Bringing to life disruptive technology that deserves to be shared with humanity.

John is an entrepreneur, founding, managing, and investing in businesses from an early age, pursuing his passion for solving complex problems to positively impact humanity. John is energized working in partnership with some of our nation’s brightest minds to bring to life disruptive technology that deserves to be shared with humanity. He is a Founder of Ikove, powering commercialization efforts at leading research institutions and universities. Additionally, John is a Founder at Proton Enterprises, a venture development firm empowering entrepreneurs that are shaping tomorrow's world for the better. Ikove and Proton have celebrated numerous successes, including: multiple venture exits, building a multi-hundred-million-dollar brand, raising and deploying $200MM+, two FDA approvals, and becoming one of the largest Covid-19 testing providers in the State of Hawaii.

John is an International Business Innovation Association Certified Incubator Manager and acts as a close advisor for a number of startups. He brings a hands-on owner/operator mentality to his work, having been a venture development founder of 15+ businesses. He has invested/advised over 50 technology companies and is actively involved as a board member at Cognovi Labs, ParaGen, and LEVE foundation. Previously, he spent time working on social business development in Haiti. John also manages a personal investment portfolio with a focus on alternative investments, is an FAA licensed pilot, and enjoys snow-skiing, playing piano, chess, boating, and spearfishing.

John graduated cum laude from Xavier University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and minor in Entrepreneurial Studies. In 2016, John was awarded the Xavier University Magis Award, recognized as an alumnus who, within 15 years of graduation, has achieved a high degree of excellence and embodies Jesuit morals and ethical values.

David Moritz is a Partner and General Counsel at Ikove Venture Partners, and also serves as corporate counsel for several of its startups. He studied law and electrical engineering at The Ohio State University and is licensed to practice law in Ohio and California. David has experience in startup law, intellectual property, and civil litigation. Before joining Ikove, David worked with The Ohio State University’s Technology Commercialization Office and in private practice. 

David enjoys playing piano, hiking, Japanese language and culture, and volunteering with his church and local organizations that support K-12 STEM education outreach.

Matt Adams is the founder and President of Dot The i Creative (DTi), a full service advertising and design agency that specializes in digital marketing and web design, located in Hilliard, Ohio. He started DTi in 2010 after working in the advertising industry for many years. He graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a degree in Advertising Design and while there also took one class each year at The Ohio State University - Music 186 - better known as Marching Band. During his time as a member of the prestigious Ohio State University Marching Band, he had the honor of Dotting the i in the Incomparable Script Ohio. The name of his business, Dot The i Creative is a tribute to his college years at CCAD and OSU.

Matt and the entire Dot The i Creative team supports the Ikove Startup Nursery and their portfolio businesses in brand development, website design, and digital marketing.

Matt lives in Hilliard, OH with his wife and four children.

Jack Karabees has spent the past 25 years successfully executing high-growth corporate finance and operational plans for early-stage and mid-market healthcare and life sciences companies and serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at Ikove Venture Partners. Prior to joining Ikove, Jack was Chief Operating Officer for Intercept TeleMed, a provider of Tele-ICU and remote critical care and telehealth services to health systems and hospitals. Previously, Jack was President of Consult A Doctor, a telehealth technology and services company, from start-up through their acquisition by Teladoc (TDOC).

Jack is also currently CEO of Ulevo Health, Inc., an Ikove portfolio company, which provides lightweight, personalized devices worn to automatically detect and reduce muscle spasms with vibration. This patented technology detects and stops the most disabling aspect of spasticity, the involuntary muscle contractions (spasms) that occur throughout the day and night, interfering with bodily functions, exacerbating pain, limiting rehabilitation, disrupting daily activities, and lowering the overall quality of life for those afflicted.

Formerly, he served as EVP of Corporate Finance, Sales & Marketing for Entic, a cloud-based predictive analytics and optimization platform for hospitals and large healthcare facilities through investment and eventual sale by Blackstone Group, LP (BX) and was SVP of Sales and Marketing with eLabor, a cloud-based Human Capital Management platform to the hospital and healthcare industries from early-stages through separate divisional acquisitions by Microsoft (MSFT) and ADP (ADP).

