Gilles Vanhouwe
Gilles graduated with a masters degree in civil engineering, but decided to start his career in strategy consulting at Bain & Company. He worked across all five continents while at Bain, serving blue chip clients in CPG and Retail for nearly 10 years. Along the way, he got a taste of corporate life while working for Mars Pet Care as Trade Marketing Manager. In 2018, Gilles reinvented himself as a (growth) investor after moving back to Brussels, joining the Verlinvest team in the Summer of that year.
Today, he still leverages his experience in CPG and Retail, but also loves venturing into new territory and bringing Verlinvest along (e.g. in eHealth, eGrocery, eBikes, eSports and pets…). He keeps a close eye on what happens in BeNeLux and look after portfolio companies Mutti, Liva Healthcare, Everli and Tom & Co.
Rosa Carbonell
Stefan Luginbuehl
Stefan Luginbuehl, PhD, lawyer, is Head of the Department European Legal Affairs (Dep 5222) at the European Patent Office where he is dealing with a wide range of patent law and patent litigation related subjects, with emphasis on the implementation of the EU unitary patent package into the existing European patent system.
He participated in several Diplomatic and Intergovernmental Conferences on the reform of the European patent system and the international litigation system. He is a lecturer in different universities and is the author and editor of several books and articles on patent procedure and patent litigation in Europe and China.
Christina Khoo
Christina is the Director of Emerging Science, Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs, Ocean Spray Cranberries. She leads a team responsible for providing scientific substantiation for the development of functional health products and regulatory guidance for messaging and claims. During her tenure, Christina successfully obtained the first FDA qualified health claim for a food (cranberry) to help reduce an acute urinary tract infection, as well as novel foods and GRAS approvals. Christina also leads the emerging science team, spearheading several projects with start-up companies, evaluating technologies from farm to fork to help accelerate innovation and sustainability initiatives.
As an influencer, she has taken on roles in cross sector initiatives. She is Chair of the IAFNS Bioactives committee and the Cognitive Health working group. She serves as Treasurer of the National Berry Crops Alliance board and Vice Chair of the Juice Products Assn Board. Christina participates actively in the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine Food Forum as well as the Tufts Friedman School Food and Nutrition Innovation Institute as the co-chair of the Food is Medicine working group, where she collaborates with cross sector partners to work on important food and nutrition issues.
Christina received her doctorate at the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health.
Irina Gerry
Irina is a purpose-driven entrepreneur and marketing leader, on a mission to transform the food system and drive widespread adoption of sustainable ways to feed the world. She is a Chief Marketing Officer at Change Foods, a precision fermentation food tech company, creating animal-free dairy products.
Prior to joining Change Foods, Irina spent 5 years working on two of the largest plant-based food and beverage brands, Silk and So Delicious. Irina has over a decade of experience in consumer marketing space with global giants, Procter & Gamble and Danone, as well as business strategy and operations with Deloitte. Irina holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Scott Hine
Scott Hine has over 30 years of experience in the consumer, agriculture and consulting industries. Before joining The EVERY Company, Scott held a variety of roles in leading organizations including Kraft Foods, Accenture and Novus International, where he was Chief Innovation Officer, VP of Global Operations, and VP of Products and Solutions. His life and expertise span four continents and include leadership of global growth, diversification, M&A and EBITDA improvement. Scott holds a bachelor’s of science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University in Hong Kong.
Alyon Steinhart
Aylon Steinhart is the co-founder and CEO at Eclipse Foods, a startup on a mission to create a more sustainable, healthy, and humane food system. Eclipse is building the future of dairy using micelles (the microscopic "magic" of milk) to create plant-based products that are indistinguishable from conventional dairy in taste, texture, and functionality. Eclipse has raised over $60M from investors including Y Combinator, the chairman of Beyond Meat, and the founder of Reddit, and has launched the first-ever plant-based milkshake offered at a national restaurant chain (Smashburger).
Prior to founding Eclipse, Aylon worked at the Good Food Institute, the leading non-profit in alternative proteins. There, he incubated dozens of startups and advised investors and strategic partners including Kraft Heinz, Kellogg's, and more on the alternative protein space.