We built Essen to close the gap between digital execution and digital diligence.
As operators leading growth across brands and portfolios, we saw firsthand how standard diligence failed to capture how digital dynamics—now central to every business—shape margin, capital needs, and return.
FOUNDING TEAM
Brady Donnelly
Brady is a growth strategist with two decades of experience driving revenue, valuation, and operational scale for PE-backed and high-growth companies. He’s led commercial diligence, pricing, and value creation for funds including L Catterton, TSG, Bluegem, and Inflexion.
A founder of both a digital agency (acquired in 2017) and a venture fund, he brings a dual perspective on execution and investment that helps uncover risk—and unlock upside.
Peter Kang
Peter is a strategist and operator with two decades of experience leading digital transformation across PE-backed businesses. He co-founded Barrel, a digital agency that scaled into a multi-practice platform serving wellness, personal care, B2B, and retail brands.
Peter has evaluated and backed early-stage companies through Barrel Venture Partners and brings a cross-functional view of value creation—spanning capital allocation, creative execution, and performance marketing.
Sei-Wook Kim
Sei-Wook specializes in building operational infrastructure for creative and digital teams. As co-founder and former president of Barrel, he helped scale execution across marketing, CX, and e-commerce for over a dozen PE portfolio companies.
He also brings investing experience through Barrel Venture Partners, supporting companies at the intersection of growth and systems. His work blends builder-operator insight with an investor’s lens on scalability and integration.
SECTORS