"It is easy to discover what another has discovered before."
CRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
About Us
Columbus Capital is a partner that values your company's history while looking to the future.
Selling your company is a significant decision. At Columbus Capital, we understand how important it is to preserve the essence of your business and the well-being of everyone involved: your employees, customers and family.
WHY COLUMBUS CAPITAL
Vision and Stability
At Columbus Capital, transactions mean continuity and development. We will take direct control of the company, bringing new energy and stability.
We recognise the many opportunities offered by the market, and what sets us apart is our entrepreneurial vision.
Our CEO is a passionate leader supported by a talented team, with a proven business model from a long-term perspective, backed by solid financials, major investors and private equity groups.
Intrapreneurship
We will take on the role of Director/CEO on a full-time basis, managing the expansion, integration and optimisation of the business with a truly entrepreneurial approach.
Ambition
Unlike traditional funds or competitors, we are entrepreneurs and directors.
We are dedicated to enhancing the value of your company and accelerating its growth while upholding its values.
Experience
Our approach is industrial, not financial. This gives us maximum flexibility, enabling us to devote all our resources and energy to actively and exclusively managing the company.
Passion
Backed by our promoters, some of the most prominent investors, entrepreneurs and managers, we offer a unique combination of skills, resources and networks to grow your business.
Our value proposition
Andrea Bernardi
As the founder and principal of the company, he is a professional with over fifteen years of solid international business experience.
He has experience in managing both established companies and start-ups, as well as developing new markets, EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) projects, investment analysis and evaluation, and asset management. He has gained extensive experience working for leading companies in the energy sector.
This variety of roles and responsibilities has given him a comprehensive understanding of how companies operate in global and multicultural contexts.
He holds a doctorate in Industrial Engineering from the University of Bologna and an Executive MBA from the IESE Business School in Madrid.
In summary, Andrea Bernardi is an experienced and dynamic leader with proven management skills in international contexts, deep knowledge of the energy sector, and a passion for transitioning to a sustainable future.
His career path is characterised by steady growth in responsibility and concrete successes in developing and managing complex companies and projects.
Our value proposition
Some of our top investors
Black Mountain Partners
Oliver Corlette
Oliver, the CEO and founder of Black Mountain Partners, has decades of experience in developing luxury projects. He previously led Porto Montenegro for 11 years, transforming it into a €450 million superyacht marina with the support of figures such as Peter Munk, Lord Jacob Rothschild, and Bernard Arnault. Following the sale of the business to the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) in 2016, he established his current company. He has held roles at Onex Investment Corporation and Goldman Sachs & Co., and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in Economics.
Mazovia Capital
James Simmons
Jim is an expert in private equity with extensive international experience.
He began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in New York, before joining TPG Capital in London in 2002. He subsequently led TPG's CIS activities from Moscow, pursuing investment opportunities in Poland.
Jim holds a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is now part of Mazovia Capital, an investment firm specialising in private equity.
Novidam Capital Partners
Alexander Schuil
Founded in 2014, Novidam Capital Partners is an entrepreneurial investment firm focused on long-term private equity buyouts. The firm frequently invests in technology services companies with revenues between £5 million and £50 million.
The firm researches, partners with, acquires and builds successful companies alongside strong, aspiring leaders and management teams. With offices in New York, Amsterdam and London, Novidam Capital Partners believes that the greatest value is created for shareholders and employees when companies are managed over decades rather than years.
Orca Equity Partners
Jo Cockburn
Orca Equity Partners is the UK's leading institutional investor, with decades of experience investing in SMEs. To date, we have supported over 40 entrepreneurs across Europe and acquired nine operating companies.
Orca Equity Partners works with resilient, humble and ambitious individuals looking to acquire small businesses across Europe and transform them into category leaders.
Inversiones Cabiedes
José Martin Cabiedes
José Martín Cabiedes is the investment manager at Cabiedes & Partners SCR, a venture capital fund that leads seed investments in the Spanish ICT sector. Since 1998, the fund has made more than 60 investments, boasting over 10 successful exits (including Privalia, Trovit and BlaBlaCar), with capital provided by his family and major institutional investors.
