software houses before setting up his own software and consultancy company in the mid-1980s. He sold this business to Staffware plc. He then spent eight years at the venture capitalist 3i as sector head for software and internet investments. As part of the role he advised on many investment and built relationships with many of the large tech industry acquirers mostly in the US.

Since 2007 Nick has acted as advisor to a number of venture capital funds including the London Technology Fund and C5 Capital, and also has advised and invested in many early stage technology companies. He chaired Accumuli plc, an AIM listed cyber security integrator, sold to NCC Group for 55m, a 5x return for early investors. He currently serves as a director of Loot FinancialServices and Objective Corporation, an Australian ASX listed information management software company. Nick is also an advisor to Growthpoint Technology Partners, a Menlo Park headquartered technology investment bank.

In 2018 he joined Amadeus Capital as a partner in their latest early stage fund.

Paddy McGwire - Silverpeak

Paddy is Managing Partner of Silverpeak. Previously he founded Cobalt Corporate Finance in 1996, the TMT sector specialist adviser, and merged with Silverpeak in 2016 to create a far stronger international platform.

Paddy has extensive experience of creating value and an outstanding track record of successful deal making in the technology sector over 25 years. Prior to Cobalt, his experience includes 7 years at private equity group 3i and at electronics group STC plc.

He is a founding member of the international M&A network Globalscope with