Cohort 52 - Six deal-sourcing teams: ClimateTech, Consumer, Enterprise,
FinTech, Frontier, and Healthcare
ClimateTech Team
- 6+ years of experience in corporate sustainability transformation, helping organizations embed positive change
- 3+ years as founder of an employee engagement app, focused on driving participation and impact
- Passionate about collaboration and building a better, more sustainable future together
- Enjoy playing football and spending time in the mountains
- +20 years in public policy for innovations
- Experienced executive in international development and philanthropy
- Passionate about EduTech, ClimateTech and all sorts of innovation
- Responsible investor
- ClimateTech, Water Technology, Clean Water & Sanitation, AgTech, Environmental Sustainability, Impact Investing, Green Innovation
- Proven Doer : 8+ years in corporate sustainability, delivering and scaling circularity and decarbonization programs across manufacturing and supply chains in pharma and consumer healthcare
- Active Contributor: Founder of an online community, author of a monthly newsletter and keynote speaker on corporate sustainability, climate tech, and climate careers
- Impact-Driven Approach: Motivated by curiosity and discipline, combining technical expertise, business acumen and collaborative leadership
- 'Third culture kid': lived in 5 countries, trilingual in Italian, English and French
- Former entrepreneur of 2 companies, with one major exit
- Private investor in 41 climate tech startups
- Kitesurfer on waves
- Trumpet player in 2 jazz bands
- Founding team member of Office 365, Prime Video global recommendations, and the all-digital telco Visible — building platforms used by billions
- Deep AI and platform experience, from last 15+ years
- Global operator and builder — scaled engineering and product teams in US, Europe, MENA, and APAC; launched products in 180+ countries
- Founder of Be Human Capital, investing in 12+ startups across Africa, New Zealand, UAE, and the US, with a passion for creating meaningful tech and resilient leadership
- Attorney with 15 years’ experience in commercial transactions including 11+ years in Entertainment Business & Legal Affairs at one of Hollywood’s top grossing major studios and a leading multinational production company
- Experienced in the launching and building of multiple successful startup studios/divisions producing top tier content across Film, Television, Animation, and Videogames / Interactive
- Continually seeking to transform practices and evolve industries in which I work
Consumer Team
- 6+ Years in frontier markets as a start-up coach and investor into Real Estate
- Passionate about empowering under severed markets
- Manages multi-cultural teams and thrives well in diverse environments
- Technical background, graduating from CU Boulder in Mechanical Engineering
- Worked in the startup industry
- Aspiring Venture Capital lifer
- Avid outdoorsman / modern day renaissance man
- Expertise is driving innovation and value creation within the global sports, media, and entertainment ecosystem
- Previously led strategy, growth, and venture initiatives for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA)
- In this role, served as an advisor to current and former NBA players on collective economic and business growth opportunities
- 10 years at Deloitte as a management consultant providing financial and strategic advisory to the firm’s largest clients across a wide range of industries while helping them navigate and execute complex global transactions
- 40+ years as a pioneering tech entrepreneur
- 15+ liquidity events, including 7- and 8-figure exits
- Invented the OneCart™ system that Amazon has used for $2.78 trillion in GMV
- Created startup backed by Angels, VCs, Fortune 50 companies, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos
Enterprise Team
- Experienced investor & enterprise builder — deep-tech, dual-use/defense, and venture platforms; architecting systems that turn insight into durable, compounding value across funds, education, and operating companies
- Seasoned educator, technologist, and operator — PhD engineer, former senior DoD leader, and professor with a track record of leading complex institutions and making capital, innovation, and decision-making legible to others
- Angel & VC investor with conviction — backing exceptional founders, infrastructure-grade businesses, defensible moats, and outcomes that generate strong returns while expanding access, agency, and ownership
- Senior Health Administration Fellow, Rutgers University
- Former North Dakota State Health Officer
- Founder and CEO, Health Ventures Advisors, LLC
- Visionary Public Health Leader; Strategic Communicator; Eternal Optimist; Startups Advisor; Angel Investor; VC Venture Partner
- Expertise in Clinical Medicine, Cancer Research, Genomics and Proteomics, Health Systems Strategic Planning, Public Health, Population Health Management, State Government, and Startups Advising
- I am passionate about building strong relationships with startups to help founders strategize and scale their companies. Fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration in Healthcare is how we disrupt the healthcare system and improve peoples lives
- Seasoned entrepreneur with a deep passion for technology and business
- 15+ years of experience in marketing, operations and business development
- Angel investor in early stage companies in ai, robotics, enterprise, and crypto industries
- Advisor and mentor for early stage startups on GTM execution and growth strategies
Fintech Team
