The Team
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” -Albert Einstein
Rachid Sefrioui
Rachid Sefrioui is the Managing Director of Finaventures, a venture capital firm he founded in 1999. In the last 20 years, he backed over 40 growth companies & startups, among which he was the Founding CEO of the 18-company integration and merger of our Growth Equity portfolio to create Finatech, a Regional Technology leader. He’s had a $700M IPO on Nasdaq, numerous Stars over $20 and $50 million acquired by Global companies, a number of Runners over $5 million, and a few duds. Born in Paris, Rachid is multi-cultural, both in the U.S., Europe and MENA, and speaks fluent English, French and Arabic. He earned his stripes early in his career by working for global consulting firm, McKinsey & Company and for financial houses such as Bowco Investment and Wafatrust Credit Agricole Indosuez. He earned a degree in management & operations research from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Sam Lee
Sam’s entrepreneurial experience includes his leadership at three semiconductor startups, where he significantly increased sales, improved margins and positioned them for successful exits. Prior to his entrepreneurial experience, he was president of Raytheon Semiconductor Division (later acquired by Fairchild Semiconductor), where he grew sales to $82 million, and turned around the division from a $7 million loss to an $11 million profit. Prior to Fairchild & Raytheon, he held a number of leading senior executive positions from design to manufacturing at AMCC, Motorola and NCR. Sam holds 3 patents, has published 7 technical papers, and is a Senior IEEE member and a past Chairman of the Phoenix section, wave and device chapter. Sam received a BS in Electrophysics from National Chiao Tong University in Taiwan, and an MS and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Ohio State University in Ohio.
David Espitallier
David is a Principal at Finaventures. He joined the firm during the launch of Fund 2006. David was critically instrumental in the success of the 18-company merger converting Fund 2006 to Finatech, from negotiations to closing. He is responsible for analyzing and recommending investments and performing due diligence. His focus is on financial analysis, cash and performance improvements and forecast modeling. David is a problem solver who enjoys working in multicultural environments. To date, he has lived in France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong. David began his career as an organization consultant at Société Générale and then as statutory auditor at KPMG Paris & London for clients such as HSBC and Credit Suisse. He is a graduate of NEOMA Business School (Grandes Ecoles diploma) in France.