KKR
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
IDE034, a Bispecific ADC Licensed by Biocytogen to IDEAYA, Receives FDA IND Clearance5.12.2025 01:00:00 CET | Press release
Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (Biocytogen, HKEX: 02315), announced that its partner IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDYA), a precision oncology company, has received the clearance of an investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of IDE034, a potential first-in-class B7H3/PTK7 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). IDEAYA expects to begin patient enrollment in Q1 2026, initially evaluating patients with solid tumors known to express B7H3 and PTK7, including lung, colorectal, head and neck, and ovarian/gynecological cancers. IDE034 is a bispecific B7H3/PTK7 TOP1 ADC, independently developed by Biocytogen and licensed to IDEAYA in July 2024. The IND clearance marks an important milestone for this licensed program, supporting subsequent clinical development of IDE034, while highlighting Biocytogen’s technical capabilities in bispecific ADC discovery and development. Dr. Yue
Helical Fusion, Developer of Next-Generation Clean Energy Through Nuclear Fusion, Completes USD 5.5M Series A Extension Round5.12.2025 01:00:00 CET | Press release
Stakeholder base expands with participation from an individual-investor-oriented fund, alongside corporate and individual investors, bringing Total Funding to USD 38M Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takaya Taguchi; hereafter “Helical Fusion”), which is developing a next-generation energy source using Japan’s original Helical Stellarator technology to realize commercially viable fusion power plant in the 2030s, announced the completion of its Series A Extension round, raising approximately USD 5.5 million (≈ JPY 870 million). The round included investments from “Ecrowd NEXT”, a fund designed for individual investors, as well as multiple corporate investors and individual investors. As a result, Helical Fusion’s total Series A funding, including loans, amounts to approximately USD 21 million (≈ JPY 3.2 billion), bringing the company’s cumulative fundraising—including grants and loans—to approximately USD 38 million (≈ JPY 6.0 billion). With this funding, Helic
Andersen Consulting udvider sin tilstedeværelse gennem samarbejde med Hilal Technology4.12.2025 23:04:00 CET | Pressemeddelelse
Andersen Consulting indgår en samarbejdsaftale med Hilal Technology for at styrke sine kompetencer inden for digital infrastruktur, cybersikkerhed og AI. Med tilstedeværelse i Bahrain, Saudi-Arabien, De Forenede Arabiske Emirater, Oman og Indien leverer Hilal Technology et komplet spektrum af digital infrastruktur og managed services inden for cloudcomputing, cybersikkerhed, enterprise ai og systemintegration. Deres ydelser omfatter cloudtjenester, sikkerheds- og netværksdrift, implementering af ERP og applikationer samt udvikling af generative ai-kapaciteter. Med et team på mere end 250 fagfolk servicerer firmaet en bred vifte af brancher, herunder den finansielle sektor, olie og gas, logistik og den offentlige sektor. "Transformation er mere end systemer; det handler om parathed, tillid og løbende samarbejde," udtaler Roshan George, direktør for Hilal Technology. "Vi er begejstrede for at samarbejde med Andersen Consulting og levere skalerbare løsninger, der matcher tempoet i den dig
Xsolla Integrates MVola as a Payment Method to Enable Instant, Card-Free Payments for Gamers in Madagascar’s Mobile-First Market4.12.2025 21:00:00 CET | Press release
MVola Integration Enhances Payment Accessibility And Supports The Growth Of Madagascar’s Thriving Mobile Gaming Ecosystem Xsolla, a global video game commerce company that helps developers launch, grow, and monetize their games, today announced that MVola, Madagascar’s number one digital wallet, is now available as a payment option for players across the country. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251204268075/en/ Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla Madagascar is a fast-growing, mobile-first market of 32 million people, where digital wallets are the primary driver of daily transactions. MVola, recently licensed as a digital bank, has established itself as the leading wallet in the country, with over 10 million users and powering more than 1 billion transactions annually. By adding MVola as a payment method to its portfolio, Xsolla removes the friction of card payments, enabling players to pay seamlessly with a trus
Board Recognized as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Financial Planning Software for Fourth Consecutive Year4.12.2025 18:14:00 CET | Press release
Fourth consecutive placement reflects Board’s Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute Board, the leading Enterprise Planning Platform, today announced that it has been named a Leaderin the2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Financial Planning Software. This marks the fourth consecutive year the company has been positioned in the Leaders quadrant. The Board Enterprise Planning Platform integrates planning processes across the enterprise, enabling strategic, financial, and operational planning with near-real-time analysis and data sharing. Board’s unified approach to planning has driven strong adoption across financial and operational planning in the manufacturing, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail sectors. “We are proud to once again be named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Financial Planning Software,” said Jeff Casale, CEO of Board. “To Board, this recognition reflects our continued commitment to helping organizations unify strategic, financial, and operational p
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