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Our Team

As a team, we have invested in and founded more than 40 companies, which collectively have created over £1 billion in value over the past three decades.

John Bailye

Partner

John is the Founding Partner of The SideBySide Partnership International. He is best known as a healthcare information technology specialist having founded and then grown the world’s first sales force automation system which was focused on healthcare industries. Dendrite grew to $420m in revenue and served 52 countries, with 26 international offices, and 3,500 employees and was public for 15 years (Nasdaq: DRTE). It was valued on sale at over $780m.

John subsequently became Chairman and CEO of EKR Therapeutics, a specialist hospital products provider which manufactured and sold high technology Biologics, and rebuilt the company to over $200m in revenue. John is also a very engaged private angel investor, investing in over 30 early-stage companies and most recently exiting Instamed (sold for $500m) and Systech (sold for $165m).

The Dendrite Story
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/91/Dendrite-International-Inc.html

https://vimeo.com/14932954

10 Lessons Learned from One Entrepreneur’s Adventure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zN7ctoeJIs

Ben Ashworth

Partner

A venture capital investor with over six years of industry expertise across a variety of sectors including Consumer Technology and B2B SaaS, Ben is the primary person responsible for the due diligence process and organising investments into Investee Companies. Ben has personally led and organised over 30 investments into Seed-Series B companies and is the main day-to-day contact of our portfolio.

Julie Tooby

Strategic Partnerships Manager

Experienced Strategic Partnerships Manager with over 30 years of experience and a proven track record of forging and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with intermediaries and high net-worth investors. Julie’s expertise lies in identifying partnership opportunities, developing tailored strategies, and driving business growth. Julie is an effective communicator and negotiator, dedicated to achieving win-win outcomes and leverages this to effectively promote our investment products to investors.

Andrew Irwin

Investment Director

Andrew has 20 years’ experience in EIS funds and early stage companies: as investment director, analyst, fundraiser, and private client adviser. He has been involved in raising over £300m in tax-efficient investments and established MICAP, the industry’s leading provider of research in EIS. He admires founders' vision and determination, and the contribution they make to the UK’s vaulted reputation as a global hub of tech innovation and entrepreneurial success.

Sheli Gupta

Portfolio Company Mentor

Sheli is a seasoned entrepreneurial business leader with 30 years’ international experience. He has founded numerous start-ups and holds board positions with several early-stage companies, including CEO of Hu-manity.co, a global technology company, dedicated to creating a new standard for human data rights.

Some of Sheli’s more significant previous achievements include founding Software Associates International (grew to $25m in revenue) and being responsible for global merger and acquisition activity for Dendrite (Nasdaq: DRTE) a Healthcare information technology specialist. Sheli works directly with our portfolio companies to help develop their business plans and key strategic initiatives.

Matthew Arwynck

Head of Private Clients

Matt has over 20 years of experience as the lead broker for one of the UK's first private equity investment firms. Over these years he was instrumental in supporting dozens of multi-million early-stage company fundraises as well as leading a sales team focused on raising funds from high net-worth investors. Matt's expertise lies in understanding his client's priorities and developing a relationship of mutual trust. As Head of Private Clients, Matt leads SidebySide's investor relations team and plays a key role in communicating our recent and upcoming investments, as well as client portfolio updates.

Boyd Carson

AIF Manager (SidebySide EIS Venture Fund)

Boyd has considerable breadth of knowledge in the financial sector. He has over 30 years’ experience in the accounting and corporate finance markets, having previously worked at PwC where he was a director in the firm’s Transaction Services group in New York specialising in mergers, acquisitions and disposals. Boyd is a Fellow of the institute of Chartered Accountants. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a member of the Harvard University teaching faculty, specialising in teaching venture capital. Boyd is also a Honorary Professor of Practice in Venture Capital at Queen University Belfast.

Johnathan Graham

Fund Manager (SidebySide EIS Venture Fund)

Johnathan specialises in managing SEIS/EIS investment funds. He has successfully completed the EISA organisation’s EIS diploma and is an EIS Affiliate. Johnathan has a Master’s in Accountancy and Finance from Queen’s University Belfast.

Bruce Elliott Smith

Business Development Advisor

Bruce has had a successful career in financial services for over 25 years, having gained a wealth of experience in tax-efficient investments, not only having invested in several SEIS and EIS companies in the past but having had numerous business development consultancy roles in the alternative investment market and is currently the CEO of
Venture2Grow who has successfully raised millions for tech-enabled EIS companies, various Funds and family offices. Bruce previously founded a highly successful award-winning music and events company, which culminated in winning a Grammy and UK festival award.