Three people. Company-building, operating, and the technical work around a transaction.
Mr. DeSimone is an award-winning entrepreneur and business executive with more than 30 years of experience growing early and expansion-stage enterprises. He has founded, developed, managed, and exited businesses in each of the last three decades, with returns to investors ranging from two to ten times their initial investment.
He was a founder, director, chief operating officer, and acting chief financial officer of EKR Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company that grew to nearly $300 million in annual sales. EKR was recognized as Early Stage Company of the Year in New Jersey in 2006 and as Private Company of the Year in 2009. He was a leader on the team that completed three product acquisitions, four rounds of equity financing, and two rounds of debt financing. Under his leadership, EKR generated more than $90 million in EBITDA per year in 2008 and 2009. In 2008 the New Jersey Technology Council honored him as New Jersey CFO of the Year. Through Roxiticus Valley Life Sciences Fund, he invested in each of four equity rounds for EKR, including the seed capital.
He founded Roxiticus Ventures, LLC and the Roxiticus Valley Funds in 2001, providing seed capital and advisory work to early-stage businesses. Those included ESP Pharma, where he served as an advisor and investor, helping the founding team secure initial seed funding and supporting the acquisitions that formed the company in 2002. ESP Pharma was sold for approximately $500 million to PDL BioPharma within three years of starting operations, returning as much as ten times the original investment to early investors.
In 1998 he founded Planet Technology Solutions and served as chairman and chief executive officer until the company was sold in 2001, returning four times the original investment to shareholders. The company is now part of California Amplifier. He has held board positions and advised ventures in the life sciences, health care, technology, and business services.
John Mortenson has a long record of building private-equity-backed businesses and helping middle-market companies develop plans and exit strategies. He has more than 30 years of experience in senior leadership at growth companies.
His experience includes Medrium, a provider of cloud-based practice management and electronic medical records. He joined in 2006, served as chief financial officer and chief operating officer, and was later named president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board.
Before Medrium, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Vestcom International, and its interim chief financial officer, during the public company’s transition. Vestcom produced data-driven customer engagement programs in marketing services. He also held management roles at L.P. Thebault Company, including chief financial officer and senior vice president of sales, before becoming chief operating officer.
Both Medrium and Vestcom were active in mergers and acquisitions, and he was involved across those transactions and their financing. He received a B.A. in accounting from Northeastern University and is a certified public accountant.
Ranjan brings more than 20 years in information technology, business-process management, and interface design, across consulting, direct sales, and product development. He is the founder of Big Apple Design Group, a New York digital marketing agency, and of Atlas Technologies Inc., a back-office technology services firm based in India.
He has designed and implemented technology and design work for advertising, pharmaceutical, medical-device, and finance companies, as well as government agencies and nonprofits. He has supported more than 20 mergers and acquisitions in the United States in a technology capacity.
He holds an M.S. in internet engineering from Marlboro College and an M.B.A. from the University of South Australia.