Private equity and venture capital firm 3i has appointed Paul Longhenry as a director in its venture capital team at its office in Menlo Park, California office, following a spell as vice-
Private equity and venture capital firm 3i has appointed Paul Longhenry as a director in its venture capital team at its office in Menlo Park, California office, following a spell as vice-president for business development at 3i portfolio company Sonim Technologies.
Over more than three years with Sonim, Longhenry was responsible for the company’s strategic partnerships with a wide range of network equipment providers, wireless handset vendors and commercial distribution channels. He leaves the company in commercial execution phase and will remain closely involved as a member of Sonim’s advisory board.
The appointment marks Longhenry’s second spell with 3i’s global venture capital team, where he was a senior associate between 2001 and 2003, focusing on opportunities in wireless software, infrastructure and services and participating in 3i’s early-stage financing of Sonim and other wireless businesses. His return to the firm strengthens an investment team that has a presence in London, Cambridge, Helsinki, Munich, Paris and Stockholm as well as Silicon Valley.
‘We are thrilled to welcome Paul to the global team’ says Jim McLean, a partner at 3i Venture Capital and head of the firm’s US venture team. ‘His appointment will allow us to accelerate our support of potential market leading businesses across the technology landscape of the US market.’
Longhenry, a graduate in finance and economics from the University of Southern California, has early career experience including several years as an investor with the Yucaipa Companies, a Los Angeles-based leveraged buyout fund, and work as an investment banker with Bear Stearns, specialising in mergers and acquisitions.
3i invests in buyouts, growth capital, venture capital, infrastructure and quoted private equity across Europe, the US and Asia. The group’s venture capital business focuses on scaleable early- to late-stage technology and healthcare businesses and currently manages investments valued at around USD1bn in Europe, US, Asia and Israel. 3i Venture Capital plans to invest USD1.5bn over the next five years in companies notably in healthcare (medtech and speciality pharma), IT (internet, digital media, enterprise IT and semiconductors) and the clean technology sector.
