Erik Roelofsen is a Professor at Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University and a partner in SearchRight Capital, a investment fund specializing in search fund investing. Previously, Erik spent nearly 20 years at PwC Amsterdam, advising on audit, valuation, strategy, and M&A, and supporting PwC’s non-executive directors’ program. At RSM Erik founded the Entrepreneurship-through-Acquisition track, with now 70+ students learning to buy and grow businesses applying the Search Fund model.

Alexander Schuil is the Founder and CEO of Novidam Capital Partners. Prior to Novidam, Alexander was the CEO of Briscoe Protective, New York’s largest independent security and fire alarm company. In 2016, he acquired Briscoe through the search fund model after a two-year traditional search. Briscoe employed c. 30 people upon acquisition and generated roughly $1.0M EBITDA. In 2022, through six years of organic growth and 11 subsequent acquisitions, Briscoe grew to c. 275 people and generated c. $14.M EBITDA. Alexander sold the business in late 2022 and stayed on with the buyer for two years, before becoming an international ETA investor. Before his search fund, Alexander was a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Co. in Amsterdam and New York. He is avidly involved in numerous charitable foundations and sits on a variety of Boards.

Lisa Stuhler is the Founder and Managing Partner of Tilia Nachfolgekapital, a Germany-based Search Fund focused on acquiring and growing a mid-sized company in the DACH region.

Before launching her fund, Lisa served as Chief Strategy Officer and Board Member at a global marketing agency, where she led strategic transformation, M&A initiatives, and operational excellence programs. Earlier, she worked in strategy consulting, specializing in marketing, sales, and retail clients across Europe.

Lisa holds an MBA with distinction from the Technical University of Munich, with a focus on Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and a BA in International Business. She is passionate about entrepreneurship through acquisition and building the ecosystem for ETA in Europe.

Alexandra Kaars Sijpesteijn is a Vice President at Novidam Capital Partners, where she is part of the investment team. She is responsible for fundraising and investor relations, as well as sourcing and supporting searchers and operators throughout their search fund journey. Alexandra previously ran her own advisory practice, working with clients in Corporate Finance, Private Equity and early-stage companies on investor relations and strategic growth. She began her career in investment banking, working for Houlihan Lokey in London and AXECO in Amsterdam, advising on transactions across various industries, including Software, TMT, Industrials and Financial Services.

With a degree in Business Administration from the University of Groningen, Joris brings over 25 years of experience in building and scaling businesses. He founded ebuilders, a digital production agency in 2002, which joined forces with MediaMonks in 2014 and grew into the Group’s most profitable business unit. Following the merger with S4 Capital in 2018, he led the transformation of ebuilders into a marketing transcreation company before succesfully exiting in 2020. In 2022, Joris completed the Erasmus University programme for Supervisory Board Members.

Joachim de Belgique is the Managing Partner of Innesto Partners, a fund dedicated to search fund investing focused on Europe and opportunistically in North America. Before founding Innesto Partners, Joachim built a unique blend of investing and operational experience. On the investment side, Joachim worked at Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). Prior to working at CD&R, Joachim worked at AtlasInvest, a top tier single-family office which also manages Carlyle International Energy Partners. On the operational side, Joachim joined New Southern Energy (NSE), where he was quickly promoted to head of sales and marketing. NSE is a portfolio company of AtlasInvest, which at the time was of similar size as a potential search fund target. Joachim holds a Bachelor of Science in International Economics, Management and Finance from Bocconi University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Luisa de Belgique is a Vice President at Innesto Partners, a fund dedicated to search fund investing focused on Europe and opportunistically in North America. Prior to joining Innesto Partners, Luisa worked as a corporate lawyer at two leading American law firms (Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Sidley Austin) in London providing her with legal and transactional knowledge. During her time there, she specialized in private equity, growth equity, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), initial public offerings (IPOs), and cross-border transactions. Luisa holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and a legal graduate diploma from BPP University. Luisa is a licensed solicitor in the United Kingdom.

Experienced leader in Business Transformation, Post-Merger, Restructuring and Integration, spanning multiple industries including Pharma, Supply Chain and Financial Services. Few years ago, he stepped into Private Markets and became co-owner of Green Logistics Groningen.

He holds an Executive MBA from Oxford University with Distinction, a Master in Management of Technology from ETH Zurich and a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). He has also completed exchange semesters at Stanford University and Bocconi University. Overall, he is a globally-minded leader, speaking 6 languages and having experience in 10 countries on 4 continents.
 

Ruben Tros is a partner at Stek in the Corporate group.  He advises private equity firms, corporate and financial institutions on mergers and aquisitions, restructuring and a wide range of corporate law matters, and he frequently works with international law firms on cross-border transactions. 

Ruben has significant experience advising both searchers and their investor groups in the Netherlands on the various steps involved in setting up and carrying out search-fund transactions. 
 

25 years of experience in the financial sector, of which 20 years in private equity, (financial) restructuring and interim management. Over the past years I have been involved in different companies in various markets and branches. 

