NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, today announced the promotions of Melis Kahya Akar, Luis Cervantes, Christian Figge, Anna Golynskaya and Shaw Joseph to Managing Director; Alok Misra to Operating Partner; and Fletcher Gregory, Peter Lafer and Caroline Woodworth to Principal. In addition, the firm has promoted Andrea Calabrò, Mike Drittel, Sofia Garrido Freyria, Nadia Hadi, Armaan Pai, Zoe Shi, Zeev Thepris and Yumeng Wang to Vice President. The promotions will be effective as of January 1, 2021.
“We are incredibly proud to promote these professionals and recognize their many contributions to our portfolio company management teams, our capital partners and our firm,” said Bill Ford, Chief Executive Officer of General Atlantic. “These individuals embody our values of entrepreneurship, innovation and partnership, and we look forward to their continued leadership.”
Promotion to Managing Director
Melis Kahya Akar is based in London and leads General Atlantic’s Consumer investments across EMEA, in addition to focusing on investments in Turkey. Ms. Akar serves on the boards of directors of General Atlantic portfolio companies Depop, Gymshark, Joe & The Juice and SÉZANE. Before joining General Atlantic in New York in 2015, Ms. Akar was a Vice President at TSG Consumer Partners, where she concentrated on investments in the retail and consumer sectors. Ms. Akar earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Luis Cervantes leads General Atlantic’s Mexico City office, which he helped to establish five years ago, and focuses on the firm’s growth investments in Mexico and Latin America. He serves on the boards of directors of General Atlantic portfolio companies Clip, Grupo Axo and Kavak, is a board observer at Sanfer and was involved in the firm’s investment in Sura Asset Management. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, Mr. Cervantes was an Associate at Advent International, where he concentrated on investments across sectors in Latin America. Mr. Cervantes also serves as a board member of Endeavor Mexico and has been an Adjunct Professor at Universidad Iberoamericana. He earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Christian Figge is based in Munich and focuses on investments in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He serves on the boards of directors of Aroundhome and powercloud and is a board observer at FlixBus and NuCom Group. He was also involved in the firm’s investments in Amedes Group, Hyperion Insurance Group, Network International and ParshipMeet Group. Before joining General Atlantic in 2012, Mr. Figge was a Research Assistant at the Technical University of Munich, where he focused on empirical entrepreneurial finance topics. He also previously held roles at BC Partners and L.E.K. Consulting. Mr. Figge earned a B.A. in Economics and Management from Oxford University, an M.A. in Economics from Ludwig Maximilian University Munich and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Technical University of Munich.
Anna Golynskaya is based in New York, where she focuses on General Atlantic’s capital partnering efforts and has been instrumental in leading the expansion of the firm’s capital base globally. Prior to joining General Atlantic in 2014, Ms. Golynskaya was a Vice President in the Private Fund Group at Credit Suisse, where she focused on fundraising and secondary advisory assignments. She earned a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Shaw Joseph is based in New York and focuses on investments in General Atlantic’s Consumer sector. Mr. Joseph serves on the boards of directors of General Atlantic portfolio companies European Wax and Torchy’s Tacos and is a board observer at Squarespace. Since joining the firm in 2012, he has also been active in General Atlantic’s Technology sector and was involved in the firm’s investments in Barteca and SnapAV. Previously, he was an Associate with Hellman & Friedman. Mr. Joseph earned a B.S. in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Promotion to Operating Partner
Alok Misra is based in Mumbai and serves as the Chief Operating Officer of General Atlantic’s India office. Mr. Misra provides strategic support and financial expertise to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies, with a focus on the India and Asia-Pacific region. He has played an important role in General Atlantic’s investments in CitiusTech, Rubicon Research, House of Anita Dongre, NoBroker, Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, Mr. Misra served as Group Chief Financial Officer at WNS Group, where he helped lead the company through significant expansion and transformation. Mr. Misra is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds a degree in Commerce from Calcutta University.
Promotion to Principal
Fletcher Gregory is based in New York and concentrates on investments in the firm’s Healthcare sector. He serves on the board of directors of General Atlantic portfolio company ACES and was involved in the firm’s investments in Alignment Healthcare, Alternate Solutions Health Network and Doctor On Demand. Before joining General Atlantic in 2019, Mr. Gregory was a Director at Bridge Growth Partners, an Associate at New Mountain Capital and an Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the Healthcare Group. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Peter Lafer is based in New York and focuses on investments in the firm’s Life Sciences sector. He serves on the board of directors of General Atlantic portfolio company Allonnia and as a board observer at Ginkgo Bioworks and Motif FoodWorks. He was also involved in the firm’s investments in Adagene, CANbridge, Chi-Med, Immunocore, Ocumension, PathAI, Pharvaris and Royalty Pharma. Prior to joining General Atlantic, Mr. Lafer was a Principal at Essex Woodlands, where he focused on investments in the healthcare industry. He earned a B.A. in Classical Studies from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Caroline Woodworth is based in London and focuses on investments in General Atlantic’s Financial Services sector. She serves on the board of directors of General Atlantic portfolio company Hyperion Insurance Group and was involved in the firm’s investments in Greensill, Network International, Qontigo and Riskified. Before she joined General Atlantic in 2015, Ms. Woodworth was a Senior Associate at J.C. Flowers & Co., where she focused on investments in the financial services sector. Ms. Woodworth holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Middlebury College.
Promotion to Vice President
Andrea Calabrò
Mike Drittel
Sofia Garrido Freyria
Nadia Hadi
Armaan Pai
Zoe Shi
Zeev Thepris
Yumeng Wang
Drawing from 40 years of experience investing in over 390 global growth companies, General Atlantic partners with entrepreneurs and management teams who are building leading, high-growth businesses. The firm has approximately $40 billion in assets under management and focuses on investments across five sectors, including Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Life Sciences and Technology, with support from its global team of experts.
About General Atlantic
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.