VCs/Investors

Ashley GroshBreakthrough Energy
Vice President

■ Career

Ashley has spent the entirety of her nearly two-decade career working at the intersection of finance and climate innovation. Prior to joining Breakthrough Energy as a Vice President to lead the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program, she spent 15 years at Wells Fargo as a thought leader working across several business units, supporting overall ESG, Cleantech Commercial Banking, and Sustainable Finance strategies. At Wells she pioneered a $100 million impact fund the Innovation Incubator (IN2), focused on speeding up the path to market for early-stage clean technologies. IN2 program’s 72 portfolio companies have gone on to raise $2.3B in follow on funding from external sources.

Today, Ashley leads the BE Discovery and Fellows efforts, continuing to immerse herself among the clean tech ecosystem - working alongside capital partners, entrepreneurs, universities, incubators and national labs. This early-stage, global, effort focuses on funding pre venture stages of innovation, to fill critical scientific gaps where the discovery of new solutions can lead to significant impacts in the hardest to abate sectors. Grosh earned a B.A. degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, as a student athlete on the CU NCAA Division One women’s soccer team.

Barak SalomonRed Dot Capital
Managing Partner

■ Career

Barak has over 20 years of experience as an investor and operator, with significant expertise in the tech and industrial sectors.
Prior to joining Red Dot, Barak represented Japan-based NTT DoCoMo Ventures and the NTT group in Israel and led investing and business development activities on their behalf. Earlier, Barak was a Principal in Israeli-based an Israeli based growth stage fund, and Apax Partners, an international Private Equity firm.
Barak has held independent Board member positions at public and private Israeli companies, including Gaon Holdings Ltd., Amir Marketing Ltd., MaxQ.Ai and Albert.Ai.
Barak holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science (cum laude) from Bar Ilan University in Israel.

Brett MockNasdaq Private Market
Chairman

■ Career

Brett Mock is the Chairman of NPM International at Nasdaq Private Market, leading the company’s expansion efforts for its secondary liquidity solutions worldwide. He is responsible for creating new distribution partnerships with financial institutions in key strategic growth markets across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East. Previously, Brett was a Senior Vice President and the Head of Global Capital Markets at Nasdaq Private Market (NPM), managing the broker-dealer, Capital Markets team, marketplace technology, and SPV product. He has 30 years of industry experience. Prior to NPM, Brett was a Senior Vice President and Head of Sales at Capital Markets Gateway (CMG), between 2017 and 2020. CMG completed a Series B funding round in 2020. Previously, he was a Partner and Managing Director at JonesTrading, where he covered large mutual funds and hedge funds. Earlier in his career, Brett was a Managing Director and Senior Institutional Equity Sales Trader for seven years at BTIG, where he helped build out the firm’s institutional business.

He was also a Director and Senior Institutional Sales Trader at Wachovia Securities, and a Principal Nasdaq Market Maker and Sales Trader at Banc of America Securities/Montgomery Securities. Brett began his career with Spear, Leeds and Kellogg (acquired by Goldman Sachs). He was the National Chairman of the Security Traders Association in 2010 and board member between 2005 and 2011. In 2005, Brett was President of the San Francisco Security Traders Association and a board member from 2002 to 2006. He earned his undergraduate degrees from the University of Washington.

Chua Kee LockVertex Holdings
CEO

■ Career

Mr Chua Kee Lock is the Group President/CEO of Vertex Holdings (VH), a Singapore-headquartered venture capital investment holding company. VH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek with over US$6.9B asset under management focusing on IT and healthcare sector.
The Vertex Group is a global VC network comprising Vertex Ventures (VV) Japan, VV China, VV Israel, VV US, VV SEA & India, VV HC, and Vertex Growth. Each of these funds is managed by independent and separate General Partnerships and investment teams, with VH providing anchor funding alongside significant 3rd party capital commitments.

David MilsteinEight Roads Ventures Japan
Managing Partner, Head of Japan

■ Career

David Milstein is the head of Eight Roads Ventures Japan, the venture capital and principle investment business for Fidelity in Japan. Early in his career, David worked for Asahi Glass and then was a founder of Japan Transaction Partners. He then joined Fidelity Ventures to set up the operations in Japan. In 2005, he joined the Walt Disney Company Japan where as VP of the Interactive Media Group, he was responsible for building and launching the Disney Mobile MVNO service. This business drove the division to its largest revenue and profit ever. He earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Eyal NivPitango
Managing Partner

■ Career

Eyal joined Pitango in 2015 as a Managing Partner and currently serves on the board of directors of AI21 Labs, Komodor, Finout, Optibus, Lumigo, Graphcore, OpenEyes and Speedata. With a primary focus on AI, Eyal’s investments include: Logz.io, CallApp, XtremIO (acquired by EMC), CrossWise (acquired by Oracle), Pebbles (acquired by Facebook), Oplus (acquired by Intel), Cyota (acquired by RSA & later acquired by EMC), Odysii (acquired by Gilbarco Inc.), Altair Semiconductors (acquired by Sony), AdExtent, Lucid (acquired by Google) and Iguazio (acquired by McKinsey).

