People in the news, Nov. 27, 2006

Sevin Rosen names gaming exec EIR

, former vice president and COO of Electronic Arts Canada, has joined Sevin Rosen Funds as an entrepreneur-in-residence. He will work out of the firm’s Austin, Texas, office, and will focus on opportunities in the user-generated content and consumer gaming markets.

Sevin Rosen partner Steve Dow made a splash last month when he told The New York Times that the firm would no longer be fund-raising “and would return over $250 million of capital to investors” because he believed the industry’s model was “broken.”

Accel beefs up London office with Levine

has joined the London office of Accel Partners to focus on opportunities in the Internet, media and communications markets. He previously spent four years as a managing director of corporate development at Yahoo.

KKR appoints Bond

appointed Sir John Bond, former group chairman of HSBC Holdings as a senior adviser to the firm.

Bond is currently chairman of Vodafone Group and a member of the China Development Forum, which meets annually in Beijing and provides advice to the Chinese government. KKR Partner Joe Bae says that Bond will advise the firm on a growing number of opportunities across Asia.

Apax co-CEO quits

resigned last month as co-CEO of Apax Partners U.S., according to multiple sources close to the firm. The move comes just two months before a final close is scheduled for Apax Excelsior VII, and will be exacerbated by the simultaneous resignation of U.S. consumer and retail group head Chris Reilly.

Apax isn’t commenting publicly, but the moves seem to be just the latest changes caused by the firm’s strategic shift toward large/mega-market exclusivity.

The first phase was an abandonment of venture capital, which came shortly after Apax U.S. merged with buyout shop Saunders Karp & Megrue in early 2005. Now it seems that Apax U.S. also is squeezing out both small-market and mid-market buyouts, which is where Karp liked to invest. No information yet on where either Karp or Reilly will end up, but speculation abounds that they’ll try to launch some sort of independent effort. Both men also are expected to maintain their existing Apax-related board seats.

For Karp, that means: Spyder Active Sports, Cafe Rio, Ale House, Charlotte Russe, Comark and Elephant Bar. For Reilly, that means: Norcraft Cos., Comark Inc., S.B. Restaurant Corp. and Encompass Home Health.

As for the Apax U.S. masthead, John Megrue will stay on as sole CEO. In addition, European partners Christian Stahl, whose focus is media, and Nico Hansen, focussed on technology and telecom, are expected to move to New York and join the U.S. team shortly.

North Bidge hires Grayson as principal

has joined North Bridge Venture Partners as a principal. She previously led new product development efforts at Blackbaud (Nasdaq: BLKB), a provider of software to nonprofit organizations. The firm has begun raising a new growth equity fund.