Hakan Goker and Owen Lozman are joint managing directors of M Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Germany-based pharmaceutical firm Merck Group.
Goker heads the unit’s biotechnology investments, covering healthcare and life sciences, while Lozman is responsible for technology investments, including electronics, frontier tech and sustainability.
The Netherlands-based unit has been involved in the creation and progress of more than 80 businesses since it was set up, originally as MS Ventures, in 2009. It has four dedicated areas of operation: healthcare, life sciences, performance materials and new businesses. Merck’s strategic schemes also include Merck Accelerator and collaboration programs to accelerate innovation.
Among its recent investments are participation in the $102m series B round for cancer therapy specialist Plexium and a role in the $56m series A round for Celestial AI, a business which develops AI-driven data centre solutions.
Other M Ventures portfolio companies are Future Fertility, which provides AI tools for reproductive medicine, semiconductor developer NeoLogic and Biolinq, a business which has developed a wearable sensor to measure blood levels.
Goker joined M Ventures in 2013 having previously been a partner at VC firm Aescap Venture, with a remit for European opportunities. He has a PhD in oncology from the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of London, and a bachelor’s degree from University College London.
Lozman joined M Ventures February 2018. His previous role was as head of new platform R&D for Merck’s electronics business in Germany. Lozman has a PhD in physical organic chemistry from the University of Leeds.
