CONCENTRIC - Key Persons
Alex Mann joined Concentric in 2016 and is also the founder of Timechain. Prior to that, he spent his time directly building start-ups across LatinAmerica and the UK.
A physics graduate, Alex is interested in reasoning from first principles to establish an investment case and looks for teams for whom such an approach resonates, with the world class execution to match.
He is primarily interested in bitcoin and space.
Alex is the Principal at Concentric and his role involves managing the pipeline of opportunities.
Prior to Concentric, Alex spent time at Applied Predictive Technologies (now a Mastercard company), helping clients across the UK, South Africa and Russia make better data-driven decisions. He began his career in the M&A Advisory team at HSBC and has a degree in Economics from the University of Warwick.
Outside of work, Alex loves to travel, is a lifelong Spurs fan, and has recently taken up kickboxing.
Since 2011, Denis Shafranik has been a full-time venture investor - picking, nurturing and exiting innovative tech businesses. He is an experienced dealmaker, who takes a straight-talking approach to structuring deals and problem-solving, in order to build mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs.
Through his family office, Ermak, Denis Shafranik pursues his personal passion for the creative arts, supporting creative organisations and positive social impact ventures.
Prior to co-founding Concentric, Denis spent nine years in investment banking. He also graduated from the London School of Economics, obtained an EMBA from INSEAD, and is a CFA charter-holder.
Ilya is a venture partner at Concentric, a serial entrepreneur and an active investor.
Ilya was also a co-founder of several start-ups in proptech, edutech and fintech spaces, one of which was Intellectual Payments, a mobile payments company which Ilya sold to a media conglomerate in 2015 and which was subsequently contributed into a JV with Alibaba. His experience prior to 2012 includes eight years of investment banking and corporate finance at JP Morgan and Barclays Capital.
Ilya holds an MSc degree in mathematics and completed the Executive MBA (EMBA) programme at London Business School.
Founding Partner of Concentric, Kjartan Rist has spent the last 20+ years focusing on the technology sector as a founder, advisor, board member and investor. Through his international profile, reputation and network he works closely with invested companies to support development and accelerate growth.
Prior to setting up Concentric, Kjartan co-founded the venture capital fund DN Capital and the merchant bank Korral Partners. In his career to date he has been instrumental in 100+ transactions as the Principal Investor. Notable exits and companies include Shazam (Apple), Toptable (Booking.com), Endeca (Oracle), Frontier Car Group (Naspers), Griffeye (Magnet Forensics) and BVNK.
Kjartan graduated from the University of Bath and has an MBA from Imperial College London.
He is a regular writer for Forbes Magazine and a trustee and board member of the global charity, Right to Play.
His interests outside work circulate around family and sports. Work and studies have enabled him to travel widely and to enjoy his love of sports at multiple levels along the way.
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Communications Manager
- Operations Manager
Lucy joined Concentric as Operations Manager in 2019. She now oversees the marketing and communications.
Prior to joining Concentric, she was Operations Manager at Visible Leaders. Lucy has a degree in business management from Newcastle University.
Job Titles:
- Finance & Operational Partner
Mark is the finance and operational partner of Concentric having joined the firm in November 2015. Mark is responsible for all financial, compliance, legal and regulatory activities within the Group. Prior to Concentric, Mark spent 15 years as the CFO at TLcom Capital LLP, and DN Capital, two UK based pan European asset managers.
Mark is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has a Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accountancy from McGill University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Finance from the University of Western Ontario.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Certified Accountant
- Financial Controller
Niam Parmar is the financial controller at Concentric having joined the firm in 2022. Niam is responsible for assisting Mark with maintaining oversight of all financial, compliance, legal and regulatory activities within the Group. Prior to Concentric Niam spent 4 years working for top 10 accountancy firm Mazars, specialising in the external audit of asset management businesses.
Niam is a chartered certified accountant and is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, having qualified with Mazars in 2021.
Outside of the office, Niam enjoys watching the cricket and has a passion for cars.
Meet the Concentric Advisory Council - designed to shape new futures and make a tangible difference to the world.
Sinead joined Concentric as Operations Manager in 2024. She supports the COO and works closely with the rest of the team on investor relations and events. Prior to joining Concentric, Sinead was living in New Zealand working for a NZ venture capital firm.
Sinead has a degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Auckland.