Lazard Elaia Capital hires Alexandre Margoline and Anna Vershebeniuk

Paris, France, 20 June 2024 - Lazard Elaia Capital (LEC), a joint venture between Lazard and Elaia Partners, today announced that Alexandre Margoline and Anna Vershebeniuk have joined the firm to work alongside Xavier Lazarus, CEO and co-founder of Elaia Partners. This international team will invest in growth technology opportunities across European markets, drawing upon an extensive and complementary track record in venture capital, growth and private equity.

LEC intends to launch its first growth equity fund to invest in B2B European tech by 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. Powered by Lazard’s strong brand and global distribution network, combined with Elaia’s proven track record in tech, this investment platform aims to meet the capital needs of future tech leaders at later stages, ranging from tech-enabled services to deep tech companies, and from late-stage venture to small- to mid-market buyouts.

“I’m thrilled to partner with Alexandre and Anna to build Lazard Elaia Capital,” said Xavier Lazarus, CEO of Elaia Partners. “Together, we have over 50 years’ experience investing in technology across Europe at different stages. We share the same vision on how the European tech market will evolve to solidify its position as an appealing place to develop global leaders addressing the most exciting tech opportunities.”

Alexandre Margoline, former Head of France and Partner at Permira
Born in France, Alexandre Margoline brings 20 years of investment experience across growth and buyout globally. After several years at Goldman Sachs’s Merchant Banking Division, Alexandre spent 17 years at global private equity leader Permira, where he was made Partner in 2019. Alexandre was part of Permira’s Technology team and actively contributed to building Permira’s global Healthcare team. Over the last seven years, Alexandre built and led Permira’s team in France investing across Technology, Healthcare and Consumer businesses. He has a proven track record, with more than 10 completed investments, including NDS’s take-private (sold to Cisco), Exclusive Networks (IPO’d on the Paris stock exchange), Mirakl and Nexthink.

Anna Vershebeniuk, former Principal at Headline
Born and raised in Ukraine, Anna began her career at Citi Investment Bank in London. She began investing with General Atlantic in London, where she focused on B2B SaaS and consumer internet for four years. Anna subsequently moved to New York to join Thrive Capital, a multi-stage investment firm, where she focused on late-stage software and internet opportunities. She spent the last three years as Principal at Headline, where she built out the firm’s late-stage investment practice in Europe and established Headline’s London office. She has a proven track record with eight completed investments, including Delivery Hero, Typeform, and Leapwork.

LEC aims to focus on private growth tech companies across Europe from late-stage venture (Series C+) to buyout stages. Enabling and empowering technology entrepreneurs in Europe, LEC funds intend to invest across a broad spectrum of B2B tech and deep tech verticals, in companies ranging from €10m to €100m in revenues.

Both LEC and its first fund are subject to regulatory approvals.