www.acquisition-international.com • Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022
2 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 About the Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 Acquisition International is yet again proud to host its exclusive Global CFO Excellence Awards to reward the commitment, innovation, and determination of the best financial figureheads from around the world, and to cast a spotlight on them! The events of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent aftermath over the past 18 months has upended the CFO’s objectives and brought about dramatic changes to the way businesses react. Today’s CFOs drive the direction and success of the organisations they work in using their knowledge and understanding of the financial position of the company. The pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need for companies to be more agile. Whatever industry or size of business, CFOs need to try and pivot their organisations, processes and systems to stay ahead of the most demanding accounting challenges. Sif Brookes - Senior Editor Contents 4 BioCarbon Partners - BCP: Renewable Energy CFO of the Year (Africa): Nic Mudaly 6 Wealthskey Limited: Most Innovative Tech CFO (Europe): Islam Zween 8 Ocean Bank: Most Dynamic Commercial Banking CFO & Risk Officer 2022: Stan Rubin 9 GForce Life Sciences: Life Sciences Recruitment CFO of the Year (USA): Justin Meise 10 Vicarious PR: Gaming PR & Marketing CFO of the Year 2022: Jorge A Gaspar 11 Celcoin: Best Financial & Banking Technology Infrastructure CFO (Brazil): Rafael Cardoso 12 Genesis Consulting Partners, LLC: Best International IT Consultancy CFO (USA): Cameron Chaplin No information contained on or in this website constitutes investment advice or an offer to invest or to provide management services and is subject to correction, completion and amendment without notice. Neither AI nor any of its associated entities are authorised to give financial advice of any nature nor are they regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Prior to making any investment, AI recommends that any prospective investor should consult with its own investment, accounting, legal and tax advisers to evaluate independently the risks, consequences and suitability of that investment. AI Global Media, Ltd. (AI) takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the information on this web site. However, AI will not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information that is available through this web site. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them. The information available through the website and our partner publications is for your general information and use and is not intended to address any particular finance or investment requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us or any of our partner publications and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making or refraining from making any investment or financial decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Any arrangement made between you and any third party named in the site is at your sole risk and responsibility. Editorial Team Sif Brookes, Senior Editor Sofi Bajor, Editor Daniel Long, Writer Gabriel Muers, Writer Rebecca Scotland, Writer Ashley-Francis Cox, Writer Amelia Walker, Writer Design Team Emma Hunt, Senior Designer Daniela Levinte, Graphic Designer Lauren Baldwin, Junior Graphic Designer 13 DEO.care: Most Innovative Healthcare CFO (Europe): Tim Clijmans Investments Specialists 2021 14 IPification: Emerging Tech CFO of the Year (APAC): Edward Sit 15 Petra Custom Builders: Most Customer-Focused Construction Company CFO (Western USA): Ryan Richards 16 Wilson Asset Management: Most Trusted Financial Services CFO 2022 (Australia): Jesse Hamilton 17 Gi Group: Best Temporary & Permanent Staffing CFO (Milan): Nicola Dell’Edera
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 3 Join 108,000 Readers in Over 170 Countries Subscribe: www.acquisition-internation l.com/subscribe
4 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 Mar22681 Renewable Energy CFO of the Year (Africa): Nic Mudaly Climate change can no longer be ignored – it is, in essence, the greatest crisis of our lifetimes. As such, organisations like BioCarbon Partners are coming together in order to create solutions and raise awareness of the topic. Join us as we talk to Nic Mudaly about what makes BioCarbon Partners’ mission so important. orking in harmonious collaboration with the Zambian Government and community partners, BioCarbon Partners (BCP) is a leading REDD+ developer working in subSaharan Africa. The organisation has pioneered a new form of conservation finance model that unites the community, wildlife, and climate positivity under the UN’s REDD+ framework. Moreover, this ties in with the company’s mission of making conservation of wildlife habitat valuable to people, to bolster the importance and awareness of conservation amongst the wider population – as such, BCP aids clients from all walks of life to offset their carbon emissions. Ultimately, it hopes to bring people together to operate as a global collective to reach Net Zero Emissions. According to Chatham House, a leading policy institute, over 90% of deforestation in Africa is caused by agricultural development, charcoal production, and logging. It is a way for people to gain food security whilst making an income – henceforth, year by year, the land being used for farming is rapidly expanding. BCP is greatly aware of this, and it understands how deforestation is intrinsically linked with poverty. Consequently, BCP focuses upon such reasons in order to provide a long-term solution – it offers direct cash payments to communities to protect the forests. The money used comes from the revenue generated from the sale of carbon credits. Furthermore, the organisation runs a diverse range of livelihood programs (such as Eco-Charcoal, Sustainable Beekeeping, and Climate-Smart Agriculture), which gives communities sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to encroaching on the forests. Nic Mudaly, BCP’s CFO, plays a great role within these projects. Indeed, with over 15 years of experience in finance, Nic’s knowledge is essential in the organisation’s success. His experiences exceed those typically found within a finance executive – Nic has earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Taxation from the Durban University of Technology in South Africa, a certificate in Management Accounting from CIMA, and is currently working towards an MBA through the University of South Wales. Such qualifications led Nic to W become the youngest financial director for the Bata Shoe Company at age 28. ‘I am grateful to Bata Shoe and my mentor and colleague Shaibal Sinha for the opportunity to serve with a passion. It goes without saying that I wouldn’t be where I am without my life partner and best friend, Chantal, for her immense sacrifice and unwavering support in allowing me to venture into the unknown and uneasy,’ Nic comments, ‘indeed, the road behind was not easy, but arriving at a magical sunset never is!’ In 2020, Nic began his career with BCP, taking the position of its Chief Financial Officer. ‘It is an exciting space to work in, and one that is very much unchartered territory in many ways, especially within Africa,’ he continues. Working in this arena has allowed Nic to utilise his extensive skillset, applying them to the voluntary carbon market under REDD+. It is his hope that through doing this, other companies across the continent will follow suit. Nic’s success led him to be appointed the role of Interim CEO at the end of 2021. Taking the lead was a natural progression for Nic, who cites the mantra, ‘serve with a passion, be responsible for those that you lead. Lead and not manage. Find a learning in every obstacle and turn it into an opportunity.’ It is this that effectively summarises his approach to leadership. Additionally, Nic hopes to inspire passion, determination, and collaboration amongst his team, believing that such attributes drive success forward. ‘We celebrate the wins, but more importantly we rally together to overcome the hurdles – that to me is what embodying a strong leader is truly about.’ When asked about his strategy, he replied, ‘It is simple, the number of forests left to save is limited, and the need to expand and scale is immediate. Which is why we are working closely with Zambian Government, governments regionally, and communities to expand and bolster our efforts within Zambia and regionally to conserve as many hectares of forest as we possibly can.’ BCP’s four-year plan, launched in 2021, details its goal to scale and reach its Thirty-Cubed
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 5 Renewable Energy CFO of the Year (Africa): Nic Mudaly milestone by 2030: 30 million tons of carbon reduced annually across 30 million acres, benefiting 3 million people in Africa by 2030. ‘While tourism has been pushed to the brink (with South Luangwa NP generating an estimated $30 million pre-Covid-19 to as little as $4.5 million today), REDD+ has continued to bring revenue to local communities, with direct payments of US$8 million directly paid to communities since the pandemic began. Over the last five years, household income has increased 171% in the LCFP, and a minimum of 2,200+ opportunities of income generation have been created across both projects, demonstrating how durable and successful the REDD+ model has proven to Zambia’s local economy!’ exclaims Nic. In the workplace, however, the Covid-19 pandemic did bring about disruptions. Zambian work culture is rooted deeply in the office environment, and therefore was ill-equipped for the transition to remote working. BCP’s ability to promptly adapt enabled it to avoid such a crisis, with much of this being attributed to the transparency and communication amongst the team. In the space of 6 months, the finance team had to decentralise some of the functions, introduce a new ERP, move to online approvals and trackers, and most critically, manage communications from in person to online. ‘The finance department needs to be that one trusted source of data. Turning data to insight is key to project success. A project that delivers positive impacts builds trust with our key partners, those we serve.’ Going forward, BCP hopes to drive home that the climate change crisis needs global attention. It is something that can no longer be swept under the rug – forgotten about. Africa, for example, receives less than 3% of global climate finance, however, 30 out of the 40 most climate-vulnerable countries in the world are in Africa. Over the next year and beyond, BCP will be working alongside government institutions, communities, and partner organisations to continue to put African countries at the forefront of climate change action globally by helping to build resilience through REDD+ projects in Africa. For Nic, his goal is simple – ‘To continue to grow and evolve. The Carbon market is such a dynamic and fast paced one. Yet, it is also so fresh and volatile. The rules have not been fully established yet, it is very much up to us, the companies at the forefront of this sector, who are achieving verification and validation of the highest standards to set the pace. I believe that being a leading player in this field is an opportunity in itself. Successfully navigating the level that we aim to scale will be a defining moment in my career and I am so excited to be on this journey!’ Contact: Nic Mudaly Company: BioCarbon Partners - BCP Web Address: https://biocarbonpartners.com/
6 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 Mar22681 Most Innovative Tech CFO (Europe): Islam Zween Nothing about the future is certain, but the team at Wealthskey Limited, and their impressive product Just Retire, are on hand to offer some much needed security. Under the careful guiding hand of CFO Islam Zween, the team has built an adaptability that is second to none. We take a closer look at the team’s sterling efforts to uncover precisely how they have earned such success in the Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022. hen Wealthskey was established in 2019, it was with a clear eye on the needs of the future. To them, economist and financial media publishers were failing to take advantage of the clear benefits of what the technology of the day had to offer. First and foremost amongst these was the use of Blockchain smart contracts. As a firm, it’s clear that innovation and thinking outside the box is a key part of securing success. Innovation is more than just the way in which a firm operates. It must be an attribute that is built into the very structure of it, from the top to the bottom. Finding the right people to fit this impressive organisation is therefore vital. Joining the firm in 2021, Islam Zween has made a name for himself not only as someone who understands the need for new ideas, but has the ability to continually explore concepts that could transform the industry at large. Mr Zween’s career began after he had obtained his BSC in 1994. He worked in a series of marketing and Sales positions in CIBA VISION and Novartis pharmaceutical Companies, before earning his Masters’ degree from Alexandria University, Egypt. This opened the door to new opportunities as the Marketing Manager GCC, of UAE Al-Ghurair Foods until 2007. The last fifteen years have seen a dramatic shift in