Serena Dayal and Avi Golan will source tech investments, with a focus on cybersecurity, AI, software and healthcare.
Athena Capital, a global investment firm that backs companies on the verge of an IPO or strategic exit, has hired two former corporate investors – Serena Dayal and Avi Golan – as investment partners focusing on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software and healthcare.
Dayal comes with nearly two decades of investing, M&A and capital markets experience to this role. She was a partner at SoftBank Vision Fund where she led late-stage investments in high-growth technology companies and served on numerous portfolio company boards.
Prior to that, Dayal was a private equity investor at Fortress Investment Group and also spent a decade as vice president of investment banking at Goldman Sachs.
Dayal’s focus will be on growth-stage, tech-enabled businesses, with particular interest in digital health, marketplaces and software.
“At SoftBank, I was fortunate to see a large volume of global deal flow and to work closely with management teams as a board member. That experience, along with the opportunity to go deep on diligence across hundreds of companies, helped me build perspective on what makes businesses succeed through different market cycles. At Athena, I aim to bring that perspective and network to support entrepreneurs as they scale,” she said in a release.
Golan has over 30 years of experience in the technology sector, having served as CEO of Sygnia, a Temasek portfolio cyber technology and services company. He was also CEO of Oosto, a SoftBank portfolio company, and has held executive and investment roles at SoftBank Vision Fund, Google, Intuit and Air New Zealand.
Golan’s new role will see him focusing on cybersecurity and AI. “Beyond these, I see significant opportunity in infrastructure software, mobility and data-driven platforms that are reshaping industries and business models. Athena Capital is well-positioned to be the last money in before IPO or strategic exit, and we want to ensure we’re backing the category leaders in these spaces.”
