At Startup Genome, we seek dynamic, mission-driven individuals with a passion for innovation and a collaborative mindset to help transform global startup ecosystems.
VIEW CAREERS AT STARTUP GENOME
Ecosystem development at its best:
Introducing the team powering our work
Meet the dedicated leaders advancing startup ecosystems through research,
collaboration, and expertise across the globe.
Our core team
Startup Genome's core team is composed of passionate innovators and experts dedicated to empowering startup ecosystems worldwide. With diverse backgrounds in entrepreneurship, policy, data science, and community building, we deliver data-driven insights and actionable strategies to accelerate global economic growth and innovation from around the world.
JF Gauthier
FOUNDER & CEO
Marc Penzel
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Stephan Kuester
MANAGING PARTNER
Samantha Evans
Managing Director, MENA
Franzis Walther
Head of Operations
Gary Oliver
President, Startup Genome Hypergrowth
Joanne Fedeyko
Head of Mentorship
Hiro Nishiguchi
President, Startup Genome Japan
Ravi Narayan
President, Middle East & South Asia
Houssein El Sayed
Programs Director
Marina Krizman
Director, Business Development
Christopher Haley
Head of Research
Pranav Arya
Sr. Director, Ecosystem Strategy
Parshant Sharma
Director of Data Science
Senior experts
Startup Genome is further strengthened by a unique global network of senior experts and ecosystem leaders, whom we engage selectively across strategy design and on-the-ground implementation. This bench brings deep, practitioner-level experience spanning policy execution, venture capital ecosystem development, global talent and investment activation, program design, and more. Together, we bring clients the most credible, evidence-led perspectives worldwide — while staying at the frontier of the transition to AI-Native economies and startup ecosystems. Through this network, we tailor each engagement with the right expertise at the right depth, accelerating outcomes with insight that is globally informed and locally actionable.
Ziv Katzir
Vice President, Head of the National Plan for Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
Israel Innovation Authority
Johannes Velling
Director General
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy
Daria Siegel
SVP, Innovation Industries
NYCEDC
Kate Cornick
CEO
LaunchVic
Yael Mazuz-Harpaz
VP & Head of Policy Division
Israel Innovation Authority
Hyun Woo Kim
CEO
Seoul Business Agency
Josh Lerner
Harvard Business School
Dan Herman, PhD
Lecturer
University of Toronto - Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Bjoern Herrmann
AI serial entrepreneur
Former head of AI for Sage
Jongwoo Kim
Director
Seoul Business Agency
Philip Gaskin
Growth & Business Development Architect
The Gaskin Group