Zween’s approach, as he began to see the benefits of the digital marketplace. He has built numerous entrepreneurial digital ventures in UAE, KSA and Egypt, with his latest (argaam.com) growing into the most reliable financial news provider in GCC. It has recently been acquired by the biggest Media House in the Middle East (SRMG). When Zween came to Wealthskey, therefore, he did so with 23 years of experience in business management, business optimisation, marketing and Sales under his belt and a knowledge of what the digital markets were doing that was second to none. The aim whilst at Wealthskey has always been to accelerate the company’s operations and explore market opportunities. However, COVID-19 and financial crises opened Islam’s eyes to introducing a new product to Wealthskey as a Fintech idea to the forefront of the industry. W Just Retire was designed specifically to draw attention to the needs of younger generations. The challenge has been to provide support for people to plan for their retirements. The Post-COVID stagflation has proven a major challenge for many, reducing their financial freedom considerably. Research shows that only 38% of Millennials in Western countries reported they already know how much money they’ll need to retire, with nearly 60% of Millennials having less than $10,000 saved for retirement. Half of Baby Boomers are in a similar situation, despite having had half a century to save for their own retirements. There’s an enormous market here, and Just Retire has found itself at the forefront. The development of this exciting new product was specifically for the purposes of helping people to plan for their financial futures. Using the latest AI technology, the team have been proud to achieve assist others in creating bright and exciting futures for themselves and their families. In a world where people are struggling to work out how best to strategize their retirement policies, their work offers a simple and straightforward solution. Just Retire provides its clients with all of the information that they might need to make informed decisions. Investments are naturally large risks for anyone, and understanding those risks is crucial to making better decisions. With information provided to the team, they create a unique user profile and recommend various solutions that meet the specific requirements of this profile. In this way, all financial accounts and assets can be organised in one hub, allowing users to track all their expenses, Bills and future Goals through a simple and user-friendly dashboard. With creative ways of showcasing what specific resources are on hand, people will be able to understand the way in which their expenditure ties together. Looking ahead, Just Retire is likely to add even more talking points to its already impressive portfolio of options. Under Mr Zween’s impressive leadership, the firm will continue to launch unique selling points within the next two years, including Customised Investments Solutions which will aim to provide an easy Investment platform. Through this part of the platform, clients will be able to access ready-made mutual funds, insurance
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 7 Most Innovative Tech CFO (Europe): Islam Zween company products and any Investments product directly through the portal. A more valuable addition to many, however, is the plan to add an Automated Tax Report. This validation solution leverages a rule-based validation approach to resolve the validation errors. The process runs pre-configured rules as well as user-specific business rules to validate tax forms and flag violations. Growing the ways in which Just Retire is able to support people in a key part of what Mr Zween does. In many businesses, the CFO is a role that revolves around ensuring that money keeps flowing through every part of the business. With the wealth of experience that he is able to offer, this would be a waste of time for Mr Zween. He brings an enormous awareness of the industry and what customers want to the role. This breadth has made him an asset over the last year and a half at Wealthskey, as it has grown to offer even more products than ever before. The work that Mr Zween has done over the years is truly exceptional, bringing years of experience to tackle the challenges facing people today. Using the latest technology, he has been able to help many people in the industry to thrive. His success is something to be celebrated, now and long into the future. Company: Wealthskey Limited Name: Islam Zween Email: [email protected] Web Address: Justretire.me | The Company website: Wealthskey.io
8 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 handle the challenges of the past few years caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite having staff working remotely in the initial months, the business process remained effective throughout without reducing customer service levels or quality of work. “Three aspects of the Bank’s performance I feel that deserve recognition are as follows: We offered deferred payments to our loan customers, enabling them to weather the challenges; We made $295 million in PPP loans to 3,400 small businesses, supporting the salaries of 50,000 employees; We maintained 100% employment throughout, with no reductions in employee staff levels or furloughing of employees,” explains Stan. As aforementioned above, Stan is a firm believer that all of us are the sum total of all of our experiences up to this point in our lives. In addition, to constantly draw on those experiences, the following attributes are critical to success. Stan expands, “Maintain a positive attitude - Life throws things at us all the time. While we may not be able to avoid them or control them, we have complete control over how we respond to them. Be resilient - We all get knocked down figuratively. We have to pick ourselves up and go on. Finally, stay inquisitive - It makes us continue to learn and grow.” Moreover, besides playing a pivotal role in Ocean Bank’s continued success, Stan is currently developing a successor to become the Bank’s CFO in a few years. Despite his ongoing career and his decades of experience, Stan still regularly asks himself ‘what do I want to be when I grow up,’ a wholesome question that many individuals can view as humbling and relatable. “While I don’t plan to ‘retire,’ I look forward to being on a few corporate boards, teaching, and consulting. As every day’s experiences make me better than the day before, I believe I have a lot to offer,” explains Stan. For now, the future of OceanBank is on a digitalizing path to enhance both the customer experience and employee satisfaction and performance. In 2022, Ocean Bank will be relocating its Fort