Our Team

Jaco Pretorius is a technology-strategy and -monetization consultant. Jaco has 25 years of experience delivering advanced technology solutions to the market. He has developed, manufactured, installed, and maintained products and solutions for the US DoD, NASA, DOE, and fortune 500 chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, aerospace, and renewable-energy companies. Jaco consults in the areas of product development, intellectual property, technology strategy, digitization, business growth, and forensic engineering. Mr. Pretorius is a board member of several startup companies, and mentors graduate students and entrepreneurs. He has secured millions of dollars of funding from venture, strategic, and angel investor groups as well as non-dilutive government funding. His involvement has led to acquisitions, licensing, favorable settlements, and other large monetary benefits for his clients and startups.

Mr. Pretorius holds a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stellenboch, a BSc. in Computer Science from the University of South Africa, as well as an MSc. in Engineering and Management from MIT and the Sloan Business School. He is the inventor of 14 granted US patents.

‍

Brent Ogilvie is a co-founder and the Managing Partner of Pacific Channel.

Brent has been the co-founder, founding CEO, founding investor or investment director of 10 deep-tech start-ups that he has helped lead to successful exits. Mr. Ogilvie was previously New Zealand Consul and Trade Commissioner to New York. He holds a BSc (Biological Sciences) from the University of Waikato and an MBA from The University of Auckland.

Dr Gary Pace is an experienced serial entrepreneur, director and senior operations manager of small to large-scale life sciences ventures inAustralia, New Zealand and the USA. He has more than 40 years of experience in the development and commercialization of advanced technologies including in the biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and food industries.

Dr Pace currently serves as a Director of Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PCRX), Cardiff Oncology (NASDAQ: CRDF), Simavita Ltd (ASX: SVA) and AntisenseTherapeutics (ASX: ANP) as well as several private companies.

He also served as a director of ResMed Inc (NYSE: RMD) from its inception in 1994until 2018. Gary was instrumental in the growth of the company to a market capitalization of US$28bn.

In New Zealand, he is Executive Chairman of Pacific Channel portfolio company InsituGen, which is developing tests to detect performance enhancing drugs in racehorses and humans. Also, he is a director of Upstream Medical Technologies, which is developing biomarker-based tests for rapid and accurate front-line diagnoses of heart disease and associated clinical complications.

He has also previously served as a director of two Pacific Channel portfolio companies that have since been acquired; Somnaceutics and Engender Technologies.

Dr Pace holds a B.Sc. (Hons I) from the University of New South Wales and a Ph.D.from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a Fulbright Fellow and General Foods Scholar. He has authored or co-authored over 50 research and review papers as well as 24 patents. He has held visiting academic positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Queensland. Dr.Pace is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. In 2003 he was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Australian Government “for service to Australian society in research and development” and was named 2011 Director of the Year (corporate governance) by the San Diego Directors Forum.

Dr Pace was born in Sydney Australia and holds both US and Australian citizenship. He lives in La Jolla, California,USA.

Dr Robert Powell has 15 years’ experience identifying opportunities, forming and nurturing deep-tech ventures.  

A former academic (PhD, Biochemistry, University of Otago), Robert worked on the academic side of the commercialisation process managing the commercialisation program for a US biotechnology focused research University.  

For the last decade he has worked for investors (Angel and VC) in the US and NZ, while managing a deep-tech due diligence consultancy. He returned to NZ eight years ago after two decades in the US and has been working with Pacific Channel since 2018. Robert brings broad experience having worked with medical, human, animal and aquatic technologies and start-ups. He has experience in forming, financing, operating and staffing deep-tech ventures. 

Paul Muckleston joins Pacific Channel as a Venture Partner.

Previously, Paul was the Chief Operating Officer for Microsoft’s world-wide Public Sector business. Paul enjoyed a successful and diverse career at Microsoft in various leadership roles based in New Zealand, France, Germany and the United States, travelling professionally to 70+ countries.

Paul brings hands-on experience in developed and developing markets, start-ups and mature organizations, governance, strategy development, organization transformation and people leadership. He has deep expertise in revenue accountability, channel strategy, go-to-market models and global operations leadership.

Paul knows firsthand how to scale businesses globally having been on senior leadership teams across Europe and Asia and for 6 years in Seattle based global leadership roles. These global roles had responsibility across 100+ countries, direct teams of >250 FTEs, indirect orgs of >3,000 FTEs and revenues from <$60M growth businesses to >$20B mature operations. Paul’s developed a keen sense for balancing the differences in country culture, size and scale with consistent performance and execution accountabilities.

Emily works with Pacific Channel through her legal practice, De Novo Legal, providing part-time in-house support on day to day matters.  She has spent most of her career working as a senior in-house lawyer, recently holding General Counsel and Head of Legal positions leading legal teams in Sydney. 

Emily has worked in and with a range of New Zealand and Australian businesses and industries, from multi-national IT and telecommunications companies through to SMEs and scaling start-ups.  

