Daversa Partners Expands Senior Leadership Team
September 29, 2022 – Daversa Partners, which helps build leadership teams for growth and venture-backed companies, has named Lindsay Keith as the firm’s newest partner adding nearly a decade of search experience to this senior leadership team. “Lindsay is one of those unique leaders with the ability to compel and encourage her team to take risks while simultaneously fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment,” said Paul Daversa, founder and CEO of Daversa Partners. “She has established herself as a force to be reckoned with within the engineering and product start-up community. Lindsay is the ultimate team player and I look forward to watching her career blossom as she continues to develop her team and deliver unparalleled talent in this new leadership position.”
“It has been an absolute pleasure to watch Lindsay grow over the years, both professionally and personally,” said Laura Kinder, president of Daversa Partners. “Her unmatched dedication to the firm has been clear since Day One as she has created and fostered deep rooted relationships in industry, consistently delivered high caliber talent to her clients, and has always emphasized learning, development, and culture across her team.”
“Lindsay’s impact as partner is limitless as she will deepen our leadership’s continued focus on our growing product and engineering practice,” Ms. Kinder said. “I am honored and excited to welcome Lindsay to this new chapter of her career at Daversa Partners.”
Ms. Keith’s rise to partner is a testament to her drive, passion, dedication, sharp wit, and never ending emphasis on growth and development, the search firm said. Throughout her tenure at Daversa Partners, she has served the firm’s technology, product, and engineering practice, placing top talent in VP of engineering, VP product, chief product officer, and chief technology officer roles. Ms. Keith is responsible for building the executive leadership teams at transformative consumer and SaaS companies including Airtable, ScaleAI, Check, Titan, Pave, and Bowery Farming, among others.
Daversa Partners was founded in 1993. Its global footprint spans two continents and eight offices, giving its teams visibility into the entirety of the market. Daversa is dedicated to developing meaningful relationships with entrepreneurs, executives, and investors across consumer and enterprise businesses. In addition to its primary location in Westport, Conn., the firm has offices in New York; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Orlando, FL; London; and Waterford, Conn. where the firm maintains a data and people analytics facility.
Recent Growth
Daversa Partners recently expanded into Miami, “the country’s next hyper growth tech hub,” said the firm. Partner Nicolette Hartman will be leading the new location. She will be joined by three additional team members: Jodie Salzberg, Caroline Didelot, and Olivia Witmer. “This has been one of the most strategic decisions Daversa Partners has ever made,” said Ms. Hartman. “Building an office and presence in Miami that is intently focused on growing and developing impactful relationships that will move the needle for innovation is core to our company’s ethos. Daversa Partners is excited to get in on the ground level, and I am thrilled to make this move.”
Related: Daversa Partners Appoints CPO and CFO
With Miami mayor Francis X. Suarez and a crowd of investors at the helm, from Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois to Ben Ling of Bling Capital, funding to Miami-based start-ups soared in 2021, with Q4 2021 alone seeing a record $2.2 billion invested into the city’s tech ecosystem
For three decades, Daversa Partners has built leading management teams across disruptive companies, focused on serving the founder and funder community. Having worked alongside VC and PE firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Bling Capital, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Accel, Bessemer, TPG, KKR, and Blackstone, Daversa Partners has helped build over 10,000 tech companies.
“Daversa Partners is an important partner in the global venture and start-up community. Their presence in Miami will help accelerate and attract top talent to the city,” said Mr. Ling, founder and general partner of Bling Capital, which relocated to Miami from San Francisco last year.
Earlier this summer, Daversa Partners appointed Samantha Pernice as its newest managing director. Ms. Pernice brings eight years of search experience to the firm’s leadership team. Ms. Pernice’s rise to managing director at Daversa Partners recognizes her relentless drive, search work expertise, and dedication to continued learning and development, according to the firm. Her book of business includes building mission-oriented companies within artificial intelligence and climate tech, with an affinity for engineering, data, and product functions.
Ms. Pernice has played an integral role building out the firm’s sustainability and technology practices and is responsible for building the leadership teams for companies including Dataminr, Arcadia Power, Compass, Petal, SKIMS, and the New York Times as well as partnering with venture capital firms including Thrive Capital and Energy Impact Partners, among others.
Related: Daversa Partners Names Managing Director
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