- Partner at Tomas Schwarz Capital, leading direct investments, co-investments, and complex capital structuring across Europe; hands-on lead investor in high-growth ventures such as SKYTRADERS and Vegvisir
- 20+ years of experience in financial advisory across retail and private banking, with a strong track record supporting HNWIs in building long-term, risk-aware investment strategies
- Proven bridge-builder between founders and capital, connecting deep-tech and frontier-tech companies with institutional investors and strategic partners
- Seasoned Finance and Investment Professional with over six years of experience advancing impactful projects across African markets. I specialize in high-impact investment evaluation, financial modeling, and the structuring of large-scale PPP projects across multiple sectors. My background spans impact investing, strategic advisory, and stakeholder engagement, with a proven track record of delivering rigorous financial analyses and innovative partnership models for governments, institutions, and startups. Cofounder and shareholder of Kiende Research Labs LLP, an AI legal-tech startup, and Non-Executive Board Member of CALP (Congolese Adviser in Business Law and PPP), a leading advisory firm shaping business law and infrastructure development across Africa. Recognized as a strategic thinker and ethical leader, I combine analytical expertise with cross-cultural fluency and a deep commitment to sustainable progress and economic inclusion. Fluent in French, English, Lingala, and Kikongo, with working proficiency in Swahili and Portuguese, enabling me to navigate complex, multilingual environments and engage effectively with diverse stakeholders. I thrive in fast-paced, impact-driven settings that demand both vision and execution
- Possess a rare hybrid background that combines technical understanding of AI/ML with deep, practical domain expertise in FinTech and regulated sectors like enterprise. This enables me to identify founders who are not just building novel technology, but solving fundamental, high-value problems with a clear path to commercialization
- Invest with a research-driven, first-principles lens, focusing on sustainable business models and long-term defensibility over short-term trends. My approach is to build conviction in complex fields by deconstructing technologies and markets to their core drivers, which is critical for sourcing and evaluating opportunities in Enterprise Software and Climate Tech
- Demonstrate a high-risk tolerance and strategic patience aligned with the long development cycles of frontier innovations. I am adept at navigating uncertainty and supporting founders through the unique challenges of building in Deep Tech and other capital-intensive, thesis-driven sectors
- 25+ years of strategy consulting, banking, payments and technology startups
- Fully qualified lawyer in Germany
- Passionate about the power of technology to transform financial services
- Multilingual travel and sports enthusiast
Frontier Team
- 10+ years of experience in hardtech and aerospace development
- Specialized in early-stage technology development
- Passionate about fostering innovation, knowledge, and collaboration to build a thriving future
- Applied Finance graduate aspiring to build a career in Venture Capital
- AI startup co-founder driven by early-stage building and scalable innovation
- Believe in investing in people, conviction, and long-term value over ideas alone
- A video game nerd, avid reader, and sports enthusiast who thrives on strategy and competition
- Aerospace executive with a unique blend of investment experience and extensive human spaceflight, strategy, and partnership expertise
- 20+ years at NASA JSC as Division Chief, strategist, technical manager, and Space Shuttle flight controller in Mission Control
- Former Registered Investment Advisor and private equity real estate investor
- Former board member and Director of Development for a non-profit supporting survivors of human trafficking
- I am a Venture Capital and Business Development executive with a track record in scaling startups, deep tech, and industrial innovation globally
- I bring a unique mix of traditional VC (VU Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins), Corporate VC (Hyundai, Enplas, Siemens, BMW), and startup leadership – with a strong focus on Deep Tech
- Invested $100M+ across 45+ startups (AI, Robotics, Semiconductors, Materials, Mobility, Energy, Climate, Space, Life Sciences), with 6 exits, 9 unicorns, and served on 12+ Boards
- Led Hyundai’s strategic investments, achieving 4.2 TVPI, 1.0 DPI (top 6% of 2020 vintage)
- 20+ years of experience in building europe’s leading SAS-Provider for Crisis Management
- Angel Investor in 10+ Startups
- Enjoying live with running, skiing, mountain biking,…
- Former Professional Athlete with the same resilient mindset, who wants to change the world and win
- Founding member of a US accelerator’s European arm; oversaw cohort launch and initial funding rounds
- Currently building an innovation consultancy specialized in financial engineering. We identify the optimal funding solution for projects by structuring a mix of private equity, debt financing, and national and European grants. To date, we have successfully deployed over €10M in grant capital
- Triple Master Graduate: Earned a Master of Science in Management from Ludwig Maximilian University (Munich), a Diplôme Grand École from SKEMA Business School (Paris), and an MBA from Loyola University (New Orleans)
- Multifaceted understanding of international markets, mergers and acquisitions, financial analysis, and strategic management
- Passionate about innovation and startups