Lauderdale branch to an enhanced location and expanding its footprint by opening new branches in Orlando and Boca Raton. Whatever his plan, Stan Rubin will always be known as the Most Dynamic Commercial Banking CFO & Risk Officer of 2022 and a legacy of success and a future of accomplishments. Most Dynamic Commercial Banking CFO & Risk Officer 2022: Stan Rubin ocated in the ‘sunshine state,’ Ocean Bank is recognized for its exceptional professionalism in commercial banking. While traditionally, in this sector, the clientele is local companies, small businesses, individuals, and families, for Ocean Bank, customers include non-local companies and the latter. Expanding on the company’s offerings and unique stance within the industry, Stan Rubin, CFO, explains, “Ocean Bank is what is referred to as a community bank, which provides banking and wealth management products and services to a variety of customers in 70 countries outside the US, primarily in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.” In addition to being CFO, Stan is also Ocean Bank’s Chief Risk Officer. For Stan, at Ocean Bank, the Chief Risk Officer manages the company’s enterprise-wide risk assessment processes. Overall, this enables Stan to use his many non-finance attributes and experiences, including corporate governance, compliance, operations, and internal control. Moreover, concerning his integral role at Ocean Bank, Stan is also the key liaison within the company and its banking regulators, such as the FDIC, Federal Reserve Bank, and Florida Office of Financial Regulation – an impressive collection of tasks that only someone with Stan’s professionalism, dedication and years of experience and expertise could execute and juggle successfully. Going back to the beginning, Stan has accumulated several years of the relevant and unique experience that has made his contribution to several roles throughout his career invaluable. Depicting his successful accredited skills, Stan explains, “After nine years with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), I had a 20 plus year career with Citibank/Citigroup where I held various CFO, Controller, BSA/AML/ Compliance, Internal Control, and Shared Service Centre positions based in Europe, Asia, South America, and Central America, in addition to New York, Toronto, Atlanta, and Tampa. In addition, I served as the CFO of American Express’s Japan/Asia Pacific/Australia Region, based in Singapore. However, after living away from Miami, my home, since 1986, I returned home in late 2009 and joined Ocean Bank. I believe that we are all the sum total of all of our experiences up to this point in our lives, of which my career path provided me a vast array of. As CFOs are generalists, I constantly draw on those experiences.” Compared to many others in the industry, Ocean Bank was able to L The largest independent state-chartered commercial bank, Ocean Bank is located in Florida, and provides a comprehensive suite of banking products and services. However, its commercial real estate lending is more prominently noted, which stands out in the community and within the industry as its unique selling point and exceptional success feature. With Stan Rubin, the Most Dynamic Commercial Banking CFO and Risk Officer of the Year, in its leadership team, Ocean Bank is in tremendous hands, leading the sector through unparalleled expertise and leadership. Company Name: Ocean Bank Contact Name: Stan Rubin Web Address: www.oceanbank.com Contact Email: [email protected] Mar22576
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 9 sciences industry. He shared, “I believe that having a mentor you trust and are willing to be vulnerable with is extremely important. My mentor is the CEO at GForce and through his experiences he has made me a better leader, CFO and person. “Life is short, so find a job or industry you are passionate about and strive to enjoy what you do. A quote I like is, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room”. Surround yourself with people that challenge you and are high achievers, and they will help you raise the bar and drive high performance.” There’s no denying that Justin Meise is a very inspiring and passionate individual who always puts his best into his role at GForce, making him highly deserving of his success within the Global CFO Excellence Awards. He responded to receiving his award by saying, “Thank you for the opportunity to share my career story and that of GForce. Making the decision to switch from public accounting to corporate finance is always difficult and a lot of people ask me when the best time is to make the switch. The decision you make in the beginning of your career shouldn’t lock you in until retirement; to make the change is easy and you will bring the skills with you, making you valuable to future employers.” So, what does the future entail for Justin and GForce? The plan for GForce is to continue to grow and start working with new clients. The company’s vision is to provide its clients and consultants with incredible service without compromise. It is also looking at ways to automate its processes and controls to help grow the business and make its recruiters and client partners more efficient. Justin’s intentions for his career iare to grow his team further and become the best manager he can be. He would also like to be a mentor to others and help them grow their careers. With such a bright future ahead, we are truly rooting for Justin and GForce. Company: GForce Life Sciences Contact: Justin Meise Email: [email protected] Website: www.gforcelifesciences.com Mar22493 Life Sciences Recruitment CFO of the Year (USA): Justin Meise GForce Life Sciences matches highly targeted consultants to executives’ needs in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, and diagnostics industries in the United States. This goes alongside performing quality audits globally and having an Executive Search arm that places senior level candidates in full time positions with its clients. Following the success of GForce’s CFO, Justin Meise within the Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022, we learn more about his career and the company. Force Life Sciences’ focus is exclusively on one industry; you guessed it: life sciences. CFO, Justin Meise tells us, “By “staying in our lane”, we are able to become subject matter experts in one vertical, rather than be a generalist in all. Clients want specialists, not jacks of all trades. We turn away business that is not in line with our core focus and that allows us to “walk the walk”. One client, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, describes GForce as having “quickly become an indispensable asset of our company. We actually do not think