Astanor Ventures - where tech meets nature - is an impact investor that backs ambitious entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond with disruptive, scalable solutions that will create systemic change across the agrifood value chain, from soil to gut. 

Venture Capital

Astanor Ventures

Roy Horgan grew up within a fourth-generation family food business in Cork, Ireland and began his career in corporate banking. By 2006, Roy managed and invested a portfolio of c.€2bn located throughout Europe and North America.

In 2008 at 29 he co-founded a dye sensitised solar cell firm, SolarPrint, which specialised in the development of self-powered indoor sensors. In 2013 Roy founded MarketHub Technologies Limited, a data analytics software business using dynamic pricing to help retailers break the cycle of unprofitable discounting, manage stock allocation and reduce food waste.

In 2017, MarketHub was acquired by the digital pricing company SES-imagotag plc (SESL). Roy is currently CEO of SES-imagotag plc for the UK & Ireland and sits on the group executive committee. From their R&D Centre in Cork, MarketHub is currently commercialising a concept called the “Self Learning Store ™️.

Roy holds a B.Sc. in Business and Finance, a Diploma in Stockbroking and a Diploma in International Selling.

Roy Horgan

Arnout has always been engaged with bringing people in motion and impact peoples’ lives positively and sustainably. Before joining Astanor in 2021, he has been leading [Engie](/org/engie-app)’s global business to make clean cooking solutions more affordable for the 3 billion people still cooking on wood and charcoal. Prior to that Arnout has led VC and M&A deals in sectors like Access to Energy, Mobility and the Energy Transition spanning Europe, Israel, Africa and Asia. Arnout has a passion for teams and products that are inherently more sustainable, boosting the system to a higher level, and supporting them to grow to successful ventures.

Arnout Dijkhuizen

Until April 2020, Johan Cardoen was Managing Director of VIB, a dedicated life science research organization based in Belgium. In this role, Johan was in addition to the executive management responsible for VIB’s Innovation and Business Team. Today he is a Board Director at  [Biotalys](/org/biotalys)  (BE) and [Aphea.Bio](/org/aphea-bio) (both are  VIB agro spin-offs), [Complix](/org/complix) (BE) and is Chairman of [Meiogenix](/org/meiogenix) (an Institut Curie spin-off, FR). In the past he held board positions at [argenx](/org/argenx), Actogenix (now Intrexon), Applied-Maths (now [bioMérieux](/org/biomerieux-sa)), [Pronota](/org/pronota) (now Mycartis), Multiplicom (now Agilent), GST (now [Boehringer Ingelheim](/org/boehringer-ingelheim)) and was Chairman of Flandersbio from 20007-2012) and he was also Chairman of the LP Board of [V-Bio Ventures](/org/v-bio-ventures), a dedicated life sciences investment fund, which is focused on early-stage investments in life sciences (2015-2020).

Until 2012, Johan was CEO of CropDesign N.V., today part of [BASF](/org/basf) (Ghent, Belgium), a biotechnology spin-off from VIB. Johan joined CropDesign in 1999 as Vice President Business Development and became CEO of CropDesign in 2004. He developed and implemented a dual track strategy (IPO/trade sale) which led to an acquisition of CropDesign by [BASF](/org/basf) Plant Science in 2006.

Prior to joining CropDesign, Johan was Head of Technology Acquisition at AgrEvo Hoechst Schering (now Bayer CropScience) and was responsible for all biotechnology-related technology acquisitions and he started his professional career as business development manager at Plant Genetic Systems (PGS) in 1988. Johan received his Ph.D. in biology from KU Leuven, Belgium (1987) and a business degree from KU Leuven (1990).

Johan Cardoen

George joined Astanor in 2020 as a Venture Partner, based in the United States. Among his 25 years of experience in venture capital, he has been the managing director of Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures since 2000, a fund focused on early-stage European technology start-ups. Previously, he spent six years at Intel Corporation where he was instrumental in starting the group that became Intel Capital in EMEA.

During the last decade, George has focused primarily on sustainability investments and has been the Chairman of several start-up companies in the renewable energy sector. He is now applying his experience to help guide agrifood tech entrepreneurs to success.

