Altvia’s initial reaction to the early part of Covid-19 was no different than any business: it was a scary, unprecedented time, and executives had no choice but to assume the worst.
Altvia’s initial reaction to the early part of Covid-19 was no different than any business: it was a scary, unprecedented time, and executives had no choice but to assume the worst.
However, as Kjael Skaalerud, Chief Revenue Officer at Altvia, points out: “In hindsight, it’s much easier to see we were actually sitting on a huge opportunity as it accelerated a ton of digital transformation in the industry and society.”
Technology proves key enabler
Instead of scaling technology purchases and initiatives back, technology became a key enabler for firms to drive cross-team collaboration, workflow execution, and the sharing of data to inform analysis and decision making.
It was also clear early on that the way GPs seek out investment targets or provide customer service to LPs would also have to change.
Skaalerud says: “The market is no longer reacting; at this point, managers are being proactive and aggressive about taking advantage of additional technology to differentiate themselves.”
In terms of key trends, Skaalerud notes that fundraising and marketing are activities that were historically cyclical but are increasingly now always on. “This is a simple evolution to acknowledge, but to keep up with the market, managers are now looking to technology that can help to make this transition,” he says.
A single view
As a result, firms are moving to break down silos between fundraising/marketing and administration activities by bringing technology systems serving different functions together into a single, coordinated view.
Another driver for change is that the GP/LP relationship, sometimes seen by LPs as not exactly equal, is shifting, partly because of increased interest from institutional investors who expect a high degree of transparency, with the growing number of managers competing with larger GPs leading to greater acceptance of LP demands for transparency.
“We’ve believed for years that technology would begin moving to the forefront of this relationship,” Skaalerud says. “But we’re just getting started. Information will be more readily available and technology will begin playing a bigger part in the matchmaking of GPs and LPs.”
To meet demand, Altvia is committed to continued investment in the LP experience and allowing GPs to tell their story with data and visualisations versus anecdotal investment theses. “We will also make it easier for GPs to harvest data related to their network and round out publicly available information with proprietary data sets, etc,” says Skaalerud.
A new era
Over the next 18 months, he believes that private equity and venture capital firms must exploit the technology available to broader society if they are to maintain their dominant position in the industry, with many new players coming from domains that have been revolutionised via digital-first tactics and practices.
“Leverage comes from giving common tasks to machines and ensuring activities, and ideally, outcomes, are predictable and repeatable,” Skaalerud says. “Firms design the systems, monitor closely, and improve them over time, while machines execute and deliver insights that are a by-product of data points harvested throughout the process.”
He concludes: “There is without question a new era on the horizon and for those who have yet to appreciate this reality, a collision is coming.”
Kjael Skaalerud, CRO, Altvia
Kjael Skaalerud is the CRO at Altvia, where he leads the Go-To-Market effort and is responsible for sustainable growth in revenue and market share. Prior to Altiva, Skaalerud was the VP of Sales & Brand at Harri, where he led customer acquisition efforts and guided the brand strategy. Leading up to Harri, Skaalerud founded Skaling Ventures, a GTM consultancy that helped venture backed Series A firms build a repeatable sales motion, while earning his MBA at NYU-Stern.
