Abdón G. Ruiz

Managing Director

Mr. Ruiz has over 20 years of private equity and mergers and acquisitions experience. Former Managing Director of Capital Markets for Fairbridge Capital Markets (a Puerto Rico-based broker-dealer), he served as Director of the Venture Capital Division of the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico for five years, and for the last fifteen years was Partner and Managing Director of Puerto Rico Entrepreneurs Fund, L.P., (a Small Business Investment Company). Mr. Ruiz co-managed over $50 million in equity and mezzanine investments in Puerto Rico-based companies.

As a corporate officer and member of the board of directors of portfolio companies, he oversaw the financial, strategic, and business operations of enterprises in a diverse group of industries including: life sciences, software development, manufacturing, distribution, and recycling. An avid supporter of entrepreneurship, Mr. Ruiz has been a board member and advisor to several economic development organizations, including the Puerto Rico Technoeconomic Corridor, Grupo Guayacán and Foundation for Puerto Rico. Mr. Ruiz holds a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1988) and a Master in Business Administration from Boston University (1993, and securities licenses Series 79, 82 and 63.

Antonio J. Sifre

Managing Director

Mr. Sifre is a corporate and entertainment attorney with more than 20 years of experience, in commercial lending, workouts, mergers and acquisitions, real estate sales and acquisitions, venture capital, software licensing, and film production and financing. He has organized and represented venture capital funds and has worked with business owners in capital raises through the private placement of securities. Mr. Sifre has represented buyers, sellers, lenders and investors with structuring, due diligence, financing and the legal documentation of merger and acquisition transactions in different industries.

Mr. Sifre has extensive experience in the music, film and television industries and has been actively involved with the financing and legal aspects of film production in Puerto Rico for more than 15 years. He advises studios and film producers in the financing and corporate structures necessary to benefit from the incentives available under the Puerto Rico Film Industry Economic Incentives Act, and frequently participates as a speaker and panelist in international film and television financing and incentives seminars.

Mr. Sifre is a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA), as designated by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA), a National Business Incubation Association Certified Business Incubator Manager, and a graduate of the UC Berkeley Venture Capital Executive Education Program. He volunteers as Co-Chairman of the Puerto Rico Film Industry Cluster and Vice-Chairman of Incubadora de Empresas Creativas de Mayagüez. Mr. Sifre holds a BA in Economics from Boston College (1989) and a Juris Doctor (Cum Laude) from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law (1992).

Jorge A. Negrón

Managing Director

Mr. Negrón has extensive local and international experience as a C-level executive, private equity investor, and business consultant. For over six years, Mr. Negrón was the Manager of the Venture Capital Unit of the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico where he managed a $60 million portfolio with investments in local private equity funds - including two SBIC funds - and in private companies in technology, biotechnology, medical devices, and in financial and insurance services. He also served in the Boards of Directors of portfolio companies and in the boards of advisors of portfolio funds. Prior to this, he also worked for six years as the General Manager of Nu-Vue Industries of Puerto Rico, Inc., a metal roofing and building components manufacturer.

Mr. Negrón worked as Vice-President of Corporate Development at Platt Metal Manufacturing (Puerto Rico), Corporate Planning and Credit Analyst at Corp Banca Venezuela (Venezuela), Business Systems Analyst at Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis), and Environmental Consultant at Panzardi & Huidobro Ltd. (Chile). He started his career as an Environmental Consultant and Instructor with the United States Peace Corps in Chile in 1992. Mr. Negrón holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology (1990) and a Master in Environmental Science (1991) from Rice University, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Operations from the University of Michigan (1997).