Ff Venture Capital

Maciej Skarul is a General Partner at ffVC with over 12 years of investment banking and M&A experience. He previously served as a Director in the Investment Banking division at Santander Bank Polska, focusing on TMT and industrial sectors, and worked at Bank of America ML and specialist M&A boutiques. He holds degrees from Warsaw School of Economics and Harvard Business School.

Mariusz Adamski is a General Partner at ffVC who joined in 2019. He is an active angel investor in Poland with over 10 years of experience in global capital markets, private equity, and venture capital. He previously worked at mBank, Altus TFI, and Bastion Investments in Poland, and spent six years at Mitchell Madison Group and Pershing Square Capital Management in New York.

Masayuki Ohta is a General Partner at ffVC with experience executing private equity and venture capital deals at JBIC IG Partners, focusing on technology and healthcare. Previously, he worked at Japan Bank for International Cooperation specializing in equity investment and project finance for Japanese enterprises. He holds a BA in Economics from Keio University and an MBA from Cambridge Judge Business School.

Michael J. Woods is a General Partner at ffVC focused on the energy sector. He is President and Managing Member of Woods Capital, a global financial advisory firm, and holds partnerships in several investment and development companies. Previously, he was CEO and COO of Rothschild & Co. Asset Management U.S. and CEO of DWS Investments. He holds a bachelor's degree in business from Taylor University.

Taro Hizume is a General Partner at ffVC. Previously, he was an Investment Director at JBIC IG Partners executing PE/VC deals and played a key role in establishing a venture capital firm in Europe. He also worked at Industrial Growth Platform and began his career at Mitsui & Co. focusing on leasing and trading. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo.

Oliver Mitchell is a partner at ff Venture Capital providing domain expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence, drones, industrial automation, and climate tech. He has a proven track record of successful exits including two IPOs and multiple high-return transactions. He serves on the boards of several companies and is an Adjunct Professor at Sy Syms School of Business.

Katie Weiss is a Principal at ff Venture Capital with over 15 years of experience in seed, early-stage, and growth companies. She leads the firm's due diligence process, sources investment opportunities, manages the AIPS program, and serves on various boards. Previously, she held business development and venture capital roles at Salesforce, TriNet, and R/GA Ventures.

Andrew Hong is a Venture Partner at ffVC and currently serves as CEO of Dashbot, an ffVC portfolio company offering analytics for conversational interfaces. Previously, he worked on the investment team at ffVC and has experience in enterprise technology at Oracle, digital analytics at Nielsen, and as an early team member at DeltaOne Solutions, which was acquired by IHS Markit. He graduated from Boston College with a B.S. in Marketing & Management Leadership.

Avery Ersztein is a Venture Partner at ff Venture Capital with 20 years of experience in technology and financial services. He joined from MeOhr Ventures where he was head of Investor Relations and previously held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, managing large pools of investment capital. He began his career as an engineer at Microsoft. He holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

David Roberts serves as CEO of the Applied Research Institute, a non-profit focused on innovation and technology for national security and economic development. He is also Executive Director for Li-Bridge, a DOE initiative focused on domestic battery supply chains. Previously, he was Indiana's Chief Innovation Officer and has held leadership positions in lithium-ion battery companies, as well as roles at Caterpillar and Lockheed Martin.

Dion Ridley is a Venture Partner at ffVC who has spent over 20 years in technology leading technical teams. He previously led engineering at Harry's, a global grooming brand, and has helped grow several tech companies to acquisition by companies including Dell and Sybase. He serves as an advisor to early-stage companies and volunteers with nonprofits focused on diversity and tech literacy.

Florin Mihoc joined ffVC as a Venture Partner in December 2018 focusing on fintech, enterprise, and data sectors. He has been involved with two startups through bootstrapping and global expansion and serves on their boards. He holds over 15 years of Fortune 500 executive experience in B2B roles and was a Fulbright Post-Doc Fellow at the US State Department. He holds a PhD in Strategic/Global Management.

Les Alexander is CEO of the Battery Innovation Center and serves as a Venture Partner. He has held executive leadership positions at several energy storage and battery technology companies and has over 30 years of experience in finance, operations, and business development. A retired U.S. Naval Supply Corps Lieutenant Commander, he holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master's degree in Government Acquisitions from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Robert Bogucki is a Venture Partner at ffVC and CTO & co-founder of deepsense.ai, which develops customized AI solutions for enterprises and startups. He has successfully executed hundreds of AI projects across computer vision, NLP, predictive modeling, and generative AI. He holds dual Master's degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Warsaw and lectures on machine learning at university level.

Talal Almoayed is a Venture Partner at ff Venture Capital based in the Middle East. He led various businesses in logistics, food and beverage, and investments, managing a portfolio of funds and direct early-stage startups in the GCC region. He is also a Venture Partner at a London-based VC firm and serves as Board Trustee of the African Impact Foundation. He holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Alex Katz serves as general counsel at ff Venture Capital, overseeing accounting, legal operations, investment processes, and regulatory compliance. He holds a CPA and JD with over 30 years of experience working with seed, early-stage, and growth companies. Prior to ffVC, he practiced corporate and tax law and held CEO and CFO positions.

Bob Savage is a Fund Advisor to ffVC and runs Americas FX Sales for BNY Mellon. He is a foreign exchange thought leader with over 30 years of industry experience spanning hedge funds, the sell-side at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey consulting, and quantitative advisory. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Philosophy from Yale University.

Gregor von dem Knesebeck is a Fund Advisor to ffVC and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blue Future Partners, a Berlin-based VC Fund of Funds backing emerging managers globally. Prior to starting BFP in 2015, he spent five years at an EU Family Office investing in VC and real estate. He was also co-founder and CEO of Open Publishing, a leading German digital publishing software company.

Joe Proto is a Fund Advisor to ffVC. Most recently, he served as CEO of Transactis, a Mastercard company providing electronic billing and payment solutions to major banks. Over 38 years in payments, he launched and sold two prior payments companies. He is active in the fintech payments industry and invests in innovative technology businesses.

Robert Bugbee is a Fund Advisor to ffVC and President and Director of Scorpio Tankers Inc. He has over 25 years of experience in the shipping industry and held senior management roles at OMI Corporation, a NYSE-listed tanker company. He holds a Fellowship from the International Shipbrokers Association and a Bachelor of Arts from London University.

Steve L. Nutt is a Fund Advisor to ffVC and holds a CFA designation. Over the past 20 years he has held various roles including President and Chief Investment Officer for a Cleveland-based family office. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago with an MBA and the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.S.

Timothy Rollender is a Fund Advisor to ffVC and serves as a Senior Venture Officer in the EDA's TLS division. He is responsible for marketing the Edison Innovation Fund to potential applicants and partnering organizations. Previously, he was a Senior Analyst for asset management firm Hirtle, Callaghan & Co. and worked at the New Jersey Department of the Treasury.