NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EquityZen Inc. (”EquityZen”) a leading online marketplace for trading pre-IPO shares, today announced two strategic hires, bolstering EquityZen’s leadership and growth in the pre-IPO market. Benjamin Thomason, JD joins as Senior Vice President of Sales and Sudesh Kulkarni joins as Vice President of Product.
“We are thrilled to leverage the expertise and leadership Ben & Sudesh bring as we continue on our mission to build private markets for the public,” said Atish Davda, EquityZen CEO. “Their experience in building effective processes, people, and product at leading financial institutions will enable EquityZen in our next phase of growth.”
Mr. Thomason brings over 20 years of experience in revenue leadership most recently as Executive Vice President of Revenue at Vestwell, with prior experience at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Fidelity Investments. Ben will be responsible for the Sales function at EquityZen, reporting into EquityZen COO Eric Bernstein.
“The current market environment has put a spotlight on the importance and relevance of private market secondaries,” said Benjamin Thomason, Senior Vice President of Sales. “I’m excited to bring relevant experience to bear on EquityZen’s growth as a leading pre-IPO marketplace.”
Mr. Kulkarni joins EquityZen with extensive experience in the Capital Markets Fintech industry wherein he led multiple business-transformational initiatives while building and inspiring high performance global Product teams. At Intercontinental Exchange, Kulkarni was instrumental in growing the highly regulated CDS Clearing business, taking it from its infancy to becoming the global leader in cleared CDS volumes. He also was a core member of the team that formed the operating model for Technology and Operations for the combined Wells Fargo & Wachovia organizations' Principal Investing Business. Most recently, as the Senior Director of Products at Capitolis, he contributed to the success of its Marketplace solutions and underlying technology platform. In his new role reporting to Eric Bernstein, Sudesh will lead EquityZen’s global product management function, focusing on new product development, product strategy, delivery, and execution.
“I was attracted to EquityZen’s mission of democratizing private markets and its passion for creating customer-centric product solutions and services that sustainably add value to the global Financial Services ecosystem,” said Sudesh Kulkarni, Vice President of Product at EquityZen. “I am excitedly looking forward to continued innovation with the talented team and elevating their product offerings to drive future growth at the firm.”
About EquityZen
EquityZen Inc. is a leading marketplace for investing in late-stage private technology companies. EquityZen provides accredited investors, wealth advisors, and institutional money managers access to private markets through actively managed funds and single-company funds.
With over 34,000 private placements completed and 400+ premier private companies served, EquityZen is building private markets for the public. EquityZen is backed by leading Wall Street and Silicon Valley firms, including Draper Associates and WorldQuant Ventures. Find out more here.
