Archives: People

Dr. Anne Piper trained and practiced as an Orthopedic Surgeon for 15 years in Northern Germany and over time has moved from “fixing joints” to understanding why patients become ill from their lifestyles. She is focused on preventive and causation-oriented intervention.

Her areas of expertise include Osteopathie (manual medicine), Sportsmedicine, Ayurvedic medicine, nutrition, and environmental medicine. She leads a medical center for families with chronic disease at the Baltic Sea, Kurzentrum Pelzerhaken, Germany. Their patients are educated in lifestyle themes as well as in their personal and professional development.

She is currently undertaking studies in the longevity sector, especially with the focus on mitochondrial medicine and the microbiome. In particular, she is undertaking a study of 100 patients who have beginning chronic lifestyle diseases that will receive certain novel treatments including in the areas of exercise, interval hyperoxie-hypoxie training (IHHT), PEMF (pulsed electro-magnetic fields) and stress management and test the impact on their microbiome, other longevity markers as well as their quality of life.

She graduated as a doctor of medicine, cardiology, University Tuebingen, magna cum laude, 1.0 with a semester at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore and Sloan Memorial Cancer Centre, NYC, US.

Dr Seema Sharma graduated with a PhD. in molecular neuroscience from University College London, and has a research background in neuroscience, biochemistry and proteomics. She has over seventeen years of experience in leadership positions in life science fields, including scientific publishing and biotechnology sectors. At SX2 she advises on scientific research across our areas of interest and has been responsible for several SX2 papers documenting the science behind lifestyle health.

With over 20 years’ experience in the investment sector and leadership of companies, Khawar Mann specialises in growth investing, with a particular emphasis on identifying emerging market forces and opportunities. Having led a number of companies, he has a blend of investment and operational experience, with a particular passion about generating social impact, most recently using impact investing as a transformational vehicle in the healthcare industry.

As an advisor and non-executive, his expertise lies in devising impact and commercial strategies, working with government leaders, private sector, and developmental organisations. With a proven track record of establishing affordable, high quality health systems in emerging markets, he also has a deep knowledge of innovation and trends in the generation and utilisation of data sets and of new technologies.

Previously as Chief Executive Officer of the Evercare Group, Khawar spearheaded the firm’s healthcare strategy and investments across emerging markets and led the development of the key building blocks of Evercare across India, Pakistan, Kenya and Nigeria. Prior to that he was Partner & Co-Head of the healthcare team at the international private equity firm Apax Partners, leading investments across Europe and Asia. He was also Chairman and President of Medsi Group, Russia’s largest private healthcare sector institution.

Mr. Mann holds an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA and LLM in Medical Sciences and Law from Cambridge University. He is the co-founder of Mosaic, a UK-based charity that mentors young adults in deprived communities, for which he received the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He is also head of the UK selection committee for the Thouron Award.

Sherwin Krug is CFO at SX2 Ventures and was most recently a partner at TechCXO, which provides on-demand CFO, COO and CTO services to both start-up and high growth companies. Sherwin’s experience includes finance, operations, M&A, legal, HR, marketing, compliance and product management. Sherwin has played a lead role in more than 23 buy and sell-side M&A transactions, totaling over $600-million.
Originally a Senior Manager with Ernst & Young, Sherwin has held CFO positions with private and public technology-focused companies and a COO position at a global internet marketplace. Sherwin was also the founder and CEO of an internet business prior to its sale to a subsidiary of Aetna. This role included successful fundraising and acting as the product manager for two separate Ruby on Rails and iPhone applications.

Sherwin has also been fortunate to work on companies from start-ups to the $150-million revenue range for leading private equity and venture capital firms including ABS Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Boston Ventures, Frontier Capital, Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo and more.
Sherwin is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Bachelor of Accounting Science Honors from the University of South Africa.
In 2018, Sherwin was a guest speaker on the topic of Blockchain at a Georgia Tech Leadership Conference and also recently presented to Emory Law Students as a guest lecturer on the topic of Financings and Financial Modeling.

After more than 25 years of global business experience, Tom Speechley co-founded SX2 Ventures with Diane Scott, leveraging his experience as an investor, business builder and lawyer to promote innovation and create long-term value in the human care sector.

