We invest in cash flow positive businesses and apply technology to generate outsized returns.  

Our strategy is PE + TECH. 

By effectively integrating sensors, connectivity and analytics, our portfolio company’s assets immediately have the ability to send and receive data that dramatically improves the productivity and profitability of the overall business.

We recongize that VC and technology focused PE fueled the growth and value of technology.

Now the most valuable companies in the world are tech companies.

Top 5 Publicly Traded Companies by Market Capitalization

Traditional investment strategies must pick a winner in technology to succeed.

This leads to higher risk as valuing new technology becomes increasingly complex.

We have found a new way to unlock value. 

We identify targets with attractive valuations, low risk profiles and strong upside from applying technology.  

This reduces risk and generates stable returns.

Our portfolio companies with technology become intelligent assets that are more productive and generate incremental cash flow.

By leveraging the scalability of technology, we create opportunities to consolidate inefficient industries through the deployment of capital in a sound, risk adjusted manner. 

Joah Sapphire - Managing Partner

Mr. Sapphire serves as Managing Partner of GDG Capital. As an investor in the digital transformation of highly regulated industries, Mr. Sapphire has a proven track record of creating value by applying his best-in-class multidisciplinary core competencies.

Mr. Sapphire is a successful investment professional having served for the past five years as a senior investment banker for a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm as a buy-side advisor for over $1 billion in deal value; three years as founding partner of a $100-million investment fund with offices in London and New York City; and two years as the China representative for a $9 billion multi-strategy investment fund.  In addition to executing complex transactions, Mr. Sapphire has extensive expertise building institutional-quality investment managers from the ground up.

Prior to his career in finance, Mr. Sapphire was a senior executive in government.  He shares his expertise gained in government as an Adjunct Associate Professor for Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, teaching a graduate level class in financial management.  Mr. Sapphire began his career as a research scientist at Cornell University and leverages his knowledge of applied research to understand and identify new technology trends.

Mr. Sapphire is a well-known industry speaker with numerous featured engagements across North America and Asia. He serves as an industry affiliate for Cornell University’s Program in Infrastructure Policy and as a member of the Advisory Board of University at Buffalo’s Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics. Mr. Sapphire graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University.

Scott Farrell - Vice President

Mr. Farrell serves as Vice President for GDG Capital and supports the sourcing and diligence of investment opportunities.  He is an expert in evaluating the value drivers of new technology.  Mr. Farrell possesses over ten years of investment banking and technology consulting experience.

For the past five years, Mr. Farrell served as an analyst for a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm and worked on numerous complex transactions with deal value of over $1 billion.  Prior to investment banking, Mr. Farrell managed large-scale information communication technology (ICT) projects for several major organizations.  He has designed and maintained ICT infrastructure, including hardware, software and web applications with the goal to provide seamless, hosted, secure and redundant services utilizing state-of-the-art cutting-edge solutions.

Mr. Farrell began his career in government as a researcher for the largest state financial regulator in the U.S. for which he led several projects including assessments of state-wide regulatory filing systems. Mr. Farrell graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Information Systems from Fordham University.

Michael Brown - Operating Advisor

Mr. Brown serves as Senior Engineer for Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in the Intelligent Systems Division. He has been a leader in the development of Internet of Things intelligent systems for over twenty years. Founded in 1947, SwRI is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations in the United States. Today, SwRI generates almost $600 million in annual revenue and has 2,700 staff that specialize in the creation and transfer of advanced technology.

Mr. Brown has led projects for various federal, state, and commercial clients in projects spanning the areas of Advanced Traffic and Traveler Information Systems, Connected Vehicle Systems, and Vehicle Automation. In 2006, Mr. Brown was one of the founding members of SwRI’s Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative which has spent over $60 million to automate 15 types of vehicles, ranging from golf carts and SUVs to Class 8 tractor trailers. Several automotive manufacturers and tier one suppliers use SwRI algorithms and technology in their automation research and development programs.

