Leadership
Our partners have decades of operational, managerial, and investing experience.
David Scalzo
Bobby DeYoung, CFA
Leighton Yenor
Jim Thomas
Noel Heiks
Our partners have decades of operational, managerial, and investing experience.
David Scalzo is the Founder and Managing Partner for Kirenaga Partners.
David co-founded the fintech company AdvisorEngine, served as its first CFO and sat on the Board of Directors until its sale to FranklinTempleton. In addition, he has extensive experience initiating, growing and managing businesses through various roles at Credit Suisse, Citadel, Bear Stearns, and Precision Plating Company.
David serves on the Board for the Northwestern University Wildcat Athletic Venture Enterprise (NU/WAVE) investment fund, as well as numerous former and current portfolio companies.
David graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University, a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, a Masters in Engineering Management from Northwestern University, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Terrance (“Terry”) Berland is a Managing Partner of Kirenaga Partners.
In addition to his leadership role at Kirenaga, Terry currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Violet Defense Group, a portfolio company of Kirenaga. He has spent over 20 years driving large scale operational, organization and growth/profit improvement programs. Terry worked extensively in the financial services industry as a senior manager in investment banking (Bear, Lehman, JPMorgan, Barclays), asset management and advisory (Russell Investments), and most recently, hedge funds (Bridgewater Associates). Prior to his work in financial services, Mr. Berland spent 6 years in McKinsey & Company, operating as a partner in the North American Hospital and Health Insurance Practice as well as the Global Operating Practice. Terry’s first job out of college was serving our country in the U.S. Navy as an officer and instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power School.
Terry currently sits on the Board of Directors of Starter Studio, an incubator in Orlando, as well as numerous former and current portfolio companies.
He holds a Bachelors in Mathematics and Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Terry is married to his wife Kristi and is the father of 5 children. He loves wine, golf, and scuba diving.
David Muson is an Operating Partner of Kirenaga Partners LLC, and was previously the President of Kirenaga Home Care LLC, a franchisee of Synergy Home Care.
Mr. Muson has an extensive background in domestic and cross-border M&A advisory services, with more than 15 years of professional and investment banking experience focusing on the Consumer Products, Food & Beverage and Building Materials sectors.
Prior to starting a home health care business, Mr. Muson served as a Vice President in Houlihan Lokey’s New York office, as a Vice President of Corporate Finance at BNP Paribas, as a Senior Associate at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance, and as a Consulting Manager at Arthur Andersen.
Mr. Muson holds a BS in Chemical Engineering with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University, and Masters in Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from the University of Michigan (Ross School of Business).
Anthony Capasso is an Operating Principal of Kirenaga Partners LLC where he spearheads acquisition due diligence and takes on key management positions across the firm's portfolio.
Anthony's background encompasses over 20+ years of operational executive experience across the various industries with a concentration in the manufacturing sector. He has played instrumental roles in assessing, building out and scaling early stage companies into successful middle market operating businesses. Serving in C-Level positions across various industries, Anthony established a track record of increasing profitability, driving sales growth, and successfully implementing key strategic operational improvements.
Prior to joining Kirenaga, Anthony was COO and CFO of a privately held U.S. manufacturer and wholesaler of apparel to brand-leading consumer companies where he played a pivotal role in driving revenues from $2 million to $26 million.
Anthony is an active member of his community where he serves as Chairman of the Ethics Committee for the Village of Briarcliff Manor and previously served as a Trustee. He is involved in youth sporting organizations where he has coached teams in the American Youth Soccer Organization and the Catholic Youth Organization.
Robert ("Bobby") DeYoung has extensive experience with various facets of financial analysis, data processing, and portfolio theory, and is especially well versed in risk analysis and performance attribution.
He has been working in the financial services and investment industry since 2007. Bobby spent the first two years of his career at Citi Smith Barney before spending the next six years at Bridgewater Associates in various analytical roles of progressively increasing responsibility, culminating in the head analytical position in Bridgewater’s Client Reporting group.
Bobby holds a Bachelors in Economics and Asian Studies from Cornell University, and is a CFA® charterholder.
