Dr. Julian Dye
Managing Partner
Dr Dye is a research biochemist who has worked in clinically applied research, specialising in biomaterials and tissue engineering. He has developed synthetic biomaterials for skin reconstruction, and has translated these technologies into two spin-out companies.
After graduating in Biochemistry at Oxford, Dr Dye worked in St Mary’s Hospital and Imperial Collage in London where he gained a PhD. He moved to the RAFT Institute of Plastic Surgery in 2001, to work on skin reconstruction, and later became its Director of Research, and translated his research into a spin-out. He then moved to further pursue translationally oriented research in new biomaterials and tissue scaffolds, which resulted in a second start-up. He now supports Translational Research in the advanced therapies space at KCL.
Dr Dye is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Candidate RTTP, member of several professional societies and holds a CBiol, has published 42 scientific papers, two book chapters, and has authored 5 patents.
Alumni: Imperial College London (PhD Physiology), University of Oxford (BA/MA Biochemistry)
Expertise: Technology Transfer, Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials, Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products, Strategic Partnerships, Venture Creation, Business Plan
"It is the task of the leader to create a company with a strong and warm heart, and to see things as they really are." Laurens van der Muyzenberg
Dr. Ingo Schroeter
Venture Partner
Dr. Ingo Schroeter has close to three-decades of experience in Strategy Consulting and Management. He has worked for 15 years at the Boston Consulting Group primarily in technology practice (including medical technology) of which over 5 years as a partner and managing director. He supported the clients worldwide in more than 50 projects covering a broad range of topics including strategy, digitalization, platform economics, corporate development, due diligence and M&A, go to market and many more.
Dr. Schroeter worked over 4 years as Head of Strategy & Partnering at Philips in Amsterdam, where he was a member of most top governance groups of Philips. He played a major role in shaping the transformation of the technology group into a focused health tech company. He managed the strategy, negotiation, and execution of Philips partnerships with global MedTech and Health IT companies as well as with pharmaceutical and molecular diagnostic companies. He set up and managed the corporate venturing to establish new forms of cooperation with startups. At both BCG and Philips, he was deeply involved in core projects around IP strategy, IP licensing and IP cooperation deals.
Alumni: Technical University Darmstadt (PhD. Economics & M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering & Business Administration), Gakushuin University Tokyo
Expertise: Strategy, Consulting, Digital Health, Medtech, Biotech, Finance, Strategic Business Development, Licensing Agreements, Start-ups pre-seed all the way to series C.
Dr. Zahra Asgharpour
Founding Partner
Dr. Zahra Asgharpour studied Biomedical Engineering Human Biology & Finance in Germany, France & UK . She has over a decade of corporate experience in Medtech & Software and has worked in Optics, Microsurgery, Additive Manufacturing industries in Germany & Belgium. She has co-founded a start-up in medical virtual reality and is familiar with all the process of creating a start-up from concept into spin-out. As Senior new venture Manager at CARL ZEISS AG, she is responsible for scouting & performing due-diligence on healthcare start-ups and developing investment strategy with a focus on AI-driven solutions for healthcare. She has an established network in corporate /start-up and venture capital space and has a strong believe that start-ups need to work in an ecosystem to be successful.
Alumni : LSE/London (Corporate Finance), LMU/Munich (PhD. Human Biology), TUM (M.Sc. Computational Engineering)
Expertise: Biotech, Medtech, Software as Medical Device, AI-driven technologies for healthcare, Strategic business development, Strategic Partnerships, Valuation, Business plan creation, Go-to-market Strategy, Team Building, Venture Creation, Exit Strategies
“Make your life a masterpiece; imagine no limitations on what you can be, have or do.” BRYAN TRACY
Prof. Pedro Saffi
Venture Partner
Prof. Pedro Saffi is currently a Professor of Financial Economics at the Judge Business School (University of Cambridge, UK) and the Director of its Master of Finance program. He was an Assistant Professor of Finance at IESE in Spain between 2007 and 2011, obtaining his PhD in Finance from London Business School in 2007 and a MSc. in Economics from Fundação Getulio Vargas (2002) in Brazil.