George Powlick

Stephan brings extensive experience in Private Equity, M&A, and Venture Capital with a technology sector focus to his role as Senior Legal Counsel at Astanor. Stephan earned his master’s degree in Law at Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) and prior to joining Astanor in October 2021, he worked as a lawyer at leading international law firms in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany for almost a decade. He also is a guest lecturer for Venture Capital and M&A at the University of Applied Sciences in Aachen (FH Aachen).

Stephan Weling

Emmanuel Faber is the former Chair and CEO of Danone, a trailblazer for regenerative food and agriculture practices and social inclusion. He led the multinational company to become an environmental, social, and governance leader, which culminated with the adoption by a 99% vote of shareholders of the new French status of Enterprise à Mission in 2020, and Danone to become yet the only stock market listed company in the world that reports its financial earnings on a scope-3 CO2-adjusted basis.

Emmanuel is the founder and Chair of the One Planet Business for Biodiversity coalition, pushing for agricultural biodiversity and soil health, and a founder of the G7 Business for Inclusive Growth coalition, co-chaired with OECD Secretary General. He is a member of the UK G7 Impact Taskforce and a member of the Transformational Economics Commission of the Club of Rome. He is also the former co-chair of the Consumer Goods Forum. Emmanuel is French, married, with three children, and an avid rock climber and alpinist.

Emmanuel Faber

Hans joined Astanor in 2019 as a Partner and brings extensive board room and deal experience from previous executive VP roles as GC and head of corporate development in global groups owned by private equity investors such as CVC Capital, Renova, and Pamplona Capital. Columbia U. LLM, member of the New York bar since 1990 and [IESE Business School](/org/iese-business-school) AMP, Hans has worked on more than 50 M&A, IPO, and capital markets transactions across Europe and the U.S.

Hans Marteau

Brian Halweil is a strategic associate at [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures). Prior to their current position, Brian was the founding editor of Edibles in NYC, Long Island and Memphis, a position they held for thirteen years. Brian also served as the director of education and lecturer at the Food Lab at Stony Brook Southampton for five years. Brian has been a board member of Food Tank: The Food Think Tank since 2013.

Brian Halweil attended [Stanford University](/org/stanford) for their Earth Systems degree with a focus in biology. Brian then attended Trinity High School.

Brian Halweil

Laura joined Astanor as a Junior Compliance Officer in March 2022 and has been intrigued by impact investing and sustainable development for several years. Laura has a background in both law and finance, and she obtained her Master’s degree in Law from the University of Turku, Finland. Laura has previously worked as a Risk Specialist at Nordea and engaged in regulatory research in an impact investing company.

Laura Sirpoma

Prior to joining Astanor, Kanira worked at SPDG Ventures and EIT Digital, investing in deep tech startups in Europe and USA. She also successfully managed to fundraise and focused on SaaS startups at DN Capital. Before that, Kanira led investments into clean technology at Praefinium Partners and was also a creative entrepreneur for a few years in India and the UK. She holds a Master in Information Systems Engineering and a Master of Science in Environmental Technology, both from Imperial College London, and an MBA from INSEAD. Kanira has also published her MSc thesis on gender equitable value chains in agriculture via NHH, Norway, and is a member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle.

Kanira Shah

Arne Hautekiet is an investment analyst at [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures). Arne has previous experience working as an equity research analyst at AMSA and as a consulting intern at Delaware BeLux. In their previous roles, they assisted teams in executing different activities related to asset management, investment banking, and hedge funds. Arne also participated in the development of a predictive business performance model. Arne holds a master’s degree in finance from the [University of Amsterdam](/org/university-of-amsterdam).

Arne Hautekiet

Leslie joined Astanor in 2019 and is responsible for monitoring sustainability and impact at Astanor. She brings more than 13 years of experience in global asset management within both the private and public sectors. After 9 years with global asset manager [Russell Investments](/org/russell-investments) as a research analyst and portfolio manager for the Asian equity markets in London, Paris, and Sydney, Leslie joined the [Bank for International Settlements](/org/bank-for-international-settlements) (BIS) in Basel where she was responsible for the selection of all the investments for the BIS’s Pension Fund for three years.

