Solving Critical Challenges, Profitably

Sakura Holloway joined UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital (Ventures), in December 2023 to lead on our Knowledge Assets investment portfolio.

Sakura has a rich history in investment and commercialisation. Previously, she was the Head of Asset Portfolio at the University of Manchester Innovation Factory, overseeing spinouts and licensing partnerships, managing a team focused on IP portfolio management and performance reporting.

Sakura’s impact is evident in her post-seed support to spinouts, guiding them towards Series A financing and facilitating IP/asset transfers. Her extensive background includes roles such as Venture Coach for the EIC Accelerator programme, Partner at Start Codon, where she sourced and evaluated early-stage companies in healthcare and an earlier investment role with OneVentures, one of the largest healthcare focussed VC funds in Australia.

Sakura’s impactful contributions extend to her tenure as Chief IP Counsel at Benitec, where she played a key role in the company’s US IPO and NASDAQ listing. With a Master’s in IP Law and a background in molecular biology, Sakura brings a unique blend of expertise to the intersection of science, innovation, and investment.

Shruti Iyengar is an Investment Manager at Future Planet Capital where she supports the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund as well as the Blue Ocean Mandate.

Prior to joining Future Planet Capital, she was an Investor with an early-stage climate tech fund, Sustainable Ventures, where she managed a portfolio of 36 companies, lead their 12 month-long Accelerator programme, and built out their impact measurement practice.

Shruti began her career in Singapore where she worked with organizations across Southeast Asia including UN Women, Singapore International Foundation, and DBS Foundation to build out their impact investing and measurement strategies. She was involved with developing numerous incubator programmes for early-stage companies and mentored founders scale their businesses across verticals such as food/agri-tech, healthcare, and sustainability.

She also worked closely with Government agencies, Centres of Innovation, and SMEs in the region, delivering and evaluating the impact of SME support programmes, building her expertise across sectors such as manufacturing, precision engineering, energy, and environment/water technology.

Shruti holds a dual degree in Mathematics and Economics from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and is a Women’s Merit Scholar from London Business School’s Master’s in Finance programme.

Alex is an Investment Director at Future Planet Capital. He primarily focuses on the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund where is actively deploying the Defence & Security fund into pre-Seed+ deeptech startups. Alex also supports the Blue Ocean Fund that invests at Series A+.

He began his career in high-tech start-ups and large engineering facilities in South Africa across R&D, Manufacturing, Effluent Treatment, Robotics, Marine and Renewable Energy. Concurrently he started and ran numerous entrepreneurial ventures ranging from a software development boutique to an international e-commerce business.

In 2013, Alex pivoted into investments, working on private equity buyouts in Johannesburg. Upon relocating to London, he transitioned into operational improvement private equity and various transformation roles, including a stint at a FTSE 250. He now applies this operational knowledge across all the start-up Boards upon which he serves.

While start-ups and investing were always part of Alex’s career, in 2018 he focused solely on tech venture capital, coming back full circle on his early entrepreneurial and engineering roots. He is active in the start-up/VC world through his blog/vlog/podcast (The Tippy Top), mentoring, running webinars and training programmes, serving on panels and regular social media activity.

Alex graduated as a Mechatronics Engineer at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He also holds an MBA (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town, and London Business School.

Hassan Mahmudul is an Investment Manager at Future Planet Capital where he supports the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, with a specific focus on engineering biology investments.

Prior to joining Future Planet Capital, he was the founder and CEO of a venture-backed tech startup. Hassan was also one of the first employees for a leading start-up in Newcastle worked as a start-up scout for Ada Ventures.

Hassan holds a Research Masters degree in Biology from Durham University, England.

Sam joins Future Planet Capital as Portfolio Manager working on the UK Innovation and Science Seed fund.

He works with UKI2S portfolio businesses supporting on all areas post investment including future investment readiness, fundraising and talent acquisition. He brings a solutions orientated approach grounded in this depth of experience working with early-stage founders at all points of their business lifecycle.

Prior to joining Future Planet Capital, Sam worked at Seedrs, an equity crowdfunding platform, where he worked with a portfolio of 700+ early-stage start-ups at all stages of their business lifecycle to support their growth journey.

Sam holds an Integrated Masters in International Relations and Global issues from the University of Nottingham.

Outside of work, Sam enjoys adventure travel and developing his culinary skills on recipes picked up from around the world.

Dr. Andrew Muir is a Director of Future Planet Capital Ventures, an FCA-authorised fund management company, and is the fund principal for the £102M UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund. He also co-manages the Future Planet Capital Blue Ocean investment vehicle backed by the government of Monaco.

After an initial scientific career at Zeneca Andrew went on to roles in research and business development at the medical device company Biocompatibles and was then Vice President of Technology for a US start-up in disinfection of medical equipment.

He started his career in venture at NESTA (the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts). Andrew has previously advised the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh on their entrepreneurship support programmes and has held a number of portfolio company director. He has a degree and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Oliver is an Investment Director at UKI2S. Specialising in life science investments he has managed the enlarged £33m engineering biology sub-fund since its inception in 2014. He has invested in a broad range of companies in sectors as diverse as therapeutic, agritech and clean biotech.

He sits on multiple boards and has overseen exits including the £85m sale of Quethera to Astellas. He is also a member of the Future Planet Capital ESG steering group.

Prior to joining UKI2S, Oliver worked at the venture fund Imperial Innovations as well as other roles in the industry. He has a background in strategy analysis and consultancy including roles in New York and has a masters from the University of Bristol and commenced a PhD in bioremediation at the University of Nottingham.

Huw is an Investment Manager at Future Planet Capital, working in the regional SME investment team in the firm’s Birmingham office. He sources, executes and manages investments across two regional development funds, making investments of up to £2m into early stage ventures looking to expand globally from headquarters in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

He began his career in startup advisory at boutique corporate finance house, Novo Ventures, working with management teams of pre-seed companies to develop fund raising and growth strategies. In 2019 he transitioned to an investment role at Midven, which became part of Future Planet Capital in 2021.

In addition to his main role in the investment team, Huw is the co-founder of the young-professionals networking group, The Colmore Collective. He has been a mentor for the National Cyber Security Centre incubator, and has spoken at events by the World Economic Forum, DGB Financial Group in South Korea, and Innovate UK.

Thomas Storey has joined Future Planet Capital as a Senior Associate.

Within his role, he will be a driving force for key advancements in UK technology, utilising the UKI2S’ Defence, Space and Fusion portfolios.

With a Master’s degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and over a decade of experience in both the technical and commercial sides of the aerospace industry, Thomas has a rich background in the space sector. He began his career as an engineer at Surrey Satellites (SSTL) and later developed defence technologies at QinetiQ. Before joining Future Planet Capital, he was a Principal Consultant at London Economics, advising on strategic opportunities in space.

Thomas’ expertise is vital to UKI2S’ mission in pushing the boundaries of UK tech using strategic support and investment.