Paris – France, April 14, 2021 – In order to support its European development strategy in several investment sectors, Karista announces the appointment of Yvan-Michel Ehkirch as a new member of its Executive Board. He will sit alongside with Catherine Boule, currently Managing Director, and Olivier Dubuisson, Chairman.  

Karista is an early-stage venture capital firm created in 2001 investing in the fields of Digital, DeepTech, NewSpace and Healthcare. In June 2020, while announcing its rebranding, Karista presented its new ambitions: to become a European multifund venture management platform. In this perspective, Karista has decided to expand its Executive Board by appointing Yvan-Michel Ehkirch.

Yvan-Michel’s bio

Yvan-Michel Ehkirch began his career in 1991 within the software industry and has 10 years of experience in marketing, business development and management at major international software companies (Sherpa Corp., Dassault Systèmes). He has been Director of Marketing and Development for Europe at Engineering Animation Inc. (now Siemens PLM).

Yvan-Michel has been working as an investor in the venture capital industry since 2001 and is an active contributor of the investment and innovation ecosystem of high growth startups. He is a board member of several innovative companies such as Webgeoservices, Tallano technologies or Exotrail. He has been an investor and member of the strategic committees or board of directors of JeChange.fr, Comiteo (acquired by Natixis), Greenpoint (acquired by WebHelp), Sevenhugs (acquired by Qorvo) and Navya (listed on Euronext Paris). He joined Karista in 2011 as a Partner and launched and developed the Paris Region Venture Fund (40 investment to date). Yvan-Michel Ehkirch is a graduate engineer from ESIEA (École Supérieure d’Informatique Électronique et Automatique).

« It is an honor for me to join Olivier Dubuisson and Catherine Boule at Karista’s Executive Board. They are two talented investors with whom I have been working for over 10 years. By pooling our skills and experience within the Board, we are enabling ourselves to meet the multiple needs of both our investors allowing us to become an active player on the European scene. I am looking forward to use my expertise and experience to support Karista in this new chapter”, said Yvan-Michel Ehkrich following his nomination.

« The appointment of Yvan-Michel Ehkirch occurs a few months after the renewal of our brand and reflects our desire to bring together experienced men and women with complementary specialties who are capable of making investments that bypass both trends and millenarianism”, said Olivier Dubuisson, President of Karista.

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