Leslie Kapin

Christopher started his career writing about food for Norway’s main papers and continues to be a leading culinary voice on sustainability and internationalization within the culinary profession. He has worked in Paris and New York (Per Se & Blue Hill at Stone Barns), and in 2013, he moved back to his home town Bergen to open his first restaurant, Lysverket. He has since hosted tv-shows both in Norway and internationally as well as started a range of new businesses. He now operates several restaurants in Bergen under his management company, Haatuft AS, and a green roof construction company, Mottak.no.

Christopher Haatuft

Bruno Verjus is the Chef/Owner of Michelin-starred Table Restaurant. Bruno was born in Roanne in the Loire, a town known for its strong culinary culture and the bounty of its wilderness.

Bruno created and directed the Premium Group for 18 years. He then began writing books for Gallimard, while also contributing to guides including Le Fooding, Omnivore, le Magazine de Cinéma et d’Art, 3 Couleurs, et Au Quotidien, and his own blog, Food Intelligence and had a weekly radio show on France Culture called “on ne parle pas la bouche pleine” (“Don’t Talk with Your Mouth Full’’).

In 2013,  Bruno launched the restaurant Table in Paris, where one can feast on pure flavors while providing producers the assurance of absolute respect of their products. Table sources only seasonally available products from French, Belgian, Italian, Spanish and Scottish sustainable producers.

Bruno Verjus

Christina joined Astanor as a partner in 2020 having spent more than a decade working on the ground with agri-food entrepreneurs in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. She is passionate about equal access to food and creating climate resilient societies. She is known for having pioneered innovative de-risking transactions based on novel remote field-sensing technologies, now used by the likes of the World Food Program

Prior to joining Astanor, she led the Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Middle East & Africa energy and agri-food business development and before that she was part of building the global carbon emission certificate portfolio. She also worked for the Geological Survey in Chile, the climate change program of the United Nations Institute and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Christina Ulardic

Becca Gaunt is currently the legal counsel at [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures). Becca has held this position since May of 2022. Prior to their current role, Becca was an associate at Taylor Wessing LLP from September 2019 to May 2022. Her title was Associate - Corporate Technology (New Zealand Qualified). Before that, they were an associate at Mayne Wetherell from February 2016 to April 2019. Prior to that, they were a Resident Tutor at Rochester and Rutherford Hall of Residence from February 2015 to December 2015. Before that, they were a Summer Clerk at Mayne Wetherell from November 2014 to February 2015. Becca started their career as a Quantitative Research Assistant at The University of Auckland from November 2011 to February 2014.

Becca Gaunt attended the [University of Canterbury](/org/university-of-canterbury), where they obtained a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce. Becca also completed the International Baccalaureate at [Kristin School](/org/kristin-school).

Becca Gaunt reports to Stephan Weling, Senior Legal Counsel.

Becca Gaunt

With deep management experience in Silicon Valley, Europe and Asia, George founded Astanor with Eric Archambeau in 2017 after more than 30 years in technology investment. He was previously Head of Venture Capital of Good Energies (clean energy), board member of Aventron (micro-hydro energy firm), and co-founder of Benchmark Capital Europe with Eric Archambeau in 2000. Prior to that, he spent 9 years at Intel Corporation leading a group which made over 100 investments and became Intel Capital. Intel is now considered the most successful corporate investor and a model for other firms’ corporate venture programs.

George is a current board member of [Human Rights Watch](/org/human-rights-watch), a lifetime fellow of the RSA and was previously a Trustee of [George Washington University](/org/gwu) and Chair of the GW Sustainability Collaborative.

George Coelho

Hendrik Van Asbroeck is a Belgian national who has been working in the energy sector for over 20 years. Hendrik started their career at ENGIE in 1998, where they held various positions in the company's Belgian and French operations. In 2018, they were appointed Managing Director of [Engie](/org/engie-app) Fab, [Engie](/org/engie-app)'s New Business and Innovation department. In this role, they were responsible for developing new businesses, incubating new ideas and driving the company's innovation culture. Hendrik left [Engie](/org/engie-app) in December 2019 to join [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures) as a partner.