- 4+ years managing a predominantly blue-chip public equity portfolio, with additional venture capital allocation to next-generation transformative technologies
- 25+ years in high-tech R&D, engineering and management roles, leading new product development across enterprise networking, servers, and telecom at Oracle and venture-backed startups
- Lifelong learner driven by exploration, discovery, and continuous growth
- Global Startup Expertise: Supported and empowered 5+ startups on fundraising and GTM from top Accelerators like Techstars, Alchemist & Google for Startup
- Strategic Venture Specialist: Evaluated 100+ startups for investment opportunities
- Dynamic Community Builder: Co-founded Bay Bridge Investment Club while studying in SF, organized an event at Plug and Play in Sunnyvale for AdsGency AI (Techstars '23), connected with the investment community from emerging VCs to Scout from Top Tier funds like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz
- Global Strategic supply chain and program leader with 11+ years of experience driving end‑to‑end transformations across pharma, medtech, consumer, and tech environments at Companies like J&J and ITC
- Mechanical Engineering background with an MBA from IIT Kharagpur, India
- Led Operations and Scaled multiple startups like zomato, upGrad, Medibuddy(Now Unicorns) based out of the Indian Silicon Valley, Bengaluru and Geneva, Switzerland
- Entrepreneurial and always looking to help companies optimize and scale the right way
- 14 Years Experience in VC &PA
- Law and Economic Background
- 15+ Investments
- Full Time Dad and Family Guy!
- 3+ years of strategy consulting, focused on scaling startups in high-impact sectors
- Investment experience across early, growth, and late stages
- Passionate about backing outlier founders building transformational companies
- Committed to driving scale through sharp strategy and thoughtful capital
- Aerospace engineer by training, with experience leading cross-disciplinary teams contributing to flagship endeavors at NASA
- Tech investor and mentor, excited to expand impact by helping scale frontier technology startups in particular
- Former internationally ranked Karateka representing Australia, now inspiring my tiny warriors to continue on the path self-discovery, discipline and focus that martial arts teaches
- +10 years experience across construction, civil engineering, urban planning, and energy, having overseen $1B+ in projects and managed multi-million-dollar developments in residential, civil, and commercial sectors
- Driven by a passion to reshape entire industries and make global impact, I love to collaborate and support amazing founders in their journey to innovate
- Multi-disciplinary, curious, with an international outlook, I am dedicated to support amazing ideas and people
- 5+ years of experience across mergers & acquisitions, financial planning & analysis and wealth management, with exposure to sectors including software, cleantech, e-commerce and fast-moving consumer goods. Originated a $5M healthtech software acquisition in 2024 for a buy-and-hold enterprise software M&A firm in Toronto, Canada
- Passionate about investing in the infrastructure of tomorrow. Interest areas include emerging innovations in DeepTech such as novel energy generation, storage & distribution, industrial automation, agentic AI, AR/VR, robotics, data processing, SpaceTech, and transportation
- Lifelong student of human athletic performance, recovery, and longevity. Multi-sport connoisseur - primarily basketball, football, MMA, soccer and rugby
Healthcare Team
- Systems pharmacologist and bioanalytical lead with 10+ years of experience in academic and private settings
- Interested in novel platforms for accelerated drug discovery, systems pharmacology and diagnostics
- I have led cross-disciplinary teams in high-impact partnerships within industry and academic institutions
- About Me: The HERBS Formula
I’m a healthcare executive with 15+ years of international experience across HealthTech, corporate transformations, and business growth.
Over the years, I’ve built my personal success framework - HERBS - which also reflects the way I support startups:
H - Healthcare Executive: 16+ years of leadership experience across HealthTech in South Africa, the Middle East, Germany, Singapore, and the US.
E - Efficiency: I drive efficiency in corporate transformation projects and help startups master fast execution.
R - Resilience: Like herbs, I grow under all kinds of conditions. From global markets to challenging environments, resilience has always been my growth driver.
B - Be Bold: My life motto: make the impossible possible.
S - Strong Network: I connect people, ideas, and opportunities, building bridges that fuel sustainable growth.
Why herbs? Because herbs start small, unfold great impact, and grow back again and again - just like the startups I help to flourish.
- Investor in Healthcare and Deep Tech; presented at IC and led due diligences for Space, AI, biotech, and diagnostic startups
- 4+ years of consulting experience supporting startups and SMBs across strategy, marketing, and operations; founder-focused and results-driven
- Real estate investor and operator across multiple units; strong financial and operational execution
- Senior Scout for 18+ VC funds including LvlUp and Deal Partner at Ganas Ventures; source 100+ deals/month and support top founders globally
- 15+ years experience as founder and growing startups from an idea all the way to an exit
- Passionate about languages and cultures (speak 5 languages and was lucky to live on 3 continents/4 countries). Understanding how others think is the basic of every successful communication!
