The Ventura team has deep global institutional investment experience across technology sectors.
Mo El Husseiny
Managing Partner
James has over 18 years of experience in financial roles within investment organisations and in industry, including at the Abu Dhabi based sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Development Company, where he was a member of the Group's finance leadership team.
Prior to this, he worked at EY in both London and the Middle East in the transactions advisory practice, covering a broad range of strategic financial advisory projects, valuations and transaction modelling. James also held the position of Finance Director at one of the UK's leading airport operators
James holds an MBA from the London Business School.
James Amos
Partner
Daniel has over 18 years of experience as an m&a, corporate and securities lawyer, having practiced at leading global and Canadian law firms. Prior to joining Ventura in Dubai in 2014, Daniel was a senior corporate associate with Allen & Overy in the UAE and prior to that, Goodmans LLP in Toronto.
Daniel primarily advises on structuring and executing Ventura's investment transactions into target private companies, SPV formation matters, as well as optimal and compliant structures for accredited and qualified institutional investors' investments.
Daniel holds an LL.B. from the University of Windsor, and B.Sc. (Hons.) from the University of Toronto.
Daniel Jeon
Partner
Cristina has more than 15 years of progressive experience in business management, operations and HR with a successful track record in leading, managing and supporting a variety of businesses and teams. She also has a wealth of knowledge and senior experience within the ‘Big Four’ firms in Advisory Transactions Services, Financial and IT audit practices across EMEA region.
Prior to joining Ventura Group, Cristina worked for Saudi Fransi Capital International Ltd (Investment arm of Banque Saudi Fransi, KSA) and several companies in the UAE where she gained valuable exposure to the region and regulatory bodies such as the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Cristina holds an MBA from the IE Business School and double Masters Degree in Business Administration and Law from Universidad Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid, Spain.
Cristina Merino
Financial Controller
Joey D. Barnett
Partner
Jimena joined Ventura in 2018 and has more than 10 years of managerial experience in the aviation and legal industry.
Prior to joining Ventura, Jimena was the Head of Cabin Operations and Head of Cabin Safety for VistaJet. She also worked for the Air France Group for over 5 years. She is currently the Chairman of the Human Factors Cabin Crew Standing Group at the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Jimena was part of the Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration Team at U.S. law firm, Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP in Mexico City.
Jimena Saiz
Operations Manager
Lord Philip Hammond of Runnymede (PC)
Chair of Ventura Advisory Board
Since 2020 – after having been Advisor to the Family Harald Quandt from 2017 in parallel to his business roles - Stefan Keitel was Chief Executive Officer of Harald Quandt (HQ) Holding. From January 2023 he moved into the Supervisory Board of HQ Holding to focus on building up a diversified Mandate Portfolio and stepping out of operational business after having been 25 years in leading roles in the Financial Industry. Formerly Stefan Keitel was CEO Asset Management & Chief Investment Officer of Deka Bank and CEO of Deka Investment for roughly 5 years. He also spent 3 years at Berenberg as Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer and - since 2001 - served ~13 years for Credit Suisse, thereof from 2008 to 2013 as Global Chief Investment Officer & Global Co-Head Portfolio Management.
Stefan Keitel holds a Diploma of the University Mainz in Finance, is a honorary Curator of the Economic Institute Ifo in Munich and Ambassador of the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation. Additionally he is Member of several Supervisory and Advisory Boards. Besides his longstanding role as Investment Advisor of the Krombacher Brewery he is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SG Value Partners and Member of the Supervisory Board of Genesis Investment Partners (both in Zürich), Member of the Supervisory Board of FineVest Fund AG in Liechtenstein, Senior Advisor of Andera Partners in Paris and Member of the Advisory Board of Ventura Capital in London.
Stefan Keitel is married, father of 2 daughters (26, 21) and lives in Bingen am Rhein/Germany and in Santanyi/Mallorca.
Stefan Keitel
Elizabeth A. LaPuma brings over two decades of financial advisory and board expertise across diverse industries. With a strong background in originating and structuring complex financial transactions, she is a trusted advisor to numerous business leaders. Ms. LaPuma is a board member for businesses within the fintech, artificial intelligence, healthcare, consumer, and real estate sectors. Prior to these roles, Ms. LaPuma was a Managing Director and Head of Balance Sheet Advisory at UBS. Prior to UBS, she was a Managing Director and head of Asset Management Services at Alvarez & Marsal, advising governments and financial institutions on diverse assets. Ms. LaPuma’s earlier career includes roles at BlackRock and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse.
Elizabeth LaPuma
Sir William took office as the 692nd Lord Mayor of the City of London in November 2019. He has over thirty years’ experience in the financial and business City including holding senior positions in the national and international Banking sector. In 1987 he went to work for First Boston Corporation before joining Merrill Lynch in 1992 as an Investment Banker in Institutional Equity Sales, working in Asia, New York and London. Sir William is currently on the CityUK Board. Sir William serves as Chairman of the Barbican Centre.
Sir William Russell
Mónica Roma Wilson is an international lawyer, experienced in decoding and navigating geopolitical policy trends, at the intersection between law, policy and commercial strategy.
She has lived and worked in London, New York, Beijing, Brasilia, Brussels, The Hague, Islamabad and Lisbon, where she has provided counsel at board level in the private sector and at Cabinet Minister level in the public sector. This includes the financial sector, international organisations, government advisory services and the technology sectors.
Mónica Roma Wilson
Founder & Managing Director, Maysaffron. Ellie advises firms and funds globally to connect with the Middle Eastern and Asia Pacific institutions. Maysaffron, which she founded in 2015 is the solution for institutions wanting to connect intelligently and effectively with the Middle East region. Formerly Ellie worked for ADIA.
Ellecia Saffron
Dr. Alexander Landia is the Chairman of The Mobility House. Dr. Landia was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eurochem, the world’s largest fertiliser company. He was also Chairman of SUEK and SGK - each being a top-producer worldwide respectively of coal and combined heat and power generation, co-founder of Bernotat & Cie.,and Director of Lambert Energy Advisory. Dr. Landia was Partner at Accenture and Head of Oil and Gas Debt at Dresdner Bank.
Dr. Alexander Landia
Brian is the founder of Rain, a pioneer of voice and conversational AI. Rain helps Fortune 100 clients win in the emerging conversational economy. Brian serves on the Advisory Board of the Newhouse School @ Syracuse University (his alma mater).