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Lakestar Launches Executives in Residence Programme to Connect Founders with Top Industry Experts
Lakestar has unveiled its Executives in Residence (EIR) programme offering targeted expert support to its portfolio companies. The EIR programme provides portfolio companies access to industry experts focused on helping to develop and refine their go-to-market (GTM) strategies.
Lakestar is thrilled to announce the launch of its Executives in Residence (EIR) programme. The EIR programme will connect founders with industry-leading advisors who have a proven history of effectively scaling go-to-market (GTM) teams. This select group of industry experts have complementary experience and skill sets to help portfolio companies grow and maximise their value.
The EIR programme will empower Lakestar's portfolio companies to expand their sales efforts, stimulate growth, and enhance sales talent acquisition. By working with the best industry experts, the EIR programme is set to be a high-impact way for portfolio companies to add platform capabilities.
"The EIR programme fits exactly with our ethos of providing founders support and partnership from Seed to Growth”
Lakestar Principal Akis Bratsos said, “At Lakestar, we are committed to supporting our portfolio companies every step of the way so that we are delivering value-add beyond capital investment. We are excited to launch the EIR programme which fits exactly with our ethos of providing founders support and partnership from Seed to Growth.”
The programme launches with the backing of two highly experienced operators. The first is Shankar Bhaduri with over 35 years’ experience of building businesses both in large corporate set ups, as well as startups. He was one of the first sales hires at UiPath in EMEA and scaled the company from $5 million to $1.2 billion over 6 years, working across multiple functions. He also built the growth business in UiPath from scratch, acquiring over 1000 new customers and launching the business in a new market.
Shankar said, “I am excited to be joining forces with Lakestar, a top tier VC to help some of their ingenuous founders to scale up globally and realise the true value of their product and company.”
Shankar is joined by Mark Maxwell, Head of EMEA at dbt Labs. With an entrepreneurial past comprising several small businesses, Mark was a member of the early sales team at Fivetran. His 3.5 years there included being the top performing rep globally, starting the UK business, and contributing to its pricing strategy as the company shifted to usage-based pricing.
Mark said, “I look forward to working with Lakestar’s portfolio founders as they scale their GTM practice. This is an amazing initiative that I am thrilled to be a part of.”
