Speakers
Joanna Soroka
Panel and Q&A
As a company grows, its investment needs change dramatically, and the type of investors needed changes with them. In this session we will look at how to understand your needs, seek the right investors, and ensure smooth integration with existing investors.
Joanna combines deep technical expertise in biotechnology with business acumen in strategy and innovation. As Investment Partner at Hitachi Ventures, she leads global healthcare investments across techbio, biotech, life sciences, platforms, data, AI, and automation.
Prior to Hitachi Ventures, Joanna was at PwC, where she advised pharma clients at the intersection of digital technologies and medicine. She also held strategy, R&D, and innovation roles in healthcare IT, diagnostics, and precision medicine at Konica Minolta.
Joanna holds an M.Sc. in Biology from Jagiellonian University, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, and completed postdoctoral training in Genetics and Oncology at Cancer Research UK.
Clare Terlouw is Head of LifeArc Ventures, responsible for LifeArc’s portfolio of direct and LP investments across the life sciences sector. The venture investment fund focuses on early stage life sciences companies at seed to Series A, with significant follow-on investment reserved for successful portfolio companies.
Clare has significant expertise in funding innovative life sciences companies in the private and public markets. She was previously Head of Corporate Development at Syncona Investment Management Ltd, a FTSE250 healthcare investment trust which builds and invests in life science companies, and has more than 15 years of biotech and healthcare financing experience as a UK investment banker at Nomura, Numis Securities and Peel Hunt. Clare was a physiotherapist in Canada prior to moving into finance.
Clare is a board member of the UK Biotechnology Industry Association and director of a number of venture-backed companies.