Jack served honorably in the United States Air Force and lives in Coral Gables, Florida with his wife and two daughters.

Joe is a seasoned innovation builder and facilitator that has served in many capacities in the Columbus innovation and startup community. Having evolved from industrial designer to project management in product development at Battelle, Joe had a hand in developing everything from surgical tools to chain saws! Joe built a team to develop and scale technology for a Marysville based energy tech startup, and most recently worked for a Central Ohio-based seed-stage investment fund, scouting, guiding, and investing in promising new technologies. Joe applies his user and market focused viewpoint, tailoring technology to solve real problems, to nurture and grow new businesses.

Joe is a “3C” guy: raised in the Cleveland area, educated in Cincinnati (go Bearcats!), and settled in Columbus, with two grown children, a designer/artist wife and a fluffy dog. Hobbies include welding, ice hockey, home remodeling and trying to stay optimistic about the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bill is the CFO at Ikove Venture Partners and for the portfolio companies in the Nursery.  Bill began his professional career with 15 years in financial services with several firms including public accounting, investment banking, and turnaround consulting. Over the last 20 years, Bill has held executive roles with privately-held manufacturing companies in automation, lead acid batteries, food processing, and industrial products.  He has had a passion for startups and entrepreneurial businesses throughout his career.

Bill is an active CPA in Ohio and earned his BBA in Accounting from Cleveland State University. He is also a multi-unit franchisee and fitness trainer with The Exercise Coach in the Columbus and Akron, Ohio area and has served on the boards of several companies and nonprofit organizations throughout his career.

Rodolfo Bellesi is Principal and Founder of Ikove Capital. Prior to Ikove, Rodolfo was Senior VP of Technology at MB Capital Group, a Private Equity and Real Estate Group focused on proprietary deals in Northern Brazil. He was also Founder and President of BR Trading Consultoria LTDA, and acted as General Country Manager for the mining conglomerate Energold Brasil. Additionally, he worked at Teradyne in Boston, MA as an Application Engineer and Project Manager. Rodolfo earned his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Ohio State University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Para.

Rodolfo resides in suburban Columbus Ohio with his wife and twin daughters.

Abe has over 25 years of successful global strategic business growth initiatives in diverse market sectors in Healthcare, Electronics, Construction, Pressure Vessel, Consumer Products, and Automotive Industries.

As Entrepreneur in Residence, Abe applies his deep experience in evaluating new technology, businesses for acquisitions and mergers for accretive and strategic business growth. Investing and building new proprietary technologies to serve global customers in the Americas, EMEA, APAC & GEC countries.

Proven brand, product and P & L management expertise in new product/business introductions, growing product lines in new, and adjacent markets, and focusing product lines to achieve profitability. Solid background in working with global regulatory bodies to secure product approvals and building new standards.

Passionate about bringing profitable products and services that make makes customers’ lives better!

Abe is CEO of TegoSens, Inc. a company developing and bringing to market a unique, exciting, non-invasive, low cost, portable device that is easy to use with a high value approach in the management of heart failure patients across the care continuum.

Born in India, native of Columbus, Ohio for over 30+ years. Married for 35+ years and resides with wife in Dublin, OH. A strong Buckeye fan by residence, a tacit Notre Dame fan vicariously through our two married sons, and a passionate Sooner fan forever as an alumnus!  Abe loves spending time with his family, traveling and hiking around the world with his wife.

Dr. Robert Lee is a Managing Partner and Chief Technology Officer for Ikove Venture Partners. Dr. Lee is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and former Director of the Simulation Innovation and Modeling Center in the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University. From 2005-2006, he was the ECE Graduate Studies Chair and from 2007-2014 he held the ECE Department Chair position. Dr. Lee’s research focus has been on the development of computational techniques and its application to the design and analysis of electromagnetic devices and systems. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and is designated by ISI as a highly cited researcher.

Kevin has over 40 years of experience as an Environmental Scientist and technology developer focused on finding and bringing to the world innovative technologies which significantly address global problems. As an Adjunct Professor in the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering, teaching Entrepreneurship for Defense, and as an Industry Mentor for UCF's National Science Foundation sponsored Innovation Corps program, he has mentored over a hundred teams of technical innovators through the critical stages of customer discovery, market assessment, founder team building, and early-stage commercialization.

