Unilever Ventures-New Business-Venture Capital-Incubator-London-UK

Unilever Ventures Team

	John Coombs Managing Director John graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Engineering Science in 1981. He joined Unilever and worked for 13 years in a number of manufacturing and R&D roles in the UK and Europe. He then switched functions into consumer marketing, becoming Marketing Director on the board of Unilever's UK food business and the European Culinary Category, running brands including PG Tipps, Calve, Colmans and Oxo. In 2001 he joined a team tasked to define & set up Unilever's corporate venturing program. He has been the MD of Unilever Ventures since its commencement in 2002
	Mark Muth Director Mark has 20 years of experience in banking and private equity, most recently as a Managing Director of GE Equity, the private equity arm of the General Electric Company of America. He began his career in the US with Bank of Boston where he became a director of the bank's venture capital arm. He then joined a leading Austrian bank where he created an acquisition finance business, initially in the UK and then in Central Europe. Mark has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA from Oxford University. Mark joined Unilever Ventures in September 2002.
	Andrew Lane Director Previously European Business Development Director at DiverseyLever in the Food & Beverage Hygiene Group, Andrew joined Unilever as a marketing trainee in 1985 after studying Biochemistry at Cambridge University. As a Director of Unilever Ventures, Andrew worked on the set-up of the Corporate Venture Group and now focuses on investments, both those in the core areas of Food and Home & Personal Care, as well as technology spinouts.
	Jan Harley Investment Director Jan is an Investment Director at Unilever Ventures where has worked since it was set up in 2002. Jan plays an active role in identifying new investments for the group as well as working on a number of investee companies. Jan�s focus is on consumer facing businesses, although he also has spent time working with technology spinout businesses. Jan started his career with Unilever in 1989, and had over 12 years of marketing experience within the group. He had a number of international marketing roles within Unilever including European Marketing Manager for Persil. He also spent four years in a regional marketing role based in the UAE. Prior to joining Unilever Ventures Jan worked in for Unilever Corporate Strategy Group as part of the team that delivered the corporate venturing strategy for Unilever which included including the set up of Unilever Ventures. Jan has a degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Cambridge University in the UK.
	Anna Ohlsson Investment Director Prior to joining Unilever Ventures in 2003, Anna worked in venture capital, equity capital markets and M&A out of London since 1995. She was a founding member of ING Barings captive private equity group in 1999. An Investment Director at Unilever Ventures, she focuses on new investment opportunities, the structuring and execution of deals as well as the management of both consumer and technology oriented portfolio companies. Anna is Swedish; she lived 12 years in France and holds a degree from the French graduate school of management ESSEC.
	Lisa Smith Principal Lisa is an operations and organisation redesign specialist who has work experience in both the healthcare and packaged goods sectors. She has built factories for Unilever in South Africa and practiced lean operations with McKinsey in North America and Europe. Lisa has an abiding interest in healthcare in Sub-Sahara Africa, she helped found the Aids Foundation �Right2Care� and is currently looking to support a grass-roots fistula clinic in Malawi. Lisa is a chartered engineer and has received an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MSc in Bio-Mechanics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Natal. Lisa is currently a principal with Unilever Ventures.
	Michael Lee Principal Michael joined Unilever Ventures in January 2007. For the previous four years he worked with its sister fund, Unilever Technology Ventures in California. Here Michael supported investments in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Kreido Biofuels, Perlegen Sciences, Chromatin and Efficas, together with a venture fund investment in Burrill & Co. Prior to joining Unilever in 1996, Michael carried out postdoctoral research for five years at the University of London in bioactive peptides, and helped manage a laboratory of postgraduate and undergraduate students. He also assisted as part-time lecturer and editorial referee of several scientific journals. Michael has over thirty scientific publications in enzymes, peptide hormones and microbes and was a regular presenter at international meetings. Michael is a Kauffman Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Entomology Society, and holds life science degrees (Bachelors and Doctorate) from the University of Durham, and an MBA from RSM Erasmus in Holland.
	Stephen Willson Associate Stephen is an Associate at Unilever Ventures which he joined in 2006 from Burlington Consultants, a small strategy consultancy which was acquired late in 2005 by Deloitte & Touche LLP. At Burlington / Deloitte, he worked on a number of commercial due diligence assignments for private equity clients and debt providers as well as advising corporate clients on a variety of strategic business issues. These assignments spanned a number of sectors. Prior to this, Stephen worked for Barclays Global Investors and HSBC and he holds a first class honours degree in Business Administration from the University of Bath. As an Associate, Stephen focuses on new investment opportunities as well as supporting principals and directors in portfolio management.
	Kit Glover Associate Kit is an Associate at Unilever Ventures and joined in 2008 from Marakon Associates, a strategy consultancy, where he worked for three years advising senior management teams on issues ranging from pricing to global portfolio strategy. He has worked across a variety of sectors including pharmaceuticals, oil & gas and retail. He holds an honours degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham. Kit focuses on new investment opportunities as well as supporting principals and directors in portfolio management.
	Paul Hart Financial Controller Paul has 13 years� experience supporting Unilever FMCG operations in Europe. His roles have ranged from sales and marketing support, financial accounting operations, company planning and analysis to internal audit and business systems implementation. Prior to joining the Unilever Ventures team Paul was category finance manager for the Unilever UK Ice Cream business. As Financial Controller of Unilever Ventures, Paul�s primary roles are to work with Directors to manage total fund return and to give financial support to early stage investments. He also has responsibility for ensuring the group acts within it�s FSA permissions and Unilever Policy guidelines.
	Bernadette du Plessis Finance Assistant Bernadette has 11 years of a variety of office experience throughout different companies; most senior role recently was being a Beauty Salon Manager. As a finance assistant, Bernadette works closely with the financial controllers to assist them in the day to day business running of Unilever Ventures.