We are a hardworking team that fuels innovation, accelerates ventures, and turns bold ideas into success.

Senior Advisors

Helena Strigård
Founder / Senior Advisor

  • Helena Strigård founded Ventures Accelerated in parallel to her role as CEO and partner at Haeger & Carlsson Executive Search and Interim. Working with matchmaking of human capital made her identify a gap in the market, targeting business and investor relations using matchmaking intelligence and personal outreach through networks. 

    Helena has held leadership positions in the life science industry, including being the CEO of the industry organization SwedenBIO (owner of Nordic Life Science Days), where her legacy includes accelerating connections between the Nordics and global life science hot spots. She holds experience from running the pharmaceutical manufacturer NorthX Biologics, from multiple board positions in the industry, and as an advisor in the budget department of the Ministry of Finance. Previously, Helena had assignments at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Business Europe in Brussels and Innovation Agency Vinnova. Helena has a background as an economist and holds a Master’s degree in molecular biotechnology.

Jonas Ekstrand
Senior Advisor

  • A distinguished Dr. of Medical Sciences from Karolinska Institutet, Jonas Ekstrand brings extensive international experience across both public and private sectors.

    Over the past 3,5 decades, Jonas has held pivotal roles as an academic scientist, Director of Biology, CEO, entrepreneur, and key opinion leader.

    His groundbreaking research on mutant EGF-receptors in malignant brain tumors led to the discovery of a tumor-specific deletion variant (EGFRvIII), advancing the understanding and treatment of brain cancer. His contributions have also supported the development of pharmaceuticals benefitting patients globally.

    In his tenure as Director General for SwedenBIO, Sweden’s Life Science Industry Organization, Jonas Ekstrand championed industry growth, expanded international collaboration, and advocated for life science innovation.

    He is also the co-founder of Nordic Life Science Days, northern Europe’s largest and most influential life science investment, partnership, and networking event.

Christina Herder
Senior Advisor

  • Drug development project leader in international and/or partnered teams. Extensive experience from business development. Now an independent business development consultant.

    Christina Herder has more 30 years’ experience of drug and corporate development. Primarily from development of therapeutics independent of geography and type of molecule, e.g. small molecules, biologicals, cell therapies.

    She is since 2009 Board of Director and Board member of several Scandinavian biotech companies, both private and public.

    Christina is an experienced business development leader, with a broad and general insight in current commercial conditions in the pharmaceutical industry in Europe and US. She has solid understanding of current financial drivers and challenges in the life-science industry.

    Education: Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and, M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from KTH in Stockholm, MBA, Stockholm School of Economics.

Mattias Bodin
Senior Advisor

  • Mattias Bodin has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry on the sales & marketing side, as well as MD.

    He has worked in large companies such as BMS and at Siemens-Elemas headoffice as well as for small companies and start-ups. He has a proven track record from tender business, starting and growing new businesses and launching new products (such as the first product for Alzheimer disease) on the Nordic markets.

    He was also the MD and one of the owners of Nortech Medical, a entrepreneurial fast growing company, that became the market leader within the public defibrillator business as well as an independent service partner in the medtech business. They received the DI-gasell award 3 years in the row.  

    Lately he was the MD and co-founder of Migränhjälpen, in the start a digital caregiver that also evolved to include a physical clinic at Karolinska hospital in Solna. In that role he raised money in a couple of rounds and has since then good connections in the Business angel and VC area.

    He is also part of the LSI network, Connect and Sciety. Now he also invest in start-ups in Life science and has board positions.

Ragnar Strigård
Senior Advisor

  • Ragnar Strigård has always been interested in new technologies and driving innovation. 

    After spells in the telecom sphere, first on the network side, then smartphones before moving on to IP telephony solutions Ragnar is now Consultant manager at PDSVISION which is a global provider of solutions focused on helping companies successfully enable their digital transformation journey.

    Since 2011, Board member of Miljödata, that creates smart systems for a healthy working environment. Miljödata has more than 20% of all employed in Sweden connected to their solution.

