Avocation Investments

Operators who write checks.

We built a company before we started backing them. That run shapes everything we do as investors.

Jeff Kleban

Jeff Kleban

Partner · The investor

Jeff co-founded Syclo, the Chicago mobile enterprise software company acquired by SAP in 2012. Since then he has made more than 100 early-stage investments.

He takes board seats where he can help, and screens every deal that comes through the door himself.

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Rich Padula

Rich Padula

Partner · The builder

Rich co-founded Syclo and led it as CEO from startup through the 2012 acquisition by SAP. He knows what it takes to build a software company because he did it, in Chicago.

Today he incubates and operates new ventures, including Mirata Software, a no-code digital forms platform for SAP enterprises.

LinkedIn →
Where we come from

The Syclo years.

Syclo built mobile software for enterprise asset management - work orders in a technician's hands instead of on a clipboard. The company grew from a Chicago startup into SAP's mobility partner, and SAP acquired it in 2012.

Everything on this site follows from that run. We invest in B2B software companies because we spent our careers building one.

Want the longer version?

Both of us are on LinkedIn, and Jeff answers his own mail.

Get in touch