Former Silverfleet IR head resurfaces in VC – Exclusive

Veteran investor relations professional Annette Wilson has joined Orange Growth Capital, an investor in early stage financial services firms.

Wilson spent nearly two decades in the European private equity mid-market, 15 years of which were with Palamon Capital Partners. An accountant by training, she joined Palamon at its inception in 1999, initially as chief financial officer, and went on to spearhead the firm’s investor relations and marketing functions. She subsequently joined Silverfleet Capital in December 2013 to set up a dedicated investor relations function.

During Wilson’s tenure at Silverfleet, the firm raised €850 million for its second fund, beating its €700 million target in under a year of fundraising. She has also worked closely with industry colleagues on various committees at the industry association BVCA, chairing the IR committee and sitting on the organisation’s main board.

This week Silverfleet unveiled Wilson’s replacement: Andrew Harrison, who has spent 12 years in Credit Suisse’s private funds group. In his time at Credit Suisse , Harrison raised capital for a number of buyout, energy, credit and infrastructure investment funds including Silverfleet’s second fund.

Wilson’s new shop, Orange Growth Capital, is in its early stages. Since its inception in 2013, the firm has made 12 investments covering deposit and lending, fraud prevention, investments, payment and insurance businesses. It recently backed Trussle, a UK digital mortgage broker, and Cermati, an Indonesian online marketplace for financial products, such as credit cards and auto loans.

The firm has also recently hired Aman Ghei, formerly of Facebook and Accel Partners, as principal. It is understood to have started raising its second fund, although details of its target size and progress were unclear at press time. The firm declined to comment.