Top 50 Fashion Angel Investors in United Kingdom

Sebastian Picardo is an active investor and advisor in the global luxury goods sector.As an investor, he has been very active in the fashion, technology and media sectors for over 9 years, investing in companies like Net a porter, Lyst, Farfetch, Business of Fashion and Highsnobiety. He has also been a venture advisor to London-based FelixCapital, a leading Venture Capital firm investing in digital lifestyle start-ups, since 2014.As an advisor, he has helped brands and retailers in areas such as digital marketing, customer experience, omni-channel retailing and innovation, In addition, he has advised companies wanting to enter and market their brands in China mainland.Sebastian was formerly Deputy President of Asia’s iconic luxury department store Lane Crawford. Sebastian joined Lane Crawford in 2012. As a member of the senior management team, he crafted and drove Lane Crawford’s “connected commerce” strategy, underlying the company's focus on omni-channel retail development to deliver a seamless customer experience.Previous to Lane Crawford, Sebastian was with Burberry where he served as Managing Director - Digital Commerce, based in the London headquarters. Prior to this role, he had helped transform and integrate the brand's Spanish operations into the global business as Managing Director - Operations at Burberry Spain. Before joining Burberry, Sebastian had held various senior finance roles at Net-A-Porter, Alexander McQueen and Deloitte.Originally from Argentina, he is a Chartered Accountant, holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s degree in International Finance. Most recently he attended Harvard Business School, where he successfully completed the Advanced Management Program.Sebastian lived in Buenos Aires, London, Barcelona and Hong Kong. He is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian and has an elementary command of Mandarin.

Angel / Sophisticated Investor and Trader (Ex London Stock Exchange(LSE), Deutsche Bank, London Clearing House(LCH) ) , Invested in 60+ Startups / 4 successful exits (with Avg 20x) and counting more. (Web3 -> udaybs.ETH )Invested in following asset classes from past 2 decades across UK / India / US / Europe / -Private Equity (Seed / Growth / VC/ Acquisition / Merger) - Equity Markets - Real Estate - FX - Commodity - Bonds - Fintech, Blockchain, Crypto Market, Web3 , DeFi, NFT - Derivative Markets / Hedging / F&O / CFDGrowing Wealth in bumpy economic rides - There is no secret formula. Investment is an art. Being vigilant, dynamic, connecting dots, evaluating risk with constant change, loads of patience and visualising medium to long term.Private Equity Investments across globe in following domains / categories: - Energy - EV / Carbon Footprint - Blockchain / FinTech / AI / ML / Web3 / DeFi - D2C / B2C - Food & Beverages - Pharma - Media & Entertainment

Carmen Busquets - Founder @ CoutureLab

Simon Beckerman is the founder of Depop, a peer-to-peer social shopping app based in London.

Stefano Martinetto is CEO at tomorrow ltd.

Charles Allard jr

Eric Wahlforss is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dance. He co-Founded SoundCloud Limited in 2007 and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. Eric Wahlforss has been working with the web since 1995 and served as the Interaction Designer for Gate5 (acquired by Nokia in 2007). Under the artist name Forss, he has released electronic music on Berlin basedlabel Sonar Kollektiv and toured across the world. He holds an M.Sc. degree in Industrial Economics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and has studied three years at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Theo Osborne is a Managing Partner at 9Yards Capital.

Abe Burns was a former Partner at A-Grade Investments.

Nicolaj Reffstrup is the Founder of Ganni. She attended Copenhagen Business School and IT-Universitetet i København.

Xavier Niel is the Co-Founder and CEO of NJJ Capital. He previously worked at Worldnet as a Founder. Xavier Niel attended Saint Michel de Picpus Catholic private high school.

