SPARK FUND ADVISORS

Northeastern launched my entrepreneurial journey as a co-op engineer for a medical device start-up. My entrepreneurial journey continued with the founders of the Interface Group and as a co-founder of a medical device manufacturer. The journey continued at Lycos, Walnut Ventures, and idealab!. In Brazil, after building an innovative home builder and a sporting goods manufacturer, I co-founded the first venture accelerator/fund that invested in IoT, Smart Cities, and Mobility startups. Recently returned to the US to continue the journey.

Nii is a deep tech investor at Osage University Partners (OUP), which invests exclusively in university spinouts.

Before joining OUP, Nii served as a Principal at Solon Capital Partners, a private equity fund specializing in emerging market opportunities across various industries, including EdTech, AgTech, and mobility.

With a wealth of experience in the semiconductor industry, Nii has held various management and technical roles, first with KLA in the US, then at ASML in the Netherlands. In these positions, he collaborated with leading chip manufacturers, including Intel, Samsung, and TSMC, to advance chip development technology.

In addition to his industry background, Nii spent part of his career in academia as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Physics at the Cavendish Labs at the University of Cambridge. During this time, he worked on research projects focusing on quantum phenomena in solid-state systems.

Nii earned his MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management and The Wharton School, with a focus on Finance and Operations. He also holds a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Leeds.

Robert Nagle has driven growth and product, for companies large and small, for four decades in the Boston area. Originally a mathematician, currently he acts as an investor (having invested in approximately 40 ventures) and advisor to early stage ventures. He has worked as a mentor for entrepreneurs at Techstars, MIT, Northeastern University and MassChallenge.

He has built, motivated and led teams of two to two hundred people, developing a culture of excellence and a continuous quest for improvement, in domains as diverse as artificial intelligence (AI), enterprise software solutions, digital health, wilderness adventure races and academic mergers.

He particularly enjoys working with very early stage entrepreneurs helping them move from business concept to an operating business and on fundraising and go-to-market strategies.

Sandra is the Head of Innovation Management and Director of the NSF and Non-Defense Division at Inspiralia. She brings a strategic vision of non-dilutive funding for high-tech companies with complex R&D needs. Specialized in the SBIR/STTR program. She has successfully validated and introduced hundreds of startups to the public funding scene in both the US and Europe, contributing to the acquisition of over $45M in grants for R&D initiatives.

Claire Leurent PhD MBA is a venture capital investor with operational experience in leading drug development from scientific discovery to registration studies enabling regulatory approval application. She is passionate about science and people and highly motivated by the opportunity to deploy transformative technologies and business models to generate progress in the community.

Claire earned her PhD in molecular and cellular biology at the Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC) in Strasbourg Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France in 2002. She then worked in drug development in several capacities for 14 years. She started as a Project Manager in a First in Human clinical center at Forenap Pharma in Rouffach. She was then hired by Wyeth Pharmaceutical in Paris as a Senior Clinical Scientist to support global phase 3 registration trials, NDA dossier submission and new product launch for a variety of programs in Women’s health and Neuroscience. In 2010, she relocated to the United States to join Pfizer Research an Development in Groton CT then in Cambridge MA, where she led teams in designing and conducting clinical plans from First in Human to Proof of Concept studies for small molecules, biologics and biomarker technologies. Over the years, she developed a passion for the business aspects of innovation. She became a standing member on the Portfolio Enhancement team responsible for screening external opportunities for business development, and did an internship with Pfizer’s Strategic Investment in 2015.

Claire obtained her MBA from MIT Sloan in June 2016 and then pivoted to corporate venture investment as a way to scale up and diversify the breadth of her technological reach and gain prime experience in virtually all stages of investments (Seed to PIPE/SPAC) in established corporate venture funds. She joined Samsung Venture America, the investment entity serving Samsung conglomerate, in 2017 with a focus on deploying capital in Life Science, Health Economics and Connected Health sectors. In 2019, she joined JJDC, the investment team serving Johnson & Johnson, with a focus on pharmaceutical areas across neurosciences, oncology, infectious diseases and vaccines, cardiovascular, renal diseases, ophthalmology, immunology, inflammation, and modalities encompassing small/large molecules, cell/gene therapy, RNA and RNA-targeting, AI/ML and quantum computing.

Claire is an active contributor to the innovation ecosystem, and has been mentoring entrepreneurs and students in various capacities. In June 2023, she joined the National Institutes of Health as an Entrepreneur in Residence.