Additionally, its investment division, Inversiones Cabiedes SL, manages a portfolio of 22 companies and collaborates with over 40 active researchers, primarily in Europe and Latin America.
Secways
Pere Hospital
The Spanish family office investment fund Secways, founded by Pere Hospital, founder of Cloudways, was sold to Digital Ocean for $350 million in 2022. Pere has been an entrepreneur in the start-up sector since 2008 and has co-founded two global start-ups.
He has a technical background (CISSP® and OSCP® security certifications) and, thanks to his entrepreneurial experience, also has in-depth knowledge in other areas of business. He now focuses on investing in the world's best start-up founders through Secways, cautiously approaching the research fund sector.
Be - Come
Massimiliano D’Amico
Massimiliano is the owner of Be-Come, a company that designs solutions for changemakers.
Be-Come is a natural accelerator of time and value, providing combined business, finance and legal solutions as a natural partner.
The company has over 20 years of experience in the start-up ecosystem.
Business Angel for technology and social start-ups.
It is also a mentor, coach and advisor in the innovation funnel.
Visconti Capital
Clemente di Napoli
Our mission is to stimulate growth in the SME sector by investing in companies with solid assets and a successful entrepreneurial foundation.
Backed by a solid track record of two previous successful investments, we have the experience to unlock potential and ensure lasting success.
Our goal is to transform ambitious SMEs into industry leaders, one business at a time.
Iniginy Capital
Helena Grau
Helena is a telecommunications engineer with an MBA and a deep passion for digitisation and optimisation. She began her career in internet strategy consulting before joining the Telematel Group in 2002. She successfully launched matmax.es in 2012, an online catalogue of materials with over 90,000 users, and GO!catalog in 2018, the industry's largest cloud database. Since 2023, she has headed Vasloft's construction division. She now brings her extensive experience to Iniginy Capital, which was founded in 2019 and specialises in VMS, product data, and digital transformation with the aim of creating long-term value.
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Paolo Guida
Paolo is an innovation leader with over 20 years' experience in investment and financing. He has been Head of Investments at Blockchain Valley Ventures since 2018, focusing on identifying promising teams to build future champions.
He is also an active angel investor in Italy (Club degli Investitori and Italian Angel Club) and the UK (Chicago Business Angel Network), specialising in digital assets and cryptocurrencies. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University.
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Francesco Petrelli
Francesco has decades of experience in business development in the energy sector, spanning various markets. Having previously worked in the automotive and luxury industries, managing projects from Asia to America, he now focuses on the Middle East.
He has worked for companies of various sizes and gained significant experience as a start-up co-founder. He holds a degree in Economics from Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna and two Master's degrees, one in International Management from ICN Business School in Nancy and the other in International Business from ECUST Business School in Shanghai.
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Stephen Morgan
Stephan is a partner in Charterhouse's Deal Team, which he joined in 2002. He also serves on the Investment Committee.
During his time at Charterhouse, he has been involved in several transactions, including those involving Autobar, Bartec, Epolia, Funecap, Nocibe, SERB, TDF and Webhelp. In many of these, he has served as CEO or non-executive director.
Prior to this, he worked at BC Partners in London. He also worked for McKinsey & Co. in France and Air Liquide in Italy. Stephan is a graduate of HEC Paris Business School and holds an MBA from Stanford Business School.
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Alessio Porcari
Alessio has over ten years' experience in business, having worked as a company manager and consultant for investment funds in a variety of industrial and service sectors in Italy and internationally.
He graduated with honours in Industrial Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and completed his economics studies in Spain and Ireland.
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Luis Camilleri
Luis Camilleri has more than 20 years of experience in the private equity industry having been Managing Director of Advent International Corporation for 11 years. Previously Luis was founding partner of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital Spain (DrKC), investment manager in Inberfomento, controller of Texaco Spain and managing director of Floyd. He started his professional career in Arthur Andersen. Luis has been in the board of many portfolio companies and led investments in different sectors, such as retail, health, pharma, consumer or leisure.