An industry leader in accessible luxury handbags, accessories, footwear and apparel, Rebecca Minkoff’s playful and subtly edgy designs can be spotted around the world on young women and celebrities alike.After developing an affinity for design while in the costume department in high school, Rebecca Minkoff moved to New York City at only 18years old to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer.In 2001, Rebecca designed a version of the “I Love New York” t-shirt as part of a five-piece capsule collection, which appeared on The Tonight Show and became an overnight sensation.In 2005, Rebecca designed her first handbag, which she soon dubbed the “Morning After Bag,” a.k.a. the “M.A.B.” This iconic bag ignited Rebecca’s career as a handbag designer and inspired her “downtown romantic”-themed designs in the years to come. Rebecca’s success was further enhanced by the support of her brother and the company’s CEO and co-founder, Uri Minkoff, who helped usher in and pioneer the company’s industry-leading social media efforts.After four years of designing statement-making handbags and accessories with her trademark leathers, studs and edgy hardware, Rebecca returned to her roots of apparel design and introduced her first ready-to-wear collection in 2009.Today, Rebecca Minkoff has developed into a global lifestyle brand with a wide range of accessories, footwear, apparel, handbags and jewelry as well as men’s leather goods under the label Ben Minkoff. The brand is distributed in over 900 stores worldwide, and on March 1, 2012, Rebecca opened her first free-standing boutique in Tokyo. In 2011, she won industry recognition when she was awarded the Breakthrough Designer Award from the Accessories Council. Rebecca is an active member of the CFDA and supports multiple philanthropies including Jessica Seinfeld’s non-profit, Baby Buggy.Rebecca is married to actor and director Gavin Bellour and they reside in New York City with their son, Luca, and daughter, Bowie.

Matt Cooper is Chairman of Octopus. Before joining Octopus, Matt was Principal Managing Director of Capital One Bank (Europe) where he led the team guiding strategy and operations. He helped the UK arm grow from a start-up to a business employing more than 2,000 people and generating over £275 million in revenue.

Fidji Simo is the CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of Instacart. She previously worked at Facebook as a Head of the Facebook App. Fidji Simo attended HEC Paris.

Rob founded Actix (actix.com) in 1991 and as CEO (1991-2005) grew it to over $50m revenue by 2005. More than 90% of the world’s mobile phone customers have their networks optimized by Actix software and Rob has worked with many of the world’s leading mobile operators and infrastructure vendors. In 2005 he sold a majority stake in the company toPE firm Summit Partners at a $100+m valuation. He has invested in a further 30+ startups and has had five very successful exits (he's not counting failures as they come with the territory). Rob is chairman of Robotical (robotical.io) and DevicePilot.com. He's also the founding chairman of Singletrack.com and a supporter of the unique orchestra SouthbankSinfonia.co.uk. As an inveterate tinkerer in software and hardware, he's fascinated by IoT, 3D printing and the maker movement (as you can probably see from his personal website (robdobson.com). Rob is a Fellow of the IET and has a 1st class honours degree in Electronic Engineering.

Natalie Massenet is cofounder and co-managing partner of Imaginary Ventures, a venture fund investing in early-stage opportunities at the intersection of retail and technology, as well as the non-executive co-chairwoman of Farfetch, a global e-commerce platform for luxury fashion. Massenet is best known for founding the luxury fashion onlineretailer Net-A-Porter, in 2000. In the year before she stepped down from her role following its merger with YOOX, the Net-A-Porter-Group recorded net revenues of almost $1 billion. Massenet began her career as a journalist and fashion editor, working at WWD and Tatler before setting up Net-A-Porter. In 2009, she was awarded an MBE, and in 2016 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, both in recognition of her contributions to the U.K. fashion and retail industry. Massenet was chairman of the British Fashion Council between 2013 and 2017.

Maisie Williams is best known for her portrayal of Arya, one of the few Starks left standing in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Off-screen, Maisie is the co-founder of Daisie, a social networking site making it easier for creatives to network, share ideas, and collaborate on projects. She is also a powerful advocate for women’s rights, and hopes Daisie willopen doors for women in all sectors of the creative industry.

Founding Partner at Vaultier7. Vaultier7 is a London-based, specialist private equity fund dedicated to providing growth capital to brands within Beauty & Personal care, Health & Wellness and Lifestyle.

Lloyd Amsdon is the Founder and Brand Director of Watchfinder.

Robin Klein is the Non - Executive Chairman of MOO Print Ltd. He is also a Venture Partner at Index Ventures. Robin joined the London office of Index Ventures in April 2010 as a Venture Partner.He is a founding partner of The Accelerator Group, a seed investment company specialising in e-commerce, digital media and Internet services. He iscurrently Chairman of Quickbridge (Wonga), Moo Print Ltd, MyBuilder. He sits on the Boards of EDITD, Farfetch, FreeAgent, OneFineStay, Skimlinks, Zoopla. Robin is a governor of Rhyl primary school. He is also a past Chairman of Great Ormond Street hospital's funding company.Robin has 25 years of operating experience, 20 years of which as entrepreneur and 14 years of investing experience and he has been on the boards of three publicly quoted companies. In his last operating role as Chairman and CEO of Innovations, he conducted the very first UK ecommerce transaction in May 1995.Since starting his investment career in earnest in 1998 by co-founding The Accelerator Group (TAG) with his son, Saul, they have made over sixty investments. Robin is passionate about helping to build the European technology start-up ecosystem and actively supports Saul in the promotion of Seedcamp and OpenCoffee. He has a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering. An MSc in Industrial Engineering.

