About us
About Lighthouse Advisory Partners
Les Elby founded Lighthouse in 2017, and Mat Truche-Gordon joined him as a partner in 2020. We work only with technology companies and the people who invest in them. Our partners have run strategy and M&A inside technology businesses, and a partner leads every project we take on.
Our story
We started Lighthouse because we like growing companies
It is what we have always done. Even in corporate roles inside large technology firms, we mentored smaller businesses and helped them grow, and it was the part of the job we found most rewarding. When the chance came in 2017 to do it full time, starting Lighthouse was an easy choice.
Our first projects were sales of technology companies for their owners. Today about nine in ten of our projects are for buyers: acquisitions, commercial due diligence, and customer research for technology companies and the investors behind them. We still act for sellers where the business and the team are right.
Clients since 2017 include Causeway Technologies, GBG and IRIS on acquisitions, Axiom Equity and Scottish Equity Partners on due diligence and customer research, and Amentum on AI readiness.
Growth strategy sits alongside the deal work. A leadership team deciding where to grow next often ends up deciding what to buy, and we help with both. We now also advise on AI readiness, after using AI inside our own firm since 2020.
A partner scopes each project, runs it and presents the findings, and there is no handover to a junior team after the first meeting.
Lighthouse Advisory Partners
Founded
2017
Partners
Les Elby; Mat Truche-Gordon
Clients
Technology companies and their investors, only
Track record
100+ transactions completed by our partners over 20 years, in previous roles and at Lighthouse
On every project
A partner leads it, and a partner is on every call
Registered office
86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE
The partners
Partners with more than 20 years in technology businesses
Our partners sit on the boards of technology companies today, and have sat on the boards of others they helped to scale. They share the work rather than splitting it by specialism, and one or more partners lead each project, depending on its size and complexity.
Les Elby
Les started his career as an engineer on large construction projects, including LNG plants. He has spent more than 20 years in technology businesses, in corporate development, strategy, and executive management, including as Executive Vice President of Group Strategy and Communications at AVEVA. He founded Lighthouse in 2017, sits on the boards of technology companies, and mentors founders of start-ups and smaller businesses.
Career, in four steps
- Engineering Engineer on large construction projects, including LNG plants
- Technology Corporate development, strategy and executive management, including at AVEVA
- Executive Vice President Group Strategy and Communications at AVEVA
- Lighthouse, 2017 Founded Lighthouse. Sits on technology company boards today
Mat Truche-Gordon
Mat has spent more than 20 years in leadership roles in software. For ten years at AVEVA he ran strategy, key accounts, marketing, licensing, partnerships and M&A as a member of the executive board. In 2015 he joined Hg Capital, where he spent five years in corporate development and completed more than 25 acquisitions and disposals. He joined Lighthouse as a partner in 2020 and sits on the boards of technology companies in the UK and Central Europe.
Career, in four steps
- AVEVA, ten yearsExecutive board: strategy, key accounts, marketing, licensing, partnerships and M&A
- Hg Capital, five years Corporate development: more than 25 acquisitions and disposals
- Lighthouse, 2020 Joined as a partner
- Boards Technology companies in the UK and Central Europe
Operating partners
Experienced people we bring in when the work needs them
Martin, Ian and Mark work with us on projects where their background fits. A partner still leads every project and is on every call.
Martin Temple
Operating partner
Martin has more than 30 years in software, product and business management. He founded ParentMail, the school communication and payments service that IRIS Software Group bought in 2017, and has led IRIS BioStore, which provides cashless catering and identity management to schools. He advises on product strategy, pricing and customer satisfaction, and serves as a non-executive director.
Ian Gates
Operating partner
Ian has run software and service businesses in the private and public sectors, from small software houses to a division of Capita plc, where he was managing director. He has grown businesses organically and by acquisition, including turnarounds and bringing merged teams together. He first worked with Lighthouse in 2017, while at Hg-backed IRIS.
Mark Davis
Operating partner
Mark leads our outreach: the first approach to customers and experts for due diligence and customer research, and to buyers in M&A. He has more than 30 years in client-facing roles. Each person he contacts should know they were chosen for the conversation. He worked with Les on the sale of Snapbytes to Appfire in 2021.
Also at Lighthouse
Miles Harrington
Digital Marketing Director
Miles has more than 15 years in digital marketing for technology and advisory firms. At Lighthouse he runs all of our digital marketing, from video and content to targeted campaigns.
How we work
Technology only
Software and technology businesses and the people who invest in them, since 2017.
A partner leads every project
A partner scopes it, runs it and presents the findings. There is no handover to a junior team after the first meeting.
We have done the job
Our partners have run strategy, M&A and corporate development inside technology businesses, and sit on technology boards today.
We say when it will not work
If a deal or a plan will not work, we say so at the first meeting. If we are not the right people, we say that too.
Short enough to use
A plan short enough for the board to read and specific enough to act on.
We use AI ourselves
We have used AI inside our own firm since 2020, so our advice on it comes from our own practice.
Some of the companies and investors we have worked with
Questions
Questions people ask about Lighthouse
When was Lighthouse founded?
Les Elby founded Lighthouse in 2017. Mat Truche-Gordon joined as a partner in 2020.
Where are you based?
Our registered office is in London, at 86-90 Paul Street. Most of our clients are in the UK, and we have also worked with clients in Europe and the US.
Will an operating partner run our project?
No. A partner leads every project and is on every call. Martin, Ian or Mark joins where their background fits the work.
Who are you not right for?
We work with established technology businesses with a trading record, and with the investors who back them. If you are exploring an acquisition before the funding is in place, or a sale before the business is ready, we will say so and suggest what to do first.
Do you use AI in your own work?
Yes. We have used AI inside our own firm since 2020. The judgement, the client conversations and the final report stay with a partner.
Where can we follow your thinking?
On our Insights page and on LinkedIn. AI-Proof, our sister brand, covers AI news and what it means for business leaders, without the hype.
How do we start?
With a conversation with a partner. Tell us the decision in front of you. We will say whether we can help, which piece of work would answer it, or that you do not need us yet.
Talk to a partner
Meet the people who would lead your project
The first conversation is with a partner, and so is everything after it. Tell us the decision in front of you, and we will tell you plainly whether we can help.