Chris Sonnenberg is a partner and co-founder of Innovation Industries. First an industrial engineer, Chris began his VC career as a strategy consultant at Arthur D. Little, where he helped global tech companies develop and implement growth strategies. In 2010 he joined Parcom Capital, a leading private equity investor in The Netherlands with €1.5bn assets under management. In 2017, Chris co-founded Innovation Industries alongside partners Nard Sintenie, Harm de Vries, and Tom Schwarz. Chris is experienced in deal structuring and negotiating, due diligence, financing, corporate carve-outs, portfolio management, and exits. Chris also serves on the board of Cassini, a company that provides personalised, thorough and accurate corneal diagnostic solutions. He holds a Master’s degree (Honours) in Industrial Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology.

Harm de Vries is a partner and co-founder of Innovation Industries. Harm started his career as an attorney in Amsterdam and as corporate counsel at the renowned life sciences investment firm, Life Sciences Partners (LSP). He worked with LSP’s co-founder, Tom Schwarz to launch and manage the Erasmus MC Biomedical Fund. Later on, Harm co-founded and managed two other early-stage VC funds: the Life Sciences Fund Amsterdam and the Twente Technology Fund. In 2017, Harm co-founded Innovation Industries alongside partners Nard Sintenie, Chris Sonnenberg and Tom Schwarz. In 2005, Harm authored the guidebook ‘Venture Capital Term Sheets’ (publ. by Reed Elsevier) to advance the VC sector in Europe and the Netherlands. In 2016, he followed up the piece with the full-length book ‘Venture Capital Deal Terms’ to give a clear understanding of the most frequently used practices, terms and conditions to those with less than extensive experience in venture capital transactions (including start-up companies and founders). He serves on the board of several technology companies. He is a member of the Technology Transfer Board at TNO and of the VC Committee of the Dutch Venture Capital Association. Harm holds a Master’s Degree in Business Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Nard Sintenie is a partner and co-founder of Innovation Industries. Nard brings to Innovation Industries several decades of business management experience in the international tech sector. He served in multiple executive management positions at tech powerhouses like Philips as Senior Director WLAN Program, Arcadyan as General Manager and NXP Semiconductors as VP Mergers & Acquisitions and other companies across Europe, the United States and Asia. During these years, Nard was frequently involved in major M&A activities, which triggered his interest in venture capital. Nard has been active in the Dutch high-tech start-up and scale-up scene as an entrepreneur, private investor and interim manager since 2008. In 2010, Nard co-founded the Twente Technology Fund, a regional early-stage high-tech venture capital fund. In 2017, Nard co-founded Innovation Industries alongside partners Tom Schwarz, Chris Sonnenberg, and Harm de Vries. Nard holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering & Management from the University of Twente.

Sander works to bridge the gap between disruptive technologies and profitable businesses. He has more than six years of strategy consulting experience at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, where he has acquired a deep understanding of technology and successful business practices. He previously held positions at NXP Semiconductors working on global technology scouting efforts led by the CTO. He was also part of the central PMI team for a successful M&A with Freescale and Co-Lead for PMI of the Sales and Marketing Organisations for an intended Qualcomm M&A with Qualcomm. He additionally managed a global business development team focused on IoT Security. In early 2019, Sander started his position at Innovation Industries, focusing on the high-tech part of the portfolio. He i heavily involved in the early-stage efforts of the fund and holds a supervisory board seat in multiple portfolio companies. Sander holds a Master’s degree from TU Delft and a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Caaj started his career in investment banking in 2011 at ABN AMRO. Before joining Innovation Industries, he held the position of Vice President in the Life Sciences & Healthcare Corporate Finance team of Kempen, a pan-European boutique corporate bank headquartered in Amsterdam. During his tenure he was involved in origination and execution of M&A, capital markets and other financing transactions mainly focused on the life sciences & healthcare, consumer and agriculture sectors. Caaj has a Master degree in Molecular Biology of Utrecht University.

Tom joined Innovation Industries right after the first fund was raised in 2017. Before joining Innovation Industries, Tom worked as a Strategy Consultant at Roland Berger, where he supported companies from a wide variety of industries to realize their strategies. Prior to his consultancy role, he also served as a Mechanical Engineer at Solar Team Twente. With the Solar Team he participated in the World Solar Challenge, a 3,000 km race which takes solar powered cars through the Australian outback. Tom holds a Bachelor’s degree cum laude in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree cum laude in Mechanical Engineering (Applied Mechanics) from the University of Twente.

