ACTIVE SPARRING PARTNERS

ABOUT

Convergence Partners is an active sparring partner to the management in all aspects of company development, with a particular emphasis on landing and expanding the company to China and/ or India and linking the it with the most effective local distribution channels and resources.
Convergence Partners has access to an extensive network of industrial, governmental and academic partners in Europe, China and India that we open to our target companies.

The Convergence Partners team, split between Zurich (CH) and Shenzhen (China), comprises of professionals with extensive experience in technology investing, systematically growing companies and structuring global distribution. We provide our target companies with capital, know - how and contacts to maximise their growth potential.

Daniel Koppelkamm

Founder & Managing Partner

Daniel has more than 15 years of Tech Venture Capital investing and company building experience. He is the Representative of the German Centre of the Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen (RITS), located in Zurich. From 2009 to 2017, Daniel was an Investment Committee Member at Jadeberg Partners, one of the leading Swiss/ German High-Tech venture capital funds. Prior, Daniel worked for more than 6 years at London-based Man Group, the world`s largest alternative investments firm, focusing on global technology investments. Daniel also worked in technology investment banking at Credit Suisse in London and Madrid and in the Marketing division of Intel Corporation (UK). Daniel holds an MBA and a BSc in Business Studies from Cass Business School London and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Raj Airey

Partner

Raj has been in healthcare for 30 years, 20 years in MD roles at Pfizer and Baxter across the globe, managing teams of >1000 people in a number of global manufacturing units. He is also a serial entrepreneur, having built and managed 3 high growth businesses. In the last years, Raj has been an active business angel and company builder in Medtech, Biotech and Pharma. He is also an Accredited Executive Coach and mentor. Raj is on the review board of EIT Health, a pan-European public private initiative that fosters innovation with in healthcare with EU, top universities, innovation hubs and large corporates. Raj is a graduate in science from the London University and has received business education from both Harvard Business School and INSEAD.

Dr. Renchen Liu

Partner

Renchen is the Deputy Director of Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen (RITS) and in charge of establishing, coordinating and managing RITS international businesses, with an emphasis on international technology transfer, investment, acceleration and M&A. Dr Liu also sits on the investment committees of several funds raised and managed by RITS and its investment arm Leaguer Capital. Before he joined RITS, Dr Liu worked on research in biomedical engineering and consulted on international technology transfer at University of Oxford. Dr Liu earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University and D.Phil in Biochemical Engineering from University of Oxford.

Stefan Säuberlich

Investment Director

Stefan has more than 10 years investment, M&A and operational experience with SME companies in the German-speaking region. Prior, Stefan worked with Daniel at Jadeberg Partners and prior at Westlake Partners, a German buyout fund focused on scaling leading high tech and life-science businesses in China. Other prev. employers include Constellation Capital and BDO. Stefan holds a degree in Finance and a CPEA from TU Munich.

Dr. Songia (James) Wen

Investment Director

James is a Cross-border Investment Director with Leaguer International, the strategic China partner of Convergence Partners. James has more than 9 years operational and investment experience in the HealthTech and BioTech sectors. Prior, James worked as a product development manager at Shenzhen Ruiyang Biotechnology and as an investment associate at China Biocapital Corp. Other previous employers include Nanopower (CTO), the renomated Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable (Consultant) and Astra Zeneca (Lab Analyst). James earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Hongkong and his BSc in Biochemistry at Imperial College London.

Yandong (Michael) Su

Investment Director

Michael is a Cross-border Investment Director with Leaguer International, the strategic China partner of Convergence Partners. At Leaguer, Michael has invested into 7 high tech companies to date, including 4 companies with European or US management teams. Michael has worked as a software designer and architect for some of the leading global technology companies for more than a decade, including IBM, Huawei and Nortel Networks, mostly in Canada. Michael has also founded and built 2 successful startups, CS-iTec and 3O Technology. Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in Automation, from the University of Science and Technology of China.

Matthias Heller

Analyst

Matthias has studied in three different countries - at the University of St. Gallen, Harvard, and HEC Paris. Before joining Convergence Partners he worked in Venture Capital, business development at a startup in San Francisco, in M&A at a Swiss bank, and collected experience in the industrial trading field as an apprentice. Additionally, he founded and was involved in several startup projects ranging from blockain to robotics. Furthermore, he was rewarded an office space at the ETH Rocket Hub for said projects. Besides his various engagements, he is a member of the Leadership Team for the “Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs” organization. Matthias’ goal is to have a positive impact on the economy and society by helping startups to unleash their potential.

Chunchun Yao

Analyst

Chunchun has collected cross-cultural working experiences in China and Germany, in the field of VC, business development and financial services. Her previous employers include BMW i Ventures, Ernst and Young, and East Guoxin (PE). She has helped several Chinese Cleantech and Wearables startups to enter the European markets. Chunchun holds an M.Sc. in Management from University Mannheim, a B.Sc. in Finance from Beijing Foreign Studies University, and is currently a CFA Level III Candidate.

Jiahui (Joseph) Wu

Associate

Joseph is a Cross-border Investment Associate with Leaguer International, the strategic China partner of Convergence Partners. At Leaguer, he has participated in 8 technology investments to date. His focus is on Robotics, Advanced Manufacturing, Intelligent Hardware and some related industries. Prior, Joseph worked at RTHT Investments, a Private Equity fund, focusing on Pre-IPO and M&A projects. He completed a Msc in Finance at University of Durham, UK and double B.Sc. degrees in both Economics and Management Science from South China Normal University in China. Joseph is currently a CFA Level II Candidate.

Tal Gal-On

Venture Partner

Tal is supporting our deal-sourcing capabilities in Israel, based in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Tal consults Israel's leading corporates, NGOs as well as government institutions, facilitating strategies for China entrance as well as engagement with local partners. Tal serves as the Head of the Israeli Centre of the Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen (RITS), as well as the Head of China for the EEMBC (Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium). Tal holds an M.A from Tel-Aviv university and a B.A in Business administration & finance from the IDC, and he is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Dweep Chanana

Venture Partner

Dweep is supporting our DeepTech deal-sourcing capabilities in Europe, based in Zurich, Switzerland. Dweep brings over 20 years of experience investing into or growing new businesses, and has advised companies such as Cisco, Vestas, Ericsson, and Microsoft on corporate innovation, investments, and new business development. He previously led Venture Investments for Momenta Partners, a leading global IoT advisory firm; prior to that, he was responsible for developing direct impact investment platforms for and advising family offices at UBS, and has also worked with Lucent and Hughes, with experience across India, USA, Kenya and China.

Spyros Poulios

Venture Partner

Spyros is supporting our business development, fundraising and investor relations activities from London, UK. He has more than 20 years of experience in investment banking, business development and principal investing, with a specialization in emerging market cross-border transactions. From 2009 until 2017 Spyros was based in Beijing, where he set up and managed a local family office, worked for a leading Asia-focused private equity firm, and led the international private equity strategy for a China-NYC based private investment firm. Prior, Spyros spent many years assisting large family offices on a wide range of transactions across emerging markets and served as a senior executive at several technology companies. Spyros also worked in the Corporate Development division of GE Capital focusing on strategic and financial investments across Europe, and began his career in the M&A and Oil & Gas divisions of Credit Suisse First Boston. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from INSEAD.