- My family is my fort and I am thankful and proud to be their fort
- 4 Startups, 3 continents, 3 successful exits (including 2 public)
- Over 320x RoI to investors in one company
- AI Researcher, patents cited by Google, Microsoft, Disney
- Vascular/Endovascular Surgeon- Professor of Surgery
- Department and Division Chief
- Venture Partner since 2017
- Experienced in MultiDisciplinary Program Development
- Clinical and Basic Science Research
- Founder and Program Director of Surgery Residency
- Executive Coach
- Pioneer in Pharma Digital Transformation: First-ever Pharma Chief Digital & AI Officer at Takeda, innovating how a global pharmaceutical leader leverages digital health, data, and AI for accelerated innovation
- Transformative Leadership at Novartis: Led embedding AI, digital endpoints, and decentralized trial models in drug development, improving efficiency and success rates across more than 50 clinical trials
- Serial Entrepreneur: Co-founded and scaled multiple start-ups such as Oshi Health, Emilie Scientific, and Gaido Health, leading them to successful exits and market leadership
- Broad Industry Expertise: Rare end-to-end perspective spanning large pharma, biotech, venture capital, private equity, and disruptive start-ups, including advisory roles for billion-dollar portfolios
- Committed Innovator and Mentor: Venture partner and board advisor focused on digital, AI, and technology strategy to build scalable, sustainable, and future-ready enterprises, mentoring founders globally to drive impactful innovation
- Founding Partner of MEHR, a transatlantic Healthcare+ fund, and Venture Partner at VU Venture Partners, combining global investing experience with deep healthcare domain expertise
- Managing Pharmacist and business owner who operated a turnaround company, assuming full management and liability of struggling pharmacies and delivering successful, high-pressure “Kitchen Nightmares”-style turnarounds
- Investor with clinical-grade diligence and cross-border access, backing visionary founders from robust, multi-channel dealflow
- Maria brings a rare hybrid profile combining venture building, product leadership, and venture capital insight, with a strong focus on healthcare innovation
- She operates at the intersection of technology, business, and regulated healthcare systems, turning complexity into scalable ventures
- She specializes in taking early-stage ideas from concept to validation and growth
- She bridges strategy and execution to build impactful, investor-ready companies
- I am really good at building trusted relationships, quickly understanding paths through complex environments, communicating complicated ideas with clarity, making connections between seemingly disparate ideas and people and owning my shortcomings, because I don’t know everything
- Investor-operator working across venture capital, private equity, and private credit
- Hands-on experience supporting investors, founders, and family offices on strategy, execution, and capital decisions
- Experience working on cross-border opportunities between Europe and Asia
- Focused on long-term value creation and building trusted working relationships
- Seasoned Entrepreneurial Physician Executive (MD, MBA, MPH) dedicated to Biomedical Innovation, specialized in Innovative Medicines Development & Pharmaceutical Medicine
- 15 years’ in Global Pharma & Biotech leading medical/clinical execution, corporate/venture development strategy, fundraising, BD & L, and innovation in Life-Sciences with deep expertise in Generative AI and its applications in Drug Discovery & Development
- Active Angel & Impact Investor focused on Life-sciences, Longevity, Healthtech, Deep tech and Biotech verticals. Co-Founder, Venture Builder & Advisor of multiple start-ups, incubators/accelerators, FOs & VCs, boutique M&A consultancy and investment banks
- Passionate about powering the next-generation of breakthroughs by bridging science and capital to create a healthier, longer-living world through innovation and strategic investing
- Anna Erat (MD/PhD) studied medicine and conducted research at Harvard and Zurich medical schools followed by courses at Harvard Business School and INSEAD, where she graduated from the International Director’s Program
- Clinically, she is specialized in internal, longevity and sports medicine. She also holds a PhD in epidemiology and health systems management
- Apart from having been the first female medical director in history at Hirslanden Klinik, she is a health advisor for Forbes, a board member in selected health-tech companies, mentors at the ETH, and is faculty at University of St. Gallen Executive School
- Founding Partner at MEHR (transatlantic Healthcare+ fund) and Venture Partner at VU Venture Partners, uniting global investing experience with deep healthcare expertise
- PharmD with clinical expertise and former Collaborating Expert at the European Medicines Agency (EMA)
- Managing Pharmacist & business owner who ran a turnaround company, taking full management and liability of struggling pharmacies and delivering high-pressure, “Kitchen Nightmares”-style recoveries
- Investing in early-stage healthcare ventures by leveraging deep sector expertise and an expanding global network, with access to high-quality deal flow across multiple channels
