Lina is a founding partner of BVC Partners, Founder of StartupNectar, and Founder of the Risk and Value Creation Institute. With over 20 years cross-sector experience, Lina has been a pioneer in biomimetic innovation, with a focus on investing in and commercializing biomimetic technologies, and finance innovation. Lina founded StartupNectar, a biomimetic technology incubator focused on commercializing solutions based on nature’s strategies. StartupNectar was selected as a finalist in the NASA/SSV Showcase of Solutions for Planetary Sustainability in 2013. Lina also developed a curriculum for applying biomimicry to entrepreneurship at part of the StartupNectar incubator program. As a Managing Partner of BVC Fund, Lina is building a venture investment model based on nature’s strategies for a fund focused on investing in biomimetic technologies.
Over the past eight years, Lina has worked with early-stage ventures as a startup advisor, a mentor for the Hub Ventures Accelerator and Cleantech Open, and Advisory Board member for SXSW Eco’s Startup Central. As Head of U.S. Operations, Lina contributed to building GrowVC: the first online, global marketplace for entrepreneurs. Lina also co-founded Nature’s Algorithm focused on advancing the application of biomimetic innovation in corporate R&D and innovation processes. She is a frequent speaker and university lecturer on biomimetic innovation.
Lina earned an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco where she has lived for over 20 years.
Advisors
Katherine Collins
After a long and successful career in traditional equity management, Katherine set out to reconnect her investment philosophy with the broader world, traveling as a pilgrim and volunteer, earning her MTS degree at Harvard Divinity School, and studying the natural world as guide for investing in a valuable and integrated way, beneficial to our communities and our planet.
Prior to founding Honeybee, Katherine served in numerous capacities at Fidelity Management and Research Company: as head of US Equity Research, she led one of the largest buy-side research operations in the world. As Portfolio Manager, she was solely responsible for investment decisions for the multi-billion dollar Fidelity America funds while based in London, and for the entire range of Fidelity Mid-Cap Funds while based in Boston. Every fund that Katherine managed at Fidelity outperformed its relevant benchmark during her tenure. As Analyst, she managed several different industry-specific Select funds and researched over a dozen different industries. She also spent two years at the Fidelity Foundations, acting as Program Officer for these large philanthropic organizations.
Katherine serves on the board of the Biomimicry Group, led by Janine Benyus, and on the Advisory Board of Ethical Markets Media, led by Hazel Henderson. She has traveled the world as an active volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, and has held numerous volunteer positions with Wellesley College and its Business Leadership Council. Katherine serves as board member of the Santa Fe Institute, an independent research group focused on complex adaptive systems, and of Last Mile Health, an organization building a network of community health care workers in Liberia. She is a member of the Harvard Divinity School Dean’s Council, the investment committee of BELLE Capital USA, and the Sprout Lenders group, and an advisor to Criterion Institute and the PopTech Impact Fund.
Katherine is an alumna of Wellesley College and Harvard Divinity School, and holds a CFA designation. Her newest neighbors in Massachusetts are several thousand honeybees.
Nick Gogerty
Nick Gogerty is the founder of Thoughtful Capital Group, a value research, risk and portfolio allocation consultancy firm based in Greenwich, CT. He delivered risk research to the US Senate on the World’s largest $200 billion technology problem as one of 7 global experts. His hedge fund investing beat the S&P 500 by over 90% during the global financial crisis 2007-09 outperforming 99% of all hedge and mutual funds. He has launched a renewable energy currency SolarCoin in 15 countries and is currently working on launching a 100% green investment bank targeting $5bn in AUM in 5 year. In addition he advises tech start-ups on strategy and major financial institutions on risk. His past work and research includes: Building risk models for global banks, Work with one of the World’s largest hedge funds, Quantitative Forex analyst for >$2 trillion balance sheet bank, Founding social media software start-ups and strategic risk firms, Chief Analyst at Starlab a deep future multi-disciplinary science research institute.
His lifelong interests have been in studying large interesting problems and sustainable economic development for poverty reduction. Born and raised in the US, he has lived in 6 countries, studied cultural and economic anthropology and art history at the University of Iowa and received an MBA from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chausséesin Paris, France.
Mark Büngeris a Research Director at Lux Research. Based in the firm's San Francisco office, Mark currently leads the Alternative Fuels, Bio-based Materials and Chemicals and Targeted Delivery practices. He joined Lux Research with 14 years of business strategy experience, both as a management consultant and technology analyst. Previously, Mark was a Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, an International Engagement Manager at European consultancy Icon Medialab, and a Managing Director of Icon Medialab's U.S. office. The first six years of Mark's career were spent at Accenture in the U.S., U.K., and Sweden.
Mark's education includes International Marketing at Mälardalen Polytechnic in Sweden, and Market Research at the University of Texas in the U.S. He also studied biochemistry through the University of California at Berkeley's extension program and currently works in the Center for Quantitiatve Biology at the University of California, San Francisco. Mark speaks English, Swedish, and German, and is conversant in French, Spanish, and other European languages.
TomásCarruthers
TomásCarruthersis Chief Executive Officer of the Social Stock Exchange (SSX). After two successful decades building and growing retail financial services companies – including ESI, which became E*Trade UK and Interactive Investor International plc – Tomás is now committed to delivering not only great returns for investors, but a positive social or environmental impact, too. Tomás is passionate about innovation in finance and is determined to bring impact investing into the mainstream.