Sodero

Cyriaque Viaud works at Pillar and has a background in venture capital and education at Stanford GSB. He writes a Substack newsletter called Neural Daydreams.

Jean-Claude Cobat is Directeur de Participations at Sodero, where he supports the equity financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Before joining Sodero Gestion, he spent ten years at Caisse d'Epargne Bretagne Pays de Loire as a business center director, holding roles across the Côtes d'Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine areas between 2010 and 2020, and previously worked for eleven years at the BNP Paribas group in roles including business manager and advisor on business transmission. He also holds board director mandates at Breizh Invest PME and France Active Bretagne.

Alessio Piuma is Directeur de Participations at Sodero, where he supports the equity financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. He previously spent ten years at Caisse d'Epargne Bretagne Pays de Loire as a business center director covering the Côtes d'Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine areas, and earlier held roles at BNP Paribas including business manager and advisor on business transmission. He holds board mandates at Breizh Invest PME and France Active Bretagne.

Nancy Philippart is a General Partner and co-founder of Belle Michigan. She serves as Executive in Residence for the Engineering Ventures program at Wayne State University, where she works with and teaches student and faculty entrepreneurs, and she advises early-stage companies in Southeastern Michigan. She has more than 30 years of engineering and executive experience in the automotive industry, most recently as Executive Director of GM Accessories, a General Motors venture focused on vehicle personalization.

Nicolai Bastian is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage, growth and pre-IPO investing, with experience across B2B software, FinTech, RegTech and capital markets technology. He has been involved in more than 25 investment and exit transactions spanning the DACH region, the UK, wider Europe and the US, leading deals from sourcing and thesis development through due diligence, structuring, negotiation and closing. His work includes board-level engagement with founders and management teams on strategy, financing, governance, value creation and exits.

Vice President at Bios Partners focused on diligence, negotiations, portfolio management, and investor relations. Previously VP at Moorea Capital family office. Holds an MBA from Dallas Baptist University.