of them as a separate organisation, but as an extension of our company.” Originally from South Africa where he audited for ten years, Justin had the opportunity to audit the United Nations in New York, and thus came his love for America. He moved to Chicago and audited for another five years, but his passion has always been to make a difference in the private sector, and he found two leaders that he believed in and who believed in him. Being able to move countries and start over or move sectors, Justin has proved that he is adaptable and not afraid of change. This is in addition to being able to adapt to changes that have occurred within the economy and due to the pandemic; navigating through these tough times with the company’s other leaders has enabled it to grow stronger. Justin’s audit skills helped build a back office and set the controls needed to be successful, and after three years he was promoted to CFO. We asked Justin to tell us about his leadership role at GForce. He said, “We are a company that believes in trust and transparency and that is how we lead. Trust between the leadership team and employees is how we ensure our success. Our mission is to make an impact one person at a time. If you are passionate about making a difference, we’d like to connect with you to share our vision and how you can help us achieve.” He continued, “I have learned that it is best to lead without emotions and all conflicts can be handled best after a good night’s sleep, where emotions of the moment can be set aside. I see every challenge or mistake as an opportunity to learn and grow and to help better myself and my team.” Following on from that, we asked Justin what advice he would give to others who are also seeking a career as CFO within the life G
10 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 Therefore, 2022 is expected to bring more clients, more coverage, and lots more games to work on! Jorge says, “Our plan is to continue to grow Vicarious PR into the PR, marketing, and social media powerhouse we know it can be. We’re ensuring that Vicarious PR is set up for success now and for a long time to come.” To conclude our chat with Jorge, he shares the following advice: “Don’t let your dreams be memes. Trust in yourself and what you want to accomplish. Always remember that you don’t dream the same thing every night, so that means your IRL dreams can always change, too. Be flexible and you’ll be wherever you’re meant to be.” Company: Vicarious PR Contact: Jorge Gaspar Email: [email protected] Website: www.variouspr.com Gaming PR & Marketing CFO of the Year 2022: Jorge A Gaspar icarious PR is a proactive team of former game journalists, influencers, and content creators who value creativity and innovation, and always utilise the latest PR and marketing methodologies in their projects. It always tries to go above and beyond for each of its partners, with its overriding commitments being results and customer service. The company’s story began in 2017 with two-man team, Jorge and co-founder and CEO, Michael Brown. Jorge tells us that being a start-up company has been an ongoing challenge since day one. He says, “In the beginning, it was just Michael and I running all the campaigns and social media for our clients. The work was done alongside trying to plan how our business could grow and reach its true potential. There were lots of long hours worked, but it was all worth it in the end.” Jorge A Gaspar is a journalist, reviewer, editor, and writer who has more than ten years’ experience in operations, data analytics, and business intelligence. He holds an MBA from CSUSM, an MD from UABC, and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, in addition to being a certified data scientist. He was nominated in 2018 for the Top Tech Exec Awards in San Diego. In the workplace, Jorge’s view is that you should trust your fellow executives, and more importantly, your employees! Speaking about his employees, he says, “Give them the tools they need to succeed, both in work and in life, and everyone wins. Profits are important, but keep in mind that we’re all human – with needs, wants, and feelings. Be an empathetic human first and a business owner second.” When it comes to leading, Jorge believes in setting his team up for success through strong workflow processes and then letting them dictate what happens from there. Ultimately, they are the ones who are able to give the best opinions regarding their own workflows. Meanwhile, not only is being a start-up business a challenge, but Vicarious PR has been tested by the COVID-19 pandemic as it has caused lots of game delays – and led to clients postponing or even cancelling services from the agency. However, the team is diligently working on procuring new clients and its own stellar reputation allows it to bring on new clients rapidly once it has the capacity to work with them. V Vicarious PR is a leading international award-winning video game PR and marketing agency run by former game journalists. Its one mission is to provide the best PR and marketing solutions for game developers, publishers, and tech companies around the globe. Its focus is on game PR and community growth campaigns as well as assisting interactive entertainment companies in corporate and product communications. In light of CFO, Jorge A Gaspar’s success within the Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022, we got in touch with him to learn more about the agency and his career. Mar22491
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 11 Best Financial & Banking Technology Infrastructure CFO (Brazil): Rafael Cardoso As one of Brazil’s leading financial companies, Celcoin has developed notoriety in a variety of different ways. Pioneering financial services and banking technology infrastructure through APIs. Made possible by the exemplary individuals that form its leadership team including financial mastermind Rafael Cardoso, it adopts a unique multichannel strategy on its segment and allows clients to offer innovative experiences in their applications both online and offline. Mar22567 aving made itself a pioneer in financial banking, banking technology, infrastructure, Open Finance, and more, Celcoin’s APIs and solutions impact more than 11 million Brazilians each month. Nominally, it allows its companies to connect to the financial world in a manner that is simple, quick, and nonbureaucratic, allowing customers to enjoy innovative experiences and to focus their efforts on the core of their businesses. Able to work around a company’s existing processes and infrastructure, its lack of bloatware and unnecessary jargon enable a quick, efficient, and cost-effective process that combines finance and banking into a single