Informed by decades of financial advisory, asset management and operating experience in senior roles, we are not just investors, we are business builders, providing value-add strategic support and deliver alpha to our investors with a differentiated perspective.
Axel Goldenberg - Co-Founder & Chairman
Axel has 20 years of experience in energy with expertise in mid - downstream NG, LNG, LPG, CNG distribution, logistics and alternative fuel conversions. He started his career in 1998 as the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Dem-al Autogas, Turkey’s first auto gas station network and conversion franchise firm. Dem-al had an impact on lowering greenhouse gas emission levels as one of the world’s largest contributors to transportation industry with 4 million cars switching to gas in Turkey. Later, as a green-entrepreneur, Axel founded Naturelgaz in 2005, Turkey’s first CNG firm where he acted as the CEO for 10 years. Naturelgaz is ranked as the largest CNG firm in Europe and third largest, globally. Public at Istanbul Stock Exchange ‘’NTGAZ.E’’. He graduated from Richmond University (London) and a member of Young President Organization (YPO) & a foundation Board member of Holly Blossom Temple of Canada. Axel is fluent in English and Turkish.
Paul Glavine - Board Member of Jamed Canada
Paul built a successful portfolio in the technology industry with over 40 active employees. He is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador & Georgian College in Ontario. In 2013, Paul co-founded Truverra, a fully licensed cannabis producer in Canada. Then he established Global Canna Labs in Jamaica, currently the biggest cannabis cultivator and operator of the biggest cannabis retail network on the island. In 2019, Global Canna Labs realized the first medical cannabis export from Jamaica to Canada. Previously, he was the Vice President a in fast-growing technology company subsequently acquired by leading Silicon Valley start-up.
Onur Erbay - Board Member
Onur started his career as “Team Engineer” at Arçelik-LG. He continued his career as “Team Leader” at Otokar and “Production Systems Manager” at Ontex. He came back to Turkey as one of the founding members of Rocket Internet Istanbul office after spending 3 years at McKinsey’s Chicago office. He founded and managed Evimister.com as its CEO. Before founding Hopi and working as the CEO of the company, he managed the strategy function for North America market at eBay’s headquarter in San Jose. He is currently leading the MENA region of Global Founders Capital. He is a graduate of Middle East Technical University’s Mechanical Engineering department, has MSc degree at Engineering and Technology department at Bogazici University and MBA degree from Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
Alp Guran - Co Founder / Board Member
Alp has over 25 years of experience covering a wide range of advisory and consulting services on project finance, mezzanine and M&A for large, mid-size and smaller firms. He started his career in 1991 at an English-Turkish JV (BeProInt, London). In 1994, Alp became the General Manager and a shareholder of Ark Consultancy, an international management and financing firm with its divisions for investment, finance and business management. He realized projects with international banks, funds, multilaterals (EBRD, IFC, EIB) and ECA’s. Since 2015 Alp has developed renewable energy projects with his team, and made investments as angel investor. He acted as the turnaround investor and a Board Member at Hydromx, a firm manufacturing energy-saving fluid and reducing carbon footprint. Alp is acting as a Managing Partner at Simurg Energy Investment Platform (2018) and a Partner at Nuovo Capital (2019). He studied BSc. Chemical Engineering at Middle East Technical University (Ankara) and received his MBA degree from City University (London). Alp is fluent in English.
K. Akan Akkaya - Co Founder
Mr. Akkaya has 10 years of experience in banking and finance. He started his career at the audit department of GarantiBank and then moved to the project finance field at Industrial Development Bank of Turkey. Following his banking career, he joined Alantra Daruma, where he focused on M&A and structured debt transactions. He worked as a supervisor within the strategy and business development departments of Dogan Holding and Zorlu Holding. Prior to joining Cannapharma, he worked at Feronia Capital, an alternative investment management firm with a focus on managed account fund structures.. He has a BA degree in Economics from Middle East Technical University. He is fluent in English and German.
Beril Koparal - Retail Business Advisor
Beril has 30+ years of experience within the healthcare industry, including her previous jobs within international pharmaceutical companies such as Astella, Pfizer and Ogilvy Health. Starting from 2015, she has been CEO of Zade Vital for 3 years. Throughout this period where Zade Vital has become the largest food supplement producer in Turkey and MENA, she has led the process of developing a new hemp-based product line. Subsequently, she has supported the foundation of the US subsidiary Zade Vital Inc., where she undertook the CEO role for 2 years. Within this period, she has led the project of developing a CBD-based product line, where she participated within all processes from development to go-to-market strategy. Currently, she is the CEO of Note Cosmetics, a Turkish and German exporting to 75 countries and she has been working on development of a cannabis-based cosmetic line. She has taken her undegraduate, graduate and doctorate degree from Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty within the field oof Medical Biology and Genetics. She is fluent in English and German.
Bora Ozsoy - Digital Business Advisor
Bora has been working in digital communication technologies industry for over 25 years. He actively participated in the management and set up processes of organizational digital transformation projects since the beginning of his career in 1992. Until 2015, working at a digital agency as a Managing Partner, Bora oversaw various strategic projects, focusing on brand communication, digital communication and marketing strategies of national and international brands with his team. In addition to the digital transformation, B2B/B2C market place and e-trade projects of these brands; Bora also constructed and managed ERP and CRM projects. Since 2015, Bora has provided consultancy services for TUBITAK supported “Artificial Intelligence” and “IoT” projects. Bora has a bachelors degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering and Masters in Advertisement, both gained at Istanbul Technical University. He speaks Turkish and intermediate English, Russian.