Meet our New Programme Associate — Gianna Pinasco

Published in

Metta

4 min readSep 30, 2022

At Metta, we’re introducing our work — supporting startups, industry, and government with sustainable technology-driven innovation — but also the amazing team behind it all.

At Metta, we pay close attention to who we work with and the same goes for the Metta team. As such, we are making an ongoing effort to highlight the people behind Metta in our Meet the Team series.

It’s been great to work with Gianna Pinasco, our new Programme Associate at Metta over the past few week. In the latest part of our Meet the Team series, we learn more about Gianna, and why she is excited about Metta.

Q1: Hi Gianna! 👋 How would you describe what you do at Metta? What are you currently working on?

I am a Programme Associate at Metta. Essentially, I support the programme team with the day-to-day operations to run the accelerator programme. This includes, assisting with the end-to-end scouting process, creating pre- and during programme material for sponsors, partners, mentors and startups, and supporting founders and the wider industry to accomplish their goals. I also create and manage social media content, and write articles about startups, aerospace, innovation, sustainability and more.

Currently, we are finalising our scouting process for startups to apply for the programme where I have enjoyed meeting some founders during office hours and learning about their solutions. I’ve been working on our social media presence, interviewing UAE founders, partners, and previous cohort’s team members for our upcoming blog posts. I’m looking forward to working with Cohort 4 and our programme partners this upcoming January!

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Q2: How did you first get interested in the tech / startup ecosystem? How did you come to join the team at Metta?

In a way, I have always been passionate about the entrepreneurial ecosystem. At 15 years of age, I created my own NGO to help impoverished children in Peru to have equal access to sports by providing free tennis equipment and lessons. Thus, given my strong passion for sports, tech, and health, in 2020 I launched a digital wellness platform to help people achieve their health and wellness goals through a tailored health programme approach. I then joined the University of Manchester’s MSc. Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship to pursue my interests and career development in entrepreneurial studies, where I published articles for the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR), and wrote a dissertation on the critical analysis on Bogota’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Before graduating for my masters, I already knew I wanted to work within the startup ecosystem but wasn’t sure if this meant working at a VC, at a start-ups, at an innovation lab, and so forth. When I came across Metta and delved deeper on the company’s vision, and especially what it standed for, everything I have been working and looking for suddenly clicked.

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Q3: Within this ecosystem, what is something people are not paying enough attention to?

According to recent statistics only 2.1% of female founders secure VC funds. This is not surprising considering only 12% of decision makers at VC firms are made up of women. We have to work harder towards levelling the playing field for female entrepreneurs by cultivating, supporting, and promoting women across the globe.

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Q4: What’s been the best part of working at Metta?

The team! I wouldn’t have it any other way to be completely honest. I feel very lucky to be part of such an amazing and talented group of people, committed to supporting and making a positive impact on the wider startup ecosystem.

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Q5: What do you find most exciting about where Metta is going?

The ability to drive sustainable innovation and support startups, governments, and the wider industry. We are at a pressing time to instil sustainable business practices and engrave a sustainable mindset across society. Thus, innovation and technology play a central role to drive sustainable solutions to overcome the challenges society and our planet face today. Some businesses might have an agenda to pursue sustainability but most, I believe, lack a real purpose and an impactful execution.

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Q6: Tell us more about your activities outside of work. Outside of work, what’s a project that you’ve enjoyed the most or are most proud of?

I’m building a community at HealthByGP, where I support and influence people to live a healthier lifestyle through proper nutrition, mindfulness, and physical activity. Outside of work, I really enjoy going to the gym and exploring coffee shops around the city.

Connect with Gianna — gianna@metta.partners | LinkedIn

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Get to know the rest of the Metta team:

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Want to learn more about Metta — and the latest about #startups, #innovation, and #sustainability? Let’s talk 🗣 -

Email | hello@metta.partners

Website | Metta.Partners
Podcast | Spotify — Google — Amazon — Apple
Twitter | @mettatalks
LinkedIn | Metta

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#metta #mettatalks #startups #innovation #sustainability #founders #investors #investment #pitching #government

Meet our New Programme Associate — Gianna Pinasco

Written by Nicole Whitelaw