David West Smith

Current

Founding Partner at Global Emerging Technologies at Senior Advisor Corporate Finance Partners

Past

Principal Investor and Board of Directors at Farechase
Investor / Board of Directors at TripleHop Technologies
Investor / Board of Directors at Kirusa

Investor / Board of Directors at Translations.com
Director Private Equity at Deutsche Bank
Managing Director at Global Emerging Markets / GEM Group
Director at Sensenet
Vice President at Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette
Vice President at Smith Barney
Ski Instructor at Hugo Nindel Schischule

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Education

University of Miami - School of Business
Eckerd College
Universität Salzburg

Alternative Investment Management Association
Universidad de Granada

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2 more...

Recommended

7 people have recommended David West

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Websites

David West Smith’s Summary

Financial and Business Professional with over 18 years of successful global experience in Private Equity M&A. Dynamic, creative and proactive in origination, strategic development, analysis, and financial structuring with extensive major industry depth in Real Estate, Global Banking, Software, Energy (Oil and Gas), Wireless , Telecoms, Media, and IT. Managed and built Financial Groups and Teams in Private Equity as well as having strong operational experience as CEO, COO and other Director level positions. Strong executive level relationships across industry sectors on a global basis. Lead, co managed and originated global transactions of over $6 Billion in value for firms and portfolio companies associated therewith. Global work experience encompasses business dealings in North America, MENASA, GCC and BRIC. Shari'a compliant investing and Islamic Banking knowledgeable..
dwsmith [at] gmail.com

-Successful track record in Global Mergers and Acquisitions, Management and Exits. Worked at Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette, Deutsche Bank Asset Management and Global Emerging Opportunites (Managing Partner) and Corporate Finance Partners (Senior Advisor).

Fluent in Spanish and German knowledge of Swedish, French and Portuguese (Brazilian) and beginner level Arabic.

David West Smith’s Specialties:

Private Equity, Structured Finance, Co- Investment, Alternative Investments,Origination, Strategic Financing, Mergers and Acquisitions, Alternative, Team Building and Management, Business Development,Real Estate ,Global Banking, Wireless, Software, Telecom, Business Development,Strategic Partnerships, International Law, Securities Law,Private Equity.

David West Smith’s Experience

Founding Partner at Global Emerging Technologies

Senior Advisor Corporate Finance Partners

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

2002 — Present (7 years)

Active in Global Growth Investing and Management: Private Equity, Structured Project Finance, Technology, Energy Infrastructure, Mobile, Global Real Estate, Financial Services and Trading Applications, Funding and Mergers / Acquisitions. Originated, Structured, Funded and Actively managed multiple investments in early and mid stage companies as well as large scale project finance. Especially proficient in Strategic Capital investment rounds and Global Strategic Business Development. Projects in excess of US$5 Billion. Creative leveraged financial transactions using special purpose vehicles and joint ventures. Managed company growth from investment to exit.

Global Asset Management and Project Finance and Alternative and Traditional Investment Expertise.
Principal Investor and Board of Directors

Farechase

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

2000 — 2004 (4 years)

Led Deutsche Bank investment and origination of investment into FareChase. Thereafter secured follow on financing as well as guided business efforts until acquisition by Yahoo.

FareChase sells business-to-business software that lets travel agents and corporate booking offices search for flight times, car reservations and hotel vacancies in real time. It also lets consumers scout for the best travel deals from roughly 150 Web sites.
Investor / Board of Directors

TripleHop Technologies

(Privately Held; Computer Software industry)

2000 — 2003 (3 years)

Originated for Deutsche Bank and managed as Principal investor of what is now Oracle Business Search. TripleHop Technologies is an innovative developer of context-sensitive enterprise search software
Investor / Board of Directors

Kirusa

(Privately Held; Telecommunications industry)

2000 — 2003 (3 years)

As the lead Investor for Deutsche Bank guided the investment while at DB.

Kirusa is a leading developer of value added mobile services that provide the freedom of multimodality. By merging voice and visual interfaces, Kirusa's solutions deliver the quality of performance and ease of use that translates into meaningful services.

