UNICEF Innovation Fund

Amogh Banta works on software engineering at the UNICEF Innovation Fund, where he maintains in-house CryptoFund projects, builds proofs of concept for pilot initiatives, and mentors portfolio companies on software and blockchain technology. Before UNICEF he led an engineering team at a B2B SaaS company focused on workplace management. He is from Chandigarh, India, and works remotely.

Aparna Bhushan works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, focusing on data privacy and mentoring. She currently serves as Head of Privacy at Wayfair and previously worked on the privacy policy team at Meta. Born in India and raised in Canada, she is now based in the United States.

Arun Maharajan works on blockchain strategy, internal advisory, and product management at the UNICEF Innovation Fund, having joined the team in late 2021. Before UNICEF, he held roles in engineering and technical management, including positions at emerging technology startups and a consulting engagement.

Candela Gonzalez works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, supporting innovation efforts to scale impact for children. Originally from Argentina, she previously worked in two ministries within the Argentine Executive Branch before joining UNICEF in 2018, first in Argentina and later at headquarters in New York.

Cheryl Ng works with startup ecosystem stakeholders to support the creation of Digital Public Goods (DPGs). She previously managed student and community developer programs at Microsoft and served as Incubation Manager at UNDP Cambodia, where she helped design and launch an incubation program for young entrepreneurs. She continues to support the startup ecosystem in South East Asia, particularly Cambodia, and developed an open-source DPG Accelerator Guide.

Daniel Alvarez works on data science initiatives for social impact at the UNICEF Innovation Fund. Earlier in his career he worked in financial services risk management and regulation before moving into data science, and prior to UNICEF he was at a large enterprise software company based in Silicon Valley. In his role he supports early-stage startups through the fund's process, from proposal screening and selection to milestone setting, mentorship, and graduation from their cohort.

Desiree Lim Sim Yee supports UNICEF Innovation Fund investees building solutions for children. She previously worked in strategic planning and B2B market research in the power sector in Shanghai, founded an edtech software startup, and worked with the Singapore government to develop the local water startup ecosystem. Before UNICEF, she invested in early-stage and deep tech startups in the power, water, and maritime sectors at a government-linked venture capital fund.

Halim Jun is the founder of Human of This Planet, a Cambodia-based storytelling platform that produces and directs documentary films in collaboration with the communities featured, pairing them with case studies and impact campaigns. Its debut series, Beyond the Noise, is scheduled to premiere on 19 June 2026 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Jun also works with UNICEF's Office of Innovation on Digital Public Goods and previously worked in social innovation and impact ventures, including building a startup incubator at UNDP across Southeast Asia.

Hanna Burkhardt works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund (Venture Fund), focusing on guiding the fund toward outcomes for children. Before UNICEF, she worked in the global asset management sector, leading cross-regional product strategy and change initiatives, and spent a shorter period with the World Economic Forum studying blockchain use cases for financial institutions. Originally from Stockholm, she returned there after more than a decade living and working in Germany.

Katugaha supports startups in growing into businesses at the UNICEF Innovation Fund. Before joining UNICEF, he worked on modernizing supply chain operations for the WFP in Syria, advised startups, sold a startup, and completed a doctorate in data governance, public policy, and ethics.

Ivan Perdomo has worked in the software industry since 2001 across organizations of varying sizes and sectors. Over the past decade he has concentrated on free/libre and open source software and tech-for-good work, including ICT4D and climate change. At the UNICEF Innovation Fund he supports investees on platform independence and helping them achieve Digital Public Good (DPG) recognition.

Jenina Alli works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, focusing on reviewing investment results. She moved from the private sector into international development over a decade ago, initially working in knowledge management within the UN system in Manila and New York before shifting into technology for development and digital innovation. Originally from Manila, Philippines, she is now based in Stockholm.

Katalin Erzsebet Illes works at the UNICEF Innovation Fund (Ventures), where she moved from another section at UNICEF. She previously worked at the ILO on labour-related projects, including child labour and the Start Up Your Business programme, for Ukraine and Western Balkan country offices, and worked with an international cognitive science research team at Central European University. She originally comes from Budapest, Hungary.

Katharina Stahl sources startups for the UNICEF Venture Fund, joining as part of a social leave from her role as a strategy consultant at McKinsey, where she advised large companies on product launches, business models, and sales strategies. She is originally from Germany and is involved in sourcing the fund's femtech investments.

