Meet Our Team
Our team encapsulates substantial experience within the fields of finance, entrepreneurship, and technology commercialization within a broad set of industries.
Robert Happeny
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
About Robert
Mr. Happeny was Vice President and head of the worldwide automotive sector for Lehman Brothers. He has extensive experience in cross-border merger and acquisitions, and in-depth knowledge of worldwide capital markets. He provided strategic advice relating to the automotive markets throughout the former Soviet Union, Eastern and Western Europe. Bob negotiated four joint ventures between U.S. Automotive manufacturers and the Soviet Automaker Avtovaz.
In addition, he was the lead manager for several mergers and acquisitions in Hungary and Poland and established the Technology Development Fund for the State Universities of New York. Many university innovations were commercialized. He created the Science and Technology Development (STDP) program in cooperation with former Soviet Union research institutes, and has worked closely with the World Bank, EBRD and International Banks.
Dharish Totiger
Associate
About Dharish
Mr. Totiger brings nearly 4 years of experience in the tech transfer industry, having performed intensive due diligence, market analysis, and commercialization duties for new technologies from New Mexico's leading research institution, the University of New Mexico. As a graduate student, Mr. Totiger was highly active in business development initiatives and programs that helped him further refine his skillset, including completing the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Program, as well as the UNM Rainforest Accelerator program.
Mr. Totiger holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University (Bangalore, India), as well as a Master's of Science in Information Systems and Assurance and an MBA (Finance and Entrepreneurship) from the University of New Mexico.
Mark Niederhaus
Associate
About Mark
Mr. Niederhaus is a highly accomplished military veteran that brings valuable operational management and entrepreneurship experience. As Director of Operations for Villa Myriam Coffee company, he overhauled all operating procedures and sales efforts, leading a team of 12 to an annual revenue increase of 30%. As co-founder of Upwell Beverages, he spearheaded all product development and marketing efforts to create a five-state sales footprint in a regulatory dynamic environment.
As a graduate student, Mr. Niederhaus actively participated in entrepreneurship activities, including the UNM Rainforest Accelerator program. Mr. Niederhaus holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science (summa cum laude), and an MBA (Finance) from the University of New Mexico.
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