CircleUp Adds Neil Constable, Former Partner at GMO, As Its First Chief Investment Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CircleUp, the investment platform providing capital to emerging consumer brands, today announced that Dr. Neil Constable has joined as its first Chief Investment Officer. In this new role, Neil will oversee the expansion and synergies across CircleUp's three investment strategies––private market systematic equity, discretionary equity, and credit––as the company accelerates a new era of data-driven investing in the private markets.

Neil brings more than a decade of experience in equity portfolio management and quantitative research to CircleUp. He joins from Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC. (GMO) where, from 2006-2019, he variously served as Partner, Head of Global Equity and Head of Quantitative Research. During his time at GMO, Neil was primarily responsible for the development of GMO's quantitative security selection models and equity derivatives research––overseeing GMO's Global Quantitative Equity group and the equity components of the firm's multi-asset class portfolios.  

At CircleUp, Neil will be instrumental in guiding each of CircleUp's three distinct investment strategies. Today, CircleUp's capital solutions (discretionary equity and credit) provide consumer industry entrepreneurs with the capital and resources needed to grow. The company's latest initiative will apply the innovations of systematic investing in the public markets to the private markets in the form of a systematic private equity strategy. Investment decisions are informed by the company's proprietary technology platform, Helio. Helio identifies, classifies, and evaluates a universe of 1.4 million (and growing) companies, drawing from more than 200 sources. With Helio, CircleUp is taking a quantitative approach to investing in entrepreneurs––ushering in a new paradigm for the private markets. Neil will drive synergies across these strategies and maximize each team's use of Helio.

"Neil brings deep quant expertise and a genuine intellectual curiosity for investing in innovation and the mission to help entrepreneurs thrive," said Ryan Caldbeck, co-founder and CEO of CircleUp. He added, "as CircleUp has evolved to now managing multiple investment vehicles, we were looking to add a unique perspective to the team––someone who is grounded in data and will further refine our point of view."

"The private markets are one of the few areas that have remained untouched by the advent of data driven investing — until now," added Neil Constable. "I am very excited about the data and technology that CircleUp has built. The opportunity feels a lot like the early days of quant in the public markets from several decades ago."

Neil joined CircleUp July, 2019 and is based at their headquarters in San Francisco, CA.

About CircleUp
On a mission to help entrepreneurs thrive, CircleUp harnesses the power of data to provide capital and resources to consumer brands. Through Helio, the company's technology platform that identifies, classifies, and evaluates consumer and retail companies, CircleUp has built the world's most robust repository of CPG and retail intelligence and takes a quantitative approach to investing in promising entrepreneurs.

Founded in 2012, CircleUp is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by Union Square Ventures, GV, Canaan Partners, QED Advisors, and others. Learn more at www.circleup.com

SOURCE CircleUp

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http://www.circleup.com