Barend Van den Brande, Managing Partner
Barend founded Big Bang Ventures in 2000. As Managing Partner, Barend oversees all aspects of fund and investment management.
He currently serves on the board of directors of Clear2Pay, MMO Life, Mobiluck, Wakoopa and Travel Intelligence Group Ltd. He was a director on the board of Dedigate (acquired by Terremark Inc.) and the president of the Benelux Tech Tour 2006-2007.
Previously, Barend was interim CEO at SwiftTouch (US). He began his career in the US as a Financial Analyst for SG Cowen in Boston, Massachusetts, focusing on Internet and data-networking companies.
Barend can be reached at barend@bbv.be.
Frank Maene, Managing Partner
Frank joined Big Bang Ventures as a Managing Partner during the capital raising process, in November 2000, which led to the Big Bang Ventures I Fund. Frank has many years of high-tech operational experience, in both executive sales and general management positions, with software and services companies in Europe and the US.
Frank currently serves on the board of directors of Amplidata, PINS and Racktivity. He was the chairman of DataCenterTechnologies (acquired by Symantec) and Q-layer (acquired by Sun Microsystems) and a director on the board of Avinity (acquired by ActiveVideo Networks).
Prior to joining Big Bang Ventures, Frank was CEO of ExpertEyes, Inc. in Silicon Valley. He identified and secured investment and co-sourcing opportunities for US software and services companies' European expansion, developed their operations plans, and evaluated funding options. In 1998, Frank was CEO of Syfact International, where he was responsible for spinning off a team of developers from a systems integration company and creating an independent software company. In 1995, Frank created and was Managing Director of the Benelux distributor for Gentia Software. He sold the distributor to Gentia Software in 1997. Prior to Gentia, Frank worked as Sales Manager for Comshare Belgium/Luxembourg, after starting his career as consultant with the Cap Gemini Group.
Frank holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics and Accountancy from the University of Gent, Belgium.
Frank can be reached at frank@bbv.be.
Herman DeLatte, Partner
Herman DeLatte joined Big Bang Ventures as Venture Partner in March 2006 and became Partner in April 2007.
Herman currently represents Big Bang Ventures on the board of PeopleCube and he was director at CVwarehouse until its exit. As independent business angel, he also serves on the boards of Augeo, VRContext and Solid Ventures.
In July 2000 Herman DeLatte joined the NeSBIC CTe Funds as General Partner. Herman was brought in to help with the portfolio management and subsequent restructuring of certain NeSBIC CTe I & II companies after the downturn of 2000 and subsequently managed investments and exits at IT Masters, Intapps and Consul. From 1997 until 2000, Herman was CEO and President of Boston-based ON Technology, where he increased the market capitalization from $10 million to $200 million. He was COO of Micrografx in Dallas, TX from 1994 until 1997, after three years as senior VP and general manager of the company's international subsidiaries. Before Micrografx he served as Managing Director Europe-West for Ashton-Tate Corporation, until its acquisition by Borland in 1991. During the first ten years of his career, he held various development, account management, sales and sales management functions at Control Data and co-founded Ores BV, a software company in The Netherlands.
Herman DeLatte holds a Graduate in Computer Science degree.
Pamir Gelenbe, Venture Partner
Pamir has been active in the European venture scene for nearly a decade both as an entrepreneur and investor. Pamir is focused on mobile, internet, digital media, and software companies. London-based, Pamir speaks fluent English, Turkish and French.
Pamir was a partner at NewtonMoore, leading investors in Seatwave and Cybersports. His board positions have included Scene Systems, Digitouch and Cybersports.
Previously, he founded Flytxt, a pioneer in mobile marketing technology in Asia, Europe and the US. Prior to that, Pamir worked at Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, D.E. Shaw, and Juno Online Services.
He received his BS in Electrical Engineering Summa Cum Laude from Duke University and a Master of Science in Operations Research from Columbia University.
Pamir led the selection committee of two Web/Mobility Tech Tours and is a Mentor on the London Business School's Entrepreneurship program.
Pamir is credited with organizing the first ever venture capital conference focused on Turkey (January 2010), helping to unlock the significant potential of the Turkish startup ecosystem.