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.

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.

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. 
 

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.

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.

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.

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.
 

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. 
 

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.