This is not our first rodeo.
Every member of the X1 team has raised capital, built and scaled companies, and delivered value to shareholders.
X1 / The Team
Experience matters.
Balint Kelen
Managing Partner
Managing Partner at X1 and former EVP at Mach49, where he led EMEA venture-building delivery. Former BCG Principal who built and led Telco, Consumer Goods and Retail practices across Central Europe. Operator experience include scaling Klarna's engineering hiring 3x and building a £300M innovation portfolio at Diageo.
James Beriker
Managing Partner
5x Silicon Valley venture-backed tech CEO with four exits (Adobe, Yahoo!, Indeed, ValueClick). Former EVP at Mach49, and part of the leadership team, where he led venture building across Saudi Arabia, including developing the TONOMUS Venture Studio at NEOM.
Varun Arora
Venture Builder
Venture builder and EIR with 3+ years at Mach49 across Generative AI, healthcare, energy, and decarbonization in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Former Co-founder/CEO of IoT pioneer GotoCamera and General Manager at Greenwave Systems (Verizon's exclusive IoT partner), leading APAC P&L and a 75-person Singapore team. MIT Sloan executive program.
Dave Blakely
Deep Tech SME
EVP at Mach49 for a decade, where he built and led the Growth Institute and generated billions in value for Global 1000 clients like Hitachi, Nestlé, TDK and Eaton. Previously Director of Technology Strategy at IDEO. Six patents, angel investor in deeptech and energy transition, and faculty at Stanford and UC Berkeley.
Brad Sharek
Chief Creative Officer
Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Mach49 for over a decade, leading creative direction across hundreds of corporate venture builds for Global 1000 clients. 30+ years crafting brand, narrative and product experience for Silicon Valley startups and enterprises — from partner at innovation firm Strategos to co-founder/CEO of early mobile marketing platform abeama ($2M seed).
Gary Clarke
CFO-in-Residence
Three decades scaling companies from Seed through IPO and M&A, with $500M raised and $5B in M&A. As CFO of Venture Finance at Mach49, led capital allocation across 30 corporate and sovereign-backed ventures in the US, MENA, UK and EU. Founder-CEO of HY9 and Trelar (acquired), early team at Wolfram Alpha and Amazon Kindle, and U.S. Army Special Operations veteran.
Kai Yen
CTO-in-Residence
Principal EIR, CTO-in-Residence and AI Lead at Mach49 for five years, building new ventures end-to-end for Global 1000 companies. 4x technical co-founder with $2.7M in VC raised at Purple Squirrel. Former CTO of JWT INSIDE, running technology for Macy's, Comcast and NewYork Presbyterian.
Leslie Bradshaw
Venture Builder & Senior GTM Lead
4x founder, 3x COO and Mach49 venture builder driving early validation, messaging and first revenue across CPG, financial services and data-privacy ventures. Co-founded JESS3 — twice on the Inc. 500 — defining the category of data-driven storytelling for Google, NASA, MTV, Twitter and Facebook. Named by Fast Company a Most Influential Woman in Technology.
Matthieu Bodin
Venture Builder
Mach49 venture builder for nearly four years, leading new businesses for Fortune 500 clients across energy, real estate and industrial sectors. Previously Techstars Regional Manager for Greater China, running accelerator programs across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Former COO of cleantech startup geoFluxus.
Marcel Lamers
Venture Builder
Serial entrepreneur, founder of four companies and founding member of 10+ corporate ventures. Operating Partner and Lead EIR at Mach49 for four years across the US and EMEA. Founder/CEO of PropTech company Lone Rooftop, scaled across Europe and the US and acquired by HubStar. $30M+ in venture and corporate-venture funding raised.
AJ Gleser
Venture Builder
Mach49 venture builder and product strategist who led product for corporate ventures at Goodyear, Airbus, TDK and Anglo American — collectively raising millions in follow-on funding. CEO and co-founder of Ergoly.ai; previously co-founded GTM tool Tarka.ai. Former Creative Director at Munich agency adabay (UniCredit, MunichRe, Mammut) and RedDot Design Award winner.
Dennis List
Venture Builder
Lead Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mach49 for 5+ years, building and launching new ventures inside Global 1000 companies across the US and EMEA. Co-founder and former CEO of music IoT startup Rocki (Techstars Boston '14), with partners including Spotify and Bose. Former Techstars Program Manager for the Rakuten and Arcadis accelerators in Singapore and Amsterdam.
X1 / A Wider Bench
X1 Net. A global network designed to take on the hardest problems.
Beyond the X1 team: 200+ senior operators, investors, domain experts, and technical builders we've worked with before.
