Akshata Agarwal is an associate at Matterwave Ventures, bringing over a decade of experience spanning investment banking, entrepreneurship, and venture capital.

Prior to joining Matterwave, she worked at Frog Capital, a scale-up stage investor specializing in software-enabled businesses. There, she gained extensive late-stage investment experience, deepened her understanding of how companies scale & what they need to be successful at that stage and spearheaded the development of the firm’s healthcare vertical. She began her career in investment banking at JP Morgan within Equity Capital Markets before co-founding and successfully exiting a venture in the media and entertainment sector. Following this, she transitioned into venture capital, focusing on early-stage tech-enabled businesses.

Akshata holds a Bachelor's degree in Management Studies and an MBA from London Business School, where she specialized in Finance. She has also cleared Level 1 of the CFA. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading, immersing herself in diverse cultures, and is currently visiting animal shelters in search of the perfect canine companion

Barbara Christen supports the team in all administrative and finance matters.

She brings more than 20 years of experience as an office manager and assistant at Alpina Partners (former WHEB Partners) and STAR Ventures. She started her career in the hotel management of various luxury hotels in Munich, which is reflected in her high service mentality still today.

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Benedikt Kronberger is a Founding Partner at Matterwave Ventures.

Before Matterwave, he was one of the partners in the btov Industrial Technologies team. Benedikt’s investment focus lies primarily on enterprise software companies. Prior to becoming an investor, he gained entrepreneurial experience by co-founding two start-ups in the e-commerce and entertainment industries. Benedikt started his career as an investment analyst in investment banking and M&A at Rothschild, before becoming a corporate development and M&A expert at oil and gas company OMV and a consultant at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank.

He currently holds board positions at Roseman Labs, OKAPI:Orbits, Ventory, Innerspace, Ninox, Sensolus, Testbirds, ToolSense and Visplore as well as an observer seats at Wise Neuro and Semalytix. He received his Master’s degree in International Business from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and obtained two further Master’s degrees in International Management and Public Administration in International Development from CEMS and Harvard University, respectively.

Bruno Bernard is a Venture Partner at Matterwave Ventures.

He has been working with the btov Industrial Technologies team since 2017 and today covers the French market. His focus lies in connecting our “non-French” portfolio companies with the right people in French SMEs and large corporates as well as supporting due diligence processes and French portfolio companies. Bruno holds a board position with DessIA.

Previously, Bruno was CEO of Michelin’s joint-venture AddUp – a manufacturer of powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition machines for additive manufacturing of metal parts – and CEO of Safran Aerospace Engineering, among others. He graduated from the prestigious French engineering school Ecole Polytechnique and was part of their Corps des Mines.

Dr. Carlotta Ficorella is an analyst at Matterwave Ventures.

Before joining Matterwave, she gained experience in growth investing at LeadX Capital Partners, a Munich-based late-stage tech investor. She has also previously interned at Peppermint Venture Partners, a private Venture Capital firm headquartered in Berlin and specialized in investments in early-stage healthcare companies.

Carlotta started her academic pathway in philosophy, earning a master degree in philosophy of science at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. She later moved to Germany to pursue a physics degree. She earned a doctoral degree in soft matter physics at the University of Leipzig with a project focused on the physics of tumor cell invasion and published four peer-reviewed scientific articles.

Dr. Christian Reitberger is a Founding Partner at Matterwave Ventures.

Before Matterwave, he was one of the Partners in the btov Industrial Technologies team. Previously, he served as Partner at Wellington Partners and at Apax Partners. He has focused his more than 25 years as an investor on the electronics, photonics and quantum technologies domain; on resource efficiency technologies; and on industrial AI and robotics. He started his career at McKinsey, advising companies in the telecommunications, electronics, digital media and medtech sectors and was a founding member of the firm’s private equity practice. Christian holds a doctorate in physics obtained sub auspiciis praesidentis from the University of Vienna, has published five peer-reviewed scientific publications and worked at the CERN research laboratory.

He currently serves on the boards of Codasip, equal1, LiveEO, Innatera, HQS, Effect Photonics, Electrochaea, micropsi Industries, Orcan Energy and as an observer at NVision.

Eduardo Mariño is an analyst at Matterwave Ventures.

Before joining Matterwave, he gained experience in medtech companies where he focused on developing medical devices and leveraging machine-learning solutions to optimize hospital workflows.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from King Juan Carlos University and Hanyang University, plus a Master’s degree offered by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in Technological Innovation at Sorbonne University and Barcelona University. He was also enrolled in the Computer Science School 42, participated in an incubation program from Babson College, and won five different hackathons and innovation competitions.

