|
|
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 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
Investment Director
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 an Investment Director with Unilever Ventures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stephen Willson
Investment Principal
Stephen joined Unilever Ventures 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. As a Principal, Stephen focuses on both portfolio management and new investment opportunities. Stephen holds a first class honours degree in Business Administration from the University of Bath.
Ian Lane
Associate
Prior to joining Unilever Ventures in 2010, Ian was a strategy consultant with L.E.K. Consulting in London and Melbourne for three years. As a generalist he worked across a range of sectors, including energy/cleantech, communication technology strategy and private equity. Ian has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Cambridge University and an MSci in Chemistry from Bristol University.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
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.
|
|
|
|
