Team

Tim Greenfield is the Founder and Managing Partner of Demopolis Equity Partners. Prior to Demopolis, Tim has a long track record in private equity building strong teams and collaborating with talented management teams to generate well above market returns. In addition to his track record in private equity, Tim is an experienced operator who has held numerous C-Level positions in technology companies. His early career included training in GE’s management program and serving as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. This unique combination of experiences as a professional investor, operator and consultant allows Tim and the Demopolis team to uniquely partner with management teams to build strategies that drive growth and value creation.

Tim holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a Master of Manufacturing Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

First job: Lawn mower for a minority-owned small landscaping business in Detroit, MI.

James Smith is a Partner and Managing Director of Demopolis Equity Partners. Prior to Demopolis, James was a Managing Director at Diamond Hill Capital Management where he led the institutional sales team. His previous experiences include senior roles at Ariel Investments, MFS Investment Management, PineBridge Investments, and Goldman Sachs. James has a stellar track record in fundraising having raised over $12 Billion in institutional assets across his 25-year career in asset management. In addition to direct sales, James is also experienced in managing and servicing relationships with asset owners as well as asset allocators. Additionally, James formed a successful private equity search fund where he acquired and successfully operated a national elementary education enrichment business. James started his career as an engineer at Procter & Gamble.

James holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a Master of Manufacturing Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University and a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University.

First job: Newspaper delivery person and attendant at a recreation center in Calumet Park, IL.

Marcell is a Partner and Head of Portfolio Company Strategy at Demopolis Equity Partners. Prior to joining Demopolis, Marcell worked closely with members of the Demopolis team at a prior fund in helping to build portfolio company Payveris into a market leader resulting in a 6x exit to Paymentus, a KKR backed company. Previously, Marcell held executive-level positions at Amazon (leading the creation of their global gift card channel), InComm (an industry leader in prepaid card and transaction technologies, products and services), Open Solutions (Fintech Core Banking Software Platform), Timely Rewards and BankServ. Marcell is an accomplished software executive with 20 years of experience in strategy, operations, sales, marketing, product management, client services and P&L management.

Marcell graduated from Boise State University where he majored in Marketing and Finance and was a four-year letterman on the Football team.

First job: Cashier at a video rental in North Pole, AK

Santo Cannone is a Partner of Portfolio Company Strategy at Demopolis Equity Partners. Santo brings more than 30 years of experience leading product, technology, and commercial functions across some of the most respected names in financial technology. Prior to joining Demopolis, Santo was Chief Product Officer at Fiserv, where he led product strategy and innovation across a portfolio of banking and payment technologies. His earlier leadership roles include Chief Operating Officer at ConnectWise, Senior Vice President of Group Sales at Open Solutions, Senior Vice President of Real Time Systems at FIS, and Managing Director at EDS. Over the course of his career, Santo has played a critical role in scaling companies from early-stage to enterprise, with a focus on product-led growth and client-centric innovation.

Santo has worked closely with members of the Demopolis team on numerous investments over the years, including serving on boards and advising on product strategy and go-to-market execution.

Santo holds an MBA from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Science from Drexel University.

First job: Gofer in the HVAC Department at the since demolished Philadelphia General Hospital.

Chandra Sekhar Kartha is a Principal at Demopolis Equity Partners. He is an experienced M&A professional with over 10 years of experience in Investment Banking, Strategy and Corporate M&A across a wide range of industries. Prior to joining Demopolis, Chandra worked with members of the Demopolis team in a prior fund throughout the majority of its cycle, leading portfolio company sourcing, due diligence, and financial analysis. Previously, he worked in Corporate Development at IGATE, an NYSE listed IT services company, and was also a part of the Aerospace M&A team at Honeywell. He began his post MBA career in the Investment Banking division of HSBC.

Chandrasekhar holds an MBA in Finance & Strategy from Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar, India and a BSc in Engineering from Calicut University, India in Electronics and Communications.

First job: Compiled software code for a living.

Daniel Puttini is a Vice President at Demopolis Equity Partners. He is an experienced professional with a diverse background in investment management, M&A, corporate strategy, and management consulting. Prior to joining Demopolis, Daniel served as an Investment Banking Associate at Robert W. Baird in Chicago focusing in M&A advisory. Daniel also worked as a Corporate Strategy Manager at Santander Bank in Brazil, where he served as a Chief of Staff to the CEO of an in-house payment services fintech.

Daniel started his career as a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company working on high impact projects for corporate clients across Latin America.

Daniel holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Universidade de Brasília.

First Job: Playing samba at bars and clubs near São Paulo, Brazil.

Laura Papuc is Vice President of Finance at Demopolis Equity Partners. She brings eight years of accounting experience, most recently serving as Senior Fund Accountant at Alter Domus in Chicago, where she managed monthly reporting and NAV calculations for a $4.5B real estate investment trust, streamlined fund accounting processes through Excel automation to reduce month‑end reporting time by over 15%, oversaw bank and account reconciliations, ensured GAAP compliance, and prepared and delivered investor reporting.
Prior roles include Accounting Supervisor at The Tax Defenders and Cost Accountant at A&B Hardwood Flooring Supplies, where she led accounting cleanups, implemented internal controls, and produced operational and inventory reporting.
Laura holds a B.S. in Economics (Business Administration), is QuickBooks Online certified, and is conversational in Romanian, Spanish, and French.

First job: Call center representative for a small airline.