bigideaventures
  • Accelerator
  • Funds
  • Portfolio
  • BIFC
  • Team
  • Media
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Apply
Select Page
Big Idea Ventures is solving the world’s biggest challenges by supporting the world’s best entrepreneurs.
It takes more than funding to scale a company. The Big Idea Ventures team consist of subject matter experts that work side-by-side with founders to solve tough challenges, deliver feedback, and champion best practices in the space. Meet the team. We are founders, scientists, lawyers, operations experts, product managers, and researchers.

All

Elaine Lee
Leonard Chong
Dr. Hao Lu
Nicholas Sardjono
Sumona Chaudhuri
Frank Klemens
Carol Cresong
Lily Goldman
Olivia Chavassieu
Marion Bazille
Henrietta Hearth
Adrien Villalonga
Emily Linett
Benjamin Pippin
Andrew D. Ive
Christian Cadeo
Dr. Dalal AlGhawas, PhD
Mia Medicus
Tom Mastrobuoni
Yi Ting Loh

LEADERSHIP

Andrew D. Ive
Christian Cadeo
Tom Mastrobuoni

NEW YORK

Frank Klemens
Carol Cresong
Lily Goldman
Andrew D. Ive
Mia Medicus
Tom Mastrobuoni

SINGAPORE

Elaine Lee
Leonard Chong
Dr. Hao Lu
Nicholas Sardjono
Sumona Chaudhuri
Benjamin Pippin
Andrew D. Ive
Christian Cadeo
Dr. Dalal AlGhawas, PhD
Yi Ting Loh

PARIS

Olivia Chavassieu
Marion Bazille
Henrietta Hearth
Adrien Villalonga
Elaine Lee
Scientific Fellow

Elaine Lee is the Scientific Fellow with Big Idea Ventures in Singapore. She is a food technologist with more than 5 years’ worth of experience in food industry. Prior to joining Big Idea Venture, she worked in Meiji Seika Singapore and Aalst Chocolate (which recently bought over by Cargill), specialised in product development and commercialisation. She also has experience in Quality Assurance and Quality Control, familiar with different countries food regulation.

She holds a Bachelor (Honours) Degree in Food Science and Nutrition.

angellistcrunch-base

Leonard Chong
Scientific Fellow

Leonard is a Scientific Fellow at Big Idea Ventures. He has previously worked as a research assistant in the National University of Singapore (NUS) in the research areas of Food Chemistry, Food Safety and Food Technologies.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and Technology at NUS, and is pursuing his Masters Degree there as well.

angellistcrunch-base

Dr. Hao Lu
Scientific Fellow

Dr. Hao is the Scientific Fellow for Big Idea Ventures Singapore. Prior to this, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore, focusing on cultivated meat and cell media development. His prior experiences were in the field of immunology and virology. Dr. Hao has published more than 14 scientific publications and recipient of numerous research grants.

He has a PhD in immunology and a Bachelor of Medical Sciences from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Dr. Hao is an in-house expert on matters related to cell and fermentation-based alternative proteins.

angellistcrunch-base

Nicholas Sardjono
Program Associate

Nicholas is the Program Associate at Big Idea Ventures in Singapore. He has experience in private equity and invested through angel rounds in various industries. He is also familiar with the Singapore F&B space through franchising Geláre in Singapore and having restaurants both casual and fine dining.

Nicholas holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology and a minor in Entrepreneurship from Purdue University and an MBA with a concentration in Business Analytics from Babson College. Major projects were in the areas of EV and sustainable energy.

angellistcrunch-base

Sumona Chaudhuri
Marketing Associate

Sumona is a Marketing Associate at Big Idea Ventures Singapore. Prior to this, she was the City Head of an ecommerce Agritech startup in Singapore. Leading a startup has given her significant insight into executing digital marketing campaigns, streamlining operations, improving customer acquisition and building relationships with commercial partners.

She has also worked in international relations at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and has executed projects for NGOs in SG, UK, India & Tanzania over the course of her Social Sciences BSc degree at University College London (UCL).

angellistcrunch-base

Frank Klemens
Managing Director, GFRP Fund
Frank Klemens, PhD is currently the Managing Director for BIV’s Generation Food Rural Partners (“GFRP”) fund. Prior to this, he served as Managing Director of DuPont Ventures where he oversaw all aspects of sourcing, analyzing, executing strategic equity investments, and licensing for DuPont’s businesses. Focus areas included biotech, food ingredients, food safety, nutrition, electronics, IoT, machine learning, and advanced materials. Dr. Klemens generated collaborative technology investment and licensing options to create new business opportunities.
Dr. Klemens holds a B.S., M.S. in Chemistry and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Purdue University.

angellistcrunch-base

Carol Cresong
Vice President of Operations

Prior to joining Big Idea Ventures, she worked within the consumer packaged goods industry for
20+ years. Carol has experience in commercial strategy, operations, and sales with Bayer,
Reckitt Benckiser, and Nestle Purina. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s
University.

angellistcrunch-base

Lily Goldman
Program Associate

Lily is a recent graduate of Swarthmore College, where she studied English Literature, and she
participated in the Tuck Business Bridge program at Dartmouth while in college. She is from the
Bay Area, and has since moved to New York City upon her graduation.

angellistcrunch-base

Olivia Chavassieu
Global Brand Manager

Olivia is the Global Brand Manager for Big Idea Ventures. Prior to this, she worked in the media and advertising industry across the world. First as a journalist for national newspapers in Sydney, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and then as a digital and brand strategist at advertising agencies, start-ups, and global media company A+E Networks.

She has experience building and growing brands, developing audiences, and using content innovation to create growth opportunities and drive positive behavior change.

She holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Bachelor’s degree from La Sorbonne University.

angellistcrunch-base

Marion Bazille
Program Manager

Marion Bazille is the Program Manager for BIV Paris. Graduated with a master’s degree from Paris Dauphine University, she has more than 3 years experience advising impactful organisations in their growth journey. Prior to BIV, she worked for Business France, the Trade Department of the French Embassy in London, developing sales strategies for the agtech and foodtech sectors and advising entrepreneurs and founders in their international development. She also has experience working for Sanofi analysing future growth opportunities.

angellistcrunch-base

Henrietta Hearth
Program Director

Henrietta is the Program Director for Big Idea Ventures in Paris. Prior to this, she worked in FMCG firms including Danone, Mondelez International and L’Oreal where she launched more than 100 products to market in categories as diverse as food, beauty and infant formula in more than 30 countries. She is also a registered nutritionist with her research on the Mediterranean Diet published in Maturitas and Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.
She holds a Bsc Hons in Food and Human Nutrition from Newcastle University and an MBA from INSEAD.

angellistcrunch-base

Adrien Villalonga
Program Associate

Adrien Villalonga is the Program Associate at Big Idea Ventures in Paris. Prior to this he worked as a financial auditor for Mazars and as a venture capital analyst for two early-stage venture capital funds. Additionally, he has experience in Supply Chain Management in the aerospace sector.

Adrien holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from ESSEC Business School (Paris) and a CEMS Master’s in International Management from ESADE (Barcelona).

angellistcrunch-base

Emily Linett
Director of Investor Relations

Emily is the Director of Investor Relations at Big Idea Ventures. Previously, she led strategic growth at Vokal, a digital consultancy. Prior to that, she was an associate with Tyson Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, where her investment focus areas included alternative proteins, sustainability improvements, and technology-enabled operational enhancements. Additionally, she has experience in public health research and health education.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Management Studies from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

angellist