Riviera Partners Acquires Board and Technology (BaT)
September 18, 2025 – San Francisco-based Riviera Partners, a recruitment provider specializing in C-level engineering, product, and design leader placements, has acquired Board and Technology (BaT). The firm’s founder Olof Pripp has joined Riviera as a partner. Board and Technology will continue to operate under its name, co-branded as “Board and Technology – Powered by Riviera Partners.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “We are thrilled to welcome Olof to Riviera Partners,” said Michael Newcomer, CEO of Riviera Partners. “His exceptional experience advising boards and leadership teams brings a new dimension to our work. With his expertise and our shared values of innovation, entrepreneurship, and diversity, we are uniquely positioned to deliver transformational leadership solutions for our clients around the globe — from the boardrooms of large public companies to the founders of the most promising startups.”
Mr. Pripp brings decades of experience advising boards and C-suites, with a distinguished record in board governance, CEO succession, and executive leadership across Europe and the United States. As the founder of Board and Technology, he has built a reputation as a trusted advisor to some of the world’s largest corporations, as well as fast-growing technology companies. His work spans board reviews, governance advisory, and leadership succession, with a personal track record of guiding clients through the most critical transitions in the boardroom and beyond.
By joining Riviera, Mr. Pripp expands the firm’s capabilities in several key ways. BaT’s longstanding presence in public company boardrooms enhances Riviera’s ability to serve clients at global enterprises. His expertise expands Riviera’s leadership in technical executive search while his European heritage and multilingual, multicultural experience will accelerate Riviera’s growth across Continental Europe and EMEA.
“I am excited to join Riviera Partners at such a pivotal time,” said Mr. Pripp. “Emerging technologies such as AI have created an unprecedented global demand for tech talent. That demand is further fueled by companies seeking to take full ownership of technology for competitive advantage rather than relying on outsourcing partners. Together, Riviera Partners and Board and Technology offer a truly unique global value proposition—delivering seamless talent solutions spanning expert technology leaders, C-level executives, and board governance, supported by strategic insight and community building.”
Riviera Partners is a global recruiting firm specializing in the technology industry. The firm provides clients with optimal placements by combining recruiter interactions and experience with data-driven findings about candidates. Riviera Partners has recruited for key executive roles at Pinterest, Postmates, Tinder, Twilio, Uber, Asana, Dropbox, GitHub, DoorDash, Hulu, and partnered with venture-backed concerns, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Benchmark, Accel, Menlo Ventures, KPCB, Greylock, and General Catalyst.
Through machine learning algorithms, Riviera Partners identifies specialized, highly qualified candidates that fit an organization’s needs from 600,000 professionals across tech geographies. Riviera can often provide a short list of candidates in 30 days and has a success rate of over 95 percent.
Recent Deals
Hunt Scanlon Ventures has facilitated a number of M&A transactions across the executive search space in recent months. Here is a look at a few:
Talento Human Capital has acquired R2 Global, a highly respected technology recruitment and staffing firm known for its niche expertise across cloud & data, business systems, and e-commerce. This strategic move will expand TalentoHC’s existing footprint in the technology sector and launch, as well as strengthen, its technology search & staffing service lines. “The combination of TalentoHC’s talent acquisition expertise with R2’s deep technical focus marks an exciting new chapter for both organizations,” said Juan Gaitan, CEO of TalentoHC, based in Coral Gables, FL. “R2’s agile approach to technology staffing and recruiting aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver tailored recruitment solutions. Together, as R2 Powered by Talento, we are positioned to become a premier go-to partner for IT talent and innovation,” he added. “TalentoHC and R2 Global customers will benefit tremendously from the portfolio of human capital offerings that the combined organizations now provide,” said Scott A. Scanlon, CEO and co-founder of Hunt Scanlon Ventures.
Global talent advisory firm ZRG has acquired Aspen Leadership Group, a search firm focused on placing and supporting top fundraising leaders and executive talent in educational institutions and the broader non-profit sector. “The addition of Aspen Leadership Group is nothing short of transformative,” said Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG. “Their expertise in development and advancement is the perfect complement to our growing education practice, and as we roll into 2025 we are unlocking the collective power of these exceptional niche businesses under the unified banner of ZRG’s education practice, creating unmatched solutions for academic and non-profit leadership.” Aspen Leadership Group, established in 2013, conducts a wide range of searches across the fundraising, education and non-profit sector and is widely considered the eminent leader in its field. Its clients include Brown University, PBS, Robin Hood, the Humane Society of the United States, the Leakey Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Denver Zoological Foundation, among others.
Talento Human Capital (TalentoHC) has acquired The PeterSan Group and PeterSan Legal Staffing. The merger brings expertise in legal recruiting to TalentoHC’s customer experience model and comprehensive human capital services, including retained executive search, professional and management recruiting, RPO, staff augmentation, and human capital consulting. Managing partners Peter Gosule, Peter Goldfeder, and Sandy Friedman of The PeterSan Group will lead the TalentoLegal business unit from New York City, where the firm has been rooted for three decades. “The PeterSan transaction fits in well with our platform strategy as we build onto our customer-centric model and expand our industry and functional vertical focus,” said Juan Gaitan, CEO of TalentoHC, based in Coral Gables, FL. “The intersection of these two approaches will create opportunities for continued growth and value for our customers, candidates, associates and shareholders.”
ZRG acquired Jamesbeck, a New York City-based recruitment firm specializing in senior-level talent for the broad investment management community across private market and traditional firms. “This strategic move aims to establish ZRG’s presence in asset management and will support the firm’s existing private markets clients by adding a new channel for senior roles at the management company level across investments, product, and fundraising,” said ZRG. “Jamesbeck has been at the forefront of decisive changes that have impacted asset management leadership for more than two decades,” said Scott A. Scanlon, CEO of Hunt Scanlon Ventures. “The firm’s acquisition by ZRG will be beneficial to clients across the global investment management space who have come to rely on its network, judgment and guidance around senior-level leadership talent,” he noted. Jamesbeck specializes in the investment management industry across public and private markets. The firm recruits senior-level talent across investing, distribution, product and C-suite positions on behalf of a range of clients from boutiques to the largest multi-product organizations. Jamesbeck’s Melissa Norris, managing partner, and Beth Rustin, founding partner, will become the co-heads of asset management search at ZRG.
Related: How Search Firms are Winning Through M&A and Unlocking Value
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
