Our Team

Ecosystem Ventures is a team of driven professionals committed to providing the best possible service to entrepreneurs. Having been entrepreneurs ourselves, we understand the pressures, necessities, limitations, and challenges associated with growing a company from the ground up. That is why we “roll up our sleeves” and work closely in the day-to-day operations of our portfolio companies.

We believe that strong relationships build strong companies. The relationships we build with entrepreneurs are unique and lasting. As active team members in each portfolio company, we thrive on and contribute to the enthusiasm, creativity, drive, and focus of the team as a whole. Our substantial backgrounds in engineering, marketing, finance, international sales, law, and executive management enable us to provide our companies with extensive support in any area where help may be needed or desired.

In the past we have taken the lead in business strategy, marketing and sales, financials, patents and legal matters, and operations. We also open up our ecosystem of venture capital and private equity investors to portfolio companies seeking post-seed funding, and work closely with entrepreneurs in drafting successful business plans and investor presentations.

Alexander Fries: President

Mr. Fries founded Ecosystem Ventures in December of 2005 to address the pending need for investment and support in European technologies and pre-seed-stage companies. Mr. Fries began his career as a telecommunications analyst for Credit Suisse, and went on to build and prepare MCI WorldCom in Switzerland for the European telecommunications liberalization.

Mr. Fries then moved on to work as Executive Vice President of sales and marketing for Advance Visual Communications, a Boston-based venture-backed content company sold to USWeb, and as a senior market manager for Europe and Latin America at the Lucent Technologies Wireless Broadband Division.

Mr. Fries brings over 20 years of progressive experience in founding, funding, and managing global businesses that provide technology, products, and services to telecommunication operators, enterprises, and consumers. His most recent entrepreneurial experiences include the co-founding of Playspan Inc (e-commerce & mirco-payment platform for online gaming) and sold to VISA International in 2011 , SDK Biotechnologies Inc.  (Diagnostics) and PURE SWISS AG (Beverage brand). In 2001 Mr. Fries also co-founded the ETH spin-off SVOX AG, a venture-backed company in Switzerland, where he led the marketing, business development, and strategic partnerships teams and sold to Nuance Communications Inc in 2011.

Mr. Fries is founder of the European-American Angels Club, a Silicon Valley-based organization that actively invests in European Start-ups. He also heads the Club Entrepreneur, a sub-chapter of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Northern California, where he is also a member of the Board of Directors. In 2010, Mr. Fries was also appointed to the Board of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, the first of its kind in Switzerland.

Mr. Fries received a BA in finance and an M.B.A. in telecommunications and international marketing from the University of San Francisco. Prior to moving to the United States, Mr. Fries accomplished a Swiss Banking Diploma at UBS. He has lived in Hong-Kong, Switzerland, Chile, and the USA, and speaks fluent German, Spanish, French, and English. This background allows Mr. Fries to interact professionally in a multilingual, multicultural business environment.

Ernesto Paiz:  Investment Manager

Ernesto received an MBA from Santa Clara University with an emphasis on management and marketing. Ernesto has worked with various start-ups in Silicon Valley and was also VP of an independent music label. Ernesto manages our Appsstore Inc, GRIN.com and NoiseToys investments. Additionally, Ernesto manages the social online media for PURE SWISS mineral water.

Kilian Kentrup: Senior Associate (Switzerland)

Prior to joining Ecosystem Ventures, Mr. Kentrup worked as an analyst for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. There he researched and analyzed Venture Capital in Emerging Markets, with a focus on Venture Capital Investments in India. Prior to his experiences at the UN, Mr. Kentrup held an analyst position at the Assoziazone Compagnia delle Opere, one of Italy’s largest Business Associations, where he provided business development support for small and medium-sized enterprises. He has also led innovation consulting projects for organizations like Siemens and theGeneralHospital in Vienna. Mr. Kentrup holds a graduate degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, where he specialized in entrepreneurial finance and was active in the growth and development of the Vienna University Association for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Nikolas Ajagu: Senior Associate (New York)

Mr. Ajagu sources and evaluates potential investments and supports Ecosystem Ventures’ portfolio companies post-investment. He has led marketing and business development efforts for multiple start-up companies. In particular, he has developed and executed successful go-to-market strategies for portfolio companies including Autonet Mobile and Zikon Inc. He has also served as a strategic advisor to PlaySpan and Mobile Mantra Inc. Mr. Ajagu specializes in Digital Media and Mobile technology.

