Meet our team

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Dave Blivin

Dave Blivin

MANAGING PARTNER

About Dave

Founder and Managing Director of Cottonwood Technology Fund I, II and III.

Founded and former Managing Director of Southeast Interactive, the first and largest information technology-focused fund based in the Southeast. Raised three funds totaling over $175 million.

Directly involved in fundraising and exit transaction events totaling in excess of $1 billion in enterprise value across the portfolio.

Dave has extensive experience working with the National Labs and research universities in the Southwestern US, as well as nationally at the leadership and research-heads levels.

Dave holds a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Alain le Loux

Alain le Loux

GENERAL PARTNER

About Alain

Alain has 25+ years’ experience in Technology on board level positions (former member of the Executive committee of corporate Getronics PinkRoccade) and as CEO of startups.

Alain studied at the technical University of Twente and graduated in 1994 with a double degree. Before the Cottonwood period successful angel investor. Expert in strategy, marketing, product launching, pricing and international business acceleration.

In the past Alain was one of the founders of the European Accelerator Program for the European Institute for Technology and Innovation and coached more than 200 high-tech startups in Europe.

Alain has a huge network and direct access to lots of corporates and all relevant ecosystems in Europe (Paris, Berlin, London, Helsinki, Stockholm, Leuven, Munich, etc.).

Alain joined Cottonwood in 2014 as partner and supported in the setup of the European office and Fund II.

Alain graduated in 2001 cum laude for an Executive MBA at Business School Nederland.

Patrick Claessen

Patrick Claessen

Partner

About Patrick

Patrick Claessen has 25+ years’ experience in investment management of innovative technology driven businesses. Before Cottonwood he was part of the Brightlands Venture Partners team, an impact venture capital fund manager with focus on renewable chemistry and materials, agrifood, sustainability and health. As a Senior Investment Manager of BVP Fund IV, Chemelot Ventures and the Brightlands Agrifood Fund he acted as a shareholder representative and board member for several portfolio companies.

Prior to BVP, Patrick held various positions at multinational RWE (previously Essent), including Senior Participations Manager, leading several corporate venture investments, and director of multiple joint ventures in the energy sector. Before that, he was an Investment Manager at BOM Capital, responsible for investing in technology driven early stage ventures, and an Analyst at Van Lanschot Corporate Finance as well as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (formerly Sakura Bank).
Patrick holds a master’s degree in Business Economics from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Sabine Bijker

Sabine Bijker

Corporate & Investor Relations

About Sabine

Sabine worked before joining Cottonwood 12 years within an IT company in several roles, where she was first responsible for Operations Support, Finance and later on engaged with Sales and Customer Relationships.

Sabine started in 2022 at Cottonwood Technology Fund. Her main tasks include corporate & investor relations, office support, LP relationships, support in fund finance, capital calls, portfolio support, fund marketing and fund reporting.

Sabine is located at the European offices in Enschede and Amsterdam.

Shinjan Dasgupta

Shinjan Dasgupta

Venture Partner

About Shinjan

Shinjan is Senior Technology Analyst at Cottonwood Technology Fund. He has 18 years’ experience in technical research and market analysis at Fortune 500 companies and scale-ups.

Shinjan graduated in 2003 cum laude at the University of Madras (India) in Mechanical Engineering (MSc.).

Daan Boekhoudt

Daan Boekhoudt

Investment Analyst

About Daan

Daan finished his Bachelor in Technical Engineering & Management in 2022 at the University of Twente. He has a strong technical and financial background.

Within Cottonwood Technology Fund Daan is responsible for analyzing and managing all incoming deal flow in Fund III. Besides that Daan is involved in due diligence processes, analyses markets and competitors.

Alan Abbott

Alan Abbott

SLP & Venture Partner

About Alan

Alan is on the board of New Mexico First Financial, Inc., a one bank holding company of Western Heritage Bank with locations in New Mexico and Texas. He chairs the Compensation Committee and serves on the Asset Liability and Audit Committees. Alan has served as a Special LP & advisor to the investment committee of Cottonwood Funds I, II & III. Alan is the Managing Member of Plutus Ventures, a family investment firm that invests in diversified venture funds. Alan also serves on the investment committee of Saba Investments. Alan was appointed by the Governor of Texas to serve as a Director of the Emerging Technology Fund & as a board member of the Center for Innovation & Commercialization for the El Paso region. He serves on the Investment Committee for the Paso del Norte Foundation & as an advisor to the Medical Center of the Americas startup seed fund. At the Trustee of Pacific University he served on the Investment & Finance Committees. Alan is a graduate of Stanford University, holds an MBA from the University of Texas and is a CPA.

Charles Call

Charles Call

SLP & Venture Partner

About Charles

Charles serves as an Special LP in Cottonwood Funds I and II, sourcing both Skorpios Technologies and Incitor.

Charles is also General Partner in Phase One Ventures, a small ($2M) angel fund, and an active angel investor.

Charles holds a BS in Chemical Engineering with Highest Honors from Montana State University and am MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Davis. Charles was previously employed by the Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

Specialties: General management, leadership coaching, start-ups. intellectual property management, technology commercialization and business development.

Our Offices

Santa Fe

Cottonwood Technology Fund
422 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87501
USA

Tel US: +1 505 412 8537

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Enschede

Cottonwood Technology Fund
Hengelosestraat 541
7521AG Enschede
The Netherlands

Tel NL: +31 53 82 00 798

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Cottonwood Office Amsterdam

Cottonwood Technology Fund
Weesperplein 4-B (Capital-C building)
1018XA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 726 70 62

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