ATLANTA & BOSTON & SAN DIEGO & TAMPA, Fla. & WASHINGTON– Anzu Partners, an investment firm delivering capital and strategic support to breakthrough technology companies, today announced the election of Cathryn Paine to Partner. Cathryn leads a team that drives portfolio company performance through recruiting and retaining exceptional people.
“As the head of our people function, Cathryn is an indispensable partner to our portfolio company leaders as they build high-performing, specialized teams and navigate company growth. She has earned the trust and confidence of executives across Anzu and the portfolio because of her deep experience, strong intuition, and humanity,” said Dr. Whitney Haring-Smith, Managing Partner and co-founder, Anzu Partners.
Since joining Anzu Partners in 2017, Cathryn and her team have recruited hundreds of highly specialized scientific, technical, and industry experts across more than 25 of Anzu’s portfolio companies. In 2022, 93 team members, representing approximately $10 million in annualized salary and more than 50% of headcount growth, joined some of Anzu’s highest potential portfolio companies. She also recruited six public company officers and board members, half of which are women.
Committed to a people-first approach to building companies, Cathryn has spearheaded multiple programs with aggregate benefit. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she rolled out a robust mental healthcare platform for Anzu and 16 portfolio companies. Cathryn also has implemented diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, employee engagement surveys, management training, and anti-harassment training for Anzu and across the portfolio. With an average turnover rate of 9%, the companies supported by Cathryn’s teams are standouts among venture backed start-ups for having sophisticated benefits packages, compensation analysis, and development opportunities.
In addition to her role managing Anzu’s recruiting, organizational development, and people operations, Cathryn has been instrumental in developing and supporting some of Anzu’s leading investments, including EnCharge AI, where she serves as a board observer.
“In her role at Anzu, Cathryn has cultivated a strong network of executive leaders and professionals that has been a genuine game-changer for our portfolio companies in this competitive market,” said Jimmy Kan, Partner, Anzu Partners. “What sets her apart, though, is her approachable leadership style and her natural ability to inspire those around her. It’s been both a privilege and a source of motivation to work alongside her.”
“People are an organization’s most important stakeholders, and building a company culture that attracts and retains high performers is a proven correlation to strong financial performance,” said Cathryn Paine, Partner, Anzu Partners. “Just as top professional athletes want to play for top teams, so too do the best and brightest engineers, scientists, marketers and financial analysts. In devoting attention to the function of the company itself, by deploying resources and using data to guide decision making, we are able to make our portfolio companies highly attractive to top talent.”
Before Anzu, Cathryn was the deputy to the COO and led recruiting at Mapbox, a real-time location platform, where she helped quadruple the size of the company between its Series A and C funding rounds, and implemented processes around HR, compensation, benefits, performance management, and employment policies. Prior to Mapbox, Cathryn managed the finance, recruiting, and HR operations at FrontlineSMS, a mobile messaging software company.
Cathryn serves as a committee member of the Women on Boards Project, where she conducts Board-level searches for venture-backed businesses. In 2022, Cathryn was named one of the 40 Rising Stars Under 40 by Venture Capital Journal. She received her BA and MA from the George Washington University.
