Imagine. Build. Grow.

Howard Morgan

Chairman

Howard Morgan has more than 30 years of experience serving as a mentor, advisor and investor in over 200 high-tech entrepreneurial ventures including companies like Pandora, Climate Corp, Uber, Internet Brands. He is Co-founder of First Round Capital, and serves as Chairman at B Capital Group as well as Director, Board member and advisor for an assortment of companies including Idealab Studios. Howard is a respected author (contributing writer for Business Insider), has received Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, and a frequent speaker at major industry conferences. He has a PhD in Operations Research from Cornell University and a BSc in Physics from City College of the City University of New York.

Omar Saif Ghobash

Nacre Partner

Omar Ghobash is Partner at Nacre Capital. H.E. Ghobash brings to Nacre Capital an extensive international business experience in various fields, including finance and art. H.E. Ghobash previously served as the United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador to Russia and France, enhancing economic and cultural relations between the nations, playing an instrumental part in the creation of NYU Adu Dhabi and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. He is also a renowned author, with his notable work ‘Letters to a Young Muslim’ garnering widespread acclaim. H.E. Ghobash studied Law at Oxford and Math at the University of London.

Francisco Tassi

Head of Legal

Francisco manages all aspects of the fund’s legal operations, advises on deal structures, governance and compliance matters. Prior to joining Nacre in 2021, Francisco worked for more than seventeen years in top tier law firms in Argentina, gaining broad experience in Venture Capital, Corporate Law, M&A, Commercial Contracts, Compliance, Litigation and Dispute Resolution. Francisco received his J.D. from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and an LLM from Queen Mary University of London (UK).

Michael Sampoerna

Strategic Advisor

Michael Joseph Sampoerna is an Indonesian businessperson and professional investor who founded PT Sampoerna Strategic and who has been the head of 5 different companies. Sampoerna Strategic Group, has investments in agriculture, finance, telecom and timber. Presently, Mr. Sampoerna holds the position of Chief Executive Officer & Director at PT Sampoerna Strategic, President Director at PT Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia, President Commissioner of PT Sampoerna Agro Tbk and President Commissioner of PT Sumber Graha Sejahtera. Mr. Sampoerna is also on the board of Twinwood Ltd. and Samko Timber Ltd. and Director at PT Sampoerna Bio Energi and Member-Patrons Board at Putera Sampoerna Foundation. Michael studied at the London School of Economics in the UK.

Peter Ho

Strategic Advisor

Peter Ho has more than 34 years’ experience in the Public Service of Singapore where he served as Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, National Security & Intelligence, Special Duties in the Prime Minister’s Office and Secretary of Defense. He was also the inaugural Chairman of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. Currently he is Senior Advisor to the Centre for Strategic Futures. He also serves as Chairman of several institutions including the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (URA),the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC), the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Governing Council as well as member of the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Paul Schickler

Agritech Advisor

Paul E. Schickler was president of DuPont Pioneer (now Corteva Agriscience), the advanced seed genetics business of DuPont, from 2007 to 2017. In this role he continued to expand Pioneer’s global business by advancing innovation that improves local productivity and profitability of farmers throughout the world. Prior to serving as president he was vice president of international operations. Mr. Schickler is a graduate of Drake University, where he received Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in business administration. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Cultivation Corridor, The Greater Des Moines Partnership, the Iowa Business Council and Grand View University. He also served on the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Drake University, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and The World Food Prize Foundation. His company, III Ag, LLC, provides consulting services to ag tech companies in the fields of biologics, analytics, sensing, grain composition modification and international expansion.

Dr. Einar Wathne

Aquatech Advisor

Dr. Einar Wathne is a preeminent figure in the aquaculture industry known for bridging the R&D and commercial sides. He is the Chairman of the Seafood Innovation Cluster and was until recently, the Head of Aquaculture at Cargill. He is a member of Aquaticode’s Strategic Advisory Board. He has an MBA from Handelshøyskolen BI University as well as a PhD in Aquaculture.

Chantal Wedge

Research Analyst

Chantal is a well-rounded professional, originally from Eastern Canada. With educational experiences in three different countries, she earned her B.A. in Global Governance with a specialization in anthropology from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Her professional resume includes an internship at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and a coordinator role in the home health care sector. Currently calling Rome, Italy home, Chantal is proficient in four languages and has an undeniable love for music, especially the world of musical theatre.

Panni Tankó

Research Analyst

Panni graduated from her MSc studies in Business Development, which sparked her interest in experiencing the inner workings of a venture capital, and helping new, innovative firms grow into successful companies. This, mixed with her background in Social Anthropology and extensive international experiences bring more than 5 years of market research, business development, ethnographic research and marketing experience to our team.

