M VENTURES - Key Persons
Bauke Anninga - Chief Investment Officer
Charlotte Kremers, PhD, is an Analyst in the Biotechnology team, having joined M Ventures as a Fellow in September 2022. Charlotte received her BSc in Cell Biology, Physiology and Neuroscience from University College Utrecht and MSc in Neuroscience from University College London. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience at UCL in 2022, during which she investigated the pathomechanisms underlying a juvenile form of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Throughout her academic career, Charlotte was active in extracurricular activities, among others acting as a student biotech consultant, leading a sponsorship committee and organizing two conferences. She is based in Amsterdam at the M Ventures head office.
Job Titles:
- Investment Director
- Head of Strategy
Christian Uhrich joined M Ventures in August 2019 as Head of Strategy, and is currently an Investment Director in the Biotechnology team. Previously, he worked at Merck as a Senior Consultant in its Inhouse Consulting practice where he focused on impactful strategy related projects across all three business sectors of Merck (Healthcare, Life Science, Electronics). Before joining Merck, Christian has spent over ten years in the external consulting space, previously working for Accenture in its Strategy practice where he successfully consulted key Pharma and Biotech industry players on strategic challenges and management decisions in the areas of business and digital strategy, R&D, marketing & sales, organizational development, and post-merger integration & carve-outs. Prior to joining Accenture, Christian worked for Seeburger Inc., a leading global middleware integration company, where, as a consultant, he built a rich understanding of digital transformation and business process-related topics, such as process optimization and automation. Christian holds an MBA from Mannheim Business School, Germany and a Diploma in Computer Science and Business Administration (Business Informatics) from Cooperative State University Karlsruhe, Germany. Christian is based in Darmstadt.
Daniel Franke - Chief Investment Officer
Daniel Franke, Investment Director in the Technology team, joined M Ventures as an Associate in 2019, after supporting the team as an Analyst as part of the M Ventures Fellowship. Daniel obtained his Bachelor's and Master's in Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University before moving on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his Ph.D. studies. At MIT, Daniel developed functional materials for display technologies and advanced biomedical imaging applications, leading to a pending patent application for a novel biomedical imaging platform on basis of shortwave infrared light. Daniel is based in Boston.
Job Titles:
- Head of Business Operations
- Legal Information
Björn Kuhl joined M Ventures in November 2021 as Head of Business Operations. Previously, he worked at Merck as a Senior Consultant in its Inhouse Consulting practice where he focused on strategic projects in the Healthcare and Life Science sectors as well as Group functions. During his career he worked in Portfolio Management and Business Development at Sandoz and in Management Consulting at IMS Consulting Group/IQVIA with focus on Commercial Strategy and Pricing & Market Access. Björn comes from an academic background receiving his Ph.D. in Experimental Medicine from McGill University, Canada and continuing his academic career with post doctoral work in immunology and virology at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, USA. He gained a M.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences from London Metropolitan University, UK and a B.Sc. in Molecular Biotechnologies from Lübeck Medical University, Germany. Björn is based in Darmstadt.
Dr. Christian Patze, MBA, is an Investment Director at M Ventures Technology team, covering Electronics, Frontier Tech and Sustainability focus areas. Before joining M Ventures in October 2016, Christian was a member of the Inhouse Consulting "Global Graduate Program" at Merck where he conducted various projects with focus on strategy development and project management in the business sectors Life Science and Electronics. Prior to that, he was in strategic marketing of Air Liquide Germany. Christian studied chemistry in Heidelberg (Germany) and Sheffield (UK) and obtained a PhD working with BASF SE on new host materials for blue phosphorescent OLEDs as well as soluble TADF emitters. He also holds an MBA from Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris (France). Christian is based in Darmstadt.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Eyal Ben Ami, PhD, MBA, joined M Ventures in July 2022 and is currently an Associate in the Biotechnology team. Prior to joining M Ventures, Eyal served as the CSO at MOYA Bio where he led the development of novel anti-neoplastic compounds in the field of protein degradation. Prior to this, he had served in various roles at BiolineRx and ImmunoBrain Therapies, managing the development of multiple immunotherapy programs from early discovery stages through clinical translation. Eyal holds a PhD in Neuroimmunology from the Technion in Israel, followed by a research fellowship at UPMC in Paris, as well as an MSc in Biotechnology form the Hebrew University and an executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. He is based in Yavne.