Mr. Ajagu holds a B.A. Degree in Social Anthropology from Princeton University, where his senior thesis focused on the cultural impact and economic growth of interactive media. While at Princeton Mr. Ajagu served as President of the Ivy Club, co-founded the West Coast Students Association, participated in the university’s football and basketball programs, and was a Rockefeller College Fellow.

Marius Kriening:  Senior Associate (Germany)

Mr. Kriening contributes to our team with market research, sourcing and evaluation of new ventures. He supported the initial market rollout and investment related issues of portfolio companies PURE SWISS and TubeMogul in 2008. Currently, Mr. Kriening is in India sourcing new ventures, prepering the market rollout for PURE SWISS and actively supporting operations of Mobile Mantra in New Delhi. Mr. Kriening works with consultants, startups and investors alike, accomplishing independent consulting tasks for startups from Europe. Prior to Ecosystem Ventures, Mr. Kriening was a consultant for the Catalist Group, in Hong Kong, supporting mobile & internet startups. His areas of expertise are the evaluation of investment opportunities, preparing investor pitches and investment documents, business planning, strategic advisory and business development, with a focus on internet, telecommunication and the health & wellness industries.  Mr. Kriening speaks German, English and Spanish.

David Hug joined Ecosystem Ventures in 2010 as an associate. He supports the team in the evaluation of investment opportunities, preparing investor pitches and investment documents, business and financial planning, strategic advisory and business development.
Prior to Ecosystem Ventures,  Mr. Hug worked as a consultant for corporate clientsat a large Swiss bank. He  holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration with a major in Entrepreneurship and Sports Management from the University of Chur. Mr. Hug's interests and strengths are related to financing of innovative ideas, internationalization and growth of start-ups. Mr. Hug speaks fluent German, English and French.

Rahel Schmid: Senior Associate (California)

Ms. Schmid is a certified Business Excellence Assessor supporting our start ups with business processes.
Ms. Schmid received a MBA with a major in Business Development and promotion from the University of Luzern, Switzerland. She is an experienced project manager and is specialized in business development, marketing and sales. Ms. Schmid previously worked for Joachim Horner Consulting where she developed and implemented a method to assess strengths and weaknesses in corporations,  which shortened the evaluation period from 3 days to 5 hours. At Ecosystem Ventures,  Ms. Schmid supported the portfolio companies with investor presentations, launch and expansion strategies, marketing material and activities, operations and recruiting processes. Ms. Schmid is fluent in German, English and French, as she lived in Switzerland, USA, France and New Zealand.

Advisory Board

Stefan Rust: Advisor (Asia)

Mr. Rust is currently Director of Corporate Development and Alliances at Sun Microsystems inAsia. He is well regarded in the worldwide wireless and media content industries, where he interacts with the investment, technology, entertainment, and mobile/wireless telecommunication communities. Prior to joining Sun Microsystems, Mr. Rust founded XinDe Telecom Ltd, a telecom finance leasing boutique that he sold to China Unicom.

Prior to pursuing entrepreneurship, Mr. Rust gained extensive experience developing new business opportunities for Lucent Technologies and Siemens throughout the Asia Pacific region. Prior to that, he was responsible for all production and post-production facilities for Limelight Studios, a Pan-European Satellite Broadcaster based inZurich, Switzerland. Mr. Rust is board member and chairmen of the Asia Pacific Chapter of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, and also represents Sun Microsystems in the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia.

Mr. Rust is based inHong Kong and frequently travels around the world to assess new technologies and investment opportunities. He holds a postgraduate degree in Econometrics from theUniversity ofZurich and speaks fluent Mandarin, German, and French.

Dirk Michels: Advisor (Legal)

Dirk Michels is a partner with the international law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Nicholson Graham LLP, co-founder of K&LNG’s KL TEC practice group, and co-chair of the firm’s Life Science Group. As a resident in the Palo Alto and San Francisco offices, he advises U.S. and international technology start-ups in legal, business strategy, and financing matters.

