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After several years in the Army and in consulting, Johnny Sleeman was drawn to entrepreneurship and decided to launch Apiana Partners, a SF focused on acquiring and operating a single exceptional UK small business. He is backed by a group of experienced investors and entrepreneurs, including SFClub, 9T Capital, Spectra Investments, Itaca Capital Partners, Inseta Partners, Iniginy Capital, Pitlane Capital, Mark McKenzie, Carl Hunter, Daniel Reynolds, and Ola Lawal.
Johnny brings experience across military leadership, strategy consulting, and operational execution. He served seven years as an officer in the British Army, leading teams in complex, high-pressure environments and developing deep expertise in leadership, planning, and execution. He later earned an MBA from INSEAD, where he discovered the ETA model. He then joined McKinsey & Company, advising clients across defense, telecommunications, consumer, and regulated industries on strategy, commercial transformation, and due diligence. He subsequently held a senior commercial operations role at Formula 1, leading digital transformation initiatives and business model redesign across global products.
He seeks to acquire a profitable UK-based SME with £1M–£5M EBITDA, strong recurring or contracted revenues, a defensible market position (e.g., niche expertise, IP, regulatory barriers), an established management team, and 10+ years of operating history. His primary focus is on businesses in or adjacent to the aerospace, defense, and security sectors, as well as other high-quality B2B businesses.
