Meet the team

Founder, CEO

  • Before co-founding Irbis, Jeff was a Managing Director and Head of Real Estate at New Sparta Asset Management and was the CEO of European Future Group. Jeff holds degrees from Technical University of Nova Scotia (Dalhousie), University College London (The Bartlett School), and post graduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kühne Logistics University, and London Business School. 

     

Co-Founder, Investment Principal

  • Saskia Jacobsen is a Co-Founder and Principal of Investments of a number of startups within the logistics and logistic technology sector. Operating on the Irbis Vektra Private Equity platform, specialising in creating value in logistics and supply chain assets through aggregation and consolidation (M&A) and / or digital and operational optimisation. As part of the founding team, secured significant seed round funding which led to a major investment commitment from a single source capital partner, becoming the youngest MIP and equity holder in the investor’s history, working with key stakeholders both internally and externally to develop the market proposition, operational processes and procedures as well as identifying and building an international deal pipeline.

    Saskia is a true entrepreneur and key networker, currently building LeadHer (LeadHer) - a global, barrier-free community that connects ambitious professional founders across industries and borders.

    Saskia’s sector focus is unparalleled, specialising in supply chain and logistics: strategy, management, design, operations, and environmental sustainability; studying at Stanford (San Jose), MIT (Boston), London Business School (London), Kühne Logistics University (Hamburg), City, University of London (London), and the University of Hamburg (Hamburg).

Partner, Group CFO

  • BIO

Partner, BD and Stakeholder Relations

  • Jonathan specialises in scaling businesses through acquisition integration, transformation, and technology innovation.

    ​He spent over 15 years at GE Capital, where he worked across equity, equipment leasing, and commercial finance, leading the execution of integrations and divestitures worth over $10b.

    Prior to that, at EFG, he took City and Southeast Construction from concept to $24m turnover in just two years, before transitioning to the role of Executive Chairman.​

    ​Earlier in his career, Jonathan worked in supply chain management for Nike and Samsung. At Nike, he redesigned product flows across Europe and Korea, consolidating operations into a single purpose built facility.

    At Samsung, he developed the global product distribution plan to support over $2b of investment.

    Jonathan holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Ottawa, a Master’s degree from Yonsei University, and has recently completed postgraduate studies at the Edinburgh Business School.

Executive Team Assistant

  • BIO

Partner, Investment Principal

  • Olga has a track record of successful M&A across Europe. Her journey in investment management commenced at EFG Capital. Olga holds a degree in Finance & Banking from Pitesti University. She is currently enrolled in a Micromaster’s programme in Data Science at MIT. 

Chief of Staff (CH)

  • Andrea Mandl is an experienced Supply Chain and Operations professional with an international background in logistics, demand planning, production coordination, and cross-functional operations support. She contributed to the management of a large-scale international supply chain for major manufacturing companies, such as Tupperware, GrafTech, etc, coordinating suppliers, forecasting demand, and optimizing logistics processes across European markets.

    Known for her proactive and hands-on approach, Andrea thrives in dynamic multinational environments and is recognized for her strong organizational and intercultural communication skills. Fluent in German, English, and French, she enjoys skiing, hiking as well as cultural events and participates in local community initiatives and volunteer activities.