Katherine Hoffmann advises on the use of AI at UNICEF. She previously worked as an AI researcher at UN Global Pulse, the Secretary-General's Innovation Lab.

Lara Kristin Schade works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, where she sources startups and works on investor reporting, including supporting the sourcing process for the blockchain and climate calls for applications. She is a strategy consultant at McKinsey and is contributing to UNICEF during a period of social leave. Originally from Germany, she is based in Stockholm.

Michele Notice supports AI and data science product and project delivery at the UNICEF Innovation Fund. She previously worked in product at the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome, contributing to global CRM solutions, and later led product strategy and delivery at a technology consulting firm in Kingston, Jamaica, working on digital solutions for the financial and public sectors. Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, she is now based in North Carolina.

Milena Bacalja Perianes works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, where she helps startups use data to communicate their impact. She previously founded two startups and worked as a Gender Lens Investing Advisor, helping investors direct capital toward more gender-equitable outcomes. At UNICEF she designed the fund's Impact Strategy and Framework for defining and measuring the impact of its investments.

Momina Babar works on building tech products at the UNICEF Innovation Fund, where she recently joined and developed an internal playground for OOI's prototypes. Before UNICEF, she worked with several startups building products, largely in the healthcare and finance areas. She is originally from Quetta, Pakistan and is now based in Islamabad.

Nathan Fletcher leads infrastructure development for OOI and DPG at the UNICEF Innovation Fund. Before UNICEF, he worked with companies including Google and Vodafone Ghana, as well as local and international startups, building web and mobile applications, REST APIs, and deployment pipelines using tools such as Docker, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform. At UNICEF he deployed and maintains Kindly, a machine-learning API that flags toxic messages to make digital spaces safer for children.

Philipp Manuel Berns works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, where his role focuses on identifying startups. He previously worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey, co-founded and sold a startup, and worked at a venture capital firm in Munich.

Philippa Martinelli is a venture capital investor focused on growth-stage companies, and she also runs a strategy business that helps companies internationalise and scale up. At the UNICEF Innovation Fund she has supported portfolio companies through acquisitions and follow-on funding rounds. Originally from London, she has previously lived in Hong Kong and Switzerland.

Ricardo Matsumura De Araujo works on advancing AI for social impact and development at UNICEF. Before joining UNICEF, he spent years in academia as a professor conducting AI research, later working as an AI consultant and co-founding a startup.

Sanna Bedi leads the investment strategy and CryptoFund at UNICEF Ventures. Before joining UNICEF, she provided technical research on development economics and innovative finance with a focus on gender for various international organizations, and co-founded Global Youth, a forum for engaging youth in foreign affairs. Originally from India, she is based in Stockholm.

Shane O'Connor is a Software Development Consultant at UNICEF with three years of experience in full stack development. His technical focus includes React, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, and PostgreSQL. He has worked on developing minimum viable products and supporting legacy systems.

Shivani Singh is a designer at the UNICEF Innovation Fund who focuses on visual and interface design. She began her career as an art director in advertising and worked as a brand designer before moving into digital interface design, and previously worked on an innovation-focused team at Salesforce applying human-centered design to digital transformation projects.

Silvia Alejandra Sanchez is originally from Bogota, Colombia, and is now based in Stockholm, Sweden. She spent nearly a decade working in education in Bogota's private sector before transitioning into international development, joining UNICEF where she worked for four years in the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office. She is now part of the UNICEF Venture Fund team, where she identifies frontier technology solutions.

Sophie Lee is an Innovation Officer for Sourcing at the UNICEF Innovation Fund, where she identifies frontier technology innovations. Before UNICEF, she worked at a UK sustainability start-up supporting private sector engagement with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and led gender-transformative research for an eco-innovation partnership in Bangladesh and Ghana. She spent five years on UNICEF's climate and disaster risk reduction team in New York, where she launched and piloted the child-focused Today & Tomorrow Initiative on disaster risk finance.

Vipul Siddharth works with the UNICEF Innovation Fund, focusing on advancing humanitarian innovation through open source and applying it toward sustainable development goals. Before UNICEF, he worked at Red Hat building platform applications and operating systems including Fedora and CentOS Linux, and held roles in the Fedora Council and Mindshare as a DEI advisor and mentorship lead. He is originally from Goa, India.