Aruna has over 28 years of international experience in the oil and gas, petrochemical and venture capital industries. She has worked with Schlumberger Oilfield Services in a range of field, operational and management positions. For the last 15 years, she has been an investor with Shell Technology Ventures, Kenda Capital, Chemelot Ventures and SABIC Ventures. Aruna is currently the Managing Director for SABIC Ventures. She graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology and also holds an MBA from IMD, Lausanne.

Ian has over 30 years of experience in life science, material science, and technology-driven companies. During the last 12 years, he has focused upon venture capital investing, initially 10 years with DSM Venturing, and, more recently, with Qbic Venture Partners, a Belgian institutional venture fund. Ian holds a chemistry degree from the University of Sheffield. He has invested in materials, sustainable chemistry, renewable energy, industrial biotech, biotech, food & nutrition, and medtech start-ups in Europe and the USA.

Stepan has over 11 years of cross-industry experience in finance, project management, and strategic planning. He is a recent MBA graduate from IMD, Lausanne. Before his MBA study, Stepan held senior finance roles across both large and entrepreneurial organizations. He has four years of experience as CFO of a high-growth scale-up, following seven years of advisory experience in professional financial services with EY. He holds an Economics degree from Novosibirsk State University and is a qualified Association of Chartered Certified Accountants member.

Howard has over 15 years of experience in the chemicals and advanced materials industries in R&D, business development and innovation management roles. Howard graduated from Tsinghua University with a PhD in Physics.

She has a PhD in polymer chemistry and physics from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry and a Bachelor’s degree in material science and engineering from Donghua University. Zoe has almost 10 years of experience with Bayer and Covestro in their R&D groups. She was recently responsible for business development for the composites group in Covestro.

Frank brings over 30 years of experience in R&D and application development in automotive, building & construction and renewable energy markets. Frank received his MSc degree in Aerospace Technology from Technical University, Delft, The Netherlands, with specialization in composites.

Michael brings 20 years of industrial experience among which 15 years in start-up ecosystem, notably acting as Chief Technology Officer and Global Head of Business Development. His field of expertise covers a large spectrum of technology areas and business segments such as polymers, additives, chemicals, compounding, (bio)feedstocks, (renewable) energy, automotive, semicon and E&E. He studied polymer chemistry at University of Liège with complementary business education from Solvay Brussels School of Executive Management.

Theresa has over 30 years of administrative and executive support in a variety of industries, including Coldwell Banker, Tribune Company, Robbins Research International, Westwind Group and Bank of America. She was also the co-owner and manager of a successful full-service restaurant in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Theresa graduated from San Jacinto College and has worked at SABIC for six years.