Meet the Team
Stephen L. Cummings
B.Sc. (Econ), CPA, CA, FCA (UK)
Managing General Partner
Stephen is a leading advisor and financial expert who has worked extensively, and is well connected, in the Canadian Private Equity and Venture Capital Industry. He has international credentials being a qualified CPA, CA in Ontario and is an FCA in England and Wales.
Prior to founding Rizolve Partners, a leading strategic business advisory firm to the SME market, Stephen was a leading executive with a top quartile Private Equity firm DRI Capital and a Partner with Lumira Capital, one of Canada’s leading Venture Capital firms. Prior to applying his skills in private capital, Stephen was the CFO at Harlequin Enterprises, a global publisher, and trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in London, UK.
Stephen has also conducted numerous successful consulting assignments in his own consulting practice involving acquisitions, disposals, financings, reorganizations, turnarounds and strategic advisory to numerous CEOs in both the public and private arenas.
Stephen is a member of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Genomics Institute and Chairs its audit committee.
Stephen received a B. Sc. in Economics with honors from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Canadian Venture Capital Association and Financial Executives International.
In the Private Equity industry Stephen has chaired a country wide CFO task force leading this industry group through such paradigm changes in International Financial Reporting Standards, and Private Equity Valuation and Reporting best practices. He is also a sought after speaker who has spoken in Toronto and New York.
Raghu Ram
CMA, CPA, CVA, CWA
Valuation Specialist
Raghu Ram is a senior finance executive with strong domain experience in business and finance gained across several industry verticals.
Previously, he was CFO of a clean technology Canadian engineering company. Raghu also worked as a strategy, M&A and valuation advisory consultant for a $3 billion diversified privately owned power company. He worked in the US in a pivotal finance role for a NASDAQ listed off-road electrical transportation high tech engineering company. Prior to that Raghu worked with KPMG LLP in their CFO Advisory Services practice and led several advisory engagements in Silicon Valley, Arizona and Seattle. Raghu has worked with well-known Canadian companies such as Rogers Communications Inc. and DuPont Canada among others.
In recent years, Raghu has helped businesses through the complex issues of valuations for financing, strategic acquisitions, divestitures as well as specialized calculations & opinions around claims of economic damages, business interruptions and risk assessments for strengthening internal controls and governance.
His specific expertise is in business process improvements, financial reporting - US GAAP (revenue recog, M&A accounting) & SEC reporting (10K, 8K, 10Qs), FP&A, business and enterprise valuations, raising capital for expansion and acquisitions, pre-acquisition due diligence-buy/sell, post merger integration, finance strategy and risk management.
Raghu's finance experience covers several industry verticals which include: engineering, industrial chemicals, telecommunications, Big-4 consulting, technology, renewable energy, and power & utility.
Donna Takacs
B.Comm (Marketing, Finance)
