Top 50 Rising Stars 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Saewook Lee and Rajesh Ramanujam, investment directors, Applied Ventures
Saewook Lee and Rajesh Ramanujam are investment directors at Applied Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of US-based semiconductor technology provider Applied Materials.
Saewook Lee joined Applied Ventures in 2019 after more than 16 years in strategic investment, new business development and strategic planning at technology groups including Samsung, SK Telecom and 3M.
At Applied Ventures, Lee is responsible for investments in inflections enabled by roll-to-roll web coating technologies. He also manages its Korea innovation fund and drives investments in disruptive startups in the region.
Before Applied Ventures, Lee worked at 3M Ventures, the investment arm of 3M, covering various areas including display, energy and biotechnology. He began his career at Samsung Electronics followed by SK Telecom and Accenture, leading strategic investments and M&A projects in consumer electronics, semiconductor, software and internet services as well as telecommunication technologies.
Ramanujam, on the other hand, joined Applied Ventures in early 2019 and focuses on investing in a range of verticals including additive manufacturing and semiconductors.
He began his professional career at Applied Materials, where he worked at the core products group developing temperature measurement hardware and software control technologies for Rapid Thermal Processing of silicon wafers.
Prior to rejoining Applied Ventures, Ramanujam was an early member of Lam Capital, the CVC arm of semiconductor group Lam Research, where he helped form the venture group and execute its investments in life sciences companies and funds.