Ngāi Tahu

From connecting and coordinating Māori-led enterprises through to enabling communities to deal with the social, economic and environmental challenges they face, Cherie’s work is centered around helping people become more self-determining.

She is a passionate advocate for hapū, whānau and marae-based development and leads and advises on a multitude of projects that aim to advance economic growth and environmental sustainability, not just for Māori and Pacifica but for everyone in Aotearoa.

Cherie is the CEO of SEED NZ and the founder of Whānau Power, a project aimed to solve Energy Hardship. She is the founder of He Pito Mata Ltd. and has been involved in Māori Media Sector Shift, an initiative to support the revitalisation of te reo Māori and greater awareness and understanding of Māori stories and workforce development within the Māori Media Sector.

Previously, she was COO for Ekos, an international non-profit enterprise focused on sustainable reforestation and carbon farming, CEO of BIZview, and GM of Pentech Communications Ltd.

The community development programs that Cherie has founded, are all designed to help communities improve their quality of life. She is most passionate about helping people realise their potential, and to collectively create tangible solutions and results.

Her kaupapa is widely supported, as she continues her efforts to ensure that everyone in Aotearoa has access to the resources they need so they can grow and help future generations thrive.

Kieran joined Pacific Channel in 2015 and manages the investment process and post-investment support. His approach is to ensure that R&D, product development, IP and business development strategies align with market needs, competitive whitespace and liquidity strategy. Kieran takes an active role in guiding the formation, investment, development and commercialisation of technologies and companies, and empowering their teams.

Kieran has held a range of operational, management and governance roles across medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutics, agritech and clean-tech companies. He is currently seconded part-time as CEO of Upstream Medical Technologies, which is developing novel biomarkers to increase the efficiency of chest pain triage within emergency departments. In addition to directorships of companies within PacificChannel's portfolio, he sits on the Executive Council for BiotechNZ and is a member of the Return on Science investment committee for Medtech & Surgery.

Kieran commenced his career at the now ASX-listed device company, Aroa Biosurgery. Subsequently, he became Chief Operating Officer of Engender Technologies, which was developing a novel cytometry system for sorting bull semen by sex chromosome content. He led its product development planning and drove the process for the company to be strategically acquired.

Kieran holds degrees in Master of Science (Hons) and Master of Bioscience Enterprise (Hons).

CEO Emerge® Inc 

Mohan is a corporate innovation culture enthusiast but pragmatic enough to know that not all things you dream can be real. 

Through numerous business transformation experiences, Mohan has designed and implemented corporate machinery and culture to launch new ideas from either, a corporate chassis or on its own, utilising cause-centered transformation. 

Born and raised in Singapore, with firsthand experience of how nations transform, Mohan’s experiences in the USA have shaped how he strives to create lasting business transformation. 

As an Edmund Hillary Fellow, Mohan is assisting New Zealand in transforming. 

As a former TV talk show host, musician, and the first healthcare executive to audition and lose at America’s Got Talent, Mohan hopes to inspire and teach all things transformational.

Joe Victor currently serves as President & CEO of RareCyte, a precision biology company providing instruments, consumables, and services to academic medical centers and biopharma companies based in Seattle, WA, USA.  

Mr. Victor has also been a Venture Partner/Venture Advisor with 5AM Ventures since 2016. Prior to joining 5AM Ventures, Mr. Victor served as CEO of Startide Sciences (5AM Ventures portfolio company), CEO of DVS Sciences (acquired by Fluidigm Inc.) and Applied Precision Inc (acquired by GE Healthcare). He currently serves on the Boards of RareCyte, and Magnetic Insight. Mr. Victor also serves as an advisory board member to the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science and the UC Davis Ecosystem for Biophotonics Innovation. Mr. Victor previously held various executive management and technical positions in the high technology, aviation, and energy markets. Mr. Victor holds an MBA from UCLA and MS and BS degrees in engineering from the University of Washington.

Dr Ashwath Sundaresan leads Pacific Channel’s investments into cleantech/ advanced engineering opportunities and supports work in medical devices. Ashwath joined Pacific Channel in July 2021 and has over 10 years' experience across technology and deep IP based business.

Immediately before to joining Pacific Channel, Ashwath spent three years as a Senior Commercialisation Manager at Wellington UniVentures (the commercialisation company of Victoria University of Wellington) focussing on developing academic entrepreneurs and university spinouts. Prior to that, Ashwath was a strategy and technology advisor with Accenture and Google with significant expertise in the healthcare and energy industry.

Ashwath is passionate about early-stage deep technologies and businesses and is also a director of Vortex Power Systems (a Pacific Channel portfolio company). Ashwath holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and PhD in mechanical engineering from University of Canterbury and an MBA from INSEAD.

‍

Channelling Our Thinking | Dr Ashwath Sundaresan

Louis Newton joined the Pacific Channel team in 2023 as an associate and now manages the company's venture studio.