Vincent joined Innovation Industries early 2022 as investment director. He started his career at OC&C Strategy Consultants in 2011, where he carried out over 15 business improvement and commercial due diligence projects, often PE-commissioned. He then moved to the Semiconductor space where he held positions at NXP and ASML. Through his focus on strategic sourcing and M&A he gained substantial insight into the semiconductor supply chain and key enabling technologies. Activities included scouting for new technologies/suppliers and driving Board level make or buy decisions on new complex modules. Furthermore, he managed the carve-out and sale of an optics division (EV>300M) of ASML Germany. Vincent holds a Master’s degree in Applied Physics (cum laude) from the University of Twente.

Margherita joined Innovation Industries in 2019, focusing on med-tech and agrifood-tech investments of the main Fund, as well as of the Medtech TTT Fund. With her academic expertise in researching life processes at the nanoscale and implementing scientific instruments for biophysical experiments and their commercialization, she brings in depth expertise in the bio- and medical sectors. Prior to joining Innovation Industries, Margherita graduated cum laude in Physics at La Sapienza University in Rome and completed her master thesis at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she obtained a PhD in Biophysics.

Pleuni brings a wide range of expertise to the team. Prior to joining Innovation Industries, she worked at a genetic testing startup in London and a life science and healthcare consultancy in Utrecht. During this period she competed as professional triathlete. Additionally, she has over 5 years of experience as entrepreneur. As manager of Innovation Industries’ Early Stars Fund I, Smart Industries and MedTech TTT Funds, Pleuni works on funding newly founded spin-offs and early stage companies, making them ready for follow-on funding. Pleuni graduated cum laude in Medical Natural Sciences and has a PhD in Medical Physiology, both from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Prior to joining Innovation Industries, Rogier worked 4 years as a consultant at SparkOptimus in Amsterdam. At SparkOptimus, he worked in a wide variety of industries building ventures, developing new propositions / digital strategies, and transforming organizations. Rogier holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from Groningen University and specialized in biotechnology, completing his master thesis on proteomics in waste water treatment. During his studies, he interned at AkzoNobel and Teijin Aramid working on process automation and waste valorization.

Before joining Innovation Industries Tobias worked as strategy consultant at Bain & Company in Amsterdam for four years, where he spent most of his time in the Private Equity Group doing diligence work. Apart from that, Tobias primarily focused on large transformations and sustainability projects. He holds a master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Finance (cum laude) and has done internships at ASML and a Kempen & Co investment fund. During his studies, Tobias rowed crew on a national level, was a project manager for 'De Kleine Consultant' and helped set-up a Nepal earthquake relief fund to distribute aid.

Mariëlle joined Innovation Industries from May 2022 as Advisor Leadership & Human Capital. She brings more than 25 years of experience obtained as CHRO at General Electric, Randstad and HEMA, in various sectors and geographies worldwide. During her career she focused strongly on Leadership Development, Culture Change and Organization Transformation. Mariëlle combines her role at Innovation Industries with membership of the Supervisory Boards at RAI Amsterdam, MSD Animal Health Netherlands and Maastro Maastricht. Next to that she works as an independent consultant with various clients in the tech / scale up domain, focusing on Organization & Leadership Development. She holds an MSc degree in Industrial Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology.

As Director Finance & Operations, Claire is responsible for the company’s financial and operational organization, including compliance with regulatory and administrative requirements. Prior to joining Innovation Industries, Claire worked in several other private equity roles, including at EQT in their Fund Operations department, Intersaction and Blue Sky Group. Claire started her career at KPMG Accountants and holds a BSc in Business Administration and an MSc in Accounting & Control from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

Early in her career, Linda served as an Advisor at KPMG Forensic and Integrity, where she provided advisory services to public and private organizations on a range of integrity and compliance issues. Following five years at KPMG, Linda worked as a Customer Due Diligence Analyst at a Dutch commercial real estate institution. She also was a project leader in data privacy at Milieudefensie, a Dutch environmental organization. In addition to her ESG work for Innovation Industries, Linda also provides ESG advisory for Thuja Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in product-focused companies that aim to have a true impact on patients and doctors. Linda holds an MSc cum laude in Business Administration from Erasmus University and an MSc cum laude in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam.

Fien is Innovation Industries' dedicated Legal Counsel, providing legal support in the investment processes and advising on complex legal matters arising from our portfolio companies. Before joining Innovation Industries, Fien worked as a lawyer at law firm deBreij and as a legal counsel at fintech company Mollie. At deBreij she supported companies from a wide variety of industries in the field of mergers and acquisitions, including private equity and venture capital. At Mollie she gained experience inhouse on matters such as commercial contracting and corporate governance. With Fien as dedicated Legal Counsel, we aim to increase the efficiency of our legal processes and strengthen our abilities to provide an all-round support to our portfolio companies.