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Saint-Gobain NOVA Names Sven Harmsen Director of External VenturingSaint-Gobain NOVA, the external ventures arm of one of the world's largest building materials companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions, has named Sven Harmsen as Director of External Venturing. In this role, Harmsen will help drive Saint-Gobain NOVA's broader growth strategy as well as the company's strategy around engagement and investment in startups and their relationships with Saint-Gobain businesses. With more than 15 years of experience in business development and investment in venture capital backed start-ups and large corporations, Harmsen's expertise will help Saint-Gobain NOVA enhance its partnership activities with like-minded startups and grow the company's investment portfolio. He will also be actively involved in ensuring the success of the InNOVAte 2019 Challenge, an accelerator program developed in partnership with CertainTeed, Saint-Gobain's leading building and construction brand, and Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the U.S., with the goal of developing innovative technologies to disrupt the built environment value chain. "Sven's experience leading global investment teams and developing strategic plans for portfolio companies will be valuable to our team as we work to expand our portfolio," said Minas Apelian, Vice President of R&D, Quality and External Venturing at Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed. "The diversity of Sven's background as well as his deep knowledge of business development and strategic investment will help to enhance our overarching strategy to ensure we create an optimized, efficient plan for our path forward." Prior to joining Saint-Gobain NOVA, Harmsen served as Investment Director at M Ventures, the global corporate venture arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. From M Ventures' office in Cambridge, Mass., he established and led a global investment team focusing on strategic investments in the field of performance materials and built an international portfolio of strategic investments. He also previously worked for BASF Venture Capital (BVC) and started its first investment office on the East Coast of the U.S. During his time in strategic venture units, he actively served on various Boards of portfolio start-ups as director or observer and generated strong deal flow covering diverse technical fields being of interest for BASF Venture Capital and later on for M Ventures. About Saint-Gobain NOVA NOVA, Saint-Gobain's External Ventures arm, is dedicated to fostering partnerships with startups, incubators, and venture capital funds all over the world. Since 2006, NOVA identifies forward-thinking startups whose philosophies align with Saint-Gobain's focus on well-being and sustainability and connects these startups with the resources and experience of Saint-Gobain. See www.nova-saint-gobain.com About Saint-Gobain in North America Saint-Gobain, one of the world's largest building materials companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions, helps create great living spaces by combining comfort and sustainability. For more than three-and-a-half centuries, Saint-Gobain has been enhancing the wellbeing of people everywhere, whether it's by addressing climate change, delivering true sustainable development, advancing the information revolution, participating in medical breakthroughs or playing a vital role in space exploration. In North America, Saint-Gobain has approximately 160 locations and more than 15,500 employees. In the United States and Canada, Saint-Gobain reported sales of approximately $6.5 billion in 2018. Learn more about Saint-Gobain North America by visiting www.saint-gobain-northamerica.com and connect with Saint-Gobain North America on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190501005639/en/ |