Andreas Hallbert
Senior Advisor

  • Andreas Hallbert is an experienced art director, creative director, and graphic designer with a proven track record in visual identities, marketing communication, and result-driven design. His career began at leading advertising agencies, where he developed a keen eye for creating designs that deliver measurable results and resonate with audiences.

    Later, Andreas founded Leif, an agency specializing in visual identities and marketing strategies, and in 2012, he established Greatland – a design studio with a clear focus on tailored visual concepts, brand identities, and financial communication. Over the years, Greatland has also developed a strong specialization in the life science sector, helping companies communicate complex ideas through clear, engaging, and visually compelling design.

    With over a decade of experience producing annual and sustainability reports for both large listed companies and smaller businesses, Andreas has a unique ability to simplify complex information into narratives that are both accessible and visually striking. His design philosophy is defined by simplicity, clarity, and ingenuity, ensuring that every visual solution is not only aesthetically pleasing but also purposeful and user-friendly.

    Andreas is known for his curiosity, solution-oriented mindset, and deep understanding of the power of design to drive meaningful communication. He believes that strong design should not only look good – it should work, engage, and make a difference.

Anders Månsson
Senior Advisor

  • Anders Månsson, BSc/MBA, has a strong background in the life science industry, having held senior executive positions in large multinationals as well as CEO and board level roles in smaller biotech companies.

    He has served as an Industrial Advisor in the Life Science area to a large cap Private Equity company and he is currently CEO of Phase Holographic Imaging AB and also Member of Board of EQL Pharma AB (public) and of seed capital investment company, Immetric AB.

Krishna P. Allamneni
Senior Advisor

  • Experienced biopharmaceutical executive and strategic advisor with over 25 years of expertise in early development and corporate strategy in therapeutics. Proficient in guiding programs from discovery to commercialization across diverse therapeutic areas and modalities. Currently advising startups and serving as Chief Development Officer at Concarlo Therapeutics, overseeing preclinical R&D, CMC, regulatory affairs, and portfolio strategy.

    Krishna’s track record includes contributions to 25+ INDs and 7 marketed products. She is skilled in integrating robust science with strategic business development, steering companies through complex negotiations, and aligning regulatory pathways with market demands. Krishna’s leadership has driven investment, partnerships, and growth for early-stage startups and established companies.

    Her career spans leadership roles at Turning Point Therapeutics (now BMS), Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, and others, coupled with board service at the American College of Toxicology. She actively mentors through incubator and accelerator programs, bridging scientific innovation and commercial strategy in global markets, particularly in the US and Nordic regions.

    Education: DVM, MS/PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology (UC Davis), Postdoctoral Training in Pathology and Lung Biology (Harvard Medical School). Board-certified toxicologist.

Millianne Jabol 
Coordinator

  • Millianne Jabol has been dedicated to roles in coordination and office administration since 2021, when she first joined SwedenBIO, the Swedish life science industry organisation. During her time at SwedenBIO, Millianne helped arrange events and organize administrative work at the office. Subsequent to her position with SwedenBIO, Millianne took on a role as office manager at Haeger & Carlsson Executive Search and Interim where she supported the search of candidates and building up of databases. 

    Her service mindset and interest for various cultures has brought her to a multitude of short term positions across the world in the service sector. She is also a trained Pilates Instructor. 

Ferrari
Chief of Culture

  • Fast and furrious Chief of Culture with an excellent track record of keeping the team together. Freelance, and always on the move 

Advisory Board

Johan Bloom
Advisory Board Member

  • Digital health is an area that Johan Bloom has followed and actively invested in since it took off in 2015.

    After 9 years in the pharmaceutical industry during the 1990s, Johan founded Add Health Media in 1999 and after a number of acquisitions, the opportunity for investments in digital health was opened up.

    Johan has a large network in digital health, the pharmaceutical industry and among investors.