Hakan Goker, PhD, is Managing Director of M Ventures and heads the Biotechnology Investments covering Healthcare and Life Sciences. Hakan joined M Ventures in 2013 and has been investing in the sector for 18 years. Previously, Hakan was a partner at Aescap Venture investing in European opportunities. Hakan started his investment career at Atlas Venture focusing on global investment opportunities in healthcare and medical technologies across US, Europe and Asia. He was instrumental in the creation and financing, business and R&D strategies of multiple companies in their formation years including Orphazyme, Bicycle, Nimbus Discovery, and f-Star while at Aescap and Atlas. Hakan continues his active investing role and represents M Ventures on multiple portfolio companies. He comes from an academic background receiving his Ph.D. in oncology from the Institute of Cancer Research/ University of London, UK and continuing his scientific career with post doctoral work at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Centre/Royal Marsden Hospital. He gained his B.Sc. Hons, from University College London. Hakan is based in Amsterdam at the M Ventures head office.
Ilja Aizenberg (PhD, MBA) joined the M Ventures team in 2022 as Principal, covering Frontier Tech and Sustainability areas with a focus on digital technologies. Prior to joining M Ventures Ilja co-founded and led a SaaS startup that is changing the way how custom IoT software stacks are developed. He gained his investment experience as investment manager at Evonik VC. Previously he worked at Evonik (Germany) driving the digital transformation of Evonik's Procurement organization through various projects and internal product development involving enterprise applications of Machine Learning, distributed ledger technologies and quantum computing. Ilja studied Physics in Heidelberg (Germany) and Boston (US) and investigated charge transport in low-dimensional materials at BASF (Ludwigshafen) and Princeton (US) during his PhD in Electrical Engineering. He continued his academic work at the Weizmann Institute (Israel) in bioelectronics. Ilja holds two patents and has published in peer-reviewed journals.
Isabell joined M Ventures team as Team Assistant in November 2022. Previously, she worked at Merck as Executive Assistant in Mergers & Acquisitions for eight years. Before joining Merck she has worked as Executive assistant for 5 years for middle size companies in Mannheim and Hanau. In the past, she has also worked for Volkswagen as Trainee in Beijing and Hong Kong for 2 years. She holds a Master's in International business from London South Bank University and a Bachelor in European Business from University of Lincoln, UK. Isabell is based in Darmstadt.
Javier Rodriguez joined the Ventures team as CFO in September 2016. Javier started his career in the specialty chemicals sector with ICI Plc and Givaudan in various divisional and corporate controlling roles in Europe, USA and Asia. He then moved to Germany as Corporate Group Controller of an AMG division where he steered planning and forecasting, led due-diligences, valuations of green-field projects and new business opportunities. Javier joined Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in 2015 in Corporate Controlling where he was responsible in monitoring Merck KGaA's, Darmstadt, Germany company-wide integration and transformation programs including the AZ Electronics integration. He holds a Master's in finance and controlling from Maastricht University and a Bachelor's in Economics from Davidson College, USA. Javier is based in Darmstadt.
Leonie Willemse joined the fund as Team Assistant and is now Executive Assistant to one of the Managing Directors. Before joining Ventures, Leonie has been working as Office Manager/Team Assistant for a Spanish International University with a subsidary in Almere, where she was based. Prior to this, she had a one year sabbatical after having worked for Epson Europe BV for 13 years, as a Secretary/Corporate Travel Coordinator, taking care of all travel for Europe and the Nordic countries. Leonie is based in Amsterdam.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Principal at M Ventures Biotechnology
Nadiya Ishnazarova, PhD, is a Principal at M Ventures Biotechnology team covering Healthcare and Life Sciences investments. Nadiya joined M Ventures in 2021. Previously, Nadiya was a Project Manager in the Health & Life Sciences practice of global strategy consulting firm Oliver Wyman. She focused on the strategy and corporate transformation for corporate healthcare clients, health systems, providers, pharma and digital health clients in EMEA, Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets. Nadiya also supported M&A deals in the Healthcare and Life Science space on pre-transaction assessments of sources of value and risk. Nadiya received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford and her dissertation was focused on investigating the molecular mechanisms of recombination-dependent replication. She gained her B.Sc. in Organic Chemistry, and double M.Sc. in Enzymology and Nanobiomaterials and Nanobiotechnology from Lomonosov Moscow State University. Nadiya is based in Amsterdam at the M Ventures head office.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- in 2022 As Executive Assistant
Nino joined M Ventures in 2022 as Executive Assistant after working as Executive Assistant in Audit & Risk in the Dutch lease company Leaseplan. Prior to this, Nino worked in a similar roles at Amsterdam Trade Bank as EA to the CEO and over five years at Infracis Holding BV as EA to the CFO. Nino had lived 20 years in Russia, born in Georgia. Before moving to The Netherlands, she worked five years as a Lawyer at Law company in Moscow. Nino received my master's degree in the field of Law at Moscow University for the Humanities. Nino is based in Amsterdam.
