Failed
Build Acquisition Corp.
- Registration2021-02-26 Filed S1
- IPO2021-03-18 IPO, search begins
- Definitive AgreementNo merger agreement yet
- FailedNot yet completed
- Raised
- $200M
- CIK
- 1838666
- SPAC Ticker
- BGSX.U
- Focus
- Software, Technology, FinTech
SPAC Team
Leadership
A. Lanham Napier, Chairman of the Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Napier has extensive experience across the technology ecosystem. Mr. Napier is the Chief Executive Officer of BuildGroup, which he co-founded in 2015, and BuildGroup LLC, which he co-founded in 2017, to invest in and grow leading SaaS and technology companies by partnering with marketplace leaders. Currently, Mr. Napier sits on the Board of Directors for Anaconda, Inc., BenefitFocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), DigniFi and Teal Systems, among others. Prior to BuildGroup and BuildGroup LLC, Mr. Napier worked at Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (“Rackspace”) (NYSE: RAX) where from April 2000 through February 2014, he led Rackspace from $1.7 million to $1.5 billion in revenue and served as Chief Executive Officer beginning in 2006. Through his leadership at Rackspace, it was named on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Mr. Napier also served as a Director at Silver Ventures from 1997 through 2000 and began his career as an analyst at Merrill Lynch in 1993. Mr. Napier received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Rice University. We believe Mr. Napier’s extensive management and investment experience and his understanding of our strategy qualify him to serve as our Chairman of our board of directors and as our Co-Chief Executive Officer.
Zeynep Young, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director
Ms. Young has extensive experience as a business executive and entrepreneur, having founded and scaled multiple technology and data companies. From March 2020 through November 2020, Ms. Young was Chief Executive Officer of Calytera, an Austin, Texas-based government technology company which was acquired in November 2020 by Granicus, Inc. Prior to this, Ms. Young was a Venture Partner at Next Coast Ventures LLC (“NCV”), which she joined in March of 2017. During her tenure at NCV, she also consulted with technology and social enterprise clients on growth strategies and profit improvement initiatives. Ms. Young was also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Double Line, Inc., a leading data management and services company focused on the K-12 education and government verticals, which she founded in 2009. She led the company to a successful exit in 2016. Prior to this, she was Portfolio Director, Texas for The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation from October 2005 through February 2009 where she oversaw a portfolio of investments in market-leading technologies in education and healthcare. Ms. Young began her career at McKinsey & Company in 1997, where she advanced to Associate Principal. At McKinsey & Company, Ms. Young was one of the leaders in the global technology practice, with focus on revenue growth strategies. Ms. Young received her MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and her BA from Rice University.
Tanner Cerand, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Investment Officer and Secretary
Mr. Cerand has served as the Vice President of Investment Research at BuildGroup since October 2018. Prior to this, he was a Director at Vista Equity Partners Management, LLC (“Vista”), a leading technology private equity firm, where he served from November 2013 through October 2018. At Vista, Mr. Cerand led Business Development and Research teams and their strategies. Before this position, Mr. Cerand was a Senior Research Manager and Healthcare Team Leader for Gerson Lehrman Group, a New York-based technology enabled professional education services company. From 2006 through 2011, Mr. Cerand worked at UBS Investment Bank (“UBS”) where he was an Associate Director. While at UBS, Mr. Cerand held various roles across The Swiss National Bank Stabilization Fund, the Proprietary Trading Desk and the Structured Products Group. Mr. Cerand began his career at Ferris, Baker Watts, Inc. in June 2004. Mr. Cerand received his BSc from Cornell University.
Noam Ohana, Director
Mr. Ohana, a Director, is the Managing Director of Exor N.V. (OTCMKTS: EXXRF), an investment holding company. Mr. Ohana is also the Managing Partner of Conegliano Ventures LLC, a venture capital fund. Currently, Mr. Ohana sits on the Board of Directors for Via Transportation Inc. (since May 2020), Cowboy SA (since July 2020), DigniFi (since November 2019), Fiit Limited (since March 2019) and Finhabits Inc. (since January 2016). Prior to Exor N.V. and Conegliano Ventures LLC, from 2010 through 2014, Mr. Ohana was a Partner of BeaconLight Capital, a global equity long-short fund, which he co-founded in 2010. Mr. Ohana started his investment career in 2007 at Atticus Capital, where he managed a fund-of-funds. Mr. Ohana received his bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs from Sciences Po in 1999 and his MA from Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, in 2001. We believe that Mr. Ohana is qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive experience in sourcing and investing in leading technology companies across sectors and stages.
Owen Van Natta, Director
Mr. Van Natta, a Director, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Prefix Capital LLC, an early stage investment fund founded in 2019. Mr. Van Natta has also served as a Founder and Managing Partner at 415 Investments LLC since 2013. Previously, Mr. Van Natta was the Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of Business at Zynga Inc. (“Zynga”) (NASDAQ: ZNGA) from 2010 to 2011, where he was responsible for the company’s revenue strategy, corporate development, international expansion, and brand. Prior to Zynga, Mr. Van Natta served as Chief Executive Officer of MySpace from 2009 to 2010, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s strategic vision and the execution of its global business initiatives. Prior to joining MySpace, Mr. Van Natta served as the Chief Executive Officer of Project Playlist, a music sharing website allowing users to search for music, create custom play lists, and share the content with friends from 2008 to 2009. Prior to Project Playlist, Mr. Van Natta was the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) where he focused on revenue operations, business development, and strategic partnerships from 2005 to 2008. Earlier in his career, Owen was Vice President of Worldwide Business and Corporate Development at Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), where he managed global marketing programs and strategic partnerships. He was part of the founding team of A9.com, an Amazon.com company, and was responsible for site operations and sponsored-link advertising on amazon.com. Mr. Van Natta also served as a Director at Sidestep, Boku, Inc. (LON: BOKU), Zynga and Gridspace. Mr. Van Natta received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz. We believe that Mr. Van Natta is qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive experience and leadership in the technology industry.