Pierre Denis is at CEO at Jimmy Choo.

Natalie Massenet is co-founder and partner of Imaginary Ventures, a venture fund investing in early-stage opportunities at the intersection of retail and technology, as well as the non-executive co-chairwoman of Farfetch, a global e-commerce platform for luxury fashion. Massenet is best known for founding the luxury fashion online retailerNet-A-Porter, in 2000. In the year before she stepped down from her role following its merger with YOOX, the Net-A-Porter-Group recorded net revenues of almost $1 billion. Massenet began her career as a journalist and fashion editor, working at WWD and Tatler before setting up Net-A-Porter. In 2009, she was awarded an MBE, and in 2016 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, both in recognition of her contributions to the U.K. fashion and retail industry. Massenet was chairman of the British Fashion Council between 2013 and 2017.

Giles Brook

Gareth Williams co-founded Skyscanner Limited in 2001 and has been its CEO through to 2018. Chairman to Jan 2020. We spent $6m of primary capital raised through to $1.8bn sale to Trip.com. Now ‘funemployed’ and learning.

Jean-Charles Naouri (born March 8, 1949 in Bône (now Annaba), Algeria, is a French entrepreneur who is currently Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder of Groupe Casino.At 14, Mr Naouri was awarded first prizes for top scores on both the Latin and Greek exams in France’s national concours général competition for highschool students. At 15, he passed his baccalauréat exam with highest honours, and in 1967, he ranked first in the nationwide entrance examination to the École normale supérieure (Mathematics). He then earned a PhD in Mathematics in just one year. Mr Naouri also attended Harvard University and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), where he graduated from in 1976.After graduating from ENA in 1976, Mr Naouri joined the Inspection des finances, the auditing and supervisory body of the French Administration. From 1982 to 1986, he served as chief of staff for Pierre Bérégovoy, both at the Ministry of Social Affairs and National Solidarity and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Budget. During this period, he was the architect of the reforms implemented in the French financial markets, which included the creation of the MATIF futures and MONEP options markets and the introduction of certificates of deposit and commercial paper. In particular, he helped drive the financial market liberalization with measures to ease currency controls and eliminate credit restrictions.In 1987, Mr Naouri left government service and joined Rothschild & Cie Banque as Managing Partner. Around the same time, he established his own investment fund, Euris, which acquired minority equity investments in industrial companies, while rapidly increasing its investment capabilities.In the early 1990s, Mr Naouri shifted his investment strategy from opportunistic to acquiring strategic stakes. As part of this new strategy, in 1991 he acquired the Brittany-based retailer Rallye, which at the time was facing serious cash flow issues/challenges. Convinced of the future potential for retailing and the benefits of combining the two companies, in 1992 he engineered a merger of Rallye with Groupe Casino, thereby becoming Groupe Casino’s largest shareholder.In 1997, a hostile takeover bid for Groupe Casino by rival retailer Promodès was thwarted by the successful counter offer from Jean-Charles Naouri, the Guichard family and Casino management, thereby maintaining the Group’s independence.In March 2005, Mr Naouri became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Casino Group, leading a substantial transformation of the retailer’s profile by disposing of underperforming business segments in Poland, the United States, Taiwan and the Netherlands and strengthening the Group’s presence in fast-growing markets. This made Casino the leading food retailer in South America (especially Brazil and Colombia), the Indian Ocean and Vietnam and the second largest in Thailand.In France, Mr Naouri has refocused French operations in the convenience format segment, Groupe Casino’s core business, and also positioned Casino in the discount segment by developing the Leader Price chain and the Cdiscount e-commerce website acquired in 2000.In 2012, Groupe Casino acquired a controlling interest in Brazilian retailer Pão de Açúcar, the country’s largest private-sector employer. The Group also purchased the 50% of French retailer Monoprix, which it did not already own, becoming the sole shareholder.In addition to his business activities, Jean-Charles Naouri is also the founder of the Euris Foundation, which he created in 2000. Each year, the Foundation grants 40 scholarships to promising high school graduates from impoverished neighbourhoods in France.He is also Vice Chairman of the Groupe Casino corporate foundation, which he founded in 2009 to improve access to culture and knowledge for children who are disadvantaged or suffering from illness.In addition, he is Honorary Chairman and Trustee of Ecole Normale Supérieure’s Institut d’Expertise et de Prospective, which is responsible for developing ties between the school and the corporate world.In June 2013, Mr. Naouri was appointed by France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be a special representative for Economic relations with Brazil.