David Wilson is a Senior Investment Associate at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). Before joining MassCEC he led business development for a solar photovoltaic technology venture, and was a consultant to investors in the UK and USA. He began his career at IHS, now part of S&P Global, working on the CERAWeek energy industry conference. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge (MBA) and the University of Virginia (BS, Physics).

Mary is Assistant Dean of Graduate Recruitment & Admissions at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern. She channels her passion for serving entrepreneurs as a co-chair of Northeastern’s Venture Mentoring Network, a professional advisor at the MIT Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, and a MassChallenge HealthTech judge. With over three decades of experience in the private sector, Mary continues to serve as managing director at Angel Healthcare Investors and was a founding member of the Angel Capital Association. Previously, she was the COO of an early-stage digital health company and a marketing VP with Fidelity Investments. Early in her career, Mary developed software in the finance and telecommunications industries. She earned a BA from Bowdoin College in Mathematics and Economics, an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and an EdD in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University.

Christian Gallagher is a Principal at Raptor Group where he covers private investments across hard technology, semiconductors, and special situation opportunities. Christian has experience investing in seed stage, growth, leveraged buyouts, and public equities. Prior to Raptor Group Christian was an Analyst at Monashee Investment Management where he worked across the private growth fund and public equity fund. Christian covered technology and sustainability investments while at Monashee. Christian began his career as a Summer Analyst at SVB Securities where he worked in various capacities across the M&A group.

Prior to his professional career, Christian was a full-time ski racer earning several national accolades. Christian graduated with honors from Saint Michael’s College with a degree in Economics.

Dominic Tong, M.D. is an entrepreneurial and accomplished physician executive with diverse healthcare practice and management experience in the academic, public, and private sectors, and senior executive experience in the biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic industry with the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and early-stage life science companies.

Dr. Tong currently serves as a medical consultant or advisor with a focus on early-stage technology development in the life sciences and healthcare, occasionally serving as interim medical director or chief medical officer. His medical training includes internal medicine and diagnostic radiology.

As an Adjunct Instructor with the MIT New England Regional Innovation Node (NERIN) | NSF I-Corps Program, Dr. Tong leverages his business and technology development experience to provide creative insight and real-world relevance to young entrepreneurs as they attempt to transition technologies from the university lab to the market. He enjoys immensely teaching and guiding both students and faculty.

Professional experience and education at major academic and public institutions: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons (M.D.), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California at San Diego (UCSD), University of Hawaii (B.A., Biology, Honors), United States Public Health Service (USPHS), Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Washington, D.C.)

Carly is the Partnerships Manager for Cleantech Open Northeast. Carly comes to the Cleantech Open team with experience in business development, partnerships, client engagement, and marketing. Most recently she led business development for an early stage startup as one of its first ten employees. She also held roles at large multinational corporations including WW International, New Balance, and Wayfair. Carly holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University and an MBA from the University of Vermont’s Sustainable Innovation MBA program.

Sophia has 30+ years of experience in profit and non-profit organization management, local and international market operations, multi-country management team building, and crisis management during merger and acquisitions. Sophia started her career with the design and implementation of marketing research plans and strategic marketing guidance for multinational organizations like Unilever, PepsiCo, KraftHeinz, CITIgroup, GlaxoSmithKline and PernodRicard. She has extensive experience managing teams with diverse nationalities, languages, work ethics and business practices. Sophia’s experience includes development of marketing and communication plans, brand awareness generation, and effective storytelling techniques for charitable organizations, chambers of commerce and business associations.

Ann Corcoran is a healthcare executive and consultant. She has spent her career bringing innovative services and technologies into insurance and payer organizations, healthcare services corporations, and biotechnology companies. Her expertise lies in growth acceleration, strategic planning and executive leadership. Ann also works with investors and has held Board Director and Advisor positions at several private equity portfolio companies. Her experience includes designing and deploying new care management, clinical review and cost management solutions, digital health services and provider networks into the healthcare marketplace. Ann has held executive roles in business development, client relations and marketing for ExamWorks, HealthBridge and CORE Management. She is active in the innovation eco system in Boston where she sits on the Investment Advisory Board of the CRI Spark Fund and mentors early-stage ventures at Northeastern University. Ann also supports women’s health initiatives at Mass General Hospital.

Ian Johnston is a Senior Associate at The Engine, a VC firm born out of MIT focused on Tough Tech. Ian comes from a background in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania. He brings experience from working at the Penn Center of Innovation, assessing technologies for their patent and market potential. Prior to the Engine, he worked in consulting at a life science firm called Putnam Associates.