Astanor Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in the food and agriculture sector. Hendrik's experience in the energy sector, combined with their knowledge of the food and agriculture sector, makes him a valuable asset to the team at Astanor.

Hendrik Van Asbroeck has a M.Sc. in Business Engineering from KU Leuven, a Senior Management degree from the [London Business School](/org/london-business-school), and a General Management Program certificate from CEDEP - Executive Development – Fontainebleau. Hendrik also has a Sustainable Energy Markets certificate from the European Energy Institute and a Management degree from [Vlerick Business School](/org/vlerick-business-school). Hendrik Van Asbroeck has also completed an advanced negotiation course at [Vlerick Business School](/org/vlerick-business-school).

Their manager is Eric Archambeau, Co-Founder & Partner. Hendrik Van Asbroeck works with Kanira Shah - Investment Principal, Emmanuel Faber - Partner, and George Powlick - Partner.

Hendrik Van Asbroeck

David Barber is currently a partner at [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures). David has previously worked at [Almanac](/org/almanac), Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, and Blue Hill.

David Barber's educational career includes a BA in Economics from [Connecticut College](/org/connecticut-college), as well as studies at [Harvard Business School](/org/harvard-business-school) and Collegiate. David also attended Dalton.

Some of their coworkers include Kanira Shah - Investment Principal, Arnout Dijkhuizen - Investment Principal, and Stephan Weling - Senior Legal Counsel. David Barber reports to Eric Archambeau, Co-Founder & Partner.

David Barber

Valerie Christy is an investment associate at [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures). Valerie has a background in early stage investment in food businesses, covering traditional CPG and technology serving supply chain agriculture and the hospitality industry. Prior to their current role, Valerie was a founding member at [Almanac Insights](/org/almanac-insights), and also held positions at Blue Hill At Stone Barns, LivingSocial, and EatingWell Media Group.

Valerie Christy completed a Bachelor's degree in International/Global Studies at Middlebury College. Valerie also studied Spanish at the C.V. Starr- Middlebury College School in Spain.

Valerie Christy

Adrian Friederich is an Investment Associate at [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures). Prior to joining Astanor, they were with [Techstars](/org/techstars), Maersk Growth, [Danske Bank](/org/danske-bank), [Forto](/org/forto), and Droege Group. Adrian has a wide range of experience in business development and sales management.

Adrian Friederich has a Master's degree in Finance and Strategic Management from [Copenhagen Business School](/org/copenhagen-business-school) and a Bachelor's degree in Wirtschaftswissenschaften from University of Cologne.

Adrian Friederich

Yuhua joined Astanor in 2022 as an accounting officer. She completed a Master’s degree in Human Ecology in VUB and Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Finance in BI Norwegian Business School. She used to work as an accounting assistant in Black Dragon Group Europe in Oslo, Norway, and a sales consultant in Travelex NV in Antwerp, Belgium. Her passion is cooking and eating healthy food, mitigating climate change, and reaching sustainable development goals.

Yuhua Bai

A global food enthusiast and not-for-profit activist, Astanor’s co-founder Eric has been supporting healthy food education and regenerative agriculture training for over a decade. The former Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur turned venture capitalist (App Annie, Betfair, Freenow, [Onfido](/org/onfido), [Spotify](/org/spotify), Xing) was Global Chairman of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and co-founded [Quadia](/org/quadia) – a Geneva-based impact investing firm that offers private investors and family offices tailored strategies and portfolios that deliver social and environmental impact.

Previously, he lectured at graduate business school [INSEAD](/org/insead), where he founded the Social Entrepreneurship Department and was one of the co-founders of Social Impact International, a social entrepreneur accelerator program in India and Hawaii with a focus on sustainable agri-food programs.

Eric’s ambition to revolutionize the food sector led him, with long-time business associate George Coelho, to launch [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures) in 2017 to invest in disruptive companies creating systemic change in the food and farming sectors while restoring the cultural dimension of food, ultimately inspiring people to cook meals that are sustainable, delicious, nourishing and that build a connection to nature.

