Illuminate Financial

Alexander Ross is Illuminate Financial's New York Partner, having joined early to help set up and launch the firm's first fund. He previously advised private equity funds on TMT and fintech acquisitions at Bain & Company, worked in JPMorgan's Technology division, and co-founded the online booking system provider Teamup. He leads the firm's work on crypto and digital assets, holds a first-class Master's degree in Engineering, and was a Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.

Katherine Wilson blends Citi equity trading-floor experience, early-stage fintech execution at CoInvestor Technologies and dual law/commerce degrees with a thesis-driven approach, leading on climate intelligence and enterprise B2B go-to-market strategy.

Luca Zorzino is a General Partner and Head of Singapore at Illuminate Financial, leading the firm's Asia presence and investing in early-growth B2B fintech and enterprise technology companies in the region. He has more than 15 years of experience across financial markets and enterprise tech as both an operator and investor, and began his career at trading and risk management vendor Murex, working on client implementations and post-trade functionality for banks in Southeast Asia. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Management from Imperial College Business School, and trained as a computer engineer at Imperial College London.

Mark Beeston founded Illuminate Financial in 2014 following more than 20 years in capital markets. He previously sat on the Executive Committee at ICAP, where he led the Post Trade Risk and Information business, and earlier was on the Executive Committee of Creditex Group, leading its credit derivatives trade processing platform through its 2008 acquisition by ICE. He began his career at Deutsche Bank, where he spent 13 years in fixed income trading leadership and COO roles.

Mark Whitcroft is CEO and Co-Founder of PlannerPal, a platform designed to automate administrative tasks for financial advisers. He has over 15 years of experience in fintech and financial services, including roles as Founding Partner at Illuminate Financial, where he helped raise $150m and invested in 30 B2B fintech companies, and at Hazel, where he worked on a property and financial guidance platform for older adults. He has served on 10 fintech boards, made angel investments in 20+ startups including GoCardless and Nutmeg, and served on the Fintech Advisory Board for The Investment Association.

Rezso Szabo joined Illuminate Financial early in the firm's development. He previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, advising technology, telecom, and financial services companies on digital strategy and operations across more than 10 countries in Europe and the Middle East, and earlier held roles at a central bank and at the fintech startup Ebury. He holds an MBA from London Business School and a Masters in Finance and Economics from Corvinus University of Budapest.

Charlton Hook joined Illuminate Financial in July 2021 as an Investment Executive in New York. He previously was an MBA investment associate at Tribeca Early Stage Partners, worked in corporate strategy at Capital One's commercial bank, and began his career at Prudential in asset liability management. He is a CFA Charterholder and earned his MBA from Columbia Business School after a double major in Finance and Economics at Rutgers University.

Julie McCrimlisk is an Investor at Illuminate Financial, where she evaluates and leads venture investments in fintech and enterprise technology companies. She previously worked on the investment team at Fifth Wall, on JP Morgan's Strategic Investments team, and in equity research at Goldman Sachs covering payments and IT services. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Georgetown University.

Konstantin Koenig is a Principal at Illuminate Financial, investing in Seed to Series B fintech and enterprise software companies. He previously was a Principal at Frog Capital, where he led growth-stage investments into European software companies and held board director roles, and earlier spent about five years in investment banking at Financial Technology Partners. His current interests include AI and services, next-generation financial infrastructure, payments, and the CFO stack.

Peter Hung is a Senior Associate at Illuminate Financial, working with founders building AI application and infrastructure companies in North America. He previously worked at Rhino Ventures, a generalist VC firm, backing early-stage B2B software, fintech, and consumer companies, and earlier held roles as a product manager and software developer at startups, financial institutions, and large tech companies. He focuses on enterprise AI applications and AI infrastructure, including developer tooling, security, AI-enabled services, and vertical agents.

Mark Rodrigues is an advisor at Enquire AI with over 35 years of experience in financial technology, including roles in sales, customer service, strategy, and execution. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA from Yale, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal, American Banker, and Risk Magazine. Rodrigues serves as a board director and has developed talent across the financial services industry.

Andrew Patey is Chief Financial Officer at Illuminate Financial, overseeing the firm's finance, compliance and operations functions. He trained as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte's Entrepreneurial Business Team and later served as Group Finance Manager at Octopus Investments before joining Illuminate in 2017. He holds a first-class bachelor's degree from Oxford Brookes University and a master's degree with distinction from the University of Exeter.

Crystal Tan is an Executive Assistant at Illuminate Financial, supporting Partner Luca Zorzino and operations across the firm's Asia presence. She has more than 16 years of experience in executive support, office management, and event operations, and previously advanced from Executive Assistant to certified Chief of Staff at Hustle & Bustle Group. Earlier in her career she held senior roles in the events industry.

Esther Muschamp is HR Business Partner at Illuminate Financial, leading HR initiatives across the firm's global offices. She has over 20 years of HR experience in financial services and IT consulting, and previously worked as HR Manager at WHEB Asset Management. She holds an LLB (Hons) Law degree from the University of Liverpool and is a Chartered Member of the CIPD.

Justin Poitras is Head of Investor Relations at Illuminate Financial, where he leads capital formation strategy and investor relationships. He previously worked in investor relations at Fin Capital and on the Secondary Advisory team at PJT Partners, and began his career as an M&A paralegal at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He holds a BA in Political Science from Trinity College.

Laura Greene is an Executive Assistant at Illuminate Financial, supporting General Partner Alexander Ross and the New York team. She previously served as Office Manager and Executive Assistant to the executive team at LiquidX, a financial technology company in Manhattan, and earlier worked on community services initiatives in Ireland, including managing a childcare facility for asylum seekers and running a community development programme.

Molly Day is an Events Assistant at Illuminate Financial, where she handles planning and execution of events across the firm's three offices and supports community and events operations. She also assists the Head of Community with marketing and brand work. She graduated from The University of Bristol in 2023.

Oliver Hickinbotham joined Illuminate Financial Management in February 2023, where he oversees day-to-day accounting for the group entities and supports internal management information, investor reporting, and fundraising materials. He trained as a chartered accountant at Menzies LLP, working with investment management companies, fund audits, subsidiaries of VCTs, and authorised AIFs.

Richard Blundell is a Portfolio Analyst at Illuminate Financial, where he analyzes performance, valuation and portfolio data to support investment decisions. He previously worked in Fund Accounting at Oakley Capital and in Audit at PwC, and has more than five years of experience across private markets and financial services. He is ACA-qualified and holds an Integrated Master's degree and a PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Rosie Zehtab is Head of Community at Illuminate, where she manages relationships with a network of industry executives, supports portfolio companies, and oversees marketing and communications. Before Illuminate, she co-ran business and program development in Europe at the Milken Institute. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from Oxford Brookes University.