In his more than 12 years of practice in Germany and California, Mr. Michels has advised his clients in venture funding, private equity, and M&A transactions with a total value exceeding 1 Billion Dollars. Mr. Michels holds a B.S. in Business Management from University of Hamburg, School of Economics, a J.D. from University of Hamburg, School of Lawand an LL.M. from University of San Diego, School of Law. He is listed in Marquis’ Who is Who in American Law, Millennium Edition 2000-2001.

Sheena Iype: Advisor (India)

Ms. Iype specializes in setting up new foreign ventures in India. With a background in Sales and Marketing and a vast network of business partners, Ms. Iype is a valuable asset to Ecosystem Ventures and anyone who would like to do business in India. Ms. Iype has been a successful executive at various Software companies, including Freedom Scientific Inc., FCS Software Solutions, India, andSpectranet, India. Furthermore, she was a senior manager at GE Capital, where she won multiple performance awards. Ms. Iype holds a B.A degree in English as well as a Law Degree fromDelhiUniversity, India. In addition, Ms. Iype holds a Diploma in International Business from AIIMA, and a Diploma in Human Rights from the Indian Law Institute.

Shikrant N. Pathak: Advisor (Operations Support, India)

Shrikant N Pathak is Principal Consultant at Tata Consultancy Services [TCS]. Shrikant coordinates the activities of TCS subsidiary Exegenix.Canada Inc [ECI]. He has worked as Vice President of Industry and Technology Practice (ITP) for worldwide operations of Tata Infotech, a group company where Mr. Pathak has worked for about 27 years and which has recently merged into TCS. The ITP group provided pre sales technical support to all customers and prospects of Tata Infotech. Mr. Pathak has previously worked as regional director of sales for Americas for Tata Infotech. During his leadership sales in the region doubled over a three year period.

Mr. Pathak’s earlier experience includes building and implementing ERP systems, promoting and developing CAD/CAM business and managing the industrial and commercial lines of business for software services for Tata Infotech. Mr. Pathak also managed the third party product distribution business for Tata Infotech which promoted and sold software products from vendor partners including Microsoft, SCO, Business Objects, MapInfo, BEA, IONA and Autodesk, and Tata Infotech’s own product solutions such as Fortiora and Tax Mantra™. Mr. Pathak holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani and an MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from ITT Mumbai.

Karl Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO PLAYSPAN Inc.  (Gaming, Online payment solutions)

Karl Mehta brings over 16 years of experience to PlaySpan in founding and building high-tech businesses in the US and international markets. Prior to co-founding PlaySpan Inc., Karl was part of the founding team at MobileAria Inc. (acquired by Wireless Matrix) and co-founder/ CEO of OmniLabs Inc.. Prior to that, he held executive positions at Hughes leading new business and technology development. Karl is Charter member of TiE-Silicon Valley and board member of Ecosystem Ventures. (www.playspan.com )

Jim Kaubisch, PhD: Advisor (Technical Expertise)

Dr. Kaubisch has held positions at Sun Microsystems as group CTO for Enterprise Software Lifecycle Management, group CTO of the Wireless Business Unit as well as Senior Technologist for Telecommunications Sales Development. His work at Sun gained him the Chairman's Award for Innovation. He has also held advisory positions for a number of startups. Prior to joining Sun Microsystems, Dr. Kaubisch was Principle R&D consultant for Bull HN, Australia. He has over 10 years of experience in the worldwide telecommunications and broadband media industries, encompassing investment, business strategies and technology..

Dr. Kaubisch is currently based in Silicon Valley, having previously lived and worked in many parts of Europe as well as Australia in areas ranging from Embedded Systems to Enterprise Systems. He holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of California and a postgraduate degree in Computer Science from the Queen's University of Belfast.

Fabio Rupp, PhD: Advisor (Biotech, Healthcare) 

Dr. Rupp was formerly Director of North America for Prionics, AG, a diagnostic company based in Switzerland that went from start-up to the 2nd largest animal diagnostic company in the world in 10 years. Has extensive experience in functional genomics. Served as Director of Functional Genomics of Hyseq Inc. and Nuvelo Inc.