0100 Virtual Europe

Thomas is a Partner at Isomer Capital, a leading investment company in the European VC sector. Thomas is a member of Isomer Capital’s Investment Committee and leads investor relations functions. Being active in continental Europe’s ecosystems, he contributes to manager research with a particular focus on France and Italy. Previously, Thomas was heading the Southern Europe business of Russell Investments. Fluent in French, Italian and English, Thomas likes to travel and climbing in the Alps.

Ralph Guenther, Partner (joined 2011, 22 years of private markets experience) Ralph is a Partner and represents Pantheon’s client relationship management and business development for the DACH and CEE markets and will also source deals for Pantheon’s Secondaries team. Ralph is responsible for Pantheon’s distribution relationship in Germany and Austria. Prior to Pantheon, Ralph served as a Managing Director with bmp AG in Germany, where he established a fund of funds business in 2005. Prior to that he served as a MD in the German Venture Capital markets from 1998 to 2005 where he was responsible for a number of investments, trade sales and IPOs. Ralph started his career in IT consulting and software development. He has a degree in economics from FU Berlin. Ralph is based in Berlin.

Elena Mariotti is a Managing Director with the Portfolio Operations Group, where she is involved in evolving sustainability initiatives that deliver cost effective quantitative and qualitative results across our portfolio companies. Prior to Blackstone, Ms. Mariotti held leadership roles in management consulting at Accenture and IBM Business Services, where she sold and delivered operational and maintenance excellence and energy and safety performance improvement programs for industrial clients across North and South America, Continental Europe, and the UK. Prior to that, Ms. Mariotti worked as an engineer in technical and hands-on operational roles on-site at multiple plants. Ms. Mariotti also worked at DNV GL as due diligence advisor for the buy side. Ms. Mariotti was elected to the board and other leadership roles at the World Energy Council, Energy Institute and other organizations, where she provided strategic advice. Ms. Mariotti is a Chartered Energy Engineer. She has a 1st class Bachelor in Civil & Environmental Engineering with specialization in Sustainability and Safety Management System as well as a Master of Engineering cum laude, with a major in Solar Technology from La Sapienza University in Rome. She has a Master of Engineering cum laude, with a major in Operational & Business Risk Management from ENI University in Bologna and an Executive MBA, with distinction, from the University of Oxford Said Business School, where she was the 2017 30% Club Scholar.

Annemarie Dalka is an Investment Director at PFR Ventures where she is responsible for the Private Equity funds investments with a focus on regional investments. She has been building this program since 2018 and looks after investment strategies including buyout, growth, mezzanine and private credit. Annemarie holds numerous LPAC memberships alongside the fund managers from the PFR Ventures' portfolio, as well as serving on the ILPA's Membership & Events Committee. Prior to joining Polish Development Fund Group, she spent six years at BNP Paribas in London - in both the Asset Management and Investment Banking arms. Annemarie holds a masters degree in Strategic Management from Kozminski University in Poland.

Ralph Aerni is a Managing Director and Head of Client Solutions in EMEA, based in the firm’s Frankfurt and Zug offices. Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2021, Ralph served on investment committees and boards of institutional investors and as Head of Business Development with a Swiss asset manager. Before that, Ralph was a co-owner and the Chief Investment Officer of SCM AG, a private markets investment firm, from 2003 until the trade sale to Mercer in 2015. At Mercer Private Markets, Ralph served as Chairman of the Investment Committee and global Co-Chief Investment Officer. Ralph started his career in corporate banking at UBS in 1989. Ralph received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, Switzerland.

Cécile Mayer-Lévi joined Tikehau Capital in 2013 as Head of Private Debt activity. Previously, she worked at Ardian (previously AXA Private Equity) where she notably broadened the investment scope to include unitranche debt, with a strong focus on forming partnerships. She began her career in 1988 at Merrill Lynch (Corporate Finance and M&A) in Paris and New York. In 1991, she joined Elig, a pioneer private equity fund in France. In 2001, she moved towards mezzanine debt investments, being appointed CIO at Omnes (formerly CAPE - Mezzanis). Education: HEC Paris.

Mr. Klemme has more than 21 years of private equity investment experience. He reviews investment opportunities with specific emphasis on analysis and due diligence for prospective investments. Mr. Klemme also serves on several partnership advisory boards. Mr. Klemme manages Abbott Capital (Europe), Ltd, Abbott’s subsidiary which is authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and located in London. Mr. Klemme worked for Bethmann Bank AG as Director in its Private Equity Solutions group. Prior to working at Bethmann Bank, he worked at Credit Suisse as Vice President, also in its Private Equity Solutions group. Mr. Klemme received his M.B.A from ESCP Europe and his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Georg-August University Goettingen.

Simon joined Octopus Ventures in 2012 and sits within the Deep Tech team, focusing on AI and machine learning, advanced materials, semiconductors and Quantum Computing. He sits on the boards of several portfolio companies including Phoelex, Orbex, Dogtooth Technologies and Elvie and previously sat on the board at WaveOptics (acquired by Snap). He also looks after the origination strategy at Octopus Ventures. Simon’s academic background is in Physics, Chemistry and Materials culminating in a PhD in organic electronics from Imperial College London. When not at work, Simon is a father of three boys (and being one of three boys, he knows how bad things are going to get!); in his minimal spare time he enjoys playing piano and guitar, learning new things (currently Mandarin) and being outdoors.