Private markets deserve data they can trust

Edward’s background in private markets and alternative investments is second to none with over 25 years of leadership experience building and scaling financial services businesses. As CEO of Lantern, he brings a proven track record of innovation, operational excellence, and client-centric growth.

Before founding Lantern, Edward was the founder and CEO of the Aztec Group, one of Europe’s leading fund and corporate services providers. Under his leadership, Aztec grew from a startup into a global organization employing over 2,000 people across multiple jurisdictions, serving many of the world’s most prominent private equity and real asset managers.

At Lantern, Edward applies his deep industry insight and entrepreneurial experience to transform how private markets operate through technology – empowering investors, fund managers, and administrators with data-driven intelligence and automation.

Edward holds a long-standing reputation for driving change across the private markets ecosystem and continues to lead Lantern with a focus on innovation, partnership, and long-term value creation.

With extensive operational leadership experience in technology and SaaS, Mark has worked across multiple industries for companies at different stages in their growth trajectories. From start-ups to well-established and high-profile companies, Mark’s remit covers all things operational, from technology to people. At Lantern, Mark works alongside Edward and the Board, focusing on driving Lantern’s journey from the ground up and into the market.

Tony has 35 years of professional experience in Fintech, more than 20 of which have been devoted to the private equity software space, where he has contributed to shaping the industry.

At Lantern, he builds on a career of leadership across some of the sector’s most influential firms. At Broadridge, Tony led the company’s emerging private equity blockchain initiative. Before that, he served at Allvue Systems (formerly AltaReturn), where he drove the firm’s expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and oversaw half of its product suite before the company’s acquisition by Vista Equity Partners and merger with Black Mountain.

Earlier in his career, Tony was part of the founding team at eFront (now part of BlackRock), where he established operations in the UK, Channel Islands, and North America, serving in senior leadership roles, including Head of Professional Services for both regions.

Based in Austin, Texas, Jef Rice is Lantern’s Chief Technology Officer, bringing over 25 years of engineering leadership across private markets technology and high-growth companies.

Before joining Lantern, Jef served as CTO at Altvia, the private equity CRM platform, where he led the transition to a data-centric, AI-capable architecture. Prior to that, he spent five and a half years at ZipRecruiter, building data infrastructure at scale from early growth through to IPO.

Jef is a hands-on technology leader with a track record of building and scaling engineering teams in complex, data-intensive environments. His appointment strengthens Lantern’s engineering capability as the platform deepens its coverage of the full GP-LP data flow.

Based in the U.S, Jeff Williams is Lantern’s first Chief Product Officer, bringing over 15 years of experience at the nexus of private markets and technology. Jeff leads Lantern’s product strategy as the company scales globally and expands into North America.

Before joining Lantern, Jeff was Chief Strategy Officer at Altvia, where he shaped product strategy, spearheaded new product launches, and drove growth.

Jeff combines deep domain expertise with a proven ability to guide product development through periods of rapid growth and complexity. His arrival reinforces Lantern’s commitment to delivering quality, trusted data intelligence as demand surges across the Atlantic.

Sabra Willner is Fractional Chief Marketing Officer at Lantern, where she helps the company lead the conversation around the next generation of private markets technology. As the private markets industry shifts from a people-powered operating model to a technology-powered one, she helps firms understand that trust in data is no longer just an operational concern, it’s a strategic advantage.

Based in the U.S., Sabra draws on leadership experience across top advertising agencies, high-growth technology companies, and Fortune Global 500 organizations to help companies navigate market transformation, accelerate growth, and unlock new opportunities.

Outside of work, Sabra enjoys a good challenge and a great dessert – sometimes at the same time.

Based in London, Piers leads Lantern’s sales team, bringing a wealth of experience in private markets and a deep understanding of the data and operational complexities impacting GP’s. With a proven track record and trusted long-term client relationships, Piers plays a pivotal role in driving Lantern’s growth and ensuring its platform delivers unmatched value for customers.

As Lantern continues to innovate and disrupt the private markets industry, Piers’ appointment is a key step in scaling our reach and enhancing the impact we have on our clients’ operations. Piers’ deep understanding of our clients’ needs, paired with his leadership and expertise, are instrumental as we meet the increasing demand for an integrated, data-driven platform that empowers the modern GP.

Piers’ appointment reflects Lantern’s continued commitment to scaling its operations and delivering cutting-edge solutions that help GPs overcome the complexities of private markets. By leveraging innovative data science and offering real-time, validated insights, Lantern enables its clients to make better, more informed decisions that drive results.

Based in Exeter, James leads intelligent document processing at Lantern, building on technology he co-founded at Freyda, enabling clients to move from source document to trusted, actionable data.

As a startup, Freyda was built to solve a problem that anyone in private markets will recognise: critical data locked in documents, with teams spending hours on manual extraction that should have been automatic. As CTO he grew the platform from the ground up into an AI/ML system processing tens of thousands of documents daily for fund administrators, institutional investors, and data providers across the alternatives sector.

James has held senior technology and innovation roles within financial services, including at MetLife, Citibank, and Egg, where he led engineering and digital transformation across global markets.

Inherently tech-focused, Tom brings experience and expertise in fund accountancy, administration and innovation to Lantern, having sourced and designed innovative strategic solutions for the private markets – Lantern being just one of them. Tom sits at the heart of the team between product development and market requirements, heading up Lantern’s Product team.

Based in Jersey, Iain is responsible for managing Lantern’s client onboarding team and nurturing strong relationships with existing clients. Iain’s primary goal will be to ensure that clients are maximising the value of Lantern’s innovative platform, in place to empower firms with trusted data that drives performance.

A passionate technologist, Iain brings over 20 years of experience working within private markets at the intersection of clients, technology, and operations. With deep industry knowledge of the private markets landscape, including the needs of investors, managers, and providers, Iain has a proven track record of imagining, building, deploying, and developing technology solutions that address the unique complexities of the industry.

During his tenure at eFront/BlackRock, Iain held several roles, most recently in business development, where he focused on go-to-market strategy for new territories and revenue streams, as well as expanding revenue from existing clients and new prospects. His experience also includes working in product management, where he translated client needs into usable and impactful features.