The Fundraising Journey: Navigating Private Placements and Strategic Partnerships
In this episode of the Citi Institute podcast, host Alex Miller is joined by Kelly Ahuja, CEO, Versa Networks and John Collmer, Global Head of ECM Private Placements, Citi to discuss fundraising, exploring the critical journey for companies at various stages of growth, from venture funding to IPOs and sharing insights on the strategies, considerations, and key decisions that shape a company's financial trajectory.
Kelly Ahuja, CEO, Versa Networks highlights the importance of building relationships with potential investors even when not actively fundraising, to have that network established.
John Collmer, Global Head of ECM Private Placements, Citi emphasizes how the market has shifted from a "fear of missing out" mentality to more caution, with investors focusing more on companies that can demonstrate clear paths to profitability.
Citigroup (“Citi”), and Versa Networks are not affiliated and are independent from each other. Though Versa Networks has a client relationship with Citi through Citi's banking and international business. The speakers’ views are their own and may not necessarily reflect the views of Citi or any of its affiliates. All opinions are subject to change without notice. Neither the information provided, nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. The expressions of opinion are not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results.
Kelly Ahuja, CEO, Versa Networks
Kelly Ahuja is a seasoned industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in networking and telecommunications. He currently serves on the board of directors for two startups in Silicon Valley.
Kelly spent 18 years at Cisco rooted in the design and deployment of telecommunications networks. He was most recently SVP of Service Provider Business, Products and Solutions at Cisco where he was responsible for developing and managing the service provider segment strategy and portfolio. Kelly held several other senior executive roles at Cisco, including SVP and GM of the Mobility Business Group, Chief Architect for the Service Provider business, and SVP and GM of the Service Provider Routing Technology Group.
Earlier in his career, Kelly served as VP of Marketing at optical networking startup BlueLeaf Networks and product management leader at Stratacom. He also managed the design and deployment of data and voice networks for AT&T Canada, Bank of Canada and Telesat Canada.
Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Calgary.
John Collmer, Global Head of ECM Private Placements, Citi
John Collmer is the Global Head of Citi’s Equity Capital Markets Private Placement team and is involved in all phases of private finance including origination, structuring, pricing and distribution
Over John’s career he’s sold +1000 IPOs, raised over $10bn in private capital and built an extensive network of private and public investors, along with a deep understanding of the equity markets and equity capital formation
Prior to Citi, John held senior leadership positions at Bank of America and JPMorgan for over 15 years. Most recently he was Global Head of Private Capital Markets at Bank of America based in Boston. John was a founding member of JP Morgan PCM team and ran their West Coast PCM team based in San Francisco. During his tenure he originated and executed financing across all sectors and all capital structures•