In addition to his role at Pitango, Eyal is co-founder of The Public Knowledge Workshop, a leading nonprofit for freedom of information.
Prior to Pitango, Eyal was Managing Partner at Giza VC, where he led the fund operations and focused mainly on IT infrastructure, semiconductors & internet.

Eyal holds a BCom in Corporate Finance from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Outside of work, he’s passionate about mountain biking, photography, basketball, snowboarding and gaming. When he's not chasing the next tech unicorn, Eyal is focused on his passion project, ICF—a nonprofit empowering Israeli children who have lost their parents to acts of terrorism.

Fernando FabreKauffman Fellows
CEO

■ Career

Fernando is the CEO of Kauffman Fellows, the venture capitalists' leading education and community platform.

He is a co-founder and partner (inactive) at Matterscale Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in Latin America. He also co-founded Columbia University's eLab, a fellowship for global entrepreneurs in edtech/workforce, and is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University.

Before this, he was the president of Endeavor, a global organization that selects, supports, and invests in the world's top entrepreneurs.

He lives in New York with his family.

Joanna DrakeMagnify Ventures
Founder & Managing Partner

■ Career

Joanna Drake has built and invested in next-generation technology companies from Silicon Valley for over 20 years. She was the Co-Founding COO of Current TV, then COO of DeNA West, before becoming a venture capitalist. As GP of Core Ventures Group, Joanna oversees global category leaders in fintech, big data and cybersecurity. As Founding Managing Partner of Magnify Ventures, she is pioneering a new category of venture startups bringing technology innovation to the $6 Trillion Care Economy, from pregnancy through to end of life.

Kay-Mok KuGobi Ventures
Senior Partner

■ Career

Kay Mok is Senior Partner at Gobi Singapore. He joined Gobi in 2010 and has led investment in over 30 tech startups, including Amity (unicorn), BaBe (acquired by TikTok) and Carsome (unicorn). Prior to his career with Gobi, Kay Mok was Vice President at Xinya Media and MediaCorp. He was also part of the team that managed a $500 million fund at the Media Development Authority, and co-founded Private Express, a cybersecurity startup based in Silicon Valley. He started his career with the Infocomm Development Authority, and has a Computer Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from San Jose State University.

Kengo HoriuchiCarbide Ventures
GP

■ Career

After working for a consulting firm and a securities company, he participated in the launch of Treasure Data's Japan business in 2013. As Marketing Director, he is in charge of everything from PR to project development for the customer data platform in the digital marketing field, which is Treasure Data's flagship service. He supports data collaboration in the marketing domain that connects the value chain from financial institutions and consumer goods manufacturers to major media outlets and retailers.
In August 2021, he founded Carbide Ventures with the founding members of Treasure Data and others. With offices in Silicon Valley and Tokyo, he is a partner in a venture capital firm that invests in enterprise SaaS and other startups, mainly in Japan and the United States.

Koichiro NakamuraSozo Ventures
Managing Director

■ Career

Sozo Ventures are known for the investments global leading companies including Coinbase, Palantir, and Square, Zoom, Fastly, Insightly, MongoDB, Applied Intuition, Gramarly, and Chainalysis among others. He was the first Japanese to be ranked in the 2021 edition of the Midas List 100, a global ranking of venture capitalists (72nd), 2022 (63rd),
2023 (55th), 2024(45th).　He was an early pioneer in Japan’s IT scene as a member of the founding team of Yahoo Japan. Koh, a Waseda University Law and Chicago Booth MBA graduate, was a member of Kauffman Fellows Class 12, and was given the Jeff Timmons Memorial Award. He also serves as a Council Member at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of Chicago.

Min Kim500 Global
General Partner

■ Career

Min Kim is a General Partner at 500 Global, managing Korea funds, with primary markets in the US, Japan, MENA and Korea. The fund's thesis is rooted in Korea’s strengths in software, healthcare, clean tech, hardware, chemicals, AI Agent, content, and K-beauty (Industry agnostics). These industries hold immense potential, attracting global founders eager to build startups and businesses leveraging these assets beyond Korea.

Murat AktihanogluRemarkable Ventures Climate
Managing Partner

■ Career

Murat Aktihanoglu is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Remarkable Ventures, Remarkable Ventures Climate and ERA. A venture capitalist since 2011, Murat has invested in over 350 early-stage tech and climate companies with a combined market cap of $10+ billion. He previously founded Centrl and the nonprofit Entrepreneurs Roundtable, fostering New York's startup community through monthly investor meetings. Murat co-authored Location-Aware Applications in 2011 and has held engineering roles at Sony and Silicon Graphics. He holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Bilkent University.

Paolo GesessUnited Ventures
Co-Founder & Managing Director

■ Career

Paolo Gesess is the co-founder and managing partner of United Ventures, a Milan-based venture capital firm specializing in investments in innovative early-stage startups. With over two decades of experience originating, managing, and exiting venture capital deals across various industries, Paolo has a strong track record of transforming promising early-stage companies into international success stories.