structure. With ‘the entire financial ecosystem in one place’, this API-based technological provider can connect a client to upwards of 1300 banks, fintechs, utilities, operators, and 50,000 physical withdrawal and deposit points. Fundamentally, its core is creating a trustworthy, reliable, and beating heart for open finance within Brazil that will inspire the worldwide industry, working hard to keep its strategy a multi-channel one that welcomes all manner of client for transaction API provision, physical network API, open banking API, and more, applying itself to a variety of different needs. Among its clients, it has more than 22 banks – 10 of which are publicly traded companies – alongside dozens of fintechs, 7 of which are ‘unicorn’ level companies and true pioneers of innovation. Critically, such excellence has been earned thanks to the processes that the founders have set up. Celcoin boasts several industry-leading minds at the very top of its business, including its Chief Financial Officer, Rafael Cardoso. As a gifted executive mind, investor, board member, and professor, he studied at the Universidade de São Paulo to earn his both Bachelor’s and Master´s degree in Accounting in 2010 and 2015, something which gave him the basis of knowledge to start a career in financial market. The role in Celcoin became the natural progression of the excellence he was already developing amongst his peers; in starting the company, he has been able to use his intelligence, adaptability, and innovation in order to continually steer it in the right direction. Therefore, even in the face of global industrial change thanks to the tumult of the past few years, Celcoin is thriving, and will continue to do so long into the future. H Company: Celcoin Contact: Rafael Cardoso Website: celcoin.com.br
12 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 Mar22588 Best International IT Consultancy CFO (USA): Cameron Chaplin Serving clients spread across three divisions, Federal, Commercial and SLED (State, Local and Education), Genesis Consulting Partners is a SWaM certified small business headquartered in Virginia, with various satellite offices across North America, Europe, and Latin America. Genesis is run under the exceptional leadership that is Cameron Chaplin, regarded as the Best International IT Consultancy CFO in America and, because of his guidance, has pulled Genesis into the brand that it is today. ed by CFO Cameron Chaplin, his expertise has helped drive the shift of the company’s reputation into being one of the successful leaders in the IT consultancy industry. Expanding on this, Cameron adds, “I credit much of my professional success to the incredible amount of exposure I gained supporting so many different industries in such a short period of time. Some of the more traditional career paths in the Accounting & Finance field have a clear industry focus with a linear path for ascending ranks which simply didn’t satisfymy desire for diversification and personal growth. My role supporting a private equity firm early in my career gave me hands-on experience with a number of ventures in their early developmental stages. The ventures each offered an array of services such as Government Contracting, Management Consulting, Financial Consulting, Cyber Security Services, eDiscovery Services, Managed Solutions, Merchant Processing, SaaS, as well as Legal and IT staff augmentation.” Recognized for offering exceptional training and consulting services across its three main lines of business, Business Agility, Digital Transformation, as well as Advisory Services, Genesis’ core areas of expertise include Lean, Agile, SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, Lean Portfolio Management (LPM), DevOps, DevSecOps, and Software Development. Genesis also specializes in Organization Change Management (OCM), Data Management, Business Process Management (BPM), Project Management, IT Strategy, and Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V). Because of this, Genesis brings its Agile and ChangeManagement expertise to implementation and system integration services related primarily to SAP, Oracle, Netsuite, Infor, Pega and Concur. “My focuses are to enable the firm’s staff tasked with growth, sales, and delivery, and to remove barriers wherever I can. Be it price, geography, tax, compliance, legal structuring, or administration; these are the things I can’t have staggering our growth or holding back our innovators. Because of this, Genesis has and continues to aspire to build its brand awareness globally, capitalize on economies of scale as we grow, expand our depth of offerings, and provide more value to an even broader range of clients,” says Cameron. However, it should be noted that the world and modernity regarding the IT consultancy industry are continually changing and what may work today for the sector may not work tomorrow. Because of this, Genesis often looks to its technical staff, sales, and delivery teams for continuous innovation and adaptation. Cameron expands on this point, stating, “The truth is that the Finance L and Operations teams must be equally agile and innovative. Our job as leaders in Finance and Operations is to remove obstacles, enable, and streamline, streamline, streamline. The key to that is versatility and almost an obsession with adaptability. Shed the ‘we can’t’ and embrace the ‘here’s how’ attitude.” Concerning innovation and subsequently related to the modernity and adaptability of the industry, Genesis is currently focused on forming several internationally developed assets to create a repeatable go-to-market strategy for services centred around large scale digital transformation and agile software development. “When your customers face economic pressures and still need and value your services only now, they can’t carry the same cost; you find ways to maximize on economies of scale, provide those same services at a reduced cost, and strengthen your relationships. Thus, why we continuously explore opportunities that support our strategic expansion through M&A. My partners and I see M&A as a very viable avenue for Genesis to continue to meet its long-term objectives and our desired future state,” Cameron shares. With new prospects in the pipeline and innovation at the foot of the company, Genesis is heading into a newly acquired and successful position, leading the sector with the Best International IT Consultancy CFO, Cameron Chaplin. Company: Genesis Consulting Partners, LLC Name: Cameron Chaplin Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.genesisconsulting.com
