By Olesia Karvetskaia, COO
November 12, 2026
Life science has become a networked industry. A growing company’s most important capabilities are rarely all on its own payroll. Manufacturing, regulatory know-how, commercial expertise and access to international markets more and more often sit with partners. Capital can grow quickly, but the organisation around it often grows slowly, so the people inside the company decide how far the money goes. They are the ones who choose the partners, manage them and know what to ask of them.
This is the idea behind The Human Capital of Growth, a new report from Executive Ventures produced with Ventures Accelerated. The report starts from a simple equation, Capital + Strategic Access + Human Capital = Growth Capacity, and asks what it means for the founders, boards and investors who build life science companies.
A London launch
The report is launched in London during London Life Sciences Week, when the Jefferies Healthcare Conference also brings an unusually large number of investors, growth companies and industry leaders to the city. Executive Ventures hosts the evening together with Lonza and Freeths.
The evening opens with the Piccadilly Pitching Circus. Selected growth companies and investors meet in small, rotating groups, and companies pitch directly to investors. The fast format leaves room for the informal conversations that often matter most.
Carolina Ragnerstam, CEO of Executive Ventures, then presents the report. A panel follows that explores how growth companies get the expertise, networks and strategic capabilities they need to move from scientific potential to commercial scale. It also asks what leaders should think about before a missing capability becomes a bottleneck.
Voices from across the ecosystem
The panel is moderated by Bita Sehat, Partner at Trill Impact Ventures and Chairwoman of Executive Ventures. It brings together perspectives that rarely share a stage:
Giovanna Libralon, Senior Director and Head of Business Development EMEA/APAC, Advanced Synthesis at Lonza, on drug development and manufacturing
Claus Andersen, Partner and Head of Life Sciences at Freeths, on the legal and commercial path of growing companies
Emmelie Persson, CEO of BioReperia and business angel at LifeScience Invest, on building a biotech from the inside
Giulia Vestri, Partner at Claris Ventures,
Lovisa Backemar, Partner at Eir Ventures, on backing early-stage life science companies
The panel spans manufacturing, law, company building and venture capital, the same partners and people the report puts at the centre of growth.
From capital to capacity
For Executive Ventures, the launch marks an important moment. The company was founded on the belief that life science companies need more than a strong idea and a funding round. They need leadership suited to the stage they are heading into, built before the milestone that will test it. Bringing that conversation to London, together with partners such as Lonza and Freeths, shows that the question is now firmly on the agenda of the international life science community.