The 2150 leadership team expands with the promotion of Rahul Parekh to Partner and Margarita Skarkou to Principal
“Great things…are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.” — Steve Jobs
Over the past few years, 2150 has scaled from the spark of an idea, to a group of four founders aligned on a mission, to now a team of 17 full-time team members. Having invested in fifteen impactful companies to date, our ambition to scale our impact continues. And that ambition requires expanded leadership capabilities and new complementarity set of skills.
It is for this reason that we are so excited to announce the promotion of two existing team members into leadership roles within 2150:
Rahul Parekh joined us early in 2150’s voyage in the summer of 2020. Since then he has led several of our investments and represents the firm on the Boards of Normative, UrbanFootprint, OpenSolar and one yet to be announced. Trained to do magic in Excel while at Goldman Sachs, Rahul is also a succesful entrepreneur who built and exited a venture-backed business, EatFirst. His strategic thinking, rational disposition and incredible work ethic has been a huge benefit to 2150 and to our entrepreneurs. While he now carries the title (and responsibilities) of Partner, Rahul has already been embracing the mantle of leadership within the team for some time and this Promotion was an easy choice for the Partners to make.
Margarita joined us towards the end of 2021 from Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital. She is the only team member to have actually started her career wearing a hard hat in a construction site; Quite a propos for the work that we do! Her banking experience alongside her investment experience at Barclays Ventures and then the Barclays Sustainable Impact group have made her an invaluable asset for the broader team, be that for support on due diligence or advice on supporting entrepreneurs. Margarita was also the lead advocate for our focus on Biodiversity which led to our eventual investment into NatureMetrics. She is now a Principal within the firm and we look forward to her leading her own investments and continuing to challenge us all to make 2150 the best possible place to thrive.
Awesomely, since joining us, both Rahul and Margarita have taken on greater responsibilities outside of the office. Rahul became a father for the second time in late 2021 and took a well deserved Nordic-style paternity leave to be with his wife and new baby. Extended paternity leave is not yet well accepted across geographies as Rahul reflected on once he came back, but for us it was a core part of the culture and ethos we wanted to have as a team.
Margarita’s daughter has become the new extended member of the 2150 team, attending the Newton Venture Programme at London Business School (aged six weeks) and doing doing some pretty intense DD at the office recently with her brilliant mentor. Margarita will be the first to admit that being a first-time parent while being a typical aspirational, driven VC has its challenges. We believe this promotion should serve as proof that at least on the 2150 front she’s rocking it (and we want more visits from her daughter!)
This is the culture we are trying to build at 2150: one where we hold each other to the highest proffesional standards and promote from within, but also one where we celebrate the personal milestones (and new challenges that come with them) as our family (and families) grow.
Congratulations Rahul and Margarita! We would not be what we are as a team, a firm or a culture without your influence. 🙏
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2150 is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies that seek to sustainably reimagine and reshape the urban environment. 2150’s investment thesis focuses on major unsolved problems across what it calls the ‘Urban Stack’, which comprises every element of the built environment, from the way our cities are designed, constructed and powered, to the way people live, work and are cared for. Find out more at www.2150.vc
