GLOBAL REACH

U.S.
MARKET ACTIVATION
Meet Our Founders

Gert Christen
CEO
US-European Business incubator and innovation strategist.
25+ years of experience building incubators in Zurich and San Francisco and supporting tech businesses companies expand internationally.
Entrepreneurship Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley

Matt DiMarisco
CSO
Shaper of Sales and Marketing Organizations.
20+ years of experience helping companies build their US sales organization
Led 20+ US market entries by foreign companies, including British Telecom, NTT from Japan, and Telus from Canada.
Meet Our Team

Mar Navarro
Regional European Partner
With a background in biotechnology, and a Master’s in Startup Management (UPV and University of California, Berkeley). She supports USA Launching Pad as a European Partner, representing the organization at events and in conversations with startups exploring U.S. market

Kaspar Zimmerli
Swiss USAccelerator & Regional Partner Switzerland
Our representative in Switzerland. Experienced Medtech entrepreneur, Innosuisse coach and co-founder of the Swiss USAccelerator.

Sergio Mazariegos
CSO
A Regents’ & Chancellor’s Scholar at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Sergio leads the cohorts of USA Launching Pad startups and helps keep day-to-day operations.

Jennifer Lum
Customer Discovery Coach
With deep expertise in customer experience, she guides cohorts through the strategic process of methodically understanding user and customer goals, motivations, and pain points to uncover market opportunities

Manan Bhargava
Software Engineer & Project Manager
As a Computer Science and Data Science senior from University of California, Berkeley, he is in charge of our System Design and Automations. He is also our deep technology project manager.

Jordan White
Landing Page Strategist
As you launch your company in the US, it's important to tell a compelling story for your North American audience to take action. Using a proven story-based formula, Jordan helps develop a compelling message, and create landing pages that make you standout.

Sophie Everette
Landing Page Strategist
The U.S. market is enormous, inundating the average person with a plethora of ads compared to European clients. Sophie helps you cut through the noise, crafting crystal-clear messages, and transforming them into highly effective landing pages.

Daniela Guerra
Program Manager
With a background in mechanical engineering at University of California, Berkeley, and experience working in Tesla, she is our engineering project manager.

Erin Hong
Program Manager
As a specialist in immuno-oncology research, molecular biology, and data science from UC Berkeley, Erin focuses on design thinking and market expansion.

Justin Lee
Program Manager
As a cybersecurity, embedded systems, and integrated circuits expert from UC Berkeley, Justin is driving customer discovery and business model refinement. He is also responsible for establishing strategic partnerships and validating sales channels to ensure long-term growth.

Andrianina Rajaosera
Communications Manager
As a Business and Digital Media senior at UC Berkeley, Andrianina leads content strategy, sharing thought leadership on startup expansion & sales strategies, client success stories, and highlights from our programs, team, and global network.
