To help founders and management teams navigate the complexity of capital raising, assessing competitive landscapes, going to market, building / scaling teams, managing cash burn and runrate, and everything else in between.
Our Team
Sahan Abayarathna
Managing Partner
Sahan is a multi-strategy investor and operator with a deeper bench in a multitude of asset classes and strategies. Through his role at Highland Capital, he’s placed and managed capital in opportunities ranging from distressed & special situation to traditional middle-market private equity to venture & growth equity. On the public side, he has been the junior portfolio manager of select funds with investment strategies ranging from long-only public credit to relative value credit and equity. He has also played leadership and managerial roles including being a member of Steering and ad hoc Noteholder/ Lender group committees for companies in Ch 11 bankruptcy or restructuring (Fieldwood Energy, Peabody Energy, FirstEnergy Solutions) and sat on the board of two portfolio companies (CCS Medical and TerreStar). Venture and growth equity investments include T1 e-Sports, Castle Biosciences, Caris Life Sciences, Nacero, and others. His prior roles span alternative investing and investment banking at BBVA, Pine River Capital, Simmons & Co (now acquired by Piper Sandler), and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Sahan graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a BBA in Finance, with an Emerging Scholars in Chemistry distinction.
Ultimately, his frustration with various ecosystems (ranging from venture capital/ growth equity raising to debt advisory/ restructuring) led to his desire to create an entity to help better manage the various needs in these spaces. The core tenants of starting Sigiriya Growth Advisors include (i) help companies access meaningful, non-dilutive capital – if and when they need it – and (ii) help investors fund capital into good companies with strong teams, competitive products/ services, and a multi-tiered approach to growth.
Advisors & Experts
Stephen Ternois
ADVISOR
Stephen Ternois is a versatile investment professional with deep expertise in the nuances of capital raising, fund and investment structuring, and investment placements. He is currently a Vice President of Institutional Sales at Hartman Income REIT, where he leads the equity capital platform through joint ventures and fund level investments through retail and institutional broker channels. At his prior role as Associate Director, Investor Relations at Alpha Capital Partners, he led capital raising, formation, and deal structuring. Prior experience includes fundamental and “hands on” investment underwriting primarily in the real estate space, including retail power centers, multi-family properties, single-family properties, and commercial properties – as well as physical crude oil (and other commodity) trading. He has raised >$50mm for various investment opportunities through his career and various roles through crowdfunding and traditional institutional channels. Stephen graduated from Tulane University with a BSM in Finance, Management, and Energy.
Nauman Ahmed
ADVISOR
Nauman is an investment analyst turned product manager with a passion for the intersection of finance and technology. He is currently a Director of Product Management at Sentieo, a multi-framework research tool that is currently being used by hedge funds, investment banks, mutual funds, and other investors to streamline the investment research process. He sits between developers and customers to manage the iterative process of chasing perfection in product in an ever-changing and evolving macro backdrop and investment landscape. He helped to build, develop, and scale their research management and collaboration offerings as the Company grew from seed-stage through its Series A & B raises and to its eventual sale to AlphaSense (with investors including Ten Coves, Centana Growth, and Long Focus, among others). His prior roles include multi-strategy investing and research at Pine River Capital and StreetAuthority. Nauman graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a BBA in Finance.
Rijul Raju
Advisor
Rijul Raju is a passionate technologist with a tenured experience in both software development as well as managing diverse engineering teams. He has played the role of full stack senior engineer at a variety of companies, including seed-stage companies (Welcome AI Travel, Moonfish) backed by storied venture firms (Accel, Lakestar, and others). Various projects he’s developed and managed at these firms include extensive frontend work (internal CMS hub, data acquisition tools, human-in-the-loop content curation tools), product intelligent instruments, and many others. His programming and scripting languages include Python, TCL, PHP, Ruby, Bash, ASP.NET, C#, RegEx, JavaScript, JavaScript ES6, HTML, CSS, PL/SQL, PL/pgSQL, and Transact-SQL. Rijul graduated Magna Cumme Laude from the University of Houston with a BS in CIS.
Nitin Agrawal
CPA
Nitin Agrawal is a consultant at Ernst & Young within their Data Modelling and Analytics practice, where he uses expertise in finance and accounting to help CFOs and Controllers across various industries build complex financial models and build reporting processes. His previous engagements include audit and assurance, M&A diligence, and turnaround/restructuring advisory. He is passionate about helping middle market companies make data-driven decisions to fuel their growth and provide insightful commentary to stakeholders. Nitin graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelors in Business Administration (finance concentration) and received a Masters of Accountancy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was selected as a graduate teaching fellow by his professors.
Haben Tewelde
JD
Haben Tewelde is seasoned tax and M&A focused attorney, helping clients with company formation (domestic and international), organizational structuring including for legal entity rationalization and capital raising, sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory, reorganizations, divestitures, and spin-offs, as well as other related corporate financial and strategic initiatives at KPMG and other firms. Haben has served as the President of Doughnut USA, the US-based subsidiary of the consumer and retail apparel brand based in Hong Kong, China. Additionally, Haben has practiced as a litigator focusing on commercial litigation and international trade at Tailim Whiddon LLP and Stanton LLP. Haben graduated top of his class from the University of Florida’s with a tax law LL.M., from St. Mary's University School of Law with a J.D. (Cum Laude honors), and Texas Tech University with a BBA in Public Relations/Communications, and minors in Spanish and Legal Studies.
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