Athena Capital Adds Serena Dayal & Avi Golan to Investment Team - InforCapital

Serena Dayal and Avi Golan have joined Athena Capital as Investment Partners at the global investment platform that backs tech-enabled companies poised for IPOs or strategic exits across the U.S., Europe, and other developed markets.

Founded in 2024, Athena Capital (New York) is a private equity firm based in New York.

In their newly created roles, Dayal and Golan will focus on sourcing high-growth opportunities in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software, and healthcare. Their dual expertise—spanning capital markets, M&A, operational leadership, and board experience—is expected to strengthen Athena’s ability to identify and support category-defining companies.

Serena Dayal brings nearly two decades of experience from roles including Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund—where she drove late-stage investments and board engagements—and tenures in private equity at Fortress Investment Group and investment banking at Goldman Sachs. She holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University.

Her appointment follows a wave of recent moves by late-stage investors: for instance, competitors in Europe and Asia are similarly expanding their teams to capture maturing private tech ventures approaching exits.

Avi Golan contributes over 30 years of leadership in tech innovation and scaling global businesses. He previously served as CEO of Sygnia—a cybersecurity leader—and Oosto, which he guided to a successful exit. Golan also held executive and investment positions at SoftBank Vision Fund, Google, Intuit, and Air New Zealand, and brings substantial board and go-to-market expertise.

This strategic hiring aligns with Athena Capital’s broader trajectory: the firm launched a debut growth-equity fund in early 2024 targeting late-stage startups in fintech, health tech, AI, and other sectors, aiming to deploy $10–$35 million per opportunity and participate actively in board-level support.

Investors and entrepreneurs globally are watching these developments closely—the infusion of seasoned talent like Dayal and Golan reflects a growing trend among growth-equity platforms to combine deep operational insight with capital to aid scaling and exit execution.

Athena Capital, founded and led by Isabelle Freidheim, continues to reinforce its global reach and capacity to support companies through transformative stages—across regions including North America, Europe, and developed markets worldwide.