Eric Archambeau

As Head of Agriculture, Adrian has responsibility for strategy and investment across Buccleuch’s extensive portfolio of farms, representing one of the largest privately-owned land holdings in the UK, extending to some 80,000 hectares in Southern Scotland and England.   A member of Buccleuch’s Executive Committee he advises the wider Buccleuch estates in policy and estate development planning.  Previously Adrian led the Barrington Park Estate farms, overseeing their transition to conservation farming, is a former manager with Velcourt and consultant with Andersons.  He studied at the Royal Agricultural College School of Business and is a Fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Management.  Adrian is a former speaker at TED Global and the Sustainable Food Trust.

Adrian Dolby

Wim brings more than a decade of impact and private equity investment experience to his role as Finance Director at Astanor. Prior to joining Astanor in 2020, Wim served as Finance Manager and head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Incofin Investment Management – an impact fund manager focused on agro SMEs in developing countries with 1 billion euros under management, focused mainly on investments in agriculture and rural areas. Wim served as a board member in several Funds and SPVs and is a seasoned finance professional with experience in finance, budget and forecasting, Luxembourg Fund structures and portfolio valuation. Wim is also a passionate beekeeper.

Wim Van Looveren

Kathleen A. Merrigan is an expert in food and agriculture, celebrated by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010. Currently, she serves as Professor in the School of Sustainability and executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at [Arizona State University](/org/arizona-state-university) and has been a Venture Partner with [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures) since 2017.

Kathleen is renowned for her efforts supporting local food systems and authoring the law establishing national standards for organic food, as well as the federal definition of sustainable agriculture. She is known for authoring the law establishing national standards for organic food and the federal definition of sustainable agriculture. She serves on the boards of various global food, climate and forestry research centres including  FoodCorps, [Stone Barns Center](/org/stone-barns-center), [Center for Climate and Energy Solutions](/org/center-for-climate-and-energy-solutions), the two international forestry research centres CIFOR/ICRAF.

Kathleen A. Merrigan

Troels Prahl holds a degree in biotechnology from the [University of Copenhagen](/org/university-of-copenhagen), where he specialized in fermentation science. Since the early 2000s, Troels has dedicated his working life to brewing and fermentation science and its application in Europe, UK, and USA. Troels has worked closely with [White Labs](/org/white-labs), a fermentation leader, on yeast research and project management since 2007. He has presented at major technical conferences and taught technical classes with renowned brewing science schools, such as Siebel Institute and the Scandinavian School of Brewing in Copenhagen. Troels was also recognized as an award-winning head brewer during his time at London’s [Camden Town Brewery](/org/camden-town-brewery). In 2014, Troels relocated from California back to Denmark, where he is the managing director of [White Labs](/org/white-labs) Copenhagen, while also serving as VP of Innovation in the mother corporation. [White Labs](/org/white-labs) Copenhagen is a satellite production and lab facility servicing the European market’s yeast and fermentation needs.

Troels Prahl

Giles is one of Europe’s leading thinkers on the evolving role of social entrepreneurialism – among businesses, charities, social organizations and government – in creating a stronger society for all. For the past two decades, he has advised organisations around the world, to help them understand, innovate and act on the opportunity to spark social change. Giles is the founder of Good Business, a strategy & sustainability consultancy. Since 1996, Good Business has worked with many of the world’s most iconic businesses including Nike, Microsoft, McDonald’s, O2, [KPMG](/org/kpmg), Avon, [The Walt Disney Company](/org/disney), Kellogg’s and many others. In 2010, Giles founded The Sustainable Restaurant Association, a not-for-profit membership organisation supporting restaurants globally in their journey to be more sustainable. And in 2012 helped he helped set up the Paraorchestra, an elite disabled orchestra, rewriting the rules of classical music. In addition, he chairs Shift, a unique service design agency for reimagining the charity sector. In 2002, he coauthored a book – Good Business, Your World Needs You and writes regularly on transformational change and the role of business.