Ines Kolmsee is a Partner at Matterwave Ventures.

Prior to joining Matterwave, she was on the Executive Board of Aperam SA, a stainless steel producer. Prior to that, she was CTO at EWE AG, a German utility with a large renewables base. Before that, she was CEO at SKW Stahl- Metallurgie, a formerly private-equity owned company that she took public in 2006. She also co-founded a start-up in the renewable energy space. Ines currently holds board positions in Prysmian SPA, Topsoe A/S and Etex SA. Prior to that, she also served on the boards of Umicore SA, Boralex Inc, Suez SA, Fuchs Petrolub SE and Deutsche Telekom SE.

Ines holds a master’s degree in Process and Energy Engineering from TU Berlin, a diploma from the Ecole des Mines de St.Etienne as well as an MBA from INSEAD. Ines’ investment focus is energy, resource efficiency and climate tech.

Julian Riebartsch is a Venture Partner at Matterwave Ventures.

After working for almost 3.5 years as investment associate and investment manager in the btov Industrial Technologies team, Julian decided to embark on his own entrepreneurial adventure. He has founded a company and works on how to insure AI enabled products or services. Julian remains active for the team as a Venture Partner and covers Swiss deal flow as well as links to Swiss universities and research centers.

He also continues to serve as board observer at Innatera and equal1. Julian graduated in physics with a Master’s of Science from ETH Zürich and University of Tokyo.

Lorenzo De Angeli is a Principal at Matterwave Ventures.

He joined Venture Capital from the Boston Consulting Group, where he served utilities, energy players and infrastructure funds to decarbonize their businesses, out of Milan, Mumbai and Bangkok. During his 10 years stint at BCG, he stepped out of the private sector to serve the Italian Government as advisor on Italy´s Hydrogen Strategy and the deployment of EU cleantech investments into the country.

He started his career executing the vision of Rolando Polli´s family office on cleantech investments and developing nanostructured materials at Eni. 

He was educated as a physicist between Milan and Stuttgart, where he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems.

Robert Gallenberger is a Founding Partner at Matterwave Ventures.

Before Matterwave, he was one of the partners in the btov Industrial Technologies team. After starting his career with the BMW Group in production roles, he discovered the world of venture capital investments during his MBA studies at London Business School. Robert gathered his first practical experience during internships and project work with the VC teams of 3i and DFJ Esprit. Then, after working as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in London, he joined the Belgium investment firm Gimv. During his six years at Gimv, Robert helped scale the organization’s new Munich office from two to 12 full-time employees and expand its smart industries investment activity from early-stage venture to small-cap buyouts.

He currently holds board positions at DyeMansion, Cybus, Headmade Materials, Threedy, DessIA, Fruitcore Robotics, TVARIT, and Ask for the Moon. Robert is a trained mechanical engineer with a double diploma Master’s degree from Technical University Munich and Ecole Centrale Paris.

Silviu Apostu is a Principal at Matterwave Ventures.

Before joining Matterwave in February 2022, he worked for five years at McKinsey & Company, where he led consulting engagements and advised global companies in the industrial, high-tech and banking sectors. During his last year at McKinsey, Silviu took on the role of Portfolio Manager for McKinsey Launch, the company’s global technology incubator and investment vehicle. Previously, he co-founded a digital learning software company and served as its Chief Product Officer.

Silviu started his career at Deutsche Telekom as a management trainee working on strategic projects. He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and an Honours Degree in Technology Management from the Center for Digital Technology and Management.

Ute Theel is an Investment Professional at Matterwave Ventures.

At Matterwave, she oversees deal flow related to AgriTech, SpaceTech, and DefenseTech, while also serving as the primary interface for investor relations. Before joining Matterwave, Ute was a Senior Associate in the investment team at Linus Digital Finance, a private debt fund in Berlin, where she executed real estate financing projects. She began her career in 2015 as a trader for equity, equity derivatives, and structured products at DWS in Frankfurt am Main, the asset manager of Deutsche Bank.

She holds a Master’s degree in Finance from IE Business School in Madrid and two additional Master’s degrees in International Law and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and Free University Berlin, respectively. To further her expertise, she is pursuing a part-time B.Sc. in Agricultural Studies at Humboldt University Berlin.