In the many transactions I have been involved in over the past years, due diligence was always an important part of our scope of attention. I look forward to discuss the many aspects of due diligence during the break out session of the ETA Conference. 
 

Lorenzo Ferretti is the Founder and CEO of DeepTree, an artificial intelligence platform launched in August 2024, whose goal is to become a unified source of knowledge on private markets.

DeepTree's vision stems from Lorenzo's dual academic background, as he was one of the first students in Italy to simultaneously complete an MSc in Artificial Intelligence at Politecnico di Milano and a BSc in Finance at Bocconi University. During his time at Politecnico, he also took part in the Alta Scuola Politecnica, an excellence program through which he met his co-founder Claudio.

DeepTree has developed an intelligent system capable of collecting, linking, and interpreting heterogeneous data (financial data, news, M&A deals, and corporate information), transforming it into structured knowledge. The platform is therefore aimed at industry professionals such as search funds, private equity funds, investment banks, advisory boutiques, and corporates.
 

Alexander Kelm is a self-funded searcher and MBA graduate from the University of Greenwich, specializing in small business acquisitions and post-acquisition governance.
He is the founder of ETA Amsterdam, a professional community advancing Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) in the Netherlands, and the author of Buyout Diary, a publication focused on small business acquisitions in the UK and Europe.
His work explores governance, delegation, and leadership transitions, helping first-time buyers and operators build enduring businesses through thoughtful, long-term ownership.

Alexander is the founder of Orangeland Capital, a traditional Search Fund through which he acquired Transaction Mail and Direct Mail business Jetmail and Customer Communication Management SaaS business Eclipse. He currently serves as Group CEO of both companies.

Prior to launching Orangeland Capital, Alexander was a private equity investor with Freshstream Investment Partners, an Anglo-Dutch mid-market private equity fund with c. €1.5bn of AUM and a particular focus on family-owned and founder-led businesses.

He started his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley where he was stationed in both the London and New York offices.

Alexander holds a MSc in Finance from ESADE Business School and a BSc in Business Administration from RSM Erasmus University.

Henk brings over 25 years of valuation experience, combining a strong academic foundation with a practical, solution-oriented consulting approach. After earning his PhD in Corporate Finance in 1996, he spent seven years at PwC Corporate Finance, where he worked on a broad range of valuation projects, including the early adoption of the Fair Value concept in financial reporting. In 2003, Henk established the Amsterdam office of Standard & Poor’s Corporate Value Consulting, spearheading the firm’s European presence. This initiative later evolved into Duff & Phelps, now known as Kroll. Henk is committed to providing high-quality, unbiased valuation opinions rooted in deep business understanding and technical expertise.

Ibrahim is a Managing Founder of Moonbase Capital, a Barcelona-based firm investing in SMEs through the Search Fund model. Ibrahim also built and led Doehler Egypt, the largest manufacturer of food ingredients in the MENA region.

Jard holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy and Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. After graduating, he spent four years at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), including one year in Nairobi, Kenya, where he focused on Private Equity projects across emerging markets.

He later earned his MBA from INSEAD, studying in both Paris and Singapore, where he also initiated and organized the first INSEAD Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) Conference.

In August 2024, he launched his own self-funded search fund and successfully completed an acquisition in March 2025. He is now the CEO of a vertical software company doing subscription management solutions for the media industry, leading a team of 12 professionals.

Philip brings a rich blend of experience across mergers and acquisitions, business development, and tax and legal advisory. He is the Managing Partner at Fonteyn Bedrijfsopvolging, which offers a solution for SMEs and business owners seeking a successor. As a search fund, Fonteyn aims to acquire and manage a single private Dutch company with the goal of preserving and building upon its legacy.

Before founding Fonteyn, Philip spent four years at Clairfield International, an investment banking boutique based in Amsterdam, where he worked closely with entrepreneurs and private equity investors on numerous buy- and sell-side transactions. Alongside his transactional work, he actively led business development efforts through structured market analysis and targeted outreach.

Philip earned his MBA from IESE Business School, where he focused on corporate strategy, entrepreneurial finance, and the search fund model. During his studies, he also worked as Business Development and Partnerships Manager at Arex Markets, a Barcelona-based scale-up.

He began his career at Loyens & Loeff, advising on M&A transactions, tax-driven deal structures, and share purchase agreements. Philip holds an LLM in Law from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and an MA in International and European Tax Law from the University of Amsterdam.

Pierre-Paul Benoit is the President of France Search Fund and of LeFonds.Capital, where he supports exceptional entrepreneurs seeking to acquire and grow small and medium-sized enterprises through the search-fund model. A seasoned banking and investment professional, Pierre-Paul spent nearly four decades at Société Générale, holding senior leadership positions in Capital Market, Investment Banking, Retail banking and Financial Services.

Throughout his career, he has served as NED on numerous boards of regulated financial institutions as well as Fintech and Deeptech companies in France and abroad. Pierre-Paul is a frequent contributor to discussions on entrepreneurial acquisition and has participated in various panels and forums dedicated to developing the search-fund ecosystem in France and Europe. His blend of operational leadership and investment insight offers a unique perspective on building sustainable value through acquisition-driven entrepreneurship.