Giles Gibbons

Khoi Tu has over 25 years of experience in advising CEOs and top teams of start up, scale up and world leading organisations on how to maximise the positive impact of people and culture.

Khoi is currently the Global Head of the Culture and Change practice and Senior Partner for [Korn Ferry](/org/korn-ferry). Previously, Khoi co-founded and headed a leadership and strategy advisory firm, was a Global Account Manager with Monitor, and a key leader at razorfish during the late 90s. Khoi also worked at Shell, including as  a regional advisor for Asia Pacific to the Committee of Managing Directors.

Khoi is a Board Member of the Jamie Oliver Group. He is a Life Fellow of the RSA and Ambassador for the [British Red Cross](/org/british-red-cross) – to which he donates all proceeds from his bestselling book Superteams. He has been featured and contributed as a leadership and teamwork specialist on CNN, Bloomberg, Management Today, Business Life, the BBC, and the [Financial Times](/org/financial-times).

Khoi Tu

Antoine joined Astanor as Legal and Compliance Manager in February 2021. Prior to Astanor, Antoine was a senior team member in the structuring and implementation department of one of the leading alternative investment fund services provider in Luxembourg. Antoine has a solid understanding of fund structuring, as well as legal and compliance specifications related to alternative investment fund managers.

Antoine Cuny

Mark Emil Hermansen is the co-founder of [Empirical](/org/empirical), a groundbreaking flavor company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. [Empirical](/org/empirical) applies scientific and culinary innovations to beverages, food products and beyond. Previously, he was Concept Manager at [Noma](/org/noma) and Head of Development at MAD, the non-profit founded by noma chef René Redzepi. He holds a degree in social anthropology from Oxford University, with a focus on the notion of terroir.

Mark Emil Hermansen

Elisabeth Fleuriot has extensive experience as an executive in FMCG multinationals companies in Europe, USA, and Asia and as a non-executive board member in blue chips multinational companies. A French native, she has served 20+ years as President & CEO in global food companies including [Danone](/org/danone), Yoplait, Kellogg’s, and Thai Union. She has work in both developed and emerging markets and has experience driving innovation-led organic growth and acquisitions. She is also passionate about sustainability and team diversity. Her non-executive board experience includes roles with Carlsberg, [Stora Enso](/org/stora-enso) (global leader in renewable tree-based materials), and G4S (leading global integrated security company). At G4S, she is also Chairman of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee. She joined [Astanor Ventures](/org/astanor-ventures) as an advisor in 2018 and the Ynsect Board in 2019. Since September 20, she has been Chair of Ynsect Board . She holds a BA in Economy, Finance, and Marketing from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and an MA in Economic Sciences from Paris Assas University

Elisabeth Fleuriot

Karine Clément (MD, Ph.D.) is a medical doctor, and full professor of Nutrition at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital and Sorbonne University, Paris. Since 2006, she is the director of a research group at INSERM and Sorbonne University. The group works on the pathophysiology of obesity and nutrition-related disorders particularly focusing on interorgan cross-talks (www.nutriomique.org, @ClementLab). From 2011-2016, she created and was the director of the Institute of CardiometAbolism and Nutrition (ICAN). KC has been first involved in the genetics of obesity and contributed to the identification of monogenic forms of obesity, a field where new medical treatments are now available to patients. Her team is also exploring the link between environmental changes, like changes in lifestyle and nutrition, gut microbiota, immune system, and tissue functional modifications (adipose tissue fibrosis and inflammation). KC and her team contributed to more than 400 highly cited publications. KC received several national and international prizes and contributes to several science advisory boards and international consortia. Amongst them, FP7-METACARDIS is an EU project dedicated to the study of gut microbiota in Cardiometabolic diseases and she was the coordinator of Metacardis for 6 years. KC is a member of several international groups and associations in the field of metabolic diseases (such as WOF, EASO, EASD, and AFERO).

Karine Clément

Madeleine joined Astanor in 2021 as Communications Manager. She is responsible for press and media relations and oversight of communications channels and events. Madeleine has a background in corporate sustainability, working on facilitating sustainable innovation and business transformation through education in ENGIE.