Job Titles:
- Investment Director
- Head of the Israel Bioincubator
Noga Yerushalmi, PhD, is the Head of the Israel Bioincubator, and an Investment Director of the Biotechnology team. Noga joined the team in January 2017, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the Israeli Biotech industry. Noga is a graduate of Tel-Aviv University, and did her postdoctoral fellowship at NIH, USA. Prior to M Ventures, Noga was heading the high throughput discovery at Zetiq, heading the therapeutic team at Rosetta Genomics, VP R&D at miCure therapeutics and more. Later Noga joined the FutuRx incubator as scouting and business development lead, and was instrumental in identifying opportunities as well as company creation. Noga also serves as a member of the investment committee at AION labs, representing Merck. Noga is based in Yavne.
Job Titles:
- Entrepreneur in Residence
Oliver Hardick, EngD, is Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) at M Ventures. Oliver is a successful Tech Entrepreneur with core expertise in the bioprocessing field, and interest more broadly in life sciences & manufacturing technologies. Completing his Engineering Doctorate at UCL 2012, he moved into the entrepreneurial world founding Puridify, a biotech tools company, in 2013 based on his academic research. He led this as CEO through VC funding to a strong exit by GE Healthcare in 2017, interacting with biotherapeutic manufacturers globally throughout this journey. Having spent 5 years leading an SME followed by 5 years in a large corporate he understands the needs of both and can provide key insights to spin-outs & start-ups from inception to exit. Multidisciplinary technology innovation is what piques his interest and he's a strong supporter of young scientific founder CEOs. OIiver is based in London and Amsterdam.
Dr Owen Lozman FRSC CChem CSci, is Managing Director of M Ventures and heads the Technology Investments, covering Electronics and Frontier Tech and Sustainability focus areas. Owen joined M Ventures as Vice President and Head of the Electronics fund in February 2018. Previously, Owen worked at Merck where he was the head of New Platform R&D for the Electronics business and was responsible for leading a world class R&D center, based in Chilworth, Southampton, UK. During his extensive career in Research and Development, Owen has led many successful projects from concept to commercialization - working closely with customers and partners to bring disruptive technologies to market. Owen has previously worked with FujiFilm, Avecia and the University of Leeds. He holds a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Leeds, UK and has published more than 50 scientific papers and 15 patents. Owen is based in Amsterdam at the M Ventures head office.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Manager
Sarah Luppino, PhD, joined as an Associate on the Technology team in January 2021, focusing on investments in Frontier Tech & Sustainability and Electronics. Previously, she worked as a business strategy consultant with Mars & Co., a global boutique consulting firm. She has also worked with startups in the nanotechnology and energy & sustainability sectors. She earned her PhD from MIT in organic chemistry, where her dissertation focused on the synthesis and applications of new semiconductor materials. Sarah is based in Amsterdam.
Sebastian Schoefer, Ph.D., is an Investement Director of M Ventures and is part of the Technology team, covering Electronics and Frontier Tech and Sustainability focus areas. Sebastian joined M Ventures as Senior Associate in 2017. Previously, Sebastian was Investment Manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, a German public-private partnership (around EUR 900 million under management) and an early-stage investor, managing a medtech, biotech, and materials science portfolio of 9 companies of which he successfully sold four. Prior to this, Sebastian was distribution manager for two University of Cambridge spin-off companies, Eight19, a plastic solar-cell company, and Azuri Technologies, a company that develops and sells pay-as-you-go solar-home lighting systems for sub-Saharan Africa. Sebastian holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge (UK) and gained a M.A. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin (USA). Sebastian is based in Darmstadt.
Therese Maria (Thera) Liechtenstein, PhD, is an Investment Director in the Biotechnology team. Thera joined M Ventures in 2018. She was instrumental in the creation and financing of multiple companies of M Ventures portfolio, including FoRx Therapeutics and Anavo Therapeutics. Thera actively leads investments and represents M Ventures on the board of multiple portfolio companies. Previously Thera managed strategic projects for the Healthcare business of Merck . Prior to Merck Thera was a client relationship manager in the field of wealth preservation, at Industrie- & Finanzkontor Ets. Thera comes from an academic background receiving her PhD in Immuno-Oncology from University College London, an MSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Amsterdam, and a BA in Biology and Business studies from New York University.
Tobias Egle, Associate in the Technology team, joined M Ventures in February 2022. Tobias obtained his Bachelor's and Master's in Chemical Engineering at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology before moving on to Harvard University for his Ph.D. studies in Physical Chemistry and Materials Science. At Harvard, Tobias worked on a startup to decarbonize critical mineral mining and joined Yard Ventures (part of Alumni Ventures) as a Fellow focusing on investment in advanced materials startups. Tobias is based in Boston.