JOHN BERYLSON

1953 - 2023

BERYLSON, John Loss of a Great Partner and Colleague We are deeply saddened at the untimely passing of John Berylson, chairman of Chestnut Hill Ventures (CHV). Among John's various roles, he was chairman of the board of Affinity Solutions. Simply put, without John, Affinity would likely not be here today. We were introduced to John while in the final stage of due diligence with another investor, a venture capital firm that would have been the wrong partner for the company to support the next stage of our journey. Within days, John came in as the "white knight", replacing that investor with a much better choice. CHV had a combination of retail, consumer products and payments experience, which aligned well with our business. John is well known as the owner of the Millwall football club in the UK, and is regarded as the best owner the team's ever had, leading to their being promoted to the Championship League in 2017, and maintaining that position ever since. He and his wife, Amy, are also great philanthropists, having made substantial donations to hospitals, universities and other beneficiaries of their generosity. John and CHV were ideal partners for Affinity as we charted our path from being a provider of merchant funded rewards programs to becoming the leading consumer purchase insights company today. That journey took somewhat longer than expected, and John was the patient investor we needed who was willing to stand by our side throughout. While the capital was important to fund our growth, it was even more important that CHV aligned with our culture, and John, his son Jimmy, and Demos Kouvaris, CHV's chief operating and financial officer, were the perfect fit. There were also plenty of funny moments with John over the years. Like when one of our board meetings happened to coincide with a Millwall match, John was very considerate, so instead of asking to change the board meeting, he just watched the match on his iPad during the board presentations. John was also the most well read and knowledgeable person on American and European history and other subjects we've ever come across. Often, he would provide an arcane insight, like Millard Fillmore being the last American president who was neither a Democrat or Republican. We were sure he couldn't be right all the time, but despite our fact checking, he was always right. We are forever indebted to John Berylson, not just as our lead investor over the past 12 years, but as a true partner and supporter every step of the way. R.I.P John. The Team at Affinity Solutions

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