John works for the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN). NSIN is a Department of Defense program office that manages a nationwide network of non-traditional problem solvers to bring solutions and technology back into the Department to solve difficult national security challenges.

Jon Leibowitz is a business operator and owner with over 30 years’ experience working in high growth environments. He is a founder, investor and/or active advisor to a number of companies, including AllaraCare, ConnectMeMore-Claris Healthcare, Ethos Medical, Fidelum, Lighthouse Learning, Pleio, Pri-Med, Spring Loaded Technologies, Westgate Consulting, and WikiDoc. Previously Jon served in leadership roles at DBC Pri-Med, Questex Media, Calloway Labs, M|C Communications, Fidelity Capital and Reed-Elsevier. He also serves as an active investor with a number of venture groups, including Boston Harbor Angels, Sky Ventures, Wharton Alumni Angels, MIT Alumni Angels and Spark Fund, and as a member of the Pleio, Inc. board. Jon has a BA from Hamilton College and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business.

Over Sandy’s career, she has held senior executive positions at both Fortune companies and start-ups, in categories ranging from shampoos to robots, and consumer electronics to medical devices. For the majority of her career, Sandy held senior positions at Gillette (VP New Products and Business Development), Polaroid, (CMO and General Manager Digital Printing), Johnson and Johnson (VP Innovation), and iRobot (President Consumer Division). Sandy was then President and CEO of two startups, Therative, Inc., a venture backed start up in the consumer medical space which was sold in 2010 and also Ecoeos, a home testing company in the genetic space. Sandy has also consulted for pharmaceutical health care companies in the OTC and consumer diagnostic space, as well as advising startup companies in the consumer medical space. Sandy’s expertise is in strategy, innovation, business creation, marketing, new products, new ventures and business development. Sandy earned an MBA from Northeastern University and a BS in Business Administration from University of Maine. Sandy is on the board of Rockport Music, is the Chairman of the Board of the Annisquam Village Church, does venture mentoring for Northeastern University and is on the advisory board of several startups. Sandy lives in Gloucester, Ma.

With a personal mission to “Help Good People do Great Things with Innovation”, Tracey is a mission-focused entrepreneur dedicated to high impact solutions. Tracey’s deep experience encompasses technology entrepreneurship, innovation leadership and venture investing. Over her career, Tracey has launched and invested in over two dozen startups, as well as partnering with ventures to accelerate the growth of new product initiatives across material innovation, med tech, consumer, software/mobile and industrial verticals. Tracey specializes in integrating innovative business models with technology, and accelerating scale through collaborations across geographies and disciplines. She holds an MBA from Babson College, and MID from Pratt Institute and a BS from Rhode Island College. She is also the holder of several patents in medical devices and software.

Shahila Christie is the Vice-President of Growth Strategy and Operations at Portal Innovations. Over her 20-year career Shahila spent the first decade as an academic researcher and then moved into the entrepreneurial space when she founded a startup (with IP emerging from her work) as a spinout from the university. As an entrepreneur she enjoyed working at the intersection of science and business and has since held several roles. Including serving as a consultant for startups. In her current role at Portal Innovations Shahila ties these varied experiences to lead the expansion efforts for the company. Her role focuses on understanding local life science ecosystems and implementing the Portal playbook to support early-stage technologies and help establish them as viable businesses.

In addition to her professional role, Shahila is an active Women in Bio member, functioning in leadership roles over the years and served as the Chicago Chapter President in 2020. Shahila has a PhD in Biochemistry and did her postdoctoral work in small molecule drug discovery and development.

Mark Pacelle is an accomplished leader with broad experience in digital transformation and data-driven services across the energy infrastructure, industrial, building and smart-city sectors. Most recently, Mark was CMO and Head of Strategic Partnerships at InfiSense, an early-stage CleanTech platform company focused on driving decarbonization across the built environment.
Prior to this role, Mark led strategic marketing and technology partnerships for the Digital Services business unit at Schneider Electric, where he drove scouting for relevant innovation from the startup ecosystem to generate new data-driven revenue streams for the business unit. Prior to Schneider Electric, Mark was Director of Open Innovation for Philips Lighting where he established the company’s first NA innovation ecosystem hub and a program to identify and vet emerging hardware and software startups relevant to the services business units.
Mark is a Part-Time Lecturer within Boston College’s Carroll School of Management MBA program. Mark also mentors start-up ventures as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Greentown Labs, the largest CleanTech Incubator in North America. Mark holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from Boston College.