Our Team
Brandon Gath
Managing Partner
Brandon led the M&A & Investment team at Kraken. Prior to this, Brandon served as Co-Head of CME Ventures, one of the most innovative corporate venture funds, having invested in technologies across Fintech, AI, Geospatial Data, Deep Learning, Quantum Computing, and Blockchain. He led early investments in Ripple, Nervana Systems, Orbital Insight, Crosslend, Digital Currency Group, and several others. In total, he has invested in over 30+ early and late stage technology companies. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a Master’s in Entrepreneurial Finance and Economics and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana University in Finance.
Kirill Gourov
Venture Partner
Kirill focused on early-stage investments and APAC M&A efforts for Kraken. He previously managed blockchain investments for a New York-based multifamily office, focusing on token investments and early-stage ventures. He has been actively involved in the Blockchain community since early 2013 and published one of the earliest pieces on digital currency valuation. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Baruch College in Finance.
Stuti Pandey
Principal
Stuti leads Kraken Ventures' investments in the Bay Area. She joined the team with significant early stage investing experience across roles at Maniv Mobility, Speedinvest, and EarlyBird Venture Capital. Stuti also has significant operational experience in both Product & Strategy across roles at Volkswagen, Yelp, and General Motors. Most recently she was a Venture Partner at Farmer DeFi Fund and Crypto markets contributor on CNBC. She holds BSc from Carnegie Mellon University
Laurens De Poorter
Head of Europe
Laurens leads Kraken Ventures' efforts in Europe. He joined the team from Dawn Capital, where he was an investor in B2B SaaS and Fintech start-ups across Europe. Prior to that, Laurens was with The Boston Consulting Group with a primary focus on TMT and Insurance and a strategist for X (formerly Google[x]). Laurens holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MSc in Energy Engineering from KU Leuven.
Arnaud Bakker
Principal, Europe
Arnaud joined the team from Samaipata and Speedinvest where he led early-stage investments in Healthcare, Fintech, and B2B SaaS across Europe. Prior to that, Arnaud was in Investment Banking and M&A at J.P. Morgan.
MSc in International Management from ESADE Business School, MSc in Finance from KU Leuven.
A.J. Kennedy
Venture Partner
Prior to Kraken Ventures, AJ was a member of the Tech M&A / IB team at William Blair, and an operator at egraphs, an ecommerce marketplace. He started his career at Wachovia Securities (now Wells Fargo), where he was an analyst on the FIG team during the GFC.
AJ holds an AB from Harvard and an MBA from University of Chicago, where he was the Ronald H Coase Distinguished Fellow.
