UK-headquartered law firm Ashurst has appointed Tim Praill head of Ashurst Digital Ventures (ADV), its development and investment arm.
Praill was previously head of Navitas Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle provided with approximately $29m by Australia-based education provider and parent company Navitas.
Navitas hired Praill in 2016 as global head of strategy and transformation, to focus on areas including corporate strategy, corporate transactions and cross-business growth schemes, before being promoted to head of Navitas Ventures in April 2018.
Praill conducted investments, partnerships and incubation investments in early-stage education technology developers on behalf of Navitas Ventures, whose portfolio includes student-focused career services provider Paragon One, virtual internship scheme InsideSherpa and university admissions tool developer StudyLink.
Founded in May 2019, ADV is looking to build digital legal products in partnership with Ashurst employees and clients, before eventually collaborating with entrepreneurs. Co-CEOs Tara Waters and Jamie Ng lead teams in London and Sydney respectively, while Praill is set to oversee the unit globally.
The move came shortly after private equity firm BGH formed a consortium with pension fund AustralianSuper and Navitas co-founder and former CEO Rodney Jones to acquire Navitas in June 2019 for about $1.6bn.
Photo of Tim Praill courtesy of LinkedIn.
