Introducing our Fall 2021 Student Batch
At Wingman Campus Fund, we educate students and support entrepreneurs to disrupt the startup culture on campuses, produce the next generation of tech leaders, and create more value for society.
After a competitive selection process taking place during the summer 2021, we are excited to unveil our first batch of 18 student Partners publicly — 9 women and 9 men sharing a common passion for technology and desire to make a positive impact on the world.
As part of a 1-year fellowship, in a program that sits at the frontier between a talent accelerator and a student-run VC, the 18 student Partners from ETHZ, EPFL and HSG will be trained by Wingman Ventures, tier-one European VCs and startup operators, while gaining first-hand experience at venture capital by finding and selecting the startups that our program will support with initial capital, mentoring and network.
At the end of the 1-year fellowship, the student Partners will have acquired the skills to join and impact the tech space, be it as startup founders, venture capital investors, scale-up employees, or policy-makers — and later, grow into leaders within those fields.
Wingman Campus Fund is scaling its teams on a semester-to-semester basis, and we are looking for additional students to join our 1-year fellowship from Spring 2022 on. If you are interested in learning more, visit this page. For any other information, reach out at hq@campusfund.ch.
Please discover our Fall 2021 Student Batch below.
ETH Zürich
David Yenicelik
Managing Partner
LinkedIn
After living in Turkey and Germany, David settled in Switzerland to study Computer Science with a focus on Machine Learning. David is passionate about education, which he sees as the ultimate pillar to benefit society, and sees ML and entrepreneurship as ways to get there. During his studies, David co-led multiple projects and startups such as Skillab and Swissloop — he is the recipient of multiple awards, and participated in leading US startup accelerators like Alchemist Accelerator and Google Launchpad.
Anaïs Berkes
Partner
LinkedIn
Originally from Hamburg, Anaïs is currently studying Computer Science and gained experience as a developer in a deep learning startup in Tokyo and at the Zürich-based Archlet. Anaïs is passionate about the fact of empowering more women in tech and is part of CSNOW, ETH’s association for Women in Computer Science. Later on, she wants to help build a better future by leveraging the power of technology, either by joining the venture capital industry or founding her own startup.
Christian Cadisch
Partner
LinkedIn
A Bernese at heart, Christian is a Computer Science student with a fondness for medtech. It was at a research internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that he gained insights on how basic research gets transferred to the market, and realized how it can impact people at scale. Since then, he aims to pursue a Ph.D. at the intersection of technology and medicine, and spin out his research as a founder. Christian is passionate about maching learning, personalized medicine and genetic engineering.
Julinka Waesche
Partner
LinkedIn
Julinka grew up in Berlin and lived in Connecticut, the US, and France. After a little stunt in the fashion industry, at Hermès in Paris, she decided to pursue her love for biological systems, food and nutrition, in Zürich, where she studies Food Science and Technology. She discovered the impact of technologies and her passion for VC while interning for the science VC Emerald Technology Ventures. Upon graduating, she aims to join a food and science-related VC fund.
Matteo Guscetti
Partner
LinkedIn
Matteo was born in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and moved to Zürich to study Electrical Engineering and Data Science. He is passionate about AI and its applications on sustainability and climate-related topics. Through his studies, various involvements and internships at institutions like the Global Shapers and Boston Consulting Group, he built the conviction to combine his passions in entrepreneurship and sustainability into building a startup that addresses the negative externalities of climate change.
Rayan Armani
Partner
LinkedIn
From Lebanon and Italy, Rayan did her Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering in Hong Kong, and worked at the SOSV and HAX accelerator program in Shenzhen, where she helped over 30 hardware companies go from prototype to product, and interned in different robotics startups such as Voliro. Rayan‘s passion for robotics and hardware is second to none. She is completing her master in the field and aims to grow the European robotics tech space.
EPFL
Irina Bejan
Managing Partner
LinkedIn
Originally from Romania, Irina has been coding since she was 11. She interned in four different teams at Google and currently leads an open-source team at OpenMined. One of the causes she cares about is to bring more women into tech, having founded a NGO in her hometown and being involved at Girls In Tech. She won multiple awards and is a recipient of the Women in Technology Scolarship from Palantir. Irina studies Data Science and aims to found a startup upon graduation.
Nelson Zürcher
Head of Operations
LinkedIn
Bi-national Swiss and French, Nelson is a EPFL Microtechnics graduate and currently studies Technology and Entrepreneurship. As Head of Operations, Nelson is the backbone of our program — he acts as the bandmaster for the rest of the team, defines the structure of the program, and ensures that all or our processes are scalable and battle-tested. Nelson took on the presidency of EPFL Entrepreneur Club and previously interned at Procsim. In the future, he aspires to join the sustainability space.