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 13 Most Innovative Healthcare CFO (Europe): Tim Clijmans As co-founding CFO of the aptly named company DEO.care, ’Tim Clijmans’ has an interesting backstory of success that has led him from his atypical history to a leader within the industry. Regarded as the Most Innovative Healthcare CFO in Europe, Tim utilises an entrepreneurial and pragmatic approach to run this exceptional business as CFO – changing the industry from the inside out, supported by Tim’s innovative thinking and unique experience as a professional individual. Mar22530 Having graduated as an engineer yet skilled in business economics and corporate law, Tim Clijmans is a selfproclaimed and successful entrepreneur and has been for the entirety of his vast career. From 2008, Tim became a Co-Founder, incorporating Mobelife – a specialist company in custom orthopaedic implants, which was then acquired by a 3D printing specialist and stock-listed Belgian pride company Materialise in 2015. Tim expands on this particular career path and explains, “For seven years, I was CEO and in the forefront of Mobelife involved with all international sales. Following the acquisition by Materialise, I took on a Global Sales Director role focused on the hospital segment. In 2016, I decided to pursue a new entrepreneurial endeavour once more. After co-founding OrthoGrow with David Van der Auwera and Jeroen Dille, I took on the role of Chief Strategy Officer - mostly involved with setting the initial vision of the medical and service-oriented group. Early 2019, I shifted focus as Chief Financial Officer at spin-off DEO.care.” An impressive journey that has innately shaped the professional person Tim has become – giving him experience and life lessons along the way to form his innovative CFO approach to business. Overall, during his exceptional career journey, Tim has been involved with over eight different start-ups and scaleups (and increasing) and been on several Boards of Directors or Advisory Boards – which can be taken as a grand accomplishment at such a fair age. Moreover, as Tim has carried an active role in being responsible for the numerical aspects of a business, be it from a broader CEO role or a specific front office sales management role; financial plans, forecasts, and analyses have always played an essential role in Tim’s entrepreneurial career and have always been the starting point and benchmark in strategic management. Tim expands on this, stating, “Because of this, I have a broad perspective on the business from previous experience and a rather pragmatic approach to financial strategy in my current role. As a result, I can cover a funding or acquisition track from A to Z - pitching, negotiating, financial credibility and due diligence up to legal contracting.” As previously stated, Tim ended up focusing on DEO.care (Data-Driven Efficiency for the Operating Room), located in Genk, Belgium. Since its establishment, it has developed an innovative AI-backed data platform that helps hospitals implement best practices for operational excellence and support healthcare industry partners to leverage value-based healthcare. “The goal is to improve staff well-being, increase OR throughput, optimise financial performance and improve patient experiences. Using H its proprietary technology, DEO. care generates rich and accurate data from scratch to create a digital twin of the OR environment. This 360-degree data measure of ergonomics, processes, materials, and time leads to faster insights and improvement ideas. Working with numerous pilot healthcare centres in both Europe and the United States, DEO.care uses this data-driven approach to suggest optimal costsaving measures for hospitals and healthcare companies like Johnson & Johnson “ explains Tim. While success was seemingly on the rising path, Covid-19 was the challenge that the entirety of the world wasn’t expecting. So mere two years after the incorporation of DEO.care, the pandemic took over the world, and contrary to regular economic crises, this one, from day one, primarily affected the healthcare industry. Therefore, Tim and his co-founders were forced to adjust and quickly increase the development pace of DEO.care’s remote and automated data generation and processing technology, which increased the start-up’s burn rate and initiated the parallel but successful search for additional funding. “Today, thanks to multiple and versatile efforts of a small but dedicated team, DEO.care is fully ready to assist hospitals and the healthcare industry facing efficiency challenges of Covid-induced backlog in care, in combination with a staff which cannot be expected to work even harder than they did already the years before,” boast Tim. DEO.care has announced a venture capital funding round of EUR 3.65 million. Because of this, the company was able to build more commercial partnerships in Europe and the US, and strengthen its product offering even further by developing new and automated software applications on top of the existing data platform for 2022. With a successful plan in place, the priority for Tim and his company is to remain leaders in the industry and maintain status as the Most Innovative Healthcare CFO. Company: DEO.care Name: Tim Clijmans Email: [email protected] Web Address: http://www.deo.care
14 Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 Mar22540 Emerging Tech CFO of the Year (APAC): Edward Sit In simplest terms, IPification has been leading the industry of mobile authentication and, because of the guidance of CFO Edward Sit, the company has been able to not only maintain its reputation but exceed personal and professional expectations and standards within the technology sector. The most significant approach to authentication is the use of IPification’s patented technology that aids in verifying device, SIM and phone numbers via IP addresses. Moreover, it enables secure, passwordless, zero-tap compatible mobile user authentication, registration, transaction approval and fraud prevention solutions for various mobile applications. “IPification’s central vision is that the next-generation mobile authentication must be secure, frictionless, and protect the end user’s privacy. Therefore, we are working daily to make this vision a reality,” explains CFO Edward Sit. IPification has connections across the entirety of the world, including Switzerland, U.S., U.K., Serbia, Russia, Bosnia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Pakistan. IPification is led by the exceptional expertise of Edward Sit, with unparalleled and invaluable skills that have progressed his own personal achievements in various sectors and IPification as a business. Expanding on this statement, Edward adds, “IPification is growing exponentially, and we plan to become a unicorn or even a billiondollar market cap listed company by 2024. Many may perceive hard