Guerric FAURE is a French entrepreneur and investor specializing in the acquisition and succession of SMEs through the Search Fund model. After founding, scaling, and exiting Whoog and Hublo—two major e-health companies — he joined the Commercial Court as a judge, where he observed a striking paradox: many profitable SMEs were being shut down due to a lack of successors, while a new generation of entrepreneurs struggled to access the capital needed to acquire a business. It is during this period that he first discovered the Search Fund model, which offered a concrete and scalable solution to this gap.

He co-founded LeFonds.Capital with Pierre-Paul Benoît, the first French investment fund structured around the Search Fund mechanism. Together, they have already supported more than 21 search funds across 6 countries and participated in 4 SME acquisitions.

Driven by the conviction that awareness is key to unlocking the next wave of entrepreneurial successors, they also created France Search Fund, the French organisation dedicated to promoting, sharing, and evangelizing the model among entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners.
 

Richard first set foot into the search fund ecosystem more than six years ago. Since then, he raised the first partnered search fund in Vienna, Austria in 2021, subsequently searching across the three German speaking countries. He now switched to the investor side and joined Istria Capital, Europe’s pioneer and largest fund of search funds, based in Madrid, Spain. He has invaluable insights to share from both sides of the table and some interesting stories from ‘the trenches’. He can surely help you design your search!

Duco holds a Master’s degree in Finance & Law from the Duisenberg School of Finance. After graduating, he joined ING’s Wholesale Banking Traineeship before moving into Mergers & Acquisitions at ING Corporate Finance, where he also spent part of his career in Singapore. He later earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona and the University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business.

In September 2023, Duco founded SaloMonte Partners, the first successful traditional search fund in the Netherlands, and subsequently acquired Hotek Hospitality Group in November 2024. Hotek is a leading provider of (mobile) access control systems, keycard technology, and hotel accessories for the hospitality industry.
 

Lucas is a German-Dutch entrepreneur with a global perspective and a strong track record in scaling operations and leading commercial teams. He began his career at Meltwater in Berlin, rising from Account Manager to later Managing Director of the UK business, where he led restructuring, integration, and growth initiatives across multiple markets. With full P&L ownership of an $8.8M ARR unit, Lucas drove revenue expansion and operational improvement. His experience blends commercial sharpness with hands-on leadership, skills he now brings to the mission of acquiring and growing a mid-sized business in Germany.

Martin Rose brings over 12 years of experience across technology, finance, and business transformation. He has worked on several startup ventures, advised 20+ CEOs and directors, and led high-impact change in both agile startups and large multinationals.

Martin obtained a Master’s in Physics from Durham University, and worked in the United Kingdom, Australia and South Korea before moving to France to complete his MBA at INSEAD.

His previous entrepreneurial ventures include the entry of a South Korean cloud consultancy into B2B SaaS software, an artificial intelligence fintech venture targeting the banking sector, and an innovative language learning app (wound down). He has recently gained experience with a UK search fund working on proprietary deal sourcing and commercial due diligence for multiple deals.
 

Chuks is the founder of Fontics, an Excel-based investment analysis software. His experience spans software engineering, investment banking and supply chain (strategy and finance). During his MBA at IESE, he was exposed to ETA and is supporting the ecosystem by accelerating financial due diligence for Searchers, Advisors and Investors. 

Dirk de Graeff is a lawyer and senior associate at Stek in the Corporate M&A practice. He advises Dutch and international private equity sponsors, founders, management teams and other corporate clients on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, investments and joint ventures.  He also counsels clients on general contractual issues and corporate governance matters. 

Dirk regularly assists searchers and investors in the Netherlands with the legal aspects of search-fund formation and the execution of related acquisitions. 
 

Hidde received his Master Strategic Management from RSM. He started his career in strategy consulting at SparkOptimus. He helped build an early-stage company from 3 to 1000FTE and later spent three years at a PE-backed SME, where he focused on M&A, corporate development, and finally as a Managing Director. Currently he is focused on acquiring an SME in the Netherlands with a tangible product or service.

Niels Siskens is an entrepreneur with 15+ years of experience building and leading companies across multiple continents, including Europe and Latin America. He has founded and scaled digital and nearshore service businesses, navigating complex markets and managing distributed teams. With 7mills Equity Partners (https://7mills.com), Niels is focused on acquiring and growing a single SMB in the Netherlands or maybe DACH through a long-term, hands-on ownership approach.

Wernher Pikali is the Founder and Managing Partner of AION Succession Partners. An entrepreneur with a background in software, Wernher brings over a decade of professional experience in business leadership, value creation and investing. Before founding AION, Wernher managed a portfolio of software companies at Everfield and was responsible for driving organic growth. Previously, he worked in M&A at Lazard and Barclays where he was involved in more than 20 transactions in a variety of sectors including TMT (technology, media and telecommunication), healthcare, industrials and business services.