David Reis

Automation Advisor

David Reis a business leader and entrepreneur who has held various CEO, Chairman and Board Director positions in fast-growing startups and large-scale high-tech operations including Stratasys Ltd (NASDAQ: SSYS), NUR Macro printers (acquired by HP) and Scitex vision LTD. As a CEO, David participated in several IPO processes in the US and Europe as well as numerous M&A transactions. Today, David also serves as Director with Stratasys Ltd (NASDAQ: SSYS), Chairman at Enercon Ltd, and Chairman at Tuttnauer Ltd. David holds a BA in Economic and Management from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology , an Executive MBA from the University of Denver and he is also a graduate of HBS Advanced Management Program.

Lane Bess

Cybersecurity Advisor

Lane Bess spent over 35 years as an operational executive who successfully launched start-ups and helped build some of the most well-known Internet Security companies. He is the former CEO of Palo Alto Networks, leading the company to its IPO. He was instrumental in leading Zscaler to its IPO following his time at Palo Alto. He has held different key positions in multinational companies such as Trend Micro Internet Security, NCR Corporation and AT&T. He has extensive experience in building technology businesses in Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan as well as other International regions. His considerable work in the security technology sector has made him a trusted advisor for many Enterprise CIOs and CISOs. Lane has a BA in Managerial Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the University of Dayton. He serves as a Board Trustee at Carnegie Mellon University.

Jessica Kelly

Research Analyst

Jessica Kelly brings more than 5 years of HR, recruiting, Market research, In-depth investment analysis and Business development experience to the firm. Prior to joining the team, Jessica worked for Ernst & Young as a consultant, and was also part of establishing a local HR firm in Argentina. She graduated from USAL with a Degree in International Relations & Political Science. Proficient in English, Spanish, German, and Italian, Jessica is passionate about language and culture.

Marina Kaganovich

Director of Finance

Marina Kaganovich is a Certified Public Accountant with 2 years of experience in BDO as an Audit Manager and +5 years of experience in the hitech industry as a financial controller of various companies. She completed her BA in Business Administration in 2010 from the College of Management, Israel– Majoring in Accounting based on the IFRS.

Torben Svejgaard

Aquaculture Advisor

Torben Svejgaard is currently the chairman and a board member of several aquaculture, fishmeal and fish oil and related companies. Until 2014 he was the CEO of BioMar, one of the world’s leading fish and shrimp feed suppliers. He is a member of Aquaticode’s Strategic Advisory Board. He has a MS in Economics from Aarhus University.

Rosario Herrera

Finance Manager

Panni graduated from her MSc studies in Business Development, which sparked her interest in experiencing the inner workings of a venture capital, and helping new, innovative firms grow into successful companies. This, mixed with her background in Social Anthropology and extensive international experiences bring more than 5 years of market research, business development, ethnographic research and marketing experience to our team.

Ana Silva

Aquaculture Research Lead

Ana Silva is a marine biologist and has 10 years of experience in marine hatchery management and consultancy, with significant knowledge in more than four fin-fish species. Ana has an MSc in Aquaculture and Fisheries from Algarve University.

Dr. Yoni Donner

AI Research Lead

Yoni Donner is a Deep Learning specialist with significant published research in peer reviewed journals including in Nature Science. Previously, he was a leading researcher at Google in Silicon Valley and holds a PhD from Stanford University in computer science with a focus on AI and machine learning.

Santiago Marina

Senior Legal Counsel

Santiago joined Nacre in 2023 after working for more than ten years in top tier law firms and leading startups in Argentina, gaining broad experience in Venture Capital, Corporate governance, M&A, Commercial Contracts, Compliance, Antitrust Law, Crypto and Fintech Regulation. Santiago received his J.D. from the University of La Plata (Argentina) and a postgraduate degree in Corporate Law from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain); he assists the fund in all legal aspects, advising on deal structures, governance and compliance matters.

Shaymelissa Sunder

Research Analyst

Sham is a Law undergraduate with a degree in Political Science and International Relations from USC. Her experience in World Vision International sparked her interests in research, and international business and development geared for various advocacies. Sham speaks English, French, Chinese Mandarin, and Tagalog.

Edina Zsigmond

VP Government Relations

Edina is a former Hungarian diplomat with more than 10 years of service. She has experience with European funds in the private sector, the academia and sports, and has been working on projects and grants in 4 continents.
She is an economist graduated in Budapest and holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University.