Richard de Silva is the Founder, Managing Partner and Chair of the Investment Committee at Lateral Investment Management, LLC. With 27 years of experience in the industry, Mr. de Silva launched Lateral with a strategy to allocate first institutional growth capital to independent, owner-operated middle market businesses underserved by typical buyout firms. Under his leadership, the firm has a highly differentiated track record of turning successful, profitable companies into market leaders. Mr. de Silva serves as a member of the board of directors at several of Lateral’s companies, including Morae Global and Benchmark Builders.Prior to Lateral, Mr. De Silva served as a Managing Director at Highland Capital Partners, a global venture capital and growth equity firm that has raised $7 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 300 companies1. At Highland, Richard focused on first institutional growth and buyout investments in leading technology and business services companies.Mr. de Silva co-founded IronPlanet, a marketplace for construction equipment, which sold to Ritchie Brothers (NYSE:RBA) for nearly $800 million. He worked as a strategy consultant in the media and technology practice of Oliver Wyman Consulting.Mr. de Silva received an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an AB from Harvard College