Kevin has co-Founded and helped build companies in such diverse fields as wastewater treatment, Artificial Intelligence, educational software, GreenHouse Gas emission reduction, and sustainable mining of energy transition materials. He serves Ikove as an Entrepreneur in Residence, finding disruptive science-based technologies, assessing their potential to significantly impact global environmental and social problems, and building commercialization teams to successfully bring these deserving technologies to the world.

Kevin is an alumnus of University of South Carolina (BS '82) and University of Florida (MS '92) and enjoys training for powerlifting competitions and riding motorcycles as much as possible.

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Flavio Lobato is Principal and Founder of Ikove Venture Partners, a Venture Development investment company focused on commercializing life changing technologies in partnership with leading research institutions. He is also Founder and CIO of the Startup Nursery Fund (SUN Fund), Ikove’s proprietary investment fund, annualizing at over 40% since launch in 2019.

Flavio is an investment expert with over 25 years of experience in alternative investments and traditional markets, having worked at Goldman Sachs & Co., Credit Suisse | First Boston, Liongate Capital and Swiss Capital Group.

Over the last decade, Flavio has re-focused his career away from Wall Street and become a successful serial entrepreneur where he helped launch and fund over twenty successful startups having direct involvement on Boards and acting as a close advisor and coach to CEOs and management teams.

Flavio is CEO and Chairman of Circular Wave Drive, a speed reducer technology company focusing on revolutionizing robotics.

Mr. Lobato received his MBA from Harvard Business School with honors, and his undergraduate in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami, cum laude. He is a student advisor to the Harvard Innovation Lab (I-Lab) and is co-head of Fintech for the Harvard Angels of NYC.

Flavio has written extensively about venture capital and financial markets.

Flavio is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and conversational French.

Angela Selimi, MSA, lives in Columbus, Ohio and serves as Senior Accountant for The Startup Nursery. She has diverse industry experience across all accounting functions.  Before coming to The Startup Nursery, she held positions as head accountant in the construction, retail, manufacturing, and food and beverage industries.  Her curiosity drives her problem-solving skills, and she is known for her attention to detail.

Her comprehensive background includes all aspects of GAAP accounting including knowledge of VBA and Python to facilitate and improve financial reporting.  She has experience in budgeting and forecasting, management reporting, modeling, and portfolio management.

Angela earned her BS in both Accounting and Business Administration with a minor in Finance and her MS in Accounting from Franklin University.  She volunteers her time providing low-income families with free tax return preparation/consultation.

Roberto Lobato is a Financial Analyst currently living in Windermere, Florida. His areas of focus as an analyst are to perform financial modeling and valuation for SUN Fund as well as coordinating audits and third-party service providers. He also performs competitive analysis and financial modeling for Ikove’s portfolio companies.

With over 20 years working in the field ranging from managing customized portfolios for high-net-worth individuals to developing and implementing financial, accounting and data analysis reports. He has worked for companies in New York, Miami, London, and Brazil.

Roberto was a finalist in many Brazilian national and international swimming championships, and was awarded for his tutorial procedures, subject diversity and time management as a Math and Statistics Tutor from the Florida International University Learning Center.

When he is not diving into spreadsheets Roberto loves spending time with his wife and their two children, traveling, swimming, and playing soccer.

Amy is the Director of Human Resources for Ikove Startup Nursery. Amy graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent with a BA in Psychology. Prior to joining Ikove, Amy was Director of Operations and Due Diligence Manager at a Foreclosure law firm in Maryland where she gained experience in legal compliance, operational oversight and improvement, process development and implementation, and office management. In her free time Amy enjoys hiking with her dog and is currently working on getting her MBA.

Beth Filippi is an award-winning graphic designer and leads the creative team at Ikove Capital. Beth has worked for many clients including the Ohio State University, the state of Ohio and the Upper Arlington Public Library.

She graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration and a minor in Advertising Design.

Beth and her husband live in Westerville, a suburb of Columbus, with a small menagerie of cats and dogs. When she’s not working, you might find her scuba diving, practicing taekwondo and tai chi, or taking the occasional goat yoga class. She likes to read, draw, travel, and watch way too much sci-fi.