Prior to this, she worked in air-quality research, in business development for a seed-stage startup, and as a volunteer for multiple environmental associations. Through these experiences in a range of fields: public and private sector, corporate, startup, and academic environments, Madeleine has developed a passion for finding creative solutions to today’s sustainability challenges through collaboration, education, and innovation.

Madeleine Futterman

Arthur joined Astanor in May 2022 as a Portfolio Analyst and is responsible for transaction follow-up and reporting. He has a background in business engineering and corporate finance and, while earning his master’s degree at Solvay Brussels School, he did an internship at ING as an M&A analyst. Arthur began his career at PwC Luxembourg and is one of the co-founders of eShares.so.

Arthur Hay

Prior to joining Astanor as Investor Relations Manager, Camille worked as a Wealth Manager for 7 years within Rothschild and co and Indosuez Wealth Management where she led business development and managed investor relationships.

Passionate about entrepreneurship and the start-up world, Camille was in charge of the Village by CA, the biggest start-up accelerator in France, for the Indosuez Belgium branch.

Camille completed a master’s degree in Finance from Esdes Business School. She also graduated from HEC Paris with an international Certificate in Corporate Finance.

Camille Grisard

Prior to joining Astanor, Laure co-founded 2018 The Sasi Co., a consultancy supporting companies throughout Europe in their sustainability journey. During the same period, Laure worked in developing Socially Responsible Investment products for asset managers in Paris. Laure completed her master's in sustainability and social innovation at HEC Paris in 2018 following four years of working in London assessing credit and political risks in the insurance sector. Laure is a foodie and when she’s not at work, she can be found surfing in the French Basque Country.

Laure Peronnin

David Zilber is a chef, fermentation specialist, and photographer who hails from Toronto, Canada. David has cooked from coast to coast across North America, and around the world for almost 20 years. He also spent 6 years working at [Restaurant Noma](/org/restaurant-noma), in Copenhagen from 2014 to 2020. There, he quickly joined the Fermentation Lab, where as its director from 2016 to 2020 he helped push Noma’s innovation forward in the worlds of both gastronomy and fermentation. In his time there, he co-authored The Noma Guide to Fermentation, a book that garnered global accolades and became a New York Times Bestselling cookbook.

David Zilber

Xavier Prats Monné is an international consultant on public policy, education and European affairs. He is the Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives of the Open University of Catalonia, Special Advisor of Teach For All (a global non-profit organization whose mission is to expand educational opportunity around the world), and Board member of several non-profit organizations. Until 2018 he worked at the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, where he served most recently as Director-General for Health and Food Safety and previously as Director-General for Education and Culture and founding member of the Impact Assessment Board among other senior roles. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Catalan. He joined Astanor as an advisor in October 2020.

Xavier Prats Monné

Dr Louis Monier is a Silicon-Valley based computer scientist who is widely recognized for his contribution to search, machine learning and data mining.  Louis received a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Paris XI, France and worked at [Carnegie Mellon University](/org/carnegie-mellon-university), Xerox PARC, and DEC’s Western Research Laboratory before founding the Internet search engine AltaVista in 1995.

After AltaVista, Louis served as Co-Founder and CTO of Qwiki, which was sold to Yahoo in 2010.  Since then, Louis has been a Venture Advisor to [Wellington Partners](/org/wellington-partners), acting as Chief Scientist or Chief Technology Officer to big data and AI companies, including Proximic (acquired by ComScore), [Onfido](/org/onfido) and Import.IO as well as serving as head of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at AirBnB in San Francisco. He joined Astanor as advisor in 2018.

Louis Monier

Inspired by her family’s farming background, Laetitia has been deeply involved in the food and agriculture industry since childhood and joined Astanor as an associate in 2020. She has extensive experience in sourcing and funding global data and telecommunications startups from her time at Orange Ventures and was a former startup business developer. Laetitia is passionate about equal rights and is on the Advisory Board of Sista, non-profit promoting equality between genders in Venture Capital.

Astanor Ventures

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