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Newsroom   /   Press Release

AvidXchange™ Announces Addition of Board and Advisor Members, Colleen Taylor, Nicolas Westphal, and Jane Atherton to Support Growth and Continued Innovation

June 27, 2017

AvidXchange Adds Deep Banking and Payments Experience to its Board of Directors and Advisors to Support Business Growth and New Initiatives

CHARLOTTE, N.C., (June 27, 2017) – AvidXchange™, a leading fintech provider of accounts payable and payment automation for midsize companies, announced today that it has added three new board members from Mastercard, CDPQ and Temasek as part of closing $300 million in Series F financing with contributions from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Mastercard, Temasek, and Peter Thiel.

The new board members will help take AvidXchange to its next levels of growth with leadership, banking and payments expertise from Colleen Taylor, Executive Vice President of New Payments at MasterCard, and Nicolas Westphal, Head of Technology for Private Equity at CDPQ, joining the Board of Directors and Jane Atherton, Managing Director for Temasek, joining the Board of Advisors.

“We are thrilled with the new additions to our board, who will empower us to continue to make bold business decisions to serve midsize businesses and help us to scale our operations as we maintain focus on delivering a great customer experience,” commented Michael Praeger, CEO and Co-Founder of AvidXchange. “We are so honored to have Colleen, Nicolas and Jane join us. This esteemed group has a wealth of knowledge in payments and technology that will serve us well.”

The company’s new board representatives join an already deeply experienced group of directors, including Nigel Morris, former President of Capital One; Matt Harris, Managing Director of Bain Capital Ventures; Brad Feld, Managing Director of Foundry Group; Steve McLaughlin, Founder and CEO of FT Partners; Jim Hausman, former CFO of CT Communications; Hans Morris, former President of Visa; and Michael Praeger, Co-Founder and CEO of AvidXchange.

“I’m excited to join AvidXchange’s board and help support the company as it enters another phase of growth,” said Nicolas Westphal, Head of Technology Private Equity at CDPQ. “CDPQ’s network and resources will benefit the company as it expands its product offering to new regions. Our two organizations will work together to further develop AvidXchange’s customer base, add new verticals and grow the company as the leading provider of electronic invoicing and payment solutions for mid-market companies.”

About Colleen Taylor

Colleen Taylor is Executive Vice President, New Payments, at Mastercard. In this role, she is responsible for driving volume growth from B2B, Government and new economy (P2P, C2B, B2C, BlockChain, etc.) sources. Colleen joined Mastercard from Capital One, where she most recently served as head of Treasury Management and Enterprise Payments.  She was also the Market President for Brooklyn & Queens. Colleen has had a successful career in finance with various positions at Wachovia Bank/Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan in the US and the UK. She is a Spelman College graduate and received her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Colleen chairs the Samaritan Village Daytop Foundation Board, serves on the board of Year-Up New York and is a trustee of Spelman College, her alma mater.

About Jane Atherton

Jane Atherton recently joined Temasek from Citigroup Global Markets where she was Managing Director responsible for financial technology coverage and led the bank’s coverage efforts of payment and financial processing businesses. Jane has a broad range of advisory experience including M&A, equity and fixed income transactions. Selected recent transactions include advising MasterCard on their recent acquisition of Vocalink and Ant Financial on its pending acquisition of MoneyGram.

About Nicolas Westphal

Nicolas Westphal is Head of Technology Private Equity outside Quebec for CDPQ, a leading Canadian institutional investor with C$270 billion under management. His experience includes five years in Silicon Valley where he was Director of Strategy & Corporate Development for Intuit, the leading financial and accounting software provider for small businesses, and for Juniper Networks, the leading provider of software-oriented networking products. Prior to Silicon Valley, he worked for nine years in private equity for both AEA Investors and Bain Capital. He managed investment processes in US, Europe and Asia, and actively participated on four Boards of Directors. Nicolas started his career with the New York office of the Boston Consulting Group in the technology & financial services practices. He’s a graduate from MIT in technology & policy and from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.

About Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2016, it held $270.7 billion in net assets. As one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. With over $30 billion of assets under management, CDPQ’s private equity team has significant expertise both as a direct investor in companies and as a partner in investment funds. From LBOs to growth equity in businesses in all sectors, CDPQ differentiates itself through its flexible and collaborative approach, worldwide network, and long-term investment horizon. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.

About Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.  Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.

About Temasek

Incorporated in 1974, Temasek is an investment company headquartered in Singapore. Supported by 10 offices globally; including New York and San Francisco in the U.S., London in Europe, Beijing in China, and Mumbai in India, Temasek owns a S$242 billion (US$180b) portfolio as at 31 March 2016, mainly in Singapore and Asia. Temasek’s portfolio covers a broad spectrum of industries: telecommunications, media & technology; financial services; transportation & industrials; consumer & real estate; life sciences & agriculture; as well as energy & resources.

Its investment activities are guided by four investment themes and the long-term trends they represent: Transforming Economies; Growing Middle Income Populations; Deepening Comparative Advantages; and Emerging Champions. Temasek’s current and prior investments in the U.S. include Airbnb, Ancestry.com, Dell Technologies, Intapp, Internet Brands, Jasper, Univar, Verily Life Sciences and Virtu Financial. For more information, visit www.temasek.com.sg.

About AvidXchange™

AvidXchange revolutionizes the way companies pay their bills.  Serving more than 5,500 clients throughout North America, AvidXchange is an industry leader in automating invoice and payment processes for midmarket companies spanning multiple industries including Real Estate, Financial Services, Energy, and Construction.  AvidXchange has been recognized as one of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Charlotte area for six consecutive years, ranked among Deloitte’s Fast 500 this past year, and recently was named of the top 100 technology companies in North America by Red Herring.  In the midst of record growth, AvidXchange has remained true to its most valued competitive advantage—its people.  AvidXchange has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte for eight consecutive years.  For more information, contact us at 800.560.9305 or [email protected].

 

 

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