skills to be vital for a successful CFO. Still, my experience has led to my understanding that hard skills, while great to have, aren’t nearly as important as a dynamic background with constant eagerness to innovate. To bring out the true value of a trusted CFO, that is one of the most, if not the most, important factors for succeeding in an emerging global tech firm.” With nearly two decades of experience leading global institutions, Edward has spent most of his professional career in management roles structures in finance with some of the most reputable institutions such as BNP Paribas and ABN AMRO Bank NV. Because of this, he built up years of experience and irrefutable skills that have led to the personal and professional success of both himself and now IPification. “We are already live in more than 20 markets partnering with 50 telecom operators, which is helping us cover over 2.5B mobile subscribers. We aim to expand our coverage further, working with F IPification, the pioneer and the revolutionary technological backbone of mobile authentication; and their CFO, Edward Sit, has been recognised for his tremendous efforts and acknowledged as the Emerging Tech CFO of the Year. Readily available across numerous countries and regions, IPification is trusted by the leading telco, technology, payment, and OTT companies, including Spotify, What’s app, U-pay, ABA Bank, GBG, T-Mobile Montenegro, 3 HongKong, Axiata Digital, Swisscom, and Indosat Ooredoo, to name a few. more and more telecom operators on every continent. At the same time, to speed up the adoption and coverage, we have also partnered with three leading instant messaging (IM) applications: WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram. This helps us provide an alternative solution to mobile subscribers that are not yet covered with our telecom-based IP solution,” states Edward. For now, IPification is in the midst of producing a new product called Mobile Attribution in collaboration with a few advertisers and telecoms. This product aims to help advertisers fight the ever-growing attribution challenge that has been going on for over a year. “With various changes in the ecosystem, the only way for them to succeed is to find an alternative in the privacy-first advertisement ecosystem, and that’s where our fully privacy-preserved and secure mobile attribution IPification technology comes in. IPification’s Mobile Identity (MID) engine is the perfect solution for telecoms as well to jump into this space and help the advertisers optimise their budgets, boost their ROI and make their mobile campaigns much more efficient. At the same time, it’s opening up for telecom operators a completely new revenue stream coming out of the huge advertising industry, where they haven’t had any big footprints up to now,” explains Edward. With the news of its innovative launch and under the unmatched leadership of CFO Edward Sit, IPification is gradually increasing its success in the industry, breaking boundaries, and pioneering technological advances to make the world a more creative space. Company: IPification Name: Edward Sit Email: [email protected] Web Address: https://www.ipification.com/
Acquisition International - Global CFO Excellence Awards 2022 15 Mar22616 Most Customer-Focused Construction Company CFO (Western USA): Ryan Richards orking exclusively with new builds and custom remodels, Petra Custom Builders has made a name for itself in the bespoke housing and home development market. Fundamentally, its notoriety has been earned through helping a client to see the value in not just the outcome of a build, but in the experience, allowing them to participate in a process that makes it a passion project for all involved. This, in essence, has accrued it a vast number of clients who enjoy the attitude it brings to its builds. This and the comprehensive, holistic, exemplary final result of a build has made it the number one choice for people up and down the West Coast. Furthermore, this has been emboldened by the attitudes of the people at the very top of the business. When founding the company, the W As one of the foremost custom remodel and new build construction firms in Western USA, Petra Custom Builders has earned itself a place at the top of the leader board in its industry. First and foremost, its work with its clients helps them to see the value of the process in building and construction, helping them to get closely involved with it as a passion project and removing the stress from the process by way of its well developed, reliable, and trustworthy processes. foundations it has been built upon were defined at an early stage as being focus on the client, great results, and stress-free processes, all of which CFO Ryan Richards has worked hard to embody throughout his time with the firm. With his mixture of background in a variety of business opportunities, he carries on the legacy of his grandfather and father – both of whom were general contractors – and applies what he learned from them to create his own work ethic. Having been in several work positions in the sector since he left university, his passion for financial management when it comes to construction companies began when he became store manager for Table Mesa Hardware. With the practical applications of it revealed to him, and seeing the truth of how much financial management is a backbone of good construction work, he rebuilt the business’s accounting system and joined Petra Custom Builders years later, firstly as a controller, and now has a hand in leading the company in his role as CFO. He employs a managerial style of putting his people before the numbers and avoids the rabbit-hole of financial metrics and spreadsheet over analysis by putting the emphasis on the health, wellbeing, and comfort of his team. Critically, due to the industry boom after lockdown with many people turning inward to reinvent their home into something that can better fit their lifestyle, this has been more important than ever. A happy team makes for happy clients, and in this Ryan Richards’ staff are some of the best, and he leads them by example in order to show them the kind of client interactions he wishes to see happening; in short, he takes a hands on approach. Moreover, his belief is that the rules of success are fairly universal. Therefore, going forward, he will be applying these to plan for the unexpected, take time to understand the full scope of a situation, and paying attention to hidden variables in order to ensure the continued success of Petra Custom Builders. Company: Petra Custom Builders Contact: Ryan Richards Website: petracustombuilders.com
www.acquisition-international.comRkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTY1MjM3