Board of Directors

Learn more about our corporate governance and leadership teams.

David Spreng
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
David Spreng Image

David founded Runway Growth Capital in 2015 and is a member of the firm's investment committee.

David is a seasoned and respected Silicon Valley-based investment executive, with 30 years of experience as a venture capitalist and growth debt lender. As a VC, he has been active in the formation and development of nearly 50 technology companies with 18 IPOs and 14 trade-sales. He was ranked four times by Forbes magazine on their annual Midas List as one of the top 50 venture capitalists; in 2006 he was ranked the #8 VC.

Beginning in 2010, David transitioned from venture capital to growth lending as a Co-Founder of Decathlon Capital Partners, a provider of revenue-based loans to small, fast-growing, bootstrapped companies. His experience at Decathlon opened his eyes to the opportunity to use debt as an alternative to equity to finance the growth of both venture-backed and non-venture backed growth companies. In 2015, he formed what is today Runway Growth Capital to pursue this vision.

David’s commitment to the entrepreneurial ecosystem is unwavering. He has served on the board and as Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee of the National Venture Capital Association (“NVCA”) and has been an active member of the World Economic Forum (“WEF”) community—including as a frequent panelist in Davos, as a member of the Technology Pioneers Selection Committee, the Steering Committee for Entrepreneurship and Successful Growth Strategies, and as an adviser to the Alternative Investments 2020 and Mainstreaming Impact Investing initiatives.

Lead Director
Gary Kovacs
Board Member
Gary Kovacs Image

Gary has served as a member of the Board since 2016 and is a member of the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee and Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

He has served as Chief Executive Officer of Accela, Inc., a provider of technology solutions, since December 2018. Prior to joining Accela, Gary served as managing director of AVG Technologies N.V.’s management board and as Chief Executive Officer of AVG from 2013 to December 2016. Prior to joining AVG, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Mozilla Corporation from 2010 to 2013. Prior to joining Mozilla, Gary held senior leadership roles as Senior Vice President of Markets, Solutions & Products at Sybase through to the acquisition by SAP, and as General Manager and Vice President of Mobile & Devices at Macromedia and Adobe. Previously, he led Zi Corporation, a public company specializing in embedded software and services for mobile and consumer devices. Before founding Zi Corporation, Gary spent 10 years at IBM in leadership positions in product management, sales, marketing and operations within the global software division.

He graduated from the University of Calgary, in Canada, with his Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA with distinction. Gary serves on the advisory board of DocuSign, and the board of directors of Desire to Learn (D2L), ePhox Corporation, Sensory, Inc. and Make-a-Wish Foundation (Bay Area Chapter). He is also a member of the University of Calgary Management Advisory Council.

Independent Director
Julie Persily
Board Member
Julie Persily Image

Julie joined the Runway Growth Finance Corp. Board of Directors in 2017.

She has over 25 years of experience in investment banking, debt capital markets and leveraged finance which includes marketing, credit analysis, structuring and negotiating terms for global debt issuances. She is currently an Independent Director at Investcorp Credit Management BDC, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICMB), a middle market focused BDC lender. Julie began her career in corporate finance at Drexel Burnham Lambert and after earning an MBA, she spent nearly ten years at Bankers Trust providing loan and bond financing to corporate and private equity clients. Julie was a Managing Director at Citibank from 1999 to 2009 where she served as Co-Head of Leveraged Finance. Julie was also formerly Co-Head of Leveraged Finance at Nomura Securities before she retired from banking.

Julie earned a BA in Economics and Psychology from Columbia College and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Columbia Business School.

Chairman of the Board
John Engel
Board Member
John Engel

John joined the Runway Growth Finance Corp. Board of Directors in 2022.

He is a co-founder and partner of Jackson Springs Management Partners, LLC, a management firm, providing strategic advice and capital to help closely-held businesses pursue their strategic and financial objectives. Prior to co-founding Jackson Springs Management Partners, LLC in 2019, John served as a consultant and adviser to various executives of start-up companies and large not for profit companies from 2016 to 2019. From 1996 until his retirement in 2015, he was employed by Accenture, a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security, where for 20 years he served in a variety of client-facing and leadership roles, including Managing Partner and Executive Partner, for several key strategies.

John holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Accounting and Business Management from the University of Michigan.

Independent Director
Greg Share
Board Member
share

Greg joined the Runway Growth Finance Corp. Board of Directors in 2023 and is a seasoned manager and investment professional with extensive experience working with financial services, insurance and enterprise software businesses.

He currently serves as a Managing Director for the Opportunities Funds within Oaktree Capital Management L.P. since January 2021. He is also Chairman of Ambina Partners LLC, a director of Kinsale Capital Group and has served on several public and private company boards. Greg was Managing Partner of Ambina Partners LLC, an investment firm focused on investing in financial services and software companies from March 2015 to December 2020. He also has over twenty years of private equity experience in the U.S. and Europe, which included leadership positions at Moelis Capital Partners LLC, Fortress Investment Group LLC and Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC. Greg began his career in investment banking and private equity at Lazard Freres & Co., LLC.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and is also a Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and a CFA Charterholder.