Sofia Alves
Co-founder of W-R Capital, public funding and industrial investment specialist, with more than €100M of EU and structural funding delivered to Portuguese industry, including Sonae, Somincor, Fladgate, Forvia (Faurecia) and Navigator. She was an evaluator at AICEP, financial controller of the Cifial Group, investment analyst at the financial advisory firm of the Alfasom Group’s owner, and incentives and tax benefits consultant at Baker Tilly and Grownt (ex-GT Group). Economics degree (Universidade Católica Portuguesa) and postgraduate studies in Management Control and Strategy Execution (Porto Business School).
Guilherme Marques da Fonseca, PhD
Co-founder of W-R Capital, guest expert at IAPMEI and university lecturer in strategic management. He led the sale of ISSHO Technology - an MIT Portugal-awarded industrial software SME, where he was co-owner and Chief Strategy Officer - to Grupo Grupel in 2021. He served as investment manager at the largest Portuguese venture capital management company, with Board roles at Neptune Yacht (Portugal’s largest recreational boatyard), DIG-IN (former Zomato Portugal) and Pruvo (until its exit to ASX-listed Web Travel Group). PhD in Management with an M&A thesis, with distinction (ISCTE), and MSc in Finance (Nova SBE).
Pedro Rodrigues
Tier-1 capital allocator. Founder and Managing Director of Ziegler Swiss, he founded RSG Partners (UK), working alongside Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (USA), Frontline Management (UK), ADIC and ADIA (Abu Dhabi). He was owner and board member of the Alfasom Group, then Europe’s second largest congress rental operator, until its sale to Explorer Investments in 2005. Executive Program in Portfolio Management (University of Chicago), MSc in Finance (ISCTE) and a Law degree from the University of Lisbon, where he lectured.
Francisco Soalheiro
Public funding specialist for technology and innovation projects. He trained at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), working with large corporate groups, before joining Startup Portugal - the national agency for entrepreneurship in Portugal - where he coordinated the Funding & Certification department, managing Recovery and Resilience Plan measures for technology companies and sitting on the RRP monitoring groups for Resilience, Climate Transition and Digital Transition. Master’s in Economics and Public Policy (ISCTE) and degree in Political Science (University of Lisbon).
Ana Mendonça
People management and organizational development specialist, she was HR Director at Angelini Industries for over six years and, before that, HR Director for Iberia at Watson Wyatt (now WTW), where she led the build-out of the European Valuation Centre team. She brings more than two decades of management and HR consulting experience across SMEs and multinationals, with deep expertise in restructuring, change management, post-M&A integration and succession planning. Advanced Program in Team Leadership (Católica Lisbon) and degree in Human Resources Management.
Pedro Quelhas - Advisor
Investor and regulated-capital specialist with over 24 years across alternative investments, corporate finance and audit. Institutional investor at the largest Portuguese venture capital management company, with origination, due diligence and portfolio supervision responsibilities. Portuguese Statutory Auditor (ROC) and ACCA charterholder, with a career spanning Ernst & Young (EY), Crowe and BDO, having led operations across six jurisdictions and founded BDO’s offices in Luanda, Porto and Funchal. Education at Universidade Católica, Oxford Saïd (Private Equity Programme) and Chicago Booth (Valuation).