Mr. Brown serves as a subject matter expert for numerous standards committees including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1609, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) DSRC Technical Committee, and SAE Truck and Bus Active Safety Systems Committee. In 2015, he was part of SwRI team recognized with top R&D100 award for automated vehicle localization technology. Mr. Brown graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University and a Master of Science in Software Engineering from Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Alain Kornhauser - Operating Advisor

Dr. Kornhauser is Founder and former Board Chairman of ALK Technologies which was purchased by Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) in 2013. Launched in 1979, ALK is a transportation technology company dedicated to route optimization through innovative routing, mileage, mapping, and navigation solutions. Approximately 64% of North American for-hire motor carriers use ALK solutions, including 98 of the top 100 largest for-hire carriers, 47 of the top 50 logistics companies and 77 of the top 100 private fleets. Dr. Kornhauser developed ALK’s PCMILER product line which is the industry standard for routing and ALK’s CoPilot suite of portable in-vehicle navigation systems for consumer and business professionals which offers real-time, GPS based, turn-by-turn directions.

Dr. Kornhauser began teaching at Princeton University in 1972 and his current responsibilities include serving as Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, Director of the Transportation Research Program, Faculty Chair of Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (PAVE) and member of the Topical Program in Robotics and Intelligent Systems. His active research areas are smart driving cars, image processing for scene recognition and collision avoidance and real time optimal route choice. His work has produced numerous analytical tools and software systems that are widely used throughout the transportation and logistics industry.

Dr. Kornhauser was the faculty lead for Princeton University’s entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and 2007 Urban Challenge. He received his Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University, and Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Our focus is unlocking value in the $800 billion trucking industry.

With 600,000 trucking firms moving over 70% of the freight in the U.S., there currently exists tremendous inefficiency and fragmentation in the market.

While others have applied basic roll-ups or implemented simplistic technology, we have a better approach.

We understand that trucking is just one part of a complex mosaic of transportation solutions that enable over $20 trillion of goods per year in the U.S. to reach their destination.

Hundreds of thousands of separate companies are part of this ecosystem, struggling to meet the real-time demands of customers because they don’t understand how to use data to achieve their strategic objectives.

This leads to numerous operational inefficiencies and wasted time and expense.

We find that Sea Cargo, Trucking and Warehousing data is often disconnected or unavailable. 

We invest in companies that have the right attributes to capture the value of Sea Cargo, Trucking and Warehousing data.

Our PE + TECH strategy ensures our portfolio companies improve their operations with data, generating distinct competitive advantage that delivers long term sustainable earnings growth.

October 10, 2019

Chainsights Fintech and Blockchain Summit

Participated on panel, “Social Impact Investing and Financial Inclusion.”

June 11, 2019

International Conference on Transportation and Development, American Society of Civil Engineers, Engineering Smart Mobility for the Smart City

Delivered presentation, “Digitizing Infrastructure for Sustainable Real-World Deployment of Automated Vehicles.”

October 24, 2018

The 6th NYC Symposium on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, Connected Cities with Smart Transportation (C2SMART)

Delivered presentation during session, “How to Accelerate Safe and Secure Deployment of CAVs in Smart Cities.”

June 19, 2018

ITS-Canada Annual Conference & General Meeting, Mobility 2030: Bridging Innovation and a Green Future

Delivered presentation, “Enabling Real World Deployments of Autonomous Vehicles to Support Smart Mobility.”

June 6, 2018

16th Annual North America 3PL & Supply Chain Summit

Participated on panel, “Mid-Market Mergers and Acquisitions.”

May 17, 2018

TennSMART Consortium: Shaping the Future of Mobility Spring Meeting

Delivered keynote address, “Call to Action.”

September 30, 2016

NYU Stern Business School’s 2nd Annual Business Analytics Symposium: Competing in the Connected Economy: Applications & Implications

Delivered presentation, “Policy Implications in the Connected Economy.”

June 21, 2016

I-95 Corridor Coalition

A partnership of over 140 transportation agencies, toll authorities and public safety organizations from Maine to Florida. Delivered presentation at conference, “What States Need to Know about CAV.”

June 14, 2016

Guangcai Group Annual Meeting

Delivered keynote address, “Next Industrial Revolution: Potential of Digital Currency and Blockchain.”

April 25, 2016

Columbia University’s Global Digital Futures Policy Forum

Participated on panel, “The Coming Transformation of Key Economic Sectors.”

December 2, 2015

The 4th Annual Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Symposium: Innovative Applied Research and Deployment Opportunities

Delivered presentation, “SMART Consortium Progress and Framework for Success.”

August 13, 2015

First Annual Symposium on Transportation Informatics

Served as Master of Ceremonies for the conference, “Big Data Analytics Transforming Transportation Operations, Management and Safety.”

November 5, 2014

The 3rd Symposium on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

Served as Master of Ceremonies for the conference and organized initial consortium meeting, “Smart City Market Alignment for Roadway Technologies (SMART).”