Leighton Yenor has a background in digital marketing, with an emphasis in social media and communications strategy. Her focus is improving the overall experience of doing business with Kirenaga, including but not limited to: maintaining our web presence, creating content and expanding thought-leadership.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, as well as an Integrated Marketing Communications Certificate from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. While there she was a 4-year Varsity letter winner of the NCAA DI Women’s Lacrosse team and helped lead them to the first Big Ten Championship in school history.
Leighton is a 4th generation central Florida native, loves to hang at New Smyrna Beach, play with her Belgain Malinois, Lenix, and bake in her spare time.
Mr. Miron is a currently a Partner at FNY Capital Management LP, a Global Multi Strategy Trading Firm. He is acting as COO, overseeing all US and London operations, including Stock Loan, IT, and Execution Management. Additionally, Mr. Miron handles all street wide counterparties for the firm. Prior to 2014, Mr. Miron served as Managing Director and Investor Services Sales Team Leader at JP Morgan subsequent to its merger with Bear Stearns, managing domestic Investor Services sales for all areas outside of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Mr. Miron was previously a Senior Managing Director, Regional Prime Broker Sales Manager, and member of the Global Equity Division Sales Committee at Bear Stearns.
Russ initially joined Bear Stearns in 1984 as a financial analyst. Since then, he has been a manager of exchange trading and operations at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and American Stock Exchange, joining the Global Clearing Services group in 1989. In 1994, Russ was asked to manage the firm’s central region clearing business, selling to and servicing hedge funds, institutions, broker-dealers, and market makers. From 2004 to 2006, he was a senior relationship manager covering 20 of Bear Stearns’ top clients, including institutions and hedge funds, as a central point-of-contact to deliver the resources of the entire firm.
During his 30 years in the financial services industry, Russ was also a member of the CBOE, an independent securities trader, registered representative, Branch Office Manager (60 Brokers, $10B in AUM and $50MM in revenue) and director of business development for a multi-billion dollar, multi-strategy hedge fund. He has served on the CBOE Member Firm Operations and Equity Floor Procedures Committees as well as on the Securities Industry Association (SIA) Options Committee and the board of the Central Region SIA.
Russ graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1982 and the NYU Stern School of Business in 1985. He holds Series 7, 63, 24, 9 and 10 licenses. Recent charitable activities include Board Member of Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois and Board Member of Intonation Music Workshop.
Jim Thomas has an extensive background working with non-profits, specifically those aligned with supporting new technologies in and around the Central Florida area. His focus at Kirenaga is enhancing investor relations, helping portfolio companies navigate pitch competitions and spreading the word about the incredible growth of the Central Florida tech scene.
Since moving to Orlando in 2011, Jim has been a staunch advocate and supporter of its ecosystem. He was the Executive Director for the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, one of the highest awarded COC's in the country, where he worked to shed light on how quickly Orlando was becoming a global leader in not only entertainment and tourism but the ideal place to start, grow, or relocate a business. After working with the Chamber for a few years, Jim left to become CEO of the Orlando Tech Alliance, where he could focus on fostering the continued growth of the region’s tech ecosystem by advocating for the tech community as well as inspiring collaboration between established businesses and startups.
Jim holds both a Bachelor of Science, and a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern California. His current philanthropic efforts include being a Board Member of Project Opioid, a non-profit committed to curbing opioid misuse and deaths across the state of Florida.
Raised on robots and startups since age 14, Noel has gravitated to high-tech business throughout her 25+ year career—building multiple multi-million dollar companies along the way. She co-founded Haleos, a fiber optics company, and sold it to Rohm and Haas—an 8 billion dollar materials company later acquired by Dow Chemical. Noel co-founded Nuvotronics—an antenna and wireless product manufacturer—and led the company as CEO, exiting the company with the sale of Nuvotronics to Cubic Corporation in 2019. She also served as President of Duos Technologies (DUOT), an artificial intelligence and computer vision company
Noel currently serves as a board member at Emcore Corporation (EMKR)—an optoelectronics company making products for broadband communications, aerospace and defense. She also serves as a board member at Censys Technologies—a drone company delivering FAA certified airborne workhorses for sensing, surveying and delivery.
Noel graduated with a BS in Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.