His previous teaching experience includes courses for MBA, EMBA, MPhil, and Executive Education students at Cambridge Judge Business School, London School of Economics, IESE Business School, London Business School, Reykjavik University (Iceland), SKKU (South Korea), Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil), Myra Business School (India), and Nile University (Egypt). In 2012 and 2015, he was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award by Cambridge Judge Business School. In 2021 he was nominated by the London School of Economics’ Students Union for an Inspirational Teaching Award.
His professional experience includes working as a consultant for Mondrian Investment Partners and as a corporate valuation expert for the United Nation's Permanent Court of Arbitration, real estate companies, and for pharmaceutical companies. He also serves in the advisory board of a hedge fund that uses machine learning methods to trade cryptocurrencies.
In 2012 he was awarded one the Q Group’s research awards, in 2013 and 2018 an award by Inquire Europe, in 2015 the NAC & Blackrock Global Challenge for Innovation in Corporate Governance prize, and one of the 2015 Crowell prizes given by PanAgora Asset Management.
Alumni : London Business School (PhD. Finance), FGV (M.Sc. Economics), Ibmec, Brazil (B.A. Economics)
Dr. Philipp Marchand
Patent Lawyer - Senior Advisor IP
Dr. Philipp Marchand studied biochemistry and biophysics in Germany and France. He is a patent attorney and partner of Vossius, one of the largest IP firms in Europe. In his practice, he focuses on advising small and large companies on IP strategy and portfolio management in all fields of technology. His team in Basel comprises experts with different technical backgrounds and Swiss attorneys-at-law.
Alumni : TU Darmstadt, University of Frankfurt am Main
Expertise: IP Strategy, Pharmaceuticals, Antibodies, Diagnostic Methods, Biomolecular Methods, Advising on Patent Portfolios, Opinions on Patentability
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston S. Churchill.
Dr. iur, LLM. Nicolas Mosimann
Attorney at Law- Senior Advisor Legal
Dr. Nicolas Mosimann is a partner at Kellerhals Carrard and acting co-head of the startup desk. He mainly advises companies in the life sciences, high tech and ICT sectors. In addition to advising clients on transactions (mainly financing rounds and exits), he has a strong focus on technology, intellectual property and data protection law. He assisted numerous startups in negotiating research, licensing and collaboration agreements with universities or industry partners and setting up the legal framework for their software, SaaS, IoT or blockchain ventures
Alumni: University of Basel (Dr.iur Contract Law), University of Sydney (LL.M., Law), University of Basel (lic.iur.,law)
Expertise: Corporate law and M&A (including private equity and venture capital), Technology law and intellectual property, Data protection, International commercial and contract law, Startup DeskIT/IP and competition law, Life Science
“If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” Steve Jobs.
Niclas Holmberg
Advisory Director - ex. Managing Director NASDAQ Nordics
Niclas Holmberg was for six years Managing Director for Nasdaq's Swedish listing business, where he has a special focus on attracting new companies to Nasdaq growth markets. During that period, he was responsible for list more than 600 companies. Prior to this, he served as Vice President and held several senior positions in Capital Markets and Asset Management at the major Swedish bank Handelsbanken. In addition, Niclas is part of advisory boards for non-profit organizations like European Commission program EIT Health Catapult, European Woman Association (EWA) and Impulse4Women. He is board member and part of the strategy committee at The Swedish American Chamber of Commerce - New York (SACC). In 2021, Niclas received the prestigious global prize “Because she matters” for supporting female entre -and intrapreneurs.
Niclas has studied at Stockholm University, University of the West Indies and Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. During his time in the West Indies, he worked as a coach for the Trinidad & Tobago national table tennis team.