Having pioneered the development of Voice SMS, Kirusa's solution represents the most advanced option in the market and is used by more than 4 million people. It meets the dual challenge of providing a service that people like to use, while meeting mobile operators' demand for a highly robust, cost effective solution that is simple to deploy.
Investor / Board of Directors

Translations.com

(Privately Held; Translation and Localization industry)

1999 — 2003 (4 years)

Translations.com is a world leader in website localization, software localization, GMS (Globalization Management System) software products, and enterprise-level, professional translation services. Backed by our ISO 9001:2000-certified quality management system, translation solutions allow a diverse array of clients to deliver local language products, services, applications, training and content in a culturally appropriate manner. By allowing our clients to compete more effectively in the global marketplace, we help them grow their businesses internationally.
Director Private Equity

Deutsche Bank

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; DB; Banking industry)

1999 — 2002 (3 years)

Director of Private Equity for Deutsche Bank Asset Management responsible for originating early and mid stage technology investments and taking an active role in management the business development and growth of portfolio companies and exit. Representative investments include: FareChase Technologies acquired by Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO), TripleHop Technologies acquired by Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), as well as Kirusa. Team build out and management.
Managing Director

Global Emerging Markets / GEM Group

(Partnership; 11-50 employees; Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

January 1998 — June 2000 (2 years 6 months)

Served in a variety of active roles including Founder and CEO. Spun off separate technology focused entity from GEM Group. Responsible for successful structuring and financing, new business development, M&A, and strategic planning:
• SEDCO, Saudi Economic Development Corp. Telecom and IT Division - in US responsible for sourcing and evaluating direct technology investments for SEDCO's assets under management. • The Fields Group - Worked on several technology projects in a strategic and advisory role with Mike Fields (President of Oracle US and Founder of Veritas) including JCP acquired by Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW). • YourDay.com – Co-Founder/Director/ Interim CEO - acquired early stage financing from SoftNet Ventures (NASDAQ:SOFN) and RoadRunner and assisted in placement of key management. Responsible for the acquisition sale of the company by Delta Three Communications (NASDAQ: DDDC).
Director

Sensenet

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

1997 — 1999 (2 years)
Vice President

Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

1991 — 1994 (3 years)

Investment Banking and IT Research analyst active on PanAmSat financing transactions and many DLJ led Technology IPOs.
Vice President

Smith Barney

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Banking industry)

1991 — 1991 (less than a year)

Internship during MBA at University of Miami. Worked closely with Senior Partners in Miami office in the areas of new business development of Fixed Income and Equity clients.
Ski Instructor

Hugo Nindel Schischule

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

1985 — 1987 (2 years)

David West Smith’s Education

University of Miami - School of Business

MBA , Finance and International Business , 1990 — 1991

Activities and Societies:

Finance Society
Eckerd College

BA , Social Anthropology , 1984 — 1988

Activities and Societies:

Economics Society, Water Ski Team - Jumper, Water Saftey Instructor, Life Gaurd and Tri Athelete
Universität Salzburg

Economics 1986 — 1987

Activities and Societies:

FIS Racing and Snow Ski Instructor
Alternative Investment Management Association

CAIA Level I Candidate , Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst , 2006
Universidad de Granada

Additional Information

David West Smith’s Websites:

David West Smith’s Interests:

Structured Finance, Islamic Banking and Shari'a Compliance, venture capital and private equity, alternative assets, leveraged finance, engineering, early and mid stage global projects, alternative energies, solar projects,IT,Telecom, social networking,investment banking, private equity,GCC, Saudi Arabia, Dubai,UAE,Bahrain,Middle East,Europe Jim Collins - Good to Great and other Research / Books Six Sigma Also see http://private-equity-issues.blogspot.com/ Alternative Assets Agile Software SCRUM Emerging Growth Companies and Markets Transaction Systems Video Analytics Mobile Applications

David West Smith’s Groups:

ABANA Arab Bankers Association of North America,New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA),Member of the Association of Investment Management and Research AMIR, Association for Finance Professionals,Chartered Alternative Investment Association, CAIA