Top 50 Emerging Leaders 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Ian Freelance, senior investment manager, Sabic Ventures
Ian Freelance is a senior investment manager at Sabic Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Saudi Arabia-headquartered petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).
Aruna Subramanian, managing director and board member at Sabic Ventures, said: “Ian Freelance has been leading my European investment activity for the last 12 months. He is mature in his approach and can handle complex transactions.”
Freelance has more than 30 years of experience in investing across the materials, sustainable chemistry, life sciences, material science, renewable energy, industrial biotech, nutrition and medical technology industries, in Europe and the US.
He joined Sabic Ventures in September 2020 to focus on investment opportunities across Europe. Prior to this, he was an investment partner at Qbic, a Belgium-based institutional venture fund, and a senior investment manager at DSM Venturing for 10 years.
Sabic Ventures was formed in 2011 in the Netherlands, where its parent firm’s European headquarters is located.
The unit focuses on investments in startups that are developing technologies in the advanced materials and composites, alternative feedstocks for chemicals and materials, and clean energy sectors, based in Europe, Asia and the US.
Its active portfolio companies include Imtex Membranes, Void Technologies, Qpinch, Boston Materials and Hydropoint. As well as investing across the seed, early and late-stage, Sabic Ventures also conducts mergers and acquisitions transactions and new business creation efforts.