Mustafa Suleyman is a founder, venture investor and technology entrepreneur. As the CEO and co-founder of Inflection AI and a venture partner at Greylock Partners, Mustafa brings years of experience as an entrepreneur and expert in artificial intelligence. Prior to co-founding Inflection AI, he co-founded DeepMind, a leading AI company acquired byGoogle in 2014.Mustafa was the VP of AI Products & AI Policy at Google starting in 2019. He is a member of the Board of The Economist, a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and is a recipient of the annual Silicon Valley Visionary Award.

Eileen Burbidge is a Partner at Passion Capital, the pre-eminent early-stage VC fund based in London. She brings extensive operational experience to her investment activities gleaned from business and product roles at Yahoo!, Skype, Apple and elsewhere.In addition to Passion Capital, Eileen is also the Chair of TechCity UK, which is the Britishgovernment-backed organisation supporting digital business across the UK. She is also HM Treasury’s Special Envoy for FinTech appointed by then Chancellor George Osborne; Tech Ambassador for the Mayor of London’s office and served on former Prime Minister David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group.Eileen was made an MBE for services to Business in June 2015 and holds a BSc Engineering degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Network Effects Investor, Venture Partner @ Speedinvest, Instructor @ Reforge, Atomico Angel

Michelle joined Badoo originally as lead counsel over 4 years ago. Prior to joining Badoo she was a successful corporate lawyer at leading international law firm, Mishcon de Reya, before being poached by the firm's successful biotech client, Quotient Bioscience to head up their legal team. During her time at Badoo, she built the legal,compliance, HR and talent teams before moving into a more operationally focused role, including a position on the board. Today, Michelle is responsible for most key areas of the business, and works closely with founder and CEO Andrey Andreev, on the existing product, and exciting 'special projects' coming soon....

Ketan has been an entrepreneur and executive in the technology industry where he was involved in 6 start-ups and has held executive positions in global corporates like Sybase/SAP, Ascential/IBM and ICL/Fujitsu. Since stepping down from his executive role he has been a board advisor and investor in several start-ups. He is currentlyNon Executive director at Baltic Technology Ventures, Non-Executive chairman at Horizon Corp and a board advisor at Meghraj Capital. He is also an investor in Ubamarket and Quivira Capital,

Lin is the COO of Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers. He was instrumental in the 2011 launch of the platform when he joined Justin.tv in 2008. His role included attracting the site’s largest broadcasters and building out the partnership team among other activities which have helped grow the Twitch brand.Currently more than 100 million gamers gather every month on Twitch to broadcast live video, watch and chat about gaming, making the platform an industry leader.

Salman joined Brightpearl with 15 years of experience in building and growing Web and business software companies.Prior to his role at Brightpearl, Salman spent 8 years at Siebel Systems, and initiated the development of Siebel's Web-based products.Prior to Siebel, Salman was a co-founder of Firefly Network, an early pioneer ofpersonalization and recommendation technologies, acquired by Microsoft in 1998.Salman also served as VP of Product Marketing at AMEE, a London-based technology business providing a platform for carbon data aggregation. Salman was born in Pakistan and grew up on four continents.He holds a BSE in Electrical Engineering from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nick Stenning

Ben Barnett (former CEO, TFG London).

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an Indian actress, singer, film producer, and the winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant. She is one of India's highest-paid and most popular celebrities. She has been a recipient of numerous awards, including one National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She is the wife of the Hollywood singer Nick Jonas.

