We are a team of practical optimists

Catherine was one of the first finance hires at Deliveroo, helping them to set up and scale their systems through a period of rapid growth. She brings this experience to help BGV portfolio ventures prepare for the same journey, in addition to advising on business and operational modelling. On a day to day basis, Catherine looks after the finances and valuations of BGV’s funds. Before working at Deliveroo and joining BGV, Catherine started her career as a chartered accountant at EY.

Dama is a leading figure in the tech for good movement advocating for more investment into talented and diverse founders in the space. At BGV, Dama specialises in supporting ventures with communications and fundraising, product positioning, ESG, impact measurement and management, and hiring for diversity and inclusion. Prior to BGV, Dama worked for international NGOs in digital communications, and was formerly a Director of a social enterprise, supporting them to raise over £1M. She has a degree in international relations from Leiden University, holds a certificate in ESG Investing awarded by the CFA Institute, and sits on the steering committee of VentureESG. Outside of BGV Dama is a Trustee at Chayn - a non-profit supporting the survivors of gender-based violence.

Melanie has 15 years of experience in early-stage investment spanning corporate venturing, M&A, specialist finance and impact investment. She’s led over 100 transactions totalling more than £75m. She specialises in supporting founders with business model strategy, commercial growth, fundraising, organisational development and impact strategy. An experienced board member, Melanie currently sits on three growth stage portfolio company boards. Prior to BGV she worked at Octopus Investments, Channel 4 and Deloitte. Melanie is also a member of the Advisory Council for ReGenerate - a charity whose mission is to make it easier to start, grow and lead a purpose-driven business.

Nelly has directly supported hundreds of early-stage startups through tens of programmes. In addition to BGV’s flagship Tech for Good programme she has led on partnership programmes with the Mayor of London, Facebook, the Wellcome Trust, and Nesta. She has gained deep insight into how to build an investment-ready proposition. In her current role at BGV Nelly ensures the delivery of world-class support across BGV’s portfolio, specifically advising them on fundraising strategy, marketing and sales, user research and product testing, impact measurement and management, and hiring. Before joining BGV, Nelly worked in marketing and sales roles at startups based in France and Silicon Valley.

Paul has pioneered tech for good since 2008 as one of the co-founders of Bethnal Green Ventures. Over those years he’s supported many of BGV’s most successful portfolio companies from programme through to exit. With over 15 years of experience as a CEO he’s an expert in strategy, fundraising, leadership, hiring, communications and external relations. Previously, Paul founded and led ed-tech startup School of Everything. He’s also spent time advising on strategy for multinational companies and governments, and has written for the likes of the Financial Times and the Guardian. In 2020, he was awarded an OBE for services to startup investing. Outside of BGV he has been the Chair of Trustees at GoodGym since 2015.

Rob studied Banking, Finance and Management where, through work placements, he discovered his passion for venture investing and purpose-driven companies. At BGV he works on our finance functions, compliance, data collection and analysis, investor reporting, and HR. He supports programme stage ventures to receive their initial investment from BGV. Rob has previously worked at IBM as an Operations Analyst and completed an internship at Octopus Ventures covering investment, sales and venture support.

Yumi is an expert in impact measurement and management for early-stage startups. In addition to running operations at BGV, she supports founders with guidance on building effective, diverse and inclusive teams, project management, data analysis, planning and running pilots, and B Corp accreditation. Before joining BGV, Yumi worked at corporate innovation consultancy The Bakery where she researched emerging technologies and facilitated strategic partnerships between founders and large corporate clients, such as AXA and P&G. She’s also worked at edtech startup Futurelearn and completed a postgraduate degree in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management at Imperial College London.