As 2023 starts winding to a close, we wanted to pause and celebrate two key additions to the 2150 leadership team: Derek Brooks and Jil Lindau.
Derek joined us this past summer as a Principal on our investment team and will help lead and manage investments on behalf of the Fund. We actually first met Derek as a potential LP when he was serving as Head of Venture at Flat World Partners, leading investments into impactful solutions, but also helping to evaluate Fund investments for Flat World’s endowment and family office clients.
Derek agreed to make the move across the Atlantic back to London attracted by the 2150 mission and team, but also the ability for him to serve as a bridge across North America and Europe. Across his career Derek has been a teacher, a journalist, a Private Equity investor and most recently an impact investor including companies such as Devoted Health (US Healthcare), Fazenda Futuro (Brazil Alt-Protein), Helium Health (Nigeria HealthTech) and Blackrock Neurotech (US MedTech). He is a diplomatic-corps dropout and has a major soft-spot for emerging markets.
Derek brings an inquisitive mind (a pre-requisite at 2150!), a room-filling laugh and amazing stories (like swimming-hole encounters with bears in the backcountry of the high Sierra Nevada)! He has lived in 7 countries and is an avid through-hiker, snowboarder, (amateur) historian, and habitual nomad.
In Derek’s own words on joining 2150:
“I am ecstatic to dive into this adventure with the incredible crew at 2150 — my partners in crime for the last three years. This team doesn’t just lead; they do it with humility, mad research skills, and a healthy dose of straight talk. Pumped to inject my global perspective into the mix. The real thrill? Getting in the ring with daring founders who not only lead but inspire us. Cities are where the magic happens, and I’m excited to be part of decarbonizing our urban playgrounds to keep Mother Nature as awe-inspiring as ever!”
With nearly a decade of international business and market development experience, Jil joins us from BloombergNEF, where she played a key role in the business’ growth globally. Jil helped launch and lead BNEF’s business in several markets including Australia and New Zealand and most recently pioneered and drove a range of strategic and commercial initiatives for BNEF with EU institutions as well as with the climate tech investor community. Her wealth of experience and leadership skills make her a valuable addition to our team, ready to contribute to the future of venture capital and sustainable cities.
In her new role at 2150, Jil will lead our Platform and Growth team, defining and executing on our strategy to be a facilitator across the urban ecosystem. This includes fostering relationships with companies across the value chain of the built environment to understand the challenges of the industry and presenting solutions to help their sustainability agenda. Her team also partners with our portfolio companies to understand their growth ambitions and to help generate demand for their products across new geographies or segments. Based in Munich, she will be actively engaging across geographies to ensure that our impact reaches far and wide in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
On a personal note, Jil‘s love for discovery has led her to live in seven cities across three continents. From embracing sports like beach volleyball and yoga to most recently trekking across the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, Jil brings a vibrant perspective to our team.
On what attracted Jil to 2150:
“The firm is focused on the interface of two megatrends: urbanisation & decarbonization. There is a critical need and opportunity to redistribute capital capital towards buildings and industry to achieve net zero emissions which 2150 is addressing. And finally a super strong, smart, friendly, fun and humble team!”
Welcome to the 2150 family Jil and Derek! We are thrilled you decided to join the mission!
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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. 2150 is a part of Urban Partners.