    Curious and passionate about everything in health and medicine with a little extra focus on exercise and the mystery of aging.

    Johan has a B.Sc. in chemistry from Uppsala University.

Johan Hyllner
Advisory Board Member

  • Dr. Johan Hyllner, PhD, is currently a senior advisor to several academic and industry organisations and hold board positions at Gothenburg University and Stemsight Oy.

    Johan is a world leading expert in cell and gene therapies, and enabling technologies with expertise ranging from basic research to commercialization of these advanced cell-based products.

    Prior to being an executive director at AstraZeneca 2019-2024, Johan was a C-level executive in five companies in the cell therapy area and built these into successful International businesses. Between 2013 and 2018, he held the position as CSO of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Ltd in London, a UK Government initiative. In addition, Johan was part of building Cellartis, Cellectis, SQC Lab and Vitrolife into thriving entities.

    Johan was Professor in Engineering Biology at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at Linköping University in Sweden for 12 years and has published more than 60 peer reviewed, full-length articles and a dozen books/chapters.

Tara Heitner
Advisory Board Member

  • Dr. Tara Heitner is a seasoned life sciences business developer and entrepreneur with a proven track record in building and supporting biotech ventures. She has co-founded multiple biotech startups in Scandinavia and provided expertise to numerous biotech and pharmaceutical companies in areas such as business development, market research, IP optimization, R&D strategy, fundraising, licensing, negotiations, and alliance management. Dr. Heitner is skilled at bridging the communication gap between research and development (R&D) teams and business stakeholders and between biotech and pharma.

    Dr. Heitner's career began with a solid foundation in R&D. She earned a PhD in Chemistry from McGill University in Canada and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in therapeutic antibody discovery and engineering at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She then embarked on a global industrial career, alternating between R&D roles in big pharma and small biotech companies including  Merck KGaA, Ferring, Schering (Berlex), HiFiBio SAS, Galecto AB, Forendo Pharma, Immunitrack ApS, Cymab ApS and many others. She has been board member in Abarceo Pharma  AB  and Tikomed AB previously.

    In 2005, Dr. Heitner moved to Denmark, continuing her work in R&D before transitioning to business development in 2014. This shift was supported by her MBA from the Danish Technical University (DTU) in 2014. Since then, she has served as the CEO and Principal of Heitner Biopharm Consultation, where she has successfully supported over 12 companies globally in R&D and IP strategy, fundraising, scouting, negotiation of pharma partnerships and licensing deals. Dr. Heitner is Canadian currently living in Denmark and working globally.

Roger Lias
Advisory Board Member

  • Dr. Roger Lias is a globally recognized expert in and advocate for the biologics CDMO marketplace.

    Roger started his career during market making periods with Celltech/Lonza and Diosynth before joining founding management teams at KBI Biopharma, Cytovance Biologics and Eden Biodesign.

    More recently Roger has served as CEO at Stelis Biopharma and at Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO) and was instrumental in the sale of Vibalogics to Recipharm in 2022. At Aurigene Roger is responsible for all commercial functions supporting our Discovery and CDMO service offering in the biologics space. He serves in an advisory capacity in support of several industry groups and organizations.

Mark Quick
Advisory Board Member

  • Mark Quick is a Partner at Flerie whom he joined in 2022,

    He has worked in the pharma industry for around 30 years for companies including Medeva, Celltech, UCB and Recipharm gaining extensive experience in senior commercial roles in business development and supply chain management.  A large part of his career was spent leading the M&A activities of Recipharm where he completed over 25 transactions, acquiring and divesting businesses in both private and public settings. He also served on the Executive Committee prior to joining Fleries. In addition to his role at Flerie, Mark holds board positions at several portfolio companies, including AnaCardio, A3P, Bohus Sweden, NorthX, Microbiotica and Empros Pharma, where he contributes to drug development and commercial growth initiatives.

    He earned a degree in Industrial Studies from Nottingham Trent University and an MBA from the Open Business School.