Elif Dayi
Partner
LinkedIn
From Antalya, Turkey, Elif studied Materials Science and Nanoengineering in Istanbul before joining a Master in Materials Science at EPFL. She interned as a researcher at Imperial College London, Paul Scherrer Institute and EPFL, and her current research shines light at ‘nano’, unlocking applications in renewable energy, personalised healthcare and quantum computing. Upon graduating, she aims to pursue a Ph.D. in Nanophotonics and spin out her research into a startup that can benefit society.
Janes Spranger
Partner
LinkedIn
With German and Slovenian roots, Janes grew up in Switzerland, did his undergrad in International Affairs at HSG, and studies Sustainable Management & Technology at EPFL, IMD and HEC Lausanne. Janes is drawn to the issues of climate change & mental health, which he sees as pivotal and in need of more and better solutions. He interned in the climetech startup Eaternity and aims to work in the European tech space, either as a VC or as a policy-maker within the EU’s innovation support.
Kevin Qiu
Partner
LinkedIn
Kevin was born in Kaiserslautern, Germany before moving to Toronto. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and interned at non other than Nuro, Lyft, Carbon and Tesla in Silicon Valley. Kevin is passionate about robotics and intends to found his startup upon graduation. He loves being scrappy and working within startup environments where no idea is deemed unfeasible.
Vinitra Swamy
Partner
LinkedIn
Vinitra was born in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. She graduated from UC Berkeley as the youngest master’s recipient of the computer science’s department history at just 20, and worked at Microsoft AI building the Open Neural Network eXchange, a standard for interoperable AI joined by MSFT, Facebook, Amazon and 30 other companies. At just 22, Vinitra moved to Lausanne to start a Ph.D. in Machine Learning. She loves the intersection of edtech and AI and aims to found a startup or join a VC fund in the space.
University of St. Gallen (HSG)
Eric Piolot
Managing Partner
LinkedIn
When starting his studies at HSG in 2019, Eric thought he would be a banker. However, during his second semester, he stumbled upon First Momentum Ventures and ended up spending a year scouting Swiss startups on their behalf. From then on, his passion for tech led him to intern at startups such as Scalable Capital and Hive, and keep building up VC skills through involvements at Wharton Alumni Angels and Plug and Play. He is also committed to non-profit work through Amnesty International, Oxfam and START Global. Eric aims to found a startup upon graduation.
Angela Li
Partner
LinkedIn
A Chinese and German citizen, Angela grew up in Shanghai, China and attended high school in Switzerland. At just 21, she interned in venture capital, consulting and finance at SoftBank China, Bain & Company, Capgemini and Bank of China, and is an active figure on her campus, taking the lead on the Consulting Club of the university. She practices meditation, is a tea lover, and an award-winning public speaker. Upon graduating, Angela aims to pursue a career in VC or consulting.
Céline Meier
Partner
LinkedIn
From Switzerland, Céline studied a bachelor’s in International Affairs at HSG and pivoted towards the CEMS Master’s and the Master in Banking and Finance. Curious by nature, Céline tested herself in very different industries, such as banking at Credit Suisse, the media at SRF TV, and consulting at Bain & Company. She feels strongly about gender equality and wrote her bachelor’s thesis on the topic. She loves being confronted to new problems and meet new individuals, making consulting and VC her two logical options for the future.
Sophia Göppinger
Partner
LinkedIn
A true Berliner, Sophia graduated first of her class at ESCP and currently studies in Strategy and International Management (SIM). Sophia engaged in extensive non-profit work and got a first exposure to venture capital as an intern at TheVentureCity, while subsequently falling in love with the healthtech space as an intern at Roche. Sophia aims to combine the two domains, and aims to join a VC fund operating in healthtech to back path-breaking technologies that can save lives and advance society.
Timoteo Solèr
Partner
LinkedIn
A Swiss citizen, Timoteo grew up in Cameroon and studied in the Netherlands, before coming back to Switzerland to study Accounting and Finance. Timoteo was initially exposed to VC through the student-led VC fund ASIF Ventures during his undergrad. There, he realised that VC can finance technologies that can impact billions of people and fell in love with the industry. Later on, he wants to support founders solving the world’s biggest problems as a hands-on investor, before, some day, launching his own startup.
Tobias Gehrig
Partner
LinkedIn
Having completed a banking apprenticeship at UBS, and feeling a lack of purpose, Tobias made the hard choice of starting from scratch. He quit his job and worked his way up again through university, holding one of the highest GPAs in his class. At HSG, he developed a passion for entrepreneurship and started to support the ecosystem through START Global. He now aims to keep building up skills in start-ups and VC, and launch a start-up of his own or join VC upon graduation.