Advising and investing in (pre)seed startups around the world – focusing on go-to-market, B2B sales, internationalization, and company culture.Investments include Keen4Greens (keen4greens.com), HEAT (heat.io), Biovox (biovox.systems), Clearpool (clearpool.finance)I am currently building DiscoEat/ DIDIT. With DIDIT, we are digitizing theway guests pay at restaurants. Within 15 seconds, guests can split and pay their bill, tip, leave a Google review and their email address. DIDIT is 100% customizable to the brand of the restaurant.Career Path: - Consultant - Bain & Company. - Managing Director DACH - Tink Labs/ handy/ hi.com (B2B hospitality tech). - COO - Anchanto.com - Asia's leading eCommerce selling & logistics tech platform. - ManagingDirector - foodpanda (Delivery Hero, formerly Rocket Internet) in Hong Kong and JakartaPersonal: - Fun things I love: Traveling, Reading, Podcasts, Crossfit, Wake Surfing, Dogs - Businesses I love: Food Tech, Restaurant Tech, web3, platform companies - Tasks I love: Company building, Culture building, Organizational development, B2B Sales

Lord Mervyn Davies

Asa Asika

Ines Ures is a Partner at IRIS Ventures.

Peter Hawking is a Senior Vice President of Menswear at TOM FORD.

June Angelides MBE - Investor, Entrepreneur and SpeakerBorn in London and raised in Lagos, June joined Samos Investments in 2018, investing in high growth European businesses. Prior to this, she started the first child-friendly coding school in the UK, Mums in Tech, which taught over 250 women to code in 3 years. She also held roles on theVenture Debt Team and Early Stage Banking Team at Silicon Valley Bank. An active part of the tech and startup ecosystem, she sits on the boards of Cajigo, Women of the Year, Ruka and Everpress, a mentor at Oxford University and runs mentoring circles for founders and aspiring VCs. She is a founding member and judge on the Debut Sessions, a monthly pitch session for founders seeking seed investment. She is passionate about flexible working and getting more women and girls into tech. She is a Columnist at The Financial Times. She has been named by the Financial Times as the 6th Most Influential Tech Leader and by Computer Weekly as one of the most Influential Women in Tech. June received an Honorary Fellowship at the Institute of Engineering and Technology and was awarded an MBE for services to women in technology. She was recently joined the UK Government Taskforce on Women-Led High-Growth Enterprises’ which aims to support women entrepreneurs, tackle investing barriers and increase the number of women-led fast-growing businesses. She is investing in early stage startups in Africa and is focused on Ecommerce, Fintech, Healthtech, B2B SaaS and Future of Work.

kaushal kumar

Since starring in The Simple Life, Paris Hilton has built a global empire from the ground up as a businesswoman, influencer, activist, DJ, designer, investor, recording artist, philanthropist, host, actress, chef, model and author. In 2001, Variety declared Paris Hilton a “Billion Dollar Entrepreneur.” In 2006, she created Paris HiltonEntertainment (now known as 11:11 Media), a multi-billion-dollar company that started with 45 branded stores and 19 product lines, which have surpassed over $4 billion in revenue. She’s launched 27 fragrances globally and has won numerous accolades including the 2019 Best Mass Fragrance Award from WWD. Today, 11:11 Media is a global media platform with verticals covering TV (Slivington Manor Entertainment), audio (London Audio), digital (11:11 Digital), licensing, NFTs, impact and more. Always attuned to emerging trends and opportunities, Hilton continues to expand 11:11 Media and use her platform to inspire, empower and create lasting positive impact.Through Hilton’s production company, Slivington Manor Entertainment, and a multi-year partnership with Warner Bros., Hilton released Cooking with Paris (a new twist on a cooking show; released on Netflix in August 2021), released Paris in Love (a docu-series covering Hilton’s life leading up to and including her wedding; released on Peacock in November 2021) and is in development on various other TV projects. Hilton’s podcasting and audio company, London Audio, is underpinned by a multi-year partnership with iHeartMedia. Hilton hosts her own podcast, This is Paris, and recently launched a new podcast, Trapped in Treatment, that exposes the troubled teen industry. As an investor, Hilton is committed to supporting and investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs and building a strong investment portfolio (with a focus on female entrepreneurs and companies positively impacting the world) that includes companies such as Daily Harvest, R3SET, Viome, Origin Protocol, Genies, Good Catch, Zen Water, Yat, Podz, and many more. Hilton has also solidified herself as an NFT leader as was recently seen by her being named #7 on Fortunes’ 50 most influential people in NFTs, through being awarded “Winner of Best Charity NFT” at the 2020 NFT Awards and through her selling 25,000+ NFTs in her February 2022 “Paris: Past Lives, New Beginnings” NFT drop. In staying true to her goal of fostering empowerment and in collaboration with Sevens Foundation, Paris curated and launched “Empowered By Paris: Empowered Women Empower Women Exhibition”, which is an NFT exhibit dedicated to showcasing and equipping female artists with a platform to succeed. Paris also recently launched “Paris World” in Roblox, where more people showed up for Paris’ NYE ball drop in Paris World than Times Square!Through her powerful activism work, Hilton has spearheaded impactful policy change across the United States and abroad. In the critically acclaimed This is Paris YouTube Originals documentary (which has garnered over 46 million views to date), Hilton revealed the abuses she suffered as a teenager within the Troubled Teen Industry and has since dedicated her platform to reforming the industry. In one year, her vocal advocacy influenced the passage of U.S. state laws in California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, Utah, as well as a law in Northern Ireland. In partnership with Breaking Code Silence, a nonprofit whose goal is to eradicate the abuse of institutionalized children, Hilton was accepted by Rise Justice Labs, the world’s first civil rights accelerator, to develop the federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act that will positively impact 120,000 youth annually. Her participation in the #BreakingCodeSilence movement has significantly increased awareness of the Industry with a media reach valued at $77M in ad equivalency and the aggregate readership of articles referencing Paris & the cause at 41B. Hilton also recently received a grant from the Hilton Foundation to develop a novel mental health support model for impacted survivors. Philanthropy is an important part of Hilton’s life and will continue to be a principal pillar of her platform.This is just the start for Paris Hilton and 11:11 Media. Paris and her team will continue to elevate with purpose and contribute to society by creating thought provoking, impactful, premium entertainment experiences and products. Whether it is Paris World, inventive new NFT drop formats, a beauty product line, a cookware/kitchen product line, or new TV shows and podcasts, 11:11 Media is poised to impress and will be a company to watch.

