Definition

Aryeh founded Cornucopian Capital with the vision to make impact-driven investments in innovative food and health technology companies defining Medicine 3.0, including bio-measurement technologies, digital health, bioactive compounds, and Precision Health Brands™. He’s also a co-founder and managing partner of Barnstorm Foundry, a Bay Area-based venture studio for Medicine 3.0 startups. Through Barnstorm Foundry, Aryeh forged a groundbreaking relationship with UC Davis, a global leader in biological sciences and engineering. Aryeh is also the founder and principal of SAGEN Trust Company, Inc. (“SAGEN”), a private family office operating since 2001 after his family’s sale of Slim Fast Foods. SAGEN has made numerous successful investments in private equity and venture capital in the US, China, India and Western Europe. Aryeh has also founded numerous non-profits and projects in Israel, the U.S. and the U.K. addressing poverty, social services, community development, and Torah education.

Wesley is a General Partner at Cornucopian Capital, advancing its strategy to seed Medicine 3.0 by making investments in areas like bio-measurement, digital health, bioactive compounds, and innovative brands.  Wesley brings extensive career experience in retail, health, risk management, and food manufacturing and marketing at organizations like the World Economic Forum, Walmart, Mars, USAID, and NASA. In addition to his role at Cornucopian, he serves as the Chairman of the Innovation Institute for Food and Health at the University of California, Davis, and plays an active role in other boards and advisory boards. Wesley loves being outdoors with his family, enjoys cooking, and is an avid mountain biker who coaches a youth mountain biking team.

Rachelle is an Operating Partner at Cornucopian Capital leading its operations and legal affairs. She also serves as President of SAGEN Trust Company, Inc., a private family office for Cornucopian’s founder, holding additional roles as a Director of its Board and member of its Investment and Trust Committees. She also serves on various committees for other private trust companies.  Rachelle was formerly a partner in the Private Clients Group at Cassin, Cassin & Joseph LLP and practiced with Torys LLP, Proskauer Rose, LLP and Hannoch Weisman, P.C. Rachelle has an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and a B.S. in Marketing from New York University Stern School of Business.

Chris is an Operating Partner at Cornucopian Capital and is responsible for managing its financial affairs. He also serves as Investment Officer of SAGEN Trust Company, Inc. (“SAGEN”), a private family office for Cornucopian’s founder, and serves as a member of SAGEN’s Investment and Audit Committees. Prior to joining SAGEN, Chris held roles at Bessemer Trust Company and Deloitte. Chris is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and a Certified Public Accountant, and holds an MBA and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst(Isenberg).

Will is a Research Analyst at Cornucopian Capital who performs market research, company due diligence, financial analysis, and leads Cornucopian’s talent acquisition process.  He received a B.A. degree with Honors in Physics and Computer Science from Williams College and a Sigma Xi designation for his thesis work on experimental dark matter searches.  Prior to joining Cornucopian Capital, Will worked as a physicist searching for rare particle decays with the Majorana Demonstrator—an international particle physics collaboration of 60+ scientists—and as a Healthcare Analytics Consultant at Guidehouse.  Will is a longtime competitive swimmer and enjoys skiing, scuba diving, and collecting tea.

Sibel is an Operations Associate at Cornucopian Capital, supporting its Partners. Through her role at Cornucopian, she also provides operating, IT, communications and administrative support to Barnstorm Foundry, a Bay Area-based venture studio co-founded by Aryeh. Prior to joining Cornucopian, she served as Executive Assistant to the CEO of a large manufacturing company, where she helped develop, facilitate, and manage the company’s strategic plan, served as Project Manager for various initiatives, and supported the Board of Directors in serving the company.  She received a B.A. in Sociology and Psychology with honors from William Paterson University.

Justin currently serves as the Faculty Director for the Innovation Institute for Food and Health, an Associate Professor in the Department of Genome Center, Chemistry, Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, and as the Ciocca Visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis.  Justin has founded numerous companies, including BioArchitecture Labs, PvP Biologics, Digestiva, Peak B, and is a Founder and Partner of Barnstorm Foundry. He received his undergraduate degree from UC Davis (‘05), and obtained his PhD in Biological Physics, Structure, and Design from the University of Washington (‘10).

Carl is a globally recognized expert in entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth.  He has founded and helped finance multiple startups and authored numerous works, including most recently, Burn the Business Plan; What Successful Entrepreneurs Really Do.  He is chair of the technical board for Apple’s Global Programming Academy, a founding board member of the International Intellectual Property Commercialization Council, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a trustee of the Templeton World Charities Foundation and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  A former CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world’s most influential organization promoting entrepreneurship, the Economist once called Schramm “The evangelist of entrepreneurship.”  While on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, Carl received two consecutive Career Scientist Awards from NIH.  He holds the George Eastman Medal from the University of Rochester and five honorary doctorates.   Carl earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Wisconsin, his J.D. at Georgetown, and is currently a University Professor at Syracuse. 

Phil brings decades of expertise in executive recruitment and leadership and plays a key role in supporting Cornucopian’s talent acquisition and company building capabilities. He is currently a Senior Partner at Spencer Stuart based in San Francisco and specializing in Biopharma, CEO/Board recruitment and Leadership Advisory Services.  He started his career at American Hospital Supply Corp. (AHSC), now Baxter, rotating through multiple roles.  Post AHSC, as VP of Human Resources, Phil helped launch two early stage software companies, later acquired by Lucent. In addition to his client facing work, he led all Western regional offices of Spencer Stuart before transferring to Singapore as Managing Director of Southeast Asia. Phil attended University of Minnesota, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree (magna cum laude) in Psychology and a Master’s in Industrial Relations at Carlson School of Management. He is also a Hudson certified executive coach.

Erich has decades of diverse corporate, university, government and law firm experience in life sciences. In 2022, he retired as a Senior Partner at Cooley LLP, where he built their patent counseling and prosecution practice over 15 years, and founded VEIT3IP LLC, a solo practice supporting life science clients in developing and implementing cost effective strategies to protect, enhance and grow their intellectual property. He previously held positions as a Biostatistician for DeKalb-Pfizer Genetics, Senior Corn Breeder for DeKalb Genetics Intl., and Primary Examiner in biotechnology within the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. During his career, Erich has worked with clients in nearly all facets of the life sciences sector, with a focus on agricultural biotechnology, plant breeding, food science, alternative foods, probiotics, prebiotics, medical foods and plant-based pharmaceuticals. He holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding & Plant Genetics (major) and Statistics (minor), from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a B.S. in Agronomy from Washington State University. 

Giovanni (Gio) is the Managing Director of Better Gambit, a NYC based innovation venture creation and advisory firm, and the CEO and Founder of Phenotap, Inc., a venture-backed early-stage company developing a non-invasive, continuous ketone monitoring device.  Gio has over 30 years of experience at the intersection of business and technology, in startups as well as Global 500 companies, having previously led strategic open innovation initiatives as SVP of Open Innovation at Ferrero and Global VP of the Taste Modulation Business Unit and Flavor Innovation Discovery at Firmenich.  He is an investor and advisor to various technology startups.  Gio holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Università di Pavia and completed an Executive Program in International Business Management at Stoa in partnership with Sloan School of Management at MIT.