He firmly believes that an organization's greatest asset is its people. Known for his trusted mentor and strategic partner role, he understands the challenges early-stage founders face and is committed to unlocking their long-term potential.

Paolo’s deep expertise in the early-stage sector, combined with his passion for technology, has led him to invest in companies that have shaped the digital landscape, including MutuiOnline, Moneyfarm, Musixmatch, Fiscozen, Futura, and Trustfull.

He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Turin and has served as an academic fellow at Politecnico di Milano. Additionally, he has lectured on venture capital and entrepreneurship at MIP and Bocconi University, sharing his insights with the next generation of innovators.

Phil WickhamSozo Ventures
Executive Managing Director

■ Career

Phil Wickham is Co-Founder and Executive Managing Director of Sozo Ventures, a $1.7-billion venture fund with offices in Redwood City and Tokyo. Sozo has, for over 15 years, invested in disruptive data science start-ups with global ambitions, specifically supporting them with early, intelligent engagement with Japanese markets. Notable successes include Palantir, Twitter (X), Square, MongoDB, Coinbase and Zoom. Sozo is also an early investor in Applied Intuition, Anduril, Saronic, Grammarly, Deel, Chainalysis, Need and Carbon Robotics. Of the 78 companies in Sozo’s portfolio, 22 are unicorns.

Phillip VincentPlug and Play
Managing Partner

■ Career

Phillip is serving as the Managing Partner of Plug and Play APAC and CEO of Plug and Play Japan. With a career spanning over a decade in the innovation space, Phillip has been instrumental in driving Plug and Play’s expansion and impact across the East Asia region.
Phillip’s journey with Plug and Play began in Silicon Valley in 2014, where he spearheaded the IoT and Mobility divisions before establishing Plug and Play Japan in 2017. Under his leadership, Plug and Play Japan has evolved into the premier innovation platform in Japan, connecting startups and corporations globally through hubs in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.
In his current role as co-head of the Asia Pacific region, Phillip leads strategic initiatives and management across all locations, with a particular focus on Japan and Korea.

Sachiko HabuCEO of Habu Pro
Author, Media Producer

■ Career

Founding Editor-in-Chief of Nikkei xwoman（2019‐）, Founding Editor-in-Chief of Nikkei ARIA（2019‐20）, Founding Editor-in-Chief of Nikkei DUAL（2013‐18）, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nikkei MONEY(2005-12). Ms. HABU has creates many websites of the Women Carrier Sectors. Now in charge of a member of government experts meeting of ‘Selected Future2.0’ with Minister for Economic Revitalization, a member of the Cabinet Office’s Committee for Countermeasures against Declining Birthrate, and so on.She has many lectures about woman empowerment at Universities. Worked at the Editorial Engineering Research Institute with Mr. Matsuoka Seigow, edited “Senya-Sensatsu” Website. Graduated from Kyoto University (the Faculty of Agriculture and the Integrated Human Studies). In private, mother with 2kids.

Vincent PoizatStudio 2050 Ventures
Venture Investments

■ Career

Vincent’s areas of expertise are venture investments and acquisitions, and the strategic design of such functions. He currently leads Venture Investments for Studio 2050 Ventures, a global Climate Tech venture studio with a dedicated venture capital arm, and is a partner at Snowball Innovation Advisory, where he assists large corporations in their venture investment and acquisition efforts.

He previously worked for Mach49, a Silicon Valley-based company, where he designed and worked as Partner-in-Residence on several Corporate Venture Capital funds, with a focus on sustainability. Past clients include BHP Ventures, Vale Ventures, Anglo-American, Hines Global Ventures, Callon Petroleum, SLB, Xerox PARC, and Baker-Hughes.

Prior to this, Vincent spent 21 years in Asia (15 years in Japan and 6 years in Singapore), where he focused on investment banking and cross-border M&A advisory at outfits such as Shinsei Bank, ING Bank, and Deloitte, before focusing on corporate venture capital at Deloitte Japan. He worked across all sectors, with an emphasis on natural resources.

Vincent holds an MSc in Geological Engineering (Liege University, Belgium) and an MBA (Bayes Business School, London).

He is based in Barcelona.

Will PrendergastFrontline Ventures
General Partner

■ Career

Will is a General Partner at Frontline, and co-founded the firm in 2012 with an ambition to build a more collaborative approach to funding globally ambitious founders.

He has led over 30 investments at Frontline, backing founders in a range of industries and geographies
He was a director and first cheque investor in companies including Pointy (acquired by Google), Britebill (acq. Amdocs), and AMCS (>$2bn valuation). Will’s sectoral focus is on fintech and he represents Frontline on the boards of Finbourne and Appital.

Will is a Kauffman Fellow and a professionally trained chef.

Investor stage

Investor's Night

VCs, etc.*In Alphabetical Order

Investor Stage Timetable