Helen Williamson (former MD, Whistles)

DeepMind is a neuroscience-inspired AI company, bought by Google in Jan 2014 in their largest European acquisition to date. Demis is now Vice President of Engineering at Google DeepMind and leads Google’s general AI efforts, including the development of AlphaGo, the first program to ever beat a professional player at the game of Go. Demis is aformer child chess prodigy, who finished his A-levels two years early before coding the multi-million selling simulation game Theme Park aged 17. Following graduation from Cambridge University with a Double First in Computer Science he founded the pioneering videogames company Elixir Studios producing award-winning games for global publishers such as Vivendi Universal. After a decade of experience leading successful technology startups, Demis returned to academia to complete a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at UCL, followed by postdocs at MIT and Harvard, before founding DeepMind.

Adam Sadiq is Co-Founder and CEO of New World Group. He attended the University of Glasgow.

Francesco Marini Clarelli actively invested in startups as an Angel Investor all along his career and he is currently the President and Co-founder of Italian Angels for Growth, the largest angel group in the country.His first angel investment was made in 1987, when he was 30, in a media start-up that few years later it was sold to the mainItalian publishing group after a growth from €1 million to €15 million in sales. His latest successful exit has been Yoox.com, a global fashion products e-commerce company, that he invested in as a start-up in 2000. The company later became the leading global player and successfully listed on the Milan stock exchange in 2009.Francesco has so far invested in more than 20 startups during his professional career.Always an active investor both in the private equity as well as listed securities fields, he presently owns and runs Astor Investment Advisors SIM, a thematic asset allocation advisory concern. He sits on the Advisory Board of Value Secondary Investments, an Luxembourg based secondary private equity investment fund, and is also a member of the board of a number of industrial concerns.In 2001 he founded, with other partners, one of the first funds of hedge funds management companies in Italy.Francesco obtained a BA with honors in 1980 majoring in Economics at the University of California in Santa Barbara,and started his career at Bank of America’s New York branch.Francesco was awarded "Angel of the Year 2011" by EBAN (European Business Angel Network), the pan-European federation of early stage investors.

Laura Middleton

Dr. Johann ‘Hansi’ Hansmann was born in Austria and studied economics in Vienna. He spent the major part of his professional life working as an executive in the pharmaceutical industry in Austria, Germany, UK and Spain. He gathered several years of entrepreneurial experience running successfully his own pharmaceutical company in Spain afterconducting a management buy-out of a big pharmaceutical plant, making an exit in 2003. Since this time he is active as investor and business angel. He currently holds investments with a geographical focus on Austria, Germany, UK and Spain both internet and in the health industry. He led Runtastic, shpock, mysugr and just recently durchblicker and Busuu to extraordinary exits. He was president of the ‘Austrian Angels Investors Association’ until 2021, was awarded 'Best European Early Stage Investor' in 2016 by eban.org and is now based in Vienna and tries to find spare time to ride his mountain bike.

Dinika Mahtani