Alumni: Stockholm University (M.Sc. Economy), Wharton Business School (Certification in Management)
Expertise: Investment Banking, IPO (Public Markets), Healthcare
Nathan Guest
Corporate Lawyer - Senior Advisor Legal
Nathan has spent more than 20 years advising corporate clients on private equity and venture capital investments, merges and acquisitions and management buyouts. He acts for UK and international companies, although the majority of his clients are entrepreneurs/founders, start-ups and scale-ups, SMEs and management teams. Nathan is ideally placed to help clients to grow their business by raising angel, venture capital or private equity funding (including under the SEIS, EIS, or VCT schemes), or assist clients to exit their business via an M&A or MBO. Nathan leads VWV's national Technology practice, which he founded in 2008 and is also a key member of the firm's Pharma & Life science's team, leading VWV's work in supporting emerging life sciences companies. Nathan acts for a significant number of tech and life sciences start-ups (including University 'spin-outs'), scale-ups and other high-growth technology and life sciences companies and was previously judged by business publication, Corporate INTL, as the Emerging Companies Corporate Lawyer of the Year in England.
Expertise: Corporate law and M&A (including private equity and venture capital), Technology law and intellectual property, Data protection, International commercial and contract law, Startup and competition law, Life Science
Jan Miksatko
Senior Advisor - Software & AI
Jan Miksatko has more than 25 years in the software industry as a solution finder, software engineer and CTO. He has led various software innovations for start-ups and innovative corporations in the US, the UK, Switzerland and Germany. Two products resulted in successful startup exits and multiple achieved global use. Jan often acts as an advisor of start-ups. He is partner at early-stage VC group Impact51, CH and mentor at Prague AI Incubator. He specializes in healthcare, pharma, mobility and cleantech innovations.
Jan holds M.Sc. in Software Engineering from Kansas State University, US and M.Sc. in Theoretical Computer Science from Charles University, CZ. Jan spent 6 years researching AI at German Research Centre for AI (DFKI).
Expertise: Software development, SaaS Development, Front-end and Back-end development, Applied AI, Product Development
Dr. Carmen Peeß
Senior Advisor- Regulatory
Dr. Peeß studied cell and molecular biology and specialized in immunology and tumor biology. She has worked in R&D diagnostics and pre-clinical drug development at Roche Diagnostics, where she focused on an interdisciplinary project in the early product development of anti-tumor drugs, companion diagnostics and diagnostic products. From 2015 onward, she has actively participated in regulatory affairs and quality management projects at AstraCon. Dr. Carmen Peeß was promoted to became a managing director of AstraCon in 2017. Her focus at the moment is to help start-up and SME companies to implement and utilize the regulatory requirements in the Medtech and IVD field successfully.
Alumni: FAU/Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (PhD, Molecular Immunology), FAU (M.Sc. Cell and molecular biology), University of Bayreuth (B.Sc. Biology).
Expertise: Medtech and IVD, Strategic regulatory business development, MDR, IVDR, quality management systems for Medtech and IVD manufacturers.
Matteo Di Lenarda
Finance Consultant
Matteo is a graduate of Economy & Finance from Bocconi University in Milan and is currently completing a M.Sc. degree in Finance at Bocconi University. Matteo has won a Merit Award from University of Bocconi during his graduate studies in Finance. He is also a consultant at JEME consulting group where he has worked on projects on alternative investments and startup valuation. Matteo has been working with clients ranging from start-ups to SMEs to multinationals such as Blackstone, McKinsey & Co. and Deloitte Luxembourg. He has a passion for solving complex financial problems and is a deeply inquisitive & quantitative individual. He has got certificate of Bloomberg Market Concept along other certifications from European Investment banking. Matteo is very much interested in supporting start-ups with his in-depth knowledge of Finance to bring them into next stages of development. He believes that finance & technical Innovations are entwinned with one another and it would not be possible to succeed in one without the other.
Alumni : Bocconi University, Milan (B.Sc. in Economics & Finance ),
Bocconi University, Milan (M.Sc. Economics & Finance 2023)
Atakan Erdogdu
Finance Consultant
Atakan is a pursuing a Masters degree in Financial Analysis at London Business School (LBS). He has finished with first class honors during the B.Sc. in Financial Management at International Business School (IBS) in Budapest. Prior joining LBS, he worked at Citi as Financial Analyst where he was performing assessments on non-linear interest rate derivates and analyzing market movements. He has also worked at BeHive Consulting Group where he led a team of finance to create a go-to-market strategy for a European Fintech startup including competitor analysis and pricing strategy. He presented the insights to Head of Strategy of DACH region in one of the biggest online banks in Europe to extend their existing customer base & upsell premium products.