His primary role is to manage te day-to-day operations of the incubator programme, ensuring smooth execution and facilitating the growth of our startups. He will continue to provide support to the investment team as they analyse and assess potential investments, undertake due diligence, and develop commercialisation strategies. Louis's skills and experience in building business dashboards that underpin data-driven decision-making will assist our science and engineering-based portfolio companies to constantly test key hypotheses and quickly adapt their technology design and business strategies.

Louis has a BSC in physics, chemistry and maths and a BA in philosophy from the University of Auckland.

Outside of Pacific Channel, Louis produces electronic and ambient music and he’s currently developing an open-source board game. He’s also passionate about cooking and spent a year working as a sous-chef in Melbourne. 

As Executive Assistant to the Managing Partner of Pacific Channel, Jaimie's supportive role stretches from investor relations to operations marketing. She maintains and refines internal processes to support management, coordinating internal and external resources to expedite workflow and ensure company objectives are met.  

‍

Sheryl joined Pacific Channel in January 2024 as an associate in the investment team. Sheryl’s primary role will be to assist in undertaking due diligence of potential investments, specifically R&D and scientific reviews and work with our portfolio companies as they develop their products.

Before joining Pacific Channel, Sheryl was a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, where she conducted foundational, anatomical studies of the human spinal cord and was a departmental advisor for the Masters of Science/BiomedicalScience programme, overseeing project progression, completion and pastoral care.

Sheryl first became interested in venture capital after being approached by our portfolio company, Kitea Health to help develop their pressure-sensing device in brain tissue, a project that aligned with Sheryl’s values and the reason why she pursued a career in science.

In her spare time, Sheryl is a selector and technical officer for Weightlifting New Zealand and has recently taken on a new challenge, joining the sailing crew of a Young 88.  

Sheryl has a Doctor of Philosophy and a Bachelor of Science with first-class honours.

‍

Professor Cather Simpson is one of New Zealand's shining stars for commercialisation and is passionate about inspiring researchers to understand the opportunities that stem from commercialising deep tech as a career path. Cather joined Pacific Channel as a partner in 2021 to assist in identifying and advancing potential commercialisation projects which meet Pacific Channel's criteria for investment. Cather is a professor at the University of Auckland, a joint appointment between the physics and chemistry departments and co-founder of the Photon Factory laser lab, Engender, Orbis Diagnostics and Luminoma.

Samantha Ng is leading the establishment of Pacific Channel’s first fund management firm in Australia, bringing experience in capital markets, relationship management, and strategic operations. She has played key roles throughout her career, from building an operations team during a major corporate restructuring to managing an M&A integration for a global financial services firm.

Sam has also worked closely with family offices and high-net-worth individuals, developing strong relationships and a deep understanding of their investment and structuring needs.

Richard joined Pacific Channel in November 2022, having returned to New Zealand after working in Europe. He has previous experience working alongside Pacific Channel during his time with the MacDiarmid Institute and Dodd Walls Centre where he looked after commercialisation projects for these Centres of Research Excellence.

While in Europe, Richard worked for a private equity firm with a focus on wind and solar ventures.

Richard has a BA and BCom from Auckland University and an International Certificate in Wealth Management from The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

‍

Bronwynne works with Pacific Channel through her communications consultancy, Joyce & Howse Consulting.  Throughout her career, she has advised and supported a diverse range of companies from scaling start-ups, SME's to large multi-national organisations across different industries.

‍

Lifei Wang joined Pacific Channel in 2017 as part of the East Asia Team. Lifei is involved in marketing and attracting investment, acquirers, and strategic parties from the East Asia region to our portfolio companies.

Lifei has extensive experience in marketing, with a New Zealand Level 7 Diploma in Business & Marketing.

While working in Asia, Lifei gained extensive experience in journalism and developing marketing campaigns for a large local news outlet.

Marny brings 30 years of operational and business experience in heavy industry and the extraction of critical minerals.  After several decades of working internationally, Marny is returning to New Zealand to help cultivate and scale deep tech engineering and science-based innovations that have the potential to solve some of our most complex environmental challenges, aligning with our focus on investing in our future.        

Ben joined Pacific Channel in 2025 as an Analyst after completing his Bachelor of Commerce degree, majoring in Finance and Economics. Following his internship with Pacific Channel, he is excited to deepen his expertise in venture capital, combining his passion for finance with hands-on experience in early-stage investing. As part of his role, Ben will be coordinating our intern programme, guiding the interns and supporting them to contribute.

A keen sportsman, Ben enjoys playing golf and cricket and is committed to giving back to the community through his volunteer work with the Special Olympics. He is particularly interested in the intersection of finance and innovation, eager to contribute to Pacific Channel’s mission of supporting high-growth ventures in the areas of food, health and the environment.

‍

Dr Roland Toder has extensive life sciences and international business development expertise. He has previously worked as a manager, board member and consultant to numerous successful companies in NZ and in Europe. Roland brings a wealth of knowledge to Pacific Channel and helps the team with technical due diligence, scientific validation, valuation of early-stage startups, technology transfer, international licensing as well as advising on the commercial arrangements of our portfolio companies.

Roland resides in Northland, NZ and holds dual Citizenship in Germany & New Zealand.