02:11 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announces the appointment of Ajay Kavan as a Senior Advisor in Europe, effective immediately. Based in London, Mr. Kavan will support KKR’s pan-European investment activities in technology and digitally-enabled businesses and will advise KKR’s portfolio companies. In particular, he will focus on the consumer internet sector in eCommerce and direct-to-consumer offers, as well as companies undergoing major digital transformation programmes.
Ajay most recently served as CEO of Matches Fashion, where he supported the business through the impact of the pandemic, strengthened the leadership team and improved customer experience, technology and operational performance. Prior to joining Matches he spent nine years in senior roles at Amazon including VP International Special Projects, VP Amazon Fresh International and VP UK Consumables. He was responsible for launching Amazon Fresh across Europe and Asia, developing strategic partnerships with retailers (including Morrisons in the UK), developing its international physical stores, led Amazon’s subscription businesses across the EU and scaled Amazon businesses across multiple categories. Ajay has over 20 years of online experience and prior to Amazon, he led the launch of the online channels and multi-channel capabilities for three different retail businesses. Previous roles included Marketing and Strategy and Multi-channel Director roles within Home Retail Group plc and Kingfisher plc. Ajay is also the Vice Chair of In Kind Direct, a UK charity that distributes consumer goods to charitable organisations globally.
KKR’s Senior Advisors bring leadership skills, knowledge-sharing and deep industry expertise. They help drive value creation by providing advice and best practice to KKR’s investment teams and the executives, entrepreneurs and management teams of its portfolio companies. Mr. Kavan’s appointment follows that of TMT Senior Advisors Diego Piacentini in 2019, and Adam Warby in 2020.
Tim Franks, Partner and Head of EMEA Consumer & Retail at KKR, Jean-Pierre Saad, Partner and Head of EMEA Technology at KKR, and Philipp Schaelli, Principal in EMEA Private Equity at KKR, said: “Ajay will be a fantastic resource for our executives and our portfolio company management teams, bringing decades of experience in digital transformation, e-commerce and direct-to-consumer product development. He joins at an exciting time for KKR’s technology investment platform in Europe, with digitalisation a critical part of every business’ strategy and operational agenda.”
Ajay Kavan said: “KKR builds strong relationships with founders and management teams and has a track record of supporting them to deliver exceptional value creation. KKR is deeply committed to continuing to build its technology platform and I’m really excited to work with the KKR team and with leaders in their portfolio companies.”
KKR has invested over $25bn in tech companies in the past ten years across over 140 investments. Since the start of 2020, KKR has made over 20 tech investments globally, investing over $5bn in equity. Major recent EMEA technology investments include Cegid, Exact, Devoteam and Zwift.
--ends--
About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210621005048/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Americhem Appoints Kilian Lamprecht as Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions to Accelerate Strategic Growth18.3.2026 12:00:00 CET | Press release
Americhem, a global leader in polymer solutions, today announced that Kilian Lamprecht has joined the company as Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317304976/en/ Kilian Lamprecht, Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions, Americhem Lamprecht brings extensive experience in corporate development and integration within global industrial and technology organizations. He will work closely with Americhem’s executive leadership team and investment partner PPC to identify and execute strategic acquisitions, partnerships and portfolio investments that expand the company’s capabilities, product portfolio and geographic reach. “Americhem has a long history of disciplined growth and innovation in materials science,” said John Richard, CEO of Americhem. “With the support of PPC, we are expanding our ability to pursue strategic acquisitions that strengthen our technology platform, b
Reply Announces a Partnership With Mistral AI to Develop Sovereign and Enterprise-grade Artificial Intelligence Solutions18.3.2026 09:00:00 CET | Press release
Reply [EXM, STAR: REY] today announced a new partnership agreementwithAI leader Mistral AI aimed at accelerating the adoption of local, customisable, secure and enterprise-grade generative AI solutions at scale. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260318232777/en/ Through this collaboration, Reply and Mistral AI provide a trusted and secure environment on European infrastructures, accelerating the adoption of advanced AI solutions while enabling organizations with stringent regulatory, privacy and data protection requirements to fully leverage generative AI. At the core of the collaboration is a shared vision of frontier AI, designed to enable organizations to adopt AI solutions while ensuring data control, protection of sensitive information, compliance with regulatory requirements and deployment on European infrastructures. By combining Mistral AI’s high-performance AI models with Reply’s expertise in designing
Samsung Bioepis Enters into Partnership Agreement with Sandoz for Up to Five Next-Generation Biosimilar Candidates18.3.2026 08:30:00 CET | Press release
The agreement covers up to five assets, including SB36, a biosimilar candidate referencing Entyvio (vedolizumab), for collaboration of development and commercialization in global markets excluding China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Republic of KoreaSamsung Bioepis continues to pave the way for access to life-changing medicines by advancing a biosimilar pipeline across immunology and oncology Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. announced today that the company has entered into a global license, development and commercialization agreement (DCA) with Sandoz for up to five biosimilar candidates under development by Samsung Bioepis, including SB36, a biosimilar candidate referencing Entyvio1 (vedolizumab). The other terms of the agreement remain confidential. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260318826412/en/ Samsung Bioepis office in Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea Under the terms of the agreement, Samsung Bioepis will b
Epassi Appoints Three Senior Leaders to Accelerate European Growth18.3.2026 08:00:00 CET | Press release
Epassi Group, a leading European multi-benefits technology platform, today announced the appointments of Phil Jones as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Ross Seychell as Chief People Officer (CPeO), and Cho Hwang as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), strengthening its leadership team as the company enters its next phase of expansion. Cho Hwang joined Epassi on December 1, 2025. He brings extensive global technology leadership experience from companies including HelloFresh, Coupang, and Nordstrom. At Epassi, Cho leads the company’s technology strategy and engineering organisation as the platform continues to scale across Europe. His experience will support Epassi’s ambition to further expand its multi-benefits ecosystem for employers, employees, and partners. Phil Jones joined Epassi on March 2. He brings extensive experience across HR technology and the full Human Capital Management lifecycle, having held senior leadership roles across Sales, Revenue Operations, and Customer Success at global
AiDEN Are Collaborating With Volvo Group Through the Innovation Hub CampX in a Proof-of-Value Project Solving Real Customer Needs18.3.2026 05:00:00 CET | Press release
In December 2024, a new regulatory requirement was introduced in Poland related to SENT (System for Electronic Transport Supervision) for tracking high-risk goods transported within the country. In regard to this, a project to validate one of AiDEN's services/products within the platform was initiated. This was done in a project with Volvo Trucks through CampX, Volvo Group’s global innovation arena for technology and business transformation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317838896/en/ AiDEN’s SENT GEO compliance service displayed within a Volvo truck’s in-vehicle infotainment system, enabling automated geolocation reporting for Poland’s System for Electronic Transport Supervision (SENT). Developed through a collaboration between AiDEN Automotive and Volvo Group’s CampX innovation hub, the integrated solution allows fleets to meet SENT requirements without external GPS hardware or aftermarket installations
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom