Martina Vakarelova
CO-CEO
Dr. Martina Vakarelova (Plovdiv, 1986) is a Co-Founder and Business Development Manager of Sphera Encapsulation. She graduated from Plovdiv University (Bulgaria) in food technology, specializing in industrial engineering. She attended some courses at Ghent University (Belgium) during her degree and, after graduating, worked as a Project Manager for several international companies before returning to the academic field by obtaining a Ph.D. in Biotechnology (University of Verona) in the field of encapsulation. During her Ph.D., she had the opportunity to spend a period at ONIRIS University (Nantes), working with Prof. Denis Poncelet, a world expert in microencapsulation.
Francesca Zanoni
CO-CEO
Dr. Francesca Zanoni (Verona, 1989) is a Co-founder and R&D manager of Sphera Encapsulation. She obtained her Doctorate in Biotechnology at the University of Verona in 2019, continuing her study of the countless applications of nanotechnologies in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical sciences. She has achieved notable results, such as the international patenting of two techniques for the nanoencapsulation of lipophilic and biologically active molecules and the publication of several articles.
Giulia Donà
Laboratory technician
Giulia Donà (Verona, 1994) works as a laboratory technician. She obtained a master's degree in Agro-food Biotechnology (University of Verona), initially carrying out an internship at Sphera Encapsulation and becoming a fundamental R & D team member. Within the company, she is implementing projects related to micro and nanoencapsulation, providing technical support to the R & D manager..
Sara Gorrieri
Junior scientist
Sara Gorrieri (Ivrea, 1996), a Junior Research Scientist, obtained a master’s in biomedical engineering (Polytechnic University of Turin) in 2021, specializing in bio-nanotechnologies. During her studies, she specialized in designing and characterizing nanoscale structures and systems. Within the Italian Institute of Technology, she had the opportunity to learn different experimental methodologies dealing with synthesizing and characterizing nanoparticles with antioxidant properties.
Marco Dal Dosso
Lawyer
Lawyer since 2015, he has gained significant experience in an international firm and, since 2023, has collaborated with the Mazars Law Firm. He deals with commercial and corporate law. He assists client companies in extraordinary acquisition operations, negotiating and signing commercial agreements, and corporate governance activities (company formation/shareholder agreements/capital options). He holds the Auditor role in company control bodies and is appointed by the Court as Trustee in bankruptcy procedures and Custodian in real estate enforcement procedures.
Valter Carturo
Financial Advisor
Graduated in Economics and Commerce from the University of Verona and qualified as a chartered accountant and statutory auditor by the Order of Verona. Thanks to his relations with EU and non-EU countries, he is competent in corporate, fiscal (national and international), and corporate matters—innovation Manager in the Life of Science, GreenTech, Mechatronics, and IT sectors. Valter is also a business angel of various startups, president and founding member of "Business Angels Verona," and member of the "Trentino degli Investors" Club.
Memi Genosar
Business Consultant
Entrepreneur, business and strategy consultant, and startup developer Memi is a strategic consultant for the company. He spent 15 years in senior positions in international hi-tech companies, accumulating experience managing international markets. This experience led him to 15 years focused on the strategic business development of various Startups, and for the last five years, he has been specializing in innovation and entrepreneurship programs. He holds a Master's degree in information systems (Technion, Israel) with an MBA in international strategy and marketing (Tel Aviv University, Israel).
Gianni Zoccatelli
Scientific Advisor
Gianni Zoccatelli (Verona, 1976) graduated in agri-food biotechnology from the University of Verona in 2001, where he subsequently also obtained a Ph.D. in the same field. In 2008, after a year spent at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (Langen, Germany) working on food allergens, he became a researcher in food chemistry at the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Verona, where he subsequently joined the teaching body of the Ph.D. in Biotechnology. In 2016, he co-founded Sphera Encapsulation. He is currently an associate professor of Food Chemistry. His research is focused on the impact of bioactive molecules present in the diet on human health and how food transformation and preservation processes can influence the biological activity of these molecules. He has numerous national and international collaborations with various research groups and is the author of 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals and numerous presentations at conferences.
Imran Afzal
Business Consultant
He has held product category roles at Tesco and Sainsbury's, where he helped manage a diverse range of products worth more than £200 million annually. He was also at ASDA as their Head of Quality, delivering the most significant private-label consumer testing program in UK history. He then joined the Board of a startup creating gluten and dairy-free products for retail and foodservice customers, where he led the creation of a factory and set the R&D agenda, resulting in a range of award-winning products. At PepsiCo, he led strategic academic partnerships. Also, he led the company's engagement in the European KIC – EIT Food, an endeavour to transform the food sector in collaboration with a broad cross-section of partners such as universities, research groups, startups, and other companies to source and successfully deliver on strategic opportunities in the food and beverage spaces.
