Software expert and entrepreneur Nils Vold joins Verdane as Partner

OSLO, NORWAY – Verdane, the Northern European specialist growth equity investor, today announced the addition of Nils Vold to its Partner team. Vold brings 19 years of operational and board-level experience from the international software industry to Verdane. At Verdane, Vold will identify new investments and support the growth of the firm’s holdings by leveraging his M&A, operational and strategic expertise. 

“The global relevance of software will continue to grow, driven by digitalisation, automation and new business models. I’m excited to join the team at one of Northern Europe’s leading software growth equity investors. The demand for software that supports business productivity and efficiency is increasing rapidly, and the ability to deliver excellence in user and customer experience is more relevant than ever. Verdane’s company-building expertise makes us well-positioned to be the preferred growth partner for Northern European software companies,” says Nils Vold, Partner at Verdane.

Vold co-founded and ran Deriga, a communications solutions provider creating breakthrough efficiency gains for the healthcare sector. Deriga was acquired by Visma, a leading European supplier of business-critical software to companies of all sizes, in 2006. Vold headed Visma’s Enterprise Division to turnover in excess of €500m, with 3 600 employees across 18 countries, prior to joining Verdane. During his tenure, Vold held 25 chairman and board member engagements and was involved in more than 35 M&A transactions.

 

“Software will continue to eat the world. Nils’ experience and operational background in innovation-led software business development and M&A-led growth aligns strongly with our long-standing strategy of bringing on board investment team members with entrepreneurial experience. Our goal at Verdane is to be the preferred growth partner to ambitious technology-enabled Northern European companies, and I am confident that Nils will make a positive contribution to this journey as a core member of our software transactions team,” says Bjarne Kveim Lie, Managing Partner at Verdane.

Verdane’s current portfolio holds over 20 software companies headquartered across Northern Europe. Verdane has invested in eight new software businesses since the beginning of 2019, and average annual revenue at the time of investment for Verdane’s software holdings increased by 40% to €9.6m between 2018 and 2019. In 2019, the firm announced it had hired a local German team based out of Berlin to source and support German holdings. Existing software sector investments include Confirmit, Danelec Marine, Dapresy, inRiver, HappyOrNot and Talentech.

 

The global relevance of software will continue to grow, driven by digitalisation, automation and new business models. I’m excited to join the team at one of Northern Europe’s leading software growth equity investors. The demand for software that supports business productivity and efficiency is increasing rapidly, and the ability to deliver excellence in user and customer experience is more relevant than ever. Verdane’s company-building expertise makes us well-positioned to be the preferred growth partner for Northern European software companies.

 

About Verdane

Verdane is a specialist growth equity investment firm that partners with ambitious Northern European tech-enabled businesses to help them reach the next stage of international growth. Verdane pioneered portfolio acquisitions in Northern Europe in 2003, and announced a complementary fund strategy entirely dedicated to direct investments in 2018. Verdane’s eight funds hold €1.8bn in total commitments and have made over 120 investments in growth sectors including advanced industry, consumer internet, enterprise software, energy & resource efficiency and financial services. Category leaders backed by Verdane include Confirmit, Danelec Marine, Dapresy, inRiver, HappyOrNot, Talentech, and Smava. Verdane’s more than 50 employees, based in Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, are dedicated to being the best growth partner in Northern Europe. www.verdane.com

Press contacts

Nils Vold, Partner
Verdane
+47 93 49 89 32
nils.vold@verdane.com

Jonathan Bui, Communications Manager
+46 76 27 28 100
jonathan.bui@verdane.com