Our Team
We’re a team of highly analytical entrepreneurs with a proven track-record of success
We recognise that potential of the most exciting startups by analysing themes, products and trends
We are passionate about entrepreneurship, we are knowledgeable about early stage investing and we are eager about bridging the communication voids to advance the funding of mission-critical technologies
Meet our team members
Thijs Povel
Founding Partner
Thijs Povel brings over 15 years of Venture Capital expertise, with experience across VC funds, Corporate Venture arms, and Family Offices. He has served on the boards of high-growth startups and assumed interim CFO and CEO roles when needed. A Physics graduate from Imperial College London, Thijs specializes in investments in Deep Tech, B2B, FinTech, SaaS, and Academia. He founded Dealflow to support the scaling efforts of Europe’s most promising founders.
Eric Büchli
Head of Office
Eric studied at the University of St. Gallen and the London Business School. He worked at UBS in the Investment Banking division on the ETD and DCM divisions between his studies. Having visited more than 40 countries, Eric is also an avid traveler. Eric Joined Dealflow.eu in January 2020 and he covers the position of Investment Associate. At Dealflow.eu, he is mostly involved with investor outreach, the IT infrastructure, and the hiring process.
Antonio Vieira de Almeida
Investment Manager
After more than 5 years working in M&A and Corporate Law, at Vieira de Almeida & Associados, António decided to move into the business world. To this end, he obtained his MBA from INSEAD, in France and Singapore, and then joined BCG as a consultant in the Lisbon office. António joined Dealflow.eu as an Investment Manager in October 2022 and currently oversees the start-up support from the EIC Programme.
Elena Orbetsova
Senior Investment Analyst
Elena holds an MSc in Infrastructure Investment and Finance from University College London. Before joining Dealflow.eu, Elena worked as an Investment and Valuations Analyst at Swiss Ventures Group in Zurich. She also gained experience in M&A Advisory and Private Equity in Vienna and London. At Dealflow.eu, Elena is responsible for the Healthcare industry.
Guy de Nicolay
Venture Associate
Graduating from the prestigious London School of Economics in Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, Guy is a Venture Partner at Dealflow.eu. In 7 years of experience, he has been a strategic consultant for business and impact ventures in Europe, Asia, and South America. Now, At Dealflow.eu, Guy is responsible for venture partnerships and he oversees the following industries: New-Materials and sustainable construction, hard tech, and Quantum.
André Sarmento
Investment Associate
André holds a master’s degree in Management with a specialization in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from Católica Lisbon School. Previously to joining Dealflow.eu, André worked at Bynd Venture Capital, a Portuguese-based VC with an Iberian scope, He also held an internship position at Deloitte, and at Sumol+Compal, the leading non-alcoholic beverage retailer in Portugal. At Dealflow.eu, Andre oversees the Healthcare area, and he helps the innovations within this space to scale up.
Maddalena Lauzi
Senior Investment Analyst
Maddalena is a Double Master’s Degree Graduate in International Management at Bocconi and Fudan Universities. During her studies, she worked as a Business Analyst at Luxottica before joining Dealflow.eu, Maddalena worked in an EdTech accelerator based in London for one year where she helped start-ups strategically and in their fundraising process. At Dealflow.eu Maddalena oversees the Space, Transport and Mobility industries and she helps innovation within this industries to scale up.
Luis Calandria
Senior Investment Analyst
Before joining Dealflow.eu, Luis worked in Deloitte Financial Advisory for two years, specializing in the financial modelling of Capital Projects. He also worked at FTI Consulting in the Forensic department. Luis is a CFA II holder and has a dual degree in Law & B.A from IE University. At Dealflow.eu, he supports the Enterprise Software startups in the strategical, financial and networking areas.
