Automat Ventures comprises former partners and finance professionals who have consulted to and advised leading institutions and enterprises globally. This expertise shapes the professional approach and underscores the ability to deliver in the B2B environment.
#1. Extensive senior-level experience – working with Fortune 500 corporations, institutions, boards, banks, funds, governments
#2. Deep sector expertise - Financial Services, Media and Advertising. Knowhow in engineering and industrial processes
#3. Technology expertise – ML, Big Data, technology stack and platform understanding
#4. Venture capital experienced – Venture Partners and angel investors, advisers to the Wealth Management and Private Banking sectors
#5. Key network access – to leading global and regional Corporates, Accelerators, Founder networks, Institutional Funds, Angel syndicates, State/EU Funds, Academic networks
#6. European Region experience – London/Cambridge, Berlin/Munich/Frankfurt, Zurich/Swiss, Italy, Russia, Eastern Europe
#7. Business success / failure experience –Senior partner level professional consulting expertise, M&A, finance, due diligence, operational and technology consultants, mentors and advisers from startup to C-Suite
#8. Public sector / EU funding experience - successful professionals to the largest public and regional institutions, know the culture, working protocols and strategic objectives
#9. Fund management knowhow – professionals who have worked with and advised the fund management industry in commercial, operational and financial matters
#10. Financial and regulatory expertise
Andreas Cser
20 years experience in Tech as investment banker, senior executive and investor. 8 years at UBS, CIBC World Markets and Dresdner Kleinwort advising corporates and PE funds on Tech and media transactions. Director and Adviser at Fraser Finance, boutique corporate finance and M&A advisory firm, focused on digital media and martech (e.g. led 9-way merger to create Germany's leading digital agency UDG).
Invests in and advises startups such as Jampp (leading monetisation platform), Stent-tek (novel catheter system), Bidnamic (revolutionary e-commerce optimisation tool) or Mia & Ben (research-led foodtech). Co-founder of cap21.com, online content aggregation company in Berlin that was ahead of it's time. Advisor and senior exec at Tjobs, an online recruitment portal, raising €4m in seed and Series A investment for the company. Andreas holds a Master’s Degree from business school ESCP Europe and is fluent in German, French, Hungarian and Romanian.
Dunstan Pedropillai
Venture Partner with Octopus Funds and angel investor in a number of UK start-ups. Advisor and mentor to businesses in the tech/engineering as well as to UK University related venture capital such as Cambridge Enterprise and spin-offs from Imperial Innovations.
Previously senior partner with PwC with over 26 years experience advising and consulting to world-leading international, regional and local clients in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US. Lived and worked in London, New York, Tokyo, Zurich, Western and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and held global and European leadership positions within PwC. Trusted senior board-level adviser to leading organisations. Influencer and consensus builder, valued for dealing with complex operational and organisational challenges, working in difficult environments with external stakeholders and regulators, across borders and business cultures. Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and an Alumnus of the INSEAD Executive Programme. Masters Degree in Engineering from Churchill College, Cambridge University.
Philipp Kobus
Managing Partner at Fraser Finance, a specialist M&A firm, advising established and emerging technology leaders throughout Europe on initiatives crucial for their growth and success. Based in Berlin and London, the firm works with outstanding entrepreneurs on strategic M&A and financing objectives, and with growth equity and buy-out investors on portfolio reviews and realizations. Through its network of partners and affiliates, Fraser Finance also invest into selected opportunities and has completed over $1bn of transactions
Non-Exec Director and Investor in Tessian which uses machine learning to analyses email communication patterns in order to automatically identify email security threats in real time. Alumnus of McKinsey & Co, MBA from Harvard University and a Masters degree in Philosophy, Mathematical Logic and Linguistics from Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München.
Dr. Seena Rejal
Founder and Chairman of Shapes AI, an early-stage AI company in London and Palo Alto, developing ground-breaking ‘deep visual reasoning’ technology to power video analytics in e.g., smart city and mobility applications. Featured in Forbes, Inc.com and the BBC, and presented internationally at SXSW, WebSummit, CES, DLD and the Hannover Messe, amongst others.
Previously worked in the cleantech sector as part of the leadership of two pioneering and disruptive US and UK-based technology companies. Prior to that, Head of Technology for the acclaimed Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), President Clinton’s programme on mitigating climate change. Also worked closely with the global research and technology communities and coordinated with policy and finance leaders to support accelerated deployment of the most high-impact solutions.
MEng. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Cambridge.