Investors and the Board

Tellef Thorleifsson is the CEO of Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries. Its mission is to create jobs and improve lives by investing in businesses that drive sustainable development. Prior to Norfund, Thorleifsson was a co-founder and managing partner of Northzone. He was instrumental in building Northzone to become a leading international venture fund. Since its inception in 1996, the fund has raised more than EUR 2.5 billion through 10 funds and invested in more than 175 companies. Thorleifsson has held several board positions among Northzone’s portfolio companies, focusing on software, fintech, and clean energy.

Thorleifsson is also a co-founder of the Voxtra Foundation which has been making targeted investments and grants within agribusiness in East Africa. He holds a Master's degree from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a Master’s Degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Adam Berger is a Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners and joined the firm in 2018 after having been Chairman and/or CEO of several Insight portfolio companies since 2011. He currently serves as Board Chairman for Insight owned or controlled companies with an aggregate enterprise value of over $6 billion including Campaign Monitor, a leader in email marketing services, E2Open, the leader in cloud-based enterprise supply chain management, Diligent, the leader in governance cloud software, Illuminate Education, the leader in cloud-based multi-tier systems of support, Achieve3000, a leader in K12 literacy software, and Vela, a leader in low-latency trading tools and ticker plants.

Prior to joining Insight, Adam was CEO of Digital Room Incorporated, an online printer formerly owned by Insight and was sold in 2017. Previous executive and board roles include Chairman and CEO of Spark Networks Inc., CEO of WeddingChannel.com, Inc., President and COO of The Franklin Mint, and Director of PeopleSupport Inc.

He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BS Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

John K. Hepburn has been a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley since 1985. John served as a Head of the Nordic Region Corporate Coverage Group. He is an Advisor at Princeton University and a Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley.

John has spent many years supporting companies in the Nordic region and working closely with the Kinnevik Group and the Wallenberg-sphere. John has extensive experience in the financial markets - M&A transactions and IPOs. He's been deeply involved in and on the board of companies such as: Nordic Information Group , International Health Insurance , Metro International, Mölnlycke Healthcare and Tele2. John has been part of growing and maturing these companies into large - and often also public - companies.

He received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1974 and a BSE in Engineering from Princeton University in 1972.

Norman co-founded Dawn Capital in 2007. Since that time he has invested in several of Europe’s leading SaaS businesses including Mimecast [MIME], Collibra, Showpad and Automile and in Gelato. Prior to Dawn, Norman was Partner at the Reuters Greenhouse Fund, Reuters Plc’s global technology VC fund. There he co-managed a technology fund that invested over $450M in over 80 early, mid and late stage companies globally.

In 2001, Norman and his fellow partners acquired the Greenhouse Fund and subsequently sold companies in the online media/advertising sector (Advertising.com (to AOL), and Forbes.com (to PE buyer). Prior to Reuters, Norman worked at Bain & Company in London, initially in the Telecoms practice and then the Private Equity group.
Norman is a graduate of Stanford University with dual BS and BA degrees in Engineering and Economics and holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD business school.

Jessica serves as the Chief Partner Officer at Optimizely, where she has played a pivotal role since joining the company in 2015. She has helped transition a Nordic software company into a global powerhouse. As the driving force behind Optimizely's global ecosystem strategy, Jessica cultivates strong relationships and forges new strategic alliances.

Before taking on her current role as Chief Partner Officer in 2020, Jessica held the position of Chief Marketing Officer, during which she spearheaded worldwide marketing and business development initiatives, successfully overseeing five acquisitions. Prior to her tenure at Optimizely, Jessica honed her skills in leading various go-to-market functions for an ERP cloud software business based in Singapore.

Jessica's passion lies in blending creative strategic thinking with meticulous execution. 

Aarthi Ramamurthy is a seasoned technology and product executive with a career spanning roles at Netflix, Meta, Microsoft, and Clubhouse. Previously, she was the Chief Technology and Product Officer at Rithum, where she led AI-powered ecommerce solutions, enhancing product experiences and scaling operations for major retailers and brands.

Aarthi brings a strong entrepreneurial background, having co-founded True & Co. and founded Lumoid. She has extensive experience in creator monetization and ecommerce, previously leading Facebook’s Creator Monetization and Payments team, where she built Facebook’s first digital subscription product and launched Facebook Stars, a monetization tool for gaming streamers.

Beyond her corporate and entrepreneurial contributions, Aarthi is a recognized voice in technology and venture investing. She has invested in over 30 startups, advising founders on scaling tech businesses. She is also the co-host of The Aarthi and Sriram Show, a top technology podcast where she has interviewed industry leaders such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Calvin Harris.

Aarthi’s expertise in scaling tech companies, ecommerce innovation, and the creator economy positions her to guide Gelato’s strategic expansion as it continues to empower entrepreneurs worldwide.