Pauline Avérous
Senior Investment Officer
Pauline has a master’s degree in management from Audencia Business School (Nantes, France). Before joining Dealflow.eu, she worked as a business analyst for the matchmaking platform of Bpifrance, EuroQuity. She also has experience as a venture capital analyst in an impact investment fund, INCO. Pauline manages the grant writing department at Dealflow.eu. The grant service enhances startups’ chances of accessing non-dilutive European funding.
Domenico Germanò
Senior Investment Analyst
Domenico is a Master’s Degree Graduate in International Management at NOVA SBE. Before joining Dealflow.eu, he worked at Reflaunt Pte Ltd, a Fashion-Tech start-up. He set up the finance department and helped the company to achieve its growth milestones. He also worked as Fund Operations Officer at Alter Domus. At Dealflow.eu, Domenico oversees the Food and Agritech area and helps the innovations within this space to scale up.
Carolina Christiansen
Senior Investment Analyst
Carolina is a Senior Investment Analyst at Dealflow.eu. Carolina has a Masters’s Degree in Regenerative Economics from Schumacher College (UK) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of California Santa Barbara. She worked in Silicon Valley and New York at a unicorn fintech for 2 years as FP&A. Prior to joining Dealflow.eu, Carolina was a climate finance consultant for a think tank in London. Carolina is now providing venture-building support for companies within the Energy & Environment verticals and managing venture relationships with investors in the sector.
Pedro Carvalho
Senior Investment Analyst
Pedro is a Senior Investment Analyst at Dealflow.eu, holding a Master’s Degree in Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Nova SBE. He has prior experience working as a Management Consultant at Deloitte and KPMG Portugal, with a stint at the European Commission within the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs. Currently, Pedro is dedicated to providing venture-building support for EIC Companies, especially those operating in the Photonics, Quantum, and Semiconductors sectors. He also manages venture relations with investors in this field.
Maria Heinonen
Senior Investment Officer
Maria brings expertise in supporting the growth of health technology companies and in preparing EU funding proposals. She has a Master’s degree in Genetics and Molecular biosciences from the University of Helsinki, and has since then been working in an innovation consultancy company and a startup hub, supporting health technology innovations. Maria joined Dealflow in July 2023 as a Grant Officer & Senior Analyst and is currently supporting mainly health technology companies in securing EU funding, and developing the grant writing services further.
Ester Warburg
Investment Officer
After 3 years working in M&A and Corporate Law, at Ontier, Esther decided to move into the business world. To this end, she studied a Master in International Agribusiness Management at ISAM, and then joined an agriculture and livestock family business as a consultant at the south Spain. Esther joined Dealflow.eu as an Investment Manager in September 2023 and currently works as a Grant Officer.
Alma-Clarisse Schwan
Visiting Investment Analyst
Alma is a Master’s degree graduate in Finance from the Nova School of Business and Economics, Portugal and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Mannheim, Germany. Prior to her Master’s studies, she gained practical expertise as an M&A Analyst at a German Buy-Side M&A Boutique. She also holds a Certificate in Sustainability and Entrepreneurship from the Mannheim Business School. She joined the Dealflow.eu Team in June 2023 and is mainly supporting companies in the Healthcare Vertical.
Vittorio Sambuy
Visiting Investment Analyst
Vittorio is a Master’s Degree Graduate in International Management at NOVA SBE and graduated from UCL with a Bachelors in Environmental Engineering. During his five years living in London, Vittorio first completed various internships in Energy companies and then worked for for 9 months in Investment Baking at ING Bank in London. At Dealflow.eu he supports the Hardware and Cleantech verticals.
Dennis Seifert
Visiting Investment Analyst
Dennis holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor’degree in Business Administration. Before joining Dealflow.eu, Dennis worked in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy where he contributed to EU’s energy policy coordination and interinstitutional affairs. He also worked at the OECD in Paris with a focus on quantitative analysis of Europe’s climate policy landscape. At Dealflow.eu, he holds the position of Junior Grants Analyst with a focus on energy deep-tech startups and supports companies to scale and access EU-funding opportunities.
