Former UK government minister Gyimah among Lakestar appointments

The new hires and promotions will bolster the GP's advisory board, which already includes former government officials including Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi and European commissioner Guenther Oettinger. A statement noted that further hires in the London office are in the pipeline. The team now has 45 members across three offices in London, Berlin and Zurich.

Lakestar's recent funds include Lakestar III and Lakestar Growth I, according to Unquote Data.

Alongside the London office's new hire of Sam Gyimah and the promotion of Akis Bratsos to principal, the firm also announced the promotion of Mathias Haniel to partner, as well as the hires of Enrico Mellis and Aline Vedder as principals.

Gyimah joins Lakestar as a venture partner in the London office. He was previously in government holding the offices of UK Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, and was also MP for East Surrey between 2010 to 2019. Previously, he held government roles as Minister for Prisons & Probation, Minister for Childcare, the Minister for the Constitution, a government whip, and parliamentary private secretary to the former UK prime minister David Cameron, according to a statement.

Alongside his parliamentary experience, a statement noted he has experience in the financial services industry including working at Goldman Sachs on UK corporate finance, equities and M&A. Presently, he is a non-executive director at Goldman Sachs, a position he has held for more than a year, and has also sat on the Oxford University Innovation board since May 2020, which was responsible for the Oxford Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine, according to his LinkedIn. According to a statement, this hire has been made at a time when the firm is increasingly focusing on the legislative and regulatory landscape when making investment decisions.

Bratsos has been promoted to principal in the London branch. He joined the firm three years ago. According to his LinkedIn, he was previously at Goldman Sachs as an investment banking senior associate between 2018-2019, and prior to that, worked at Credit Suisse between 2015-2018 as an investment banking analyst. He will focus on healthcare and digitalisation, and will work with portfolio companies to enable them to scale, according to a statement.

Haniel has been promoted to partner in the Berlin office. According to his LinkedIn, he has been with the firm for six years. Since December 2018, Haniel has been an investor and board member of various companies including Sennder and PlusDental, according to his LinkedIn.

Vedder joins the firm's Berlin team from Ananda Impact Ventures where she was an investment manager for three years.

Mellis has also joined the firm's Berlin team. He was previously at Project A Ventures for almost five years, a year of which he was principal.

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