About - SC Ventures | Standard Chartered Bank

Our Distinct Advantage

Institution-grade build & scale

Presence in high potential markets

High conviction themes

Our Story

We believe banking has a critical role to play in society and we can reconnect banking and society by building and scaling breakthrough business models

Evolving how we serve clients to meet their needs

Digital adoption in society has outpaced that of the financial sector; many client segments uncovered and needs unmet

Facilitating world trade in our markets

Global trade is critical to enabling economic development particularly in emerging markets, yet supply chains and SMEs remain underserved

Building digital capabilities for financial services

Despite innovation in financial services, current infrastructure does not deliver digital assets at institutional grade

Our Operating Model

The whole is greater than the sum of our parts.

Venture Building & Investments

Venture building model and fund investment experience refined over the past six years, supported by disciplined portfolio management

Our core focus is venture building. We selectively invest in partners we've worked with directly

Co-creation & Origination

Unique sourcing of original ideas through client co-creation, innovation, platforms and intrapreneurship

Operators & Investors

Strong bench of business builders, operators and investors, and ecosystem of advisors across tech, regulation and banking

Our Team

Operating Members and Leadership

Aaditya Bhave

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Agnieszka Verlet

Legal

Expertise: Corporate Law, Digital Transformation, Finance Systems, Product & Operations Career: Previously Senior Legal Counsel (Standard Chartered), HSBC, DLA Piper

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Alex Manson

CEO

Expertise: Fixed Income Origination and Structuring, Investment Banking Advisory and Capital Raising, Commercial and Corporate Banking Career: Previously Head of Transaction Banking (Standard Chartered), Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse

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Elsy Li

Fundraising, M&A

Expertise: Fundraising, M&A, Capital Markets, Investor Relations, Corporate Development Career: Previously COO (Peterson Holdings), Sun Hung Kai & Co., Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers

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Esme Hodson

Compliance

Expertise: Compliance & Risk, Digital Assets, Global Fintech Career: Previously Director, Compliance (Block.one), Commonwealth Bank, Financial Services Authority

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Gautam Jain

Middle East, Investments

Expertise: Intersection of Business and Technology, Investing & Fundraising, Payments and Cash Management, Trade Finance Career: Previously Head of Digitization and Client Access (Standard Chartered), Barclays, HSBC, Citi

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Gurdeep Singh Kohli

Global Head of Enterprise Innovation, Standard Chartered

Expertise: Venture Building, Strategy, Governance, Client Engagement Career: Previously MD Group Strategy (Standard Chartered), Credit Suisse, McKinsey

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Gwenda Phillips

Risk

Expertise: Risk Management - Fintechs and Digital Assets, Venture Capital, Sales Execution, Corporate Banking Career: Previously Chief Risk Officer (Acting) (ANZ), ANZi Investments / Ventures, TechReady for Non-Tech Female Founders, SheStarts Accelerator

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Harald Eltvedt

Incubation

Expertise: Digital Transformation, Technology, Venture building Career: Entrepreneur, Founder from inception to exit (WebMD, Pentalog, Havas)

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Jussi Nunes

Finance

Expertise: Digital Banking, Payments, Retail, SME, Corporate and Institutional Banking Career: Previously Chief Financial Officer at Swyftx, Openpay, BNK Bank, Commonwealth Bank

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Lisa Pollina

Vice Chairman, Americas

Expertise: Private Equity, Venture Capital, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Foreign Relations, Fundraising Career: Previously Munich Re, Ares Management, RBC Capital Markets, Bank of America

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Michael Cutler

Tech

Expertise: AI, Web3, Digital Assets, Venture Building, Sustainability Career: Previously CTO, KPMG Digital Village, Poseidon Impact, UK Government, Spotify, Intel, Sky

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Senior Practitioner Advisors