Leadership
CEO: Ali Farmandeh
E-mail: ali.farmandeh@thiscoop.org
Lifestyle M&A: Chris Ekander
Christian Ekander (MBA) is a lifestyle entrepreneur, artist and athlete. He has organised tech incubators, developing business relations between Europe and Asia, projects on sustainable design/circular economy. Christian is working globally.
E-mail: christian.ekander@thicoop.org
COO: Marco Gentilli
International executive with proven leadership in business management and organisational change. Marco is an analytic thinker focusing on entrepreneurship and building consensus. He has excellent experience managing multicultural environments.
Head of R&D: Arvid Karsvall
Arvid Karsvall is Ph.D. in communication science and has a background in UX research. His area of expertise includes health communication, intercultural service design, data analysis, and informal care.
E-mail: arvid.karsvall@thiscoop.org
CHRO: Eleonor Åslund
Eleonor is an experienced entrepreneur and HR manager. She has over 25 years of operative and strategic experience within HR; locally, internationally and from both smaller and larger companies.
E-mail: eleonor.aslund@thiscoop.org
Strategic Advisors
Leif Edvinsson: Intellectual capital & digital economy
Leif Edvinsson’s research field is intellectual capital, which he pioneered in the 1990s when working as Vice President at the Swedish insurance company Skandia. There he developed his theories about the hidden value of intellectual capital and a management model for this value. In 2001, he was appointed a professor at the University of Lund. He also works as a consultant for the Swedish government. Leif Edvinsson is the recipient of the prestigious Brain of the Year award.
Active since 2019. Based in Stockholm.
Lars Åke Söderlund: healthcare and pharmacy
Lars-Åke Söderlund has long experience of working with Swedish healthcare. He has been Vice President of the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society, and has had executive positions at Apoteket AB. He is the Vice President of The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), which is the global body for pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, representing 144 national organisations and over 4 million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Lars-Åke is a frequent speaker about the future of healthcare and pharmacy.
Active & Board of Director since 2018. Based in Stockholm.
Geert Ingelbert: Health ingredient digital distribution
Geert Ingelbert has been Vice President of the Food Division within Barentz – a leading provider of ingredients for pharmaceutical, personal & home care, food & nutrition, and animal nutrition; with thousands of customers in 60 countries. Geert is an expert in food ingredient distribution. He is Vice President of Corporate Principal Development, responsible for new business operations and digitalisation in Barentz.
Active since 2018. Based in Belgium.
Dr. Linger Ge: Economical and business strategy
Linger Ge has a Ph.D. in applied economics from Peking University. He has been General Manager for the China state-owned corporation for international trading and export credit financing. Linger Ge has vast experience in equity investment funds. In 2020, he was appointed as a non-executive director of Venture Group (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited.
Active since 2018. Based in Stockholm.
Neil Shen: Investment and innovation
Famous tech entrepreneur and investor in digital platforms including TikTok and Pingduoduo – Forbes profile #2 (“The Midas List: Top Tech Investors”). Founding and managing partner of Sequoia China and he had previously worked as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank Hong Kong, Chemical Bank, Lehman Brothers and Citibank.
Active since 2022. Based in Hongkong.
Peter Tagestam: Business law
Lawyer and Associate at Advantage Advokatbyrå AB. Extensive experience in business law and has over the years represented several major companies in business-related issues.
Active since 2022. Based in Stockholm.
Peter Olofsson: Business development
Peter Olofsson has a long and solid experience as an entrepreneur, director, and business leader, both in public listed companies as well as an Interim Manager. Peter is also a senior consultant and executive coach within the fields of Innovation, Analysis and Business Development.
Active since 2022. Based in Uppsala.
Bob Xiaoping Xu; Investment and market
Famous in China as a premier angel investor – Forbes profile #24 (The Midas List: Top Tech Investors). Co-founder of early stage-focused firm ZhenFund, which has a port- folio 700 companies deep. Eight of those have gone public, and another 18 have reached valuations above $1 billion.
Active since 2022. Based in Canada