Atakan is very interested in supporting startups to build the next generation of unicorns and bring European Startup Ecosystem to its next level. A finance lover and a guitar player in his spare time.
Alumni : International Business School (IBS), Budapest (B.Sc. Financial Management), London Business School , UK (M.Sc. Financial Analysis)
Neesha Kara
Venture Associate Biotech
Neesha Kara is a current PhD student in Cancer Biology at the University of Cambridge Babraham Institute in the UK where she doing a collaborative project with Artios Pharma, a leading independent cancer therapeutics company. She completed a first class honours BSc in Biochemistry from University College London and graduated top in her class with an MRes in Cancer Biology from Imperial College London.
Over many years, she has built up deep knowledge of the life science industry and has worked at several well-renowned institutes outside of her universities (Francis Crick Institute, UCL Cancer Institute, ETH Zurich D-BSSE). Neesha really enjoys applying her research skills to the business world and is excited about biotechnology innovation and the translation of scientific research into start-ups. Last year, she was a winner of the global Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition as well as the University of Cambridge MedTech Innovation Competition.
Alumni: University College London (BSc Biochemistry), Imperial College London (MRes Cancer Biology)
James Donaldson
Biotech Accelerator Team Lead
James Donaldson is a synthetic biologist with a determination to develop and commercialise the next generation of therapeutics. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in Natural Sciences in 2019 and is currently a final-year PhD student at The University of Edinburgh. His PhD research is in collaboration with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies and focuses on overcoming the manufacturing challenges associated with the development of antibody therapies.
During his PhD, James has developed a keen interest for supporting startups in the healthcare industry. James worked closely with academic entrepreneurs during his internship with Edinburgh Innovation’s Technology Transfer Team, during which he analysed the commercialisation potential of research from the School of Biological Sciences. Additionally, during his role as consulting project executive for Edinburgh University Consulting Club, James organised and led consulting projects with startups from a variety of sectors.
Alumni: University of Cambridge (BA Natural Sciences)
Taylor Cottle
Venture Building Associate
Taylor Cottle is a devoted cell biologist and biophysicist with experience and a deep interest in bringing biotechnology innovation to patients. He received his B.A. at the University of San Diego in Biochemistry and Music and is currently completing his PhD in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins studying the impact of DNA repair on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. He works with academic entrepreneurs as the president of the Hopkins Biotech Network and as a cofounder of the Nucleate Bio Baltimore branch to drive company foundation based on academic technologies. He has also consulted for companies like Beckman Coulter on topics including CRISPR gene therapy, SaMD clinical decision making, and in vitro diagnostics winning awards from top business schools like Kellogg and Yale. Taylor now leads an early-stage immuno-oncology company as co-founder and CEO of Aptabridge and is excited to continue helping biotech startups grow as a healthcare and biotech consultant.
Alumni : University of San Diego (B.A . Biochemistry), Johns Hopkins University (PhD. Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology)
Tom Hayhurst
Venture Partner
Tom Hayhurst has been working with biotech start-up companies VC, and executive management for two decades. He has been consulting with executives from pre-IPO/startups to Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare industry. His scope of over 150 clients include device, lab services, point of care, and information management companies.
Although he has an additional 15 years experience working for three of the top five manufacturers in the laboratory diagnostic industry, much of his consulting work has been with smaller biotech firms. Tom has articles published in Diagnostic Insight, Clinical Laboratory News, and Medical Industry Information Report on the topics cost per patient results to laboratory device connectivity. He has been engaged to speak on topics from the “Future of Laboratory Information Systems” to “Entrepreneurship in Your Management Staff”. He is a certified trainer in numerous sales and sales management development courses in addition to The One Page Business Plan™ as well as the time management program, Time Design™. Tom has been on the board of directors for the Biomedical Marketing Association and is a 25-year member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.
Alumni: University in Kentucky (B.Sc. Marketing)