Laurent Ohana is a senior advisor to M&A. Laurent has been investing in, advising, and operating technology and communications companies since 1994 in the U.S., Europe, Israel and Asia. From 1994 to 2003, Laurent was the Managing Partner of New Media Capital LLC, a merchant banking firm focused on the technology sector. New Media Capital raised the initial funding for and served on the boards of Snickelways Interactive, CyberSites, Inc. and MetaMatrix, Inc., invested in LookSmart Ltd. (NASD: LOOK) pre-IPO, and arranged the acquisition and financing of Inlumen, Inc. New Media Capital clients included Hachette/Lagardere, N2K, Newsweek Interactive, and the Estate of Leonard Bernstein. Its areas of focus included interactive advertising, online music, ecommerce, e-learning, e-finance, virtual communities, search, data delivery, and knowledge management. Laurent was also the CEO of Inlumen Inc., from its buy-out in October 1999 until September 2002. Inlumen was a leading provider of private-label web-based financial portals to financial institutions. New Media Capital acquired Inlumen (then NewsAlert Inc.) by forming a $25m buyout fund with institutional and strategic corporate funding from Milstein Brothers Capital Partners, Pivotal Group, Mondadori (Italy), Hollinger (UK), Fairfax (Australia) and RAF NetVentures. Laurent raised a follow-on $35m equity round for Inlumen in June 2000, led by Capital Z Partners. In October 2002, the company was sold to Pinnacor, Inc. (NASD: PCOR) and Pinnacor was subsequently sold to MarketWatch, Inc. (NASD: MKTW). From 1987 to 1993, Laurent was an attorney at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson where he worked on a broad range of mergers and acquisitions in the US, Europe and Israel. He holds a B.A. (with High Honors) in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. email: laurent@parkviewventures.com