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
Senior Advisor
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
Managing 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 was 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: 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
Senior 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.
Jan Miksatko
Senior Advisor - Software Development & 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.
Ugne Antanelyte
Finance Consultant
Ugne is a Jönkoping International Business School graduate with a B.Sc. in Economics. She is completing her M.Sc. in Economics at Gothenburg School of Business, Economics & Law. She is passionate about sustainability and healthcare, and keen to develop innovative solutions to medical and environmental challenges. For her master degree thesis, she has been researching environmental attitudes among different groups of people in Sweden. She is a believer in circular economy and has worked on projects to demonstrate the superiority of a circular economy compared to a linear economy model. As one of the youngest in her class she is determined to leverage her head-start to acquire a diverse set of skills and knowledge. She enjoys spending her spare time on painting and digital illustration.
Alumni : Jönkoping International Business School (B.Sc. in Economics); Gothenburg School of Business, Economics & Law, Sweden (M.Sc. in Economics)
“Never be so faithful to your plan that you are unwilling to entertain the improbable opportunity that comes looking for you.” Elizabeth Warren
Emil Jonsson
Finance Consultant
Emil Jonsson has finished as top graduate at his class during the BSc in Financial Economics in Sweden. He is currently completing a M.Sc. degree in Finance at the London School of Economics in the UK. He always found Finance fascinating because of the possibility of applying mathematics to solving tangible real-world problems. Emil’s biggest strength is in learning new skills swiftly and independently. He has a track record of being a fast learner in academia and industry. In his spare time, he enjoys playing piano.
Alumni : Gothenburg School of Business, Economics & Law, Sweden (B.Sc. Financial Economics)
London School of Economics & Political Sciences , UK (M.Sc. Finance)
“I don't tell people, 'You're okay the way that you are.' That's not the right story. The right story is, 'You're way less than you could be.'” – Jordan Peterson Basel
Ini Ejidele
Finance Consultant
Ini Ejidele graduated with First-Class Honours in Economics from the University of Surrey. He is currently completing a M.Sc. degree in Finance and Private Equity at the London School of Economics. Ini has always had a passion for Entrepreneurship; starting his first business at the age of 9 and that passion led him to the world of Finance.
His ultimate goal is to add value to companies by providing operational and financial advice through the implementation of proven best practices. More so, his desire to see growth does not stop at himself; He believes great leaders develop even greater leaders which is why he volunteered as a student tutor and mentor during his undergraduate degree. Ini’s biggest strength is his ability to approach problems for new perspectives by always asking “what if” and considering every possible permutation. This skill is attributed to his love for Chess. Also, Ini strongly believes in the phrase “gradatim ferociter” meaning step by step ferociously which embodies his approach to solving problems.
In his spare time, he enjoys discussing diverse topics with his friends, reading books and taking long walks in nature.
Alumni: University of Surrey, UK (B.Sc. Economics), London School of Economics & Political Sciences , UK (M.Sc. Finance and Private Equity)
“Life can be so much broader, once you discover one simple fact and that is that everything around you that you call 'life' can be changed, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.” Steve Jobs
Konstantinos Misailidis
Finance Consultant
Konstantinos is a graduate MSc Finance student at the London School of Economics (LSE), specialising in Corporate Finance, Start-ups, and Valuation. Before joining the LSE, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lancaster University where he became passionate about healthcare, business and the macroeconomy. He has worked as a research intern for the Richardson Institute and as a summer intern for the Bank of Greece. Konstantinos sees his diverse academic background and work experience as a strength equipping him with a multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving.
At ELAVITY he assists new healthcare ventures navigate the complexities of business finance and make value-enhancing financial decisions.
Alumni: Lancaster University, UK (B.A. Hons. Politics & Economics)
London School of Economics & Political Sciences, UK (M.Sc. Finance)
Taylor
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
Senior Consultant -Medtech & Biotech
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)