Prior to the launch of SX2, Tom spent several years in the emerging market private equity and venture capital industry and was responsible for investments and business expansion in many developing countries. He has been an investor in innovative companies operating in North America and Europe for many years.

Earlier in his career, Tom practiced law in London and New York, specializing in financing buyouts and corporate acquisitions.

Tom Speechley is a Co-Founder of SX2 Ventures

Tom has sat on various corporate and not-for-profit boards including the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and Junior Achievement Worldwide. He has been a senior advisor to Endeavor, a global organization dedicated to supporting high-impact entrepreneurs across the globe and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the United Kingdom, a global network of people committed to enriching society through ideas and action.

Tom has written and spoken widely on emerging market private equity and guest lectured at a number of leading universities in the United States. Tom has also spoken on emerging market healthcare issues at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the United Nations and the Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank. He is the author of two books on Acquisition Finance and, while still a student at university, coded a series of educational software programs that were among the first used in the UK’s national curriculum.

At university, Tom initially studied chemical physics and then shifted his focus to law, graduating with a First-Class Honors degree in Law from the University of Sheffield, UK.

Described by Forbes as the company’s “savvy CEO”, Diane Scott brings over 20 years of global experience in the C-suite of enterprises in global emerging industries to her role of Chair and CEO of the JMCC Group.

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, JMCC Group is a fully integrated medical cannabis company, operating within a self-contained supply chain – from propagation and cultivation of raw material supply, product development, manufacturing and packaging, and through to global logistics and distribution. Founded in 2016, today, JMCC is a leading global provider of premium Jamaican medical cannabis products and services to the world.

Named as one of North America’s top female CEOs in the industry by MJ Business in 2019, Diane helms a rapidly growing business with contracted revenues from customers in Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, and guides the company’s continuing international expansion.

Having recently served on the Ontario Task Force on Women & the Economy as one of nine Canadian women tasked to help re-energize the economy post Covid-19, in 2021 she was also recognized by SME Magazine as one of its “Most Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders”. Diane was recently named “Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneur” by the International Stevie Awards, and was a 2021 finalist for the Universal Women’s Network’s “Women of Inspiration: Female CEO Making a Global Impact” award.
Diane is also an advisor to several corporations and non-profit groups. She is a Royal Patron of the Royal Ontario Museum and is also a Public Secretariat Appointee, representing the Minister of Finance for the Province of Ontario, on the Discipline Tribunal of the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO), where she formally served as a Board Member for eight years.

In addition, Diane is a regular speaker on the international stage on topics including regulatory developments and patient access to medical cannabis, venture capital success and investing for societal impact. Among her recent speaking engagements:

• Incubating Innovation – World Strategic Forum, Miami, U.S.A.
• Investing for Impact – International Economic Forum of the Americas, Toronto, Canada
• Building a Global Cannabis Industry – International Economic Forum of the Americas, Toronto, Canada
• Keeping Patients, a Priority – Lift Conference & Expo, Toronto, Canada
• Perspectives on Global Cannabis Reform – CANNTalks, Cambridge University, Trinity College, U.K.
• Co-Chair – Medical Cannabis Research Symposium, London, U.K.
• Cannabis Industry Developments in Latin America & the Caribbean – MJBizCon International, Toronto, Canada
• In Conversation with Diane Scott – Global Food Forum, Sydney Australia
• The Age of Global Cannabis – International Economic Forum of the Americas, Toronto, Canada
• One-on-One with Diane Scott – CanEx Conference & Expo, Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Fearless Women Canada – In Conversations with Janice McDonald

Diane is also interviewed regularly by business and cannabis industry media, both traditional and new outlets and has appeared on Canada Broadcast Corporations, CBC’s ‘On the Money’ with Peter Armstrong. Some other recent coverage includes:

Canadian SME Magazine: Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders
National Post: Celebrating those who break the grass ceiling
Cannabis Prospect Magazine: JMCC Group Expands Global Medical Cannabis Distribution Network with Australasia Partnership
Jersey Evening Post: Canadian medicinal cannabis firm’s plans for Jersey
CannabisPatientCare.com: Top Female CEO in Medical Cannabis Focuses on Patients, Community, and Science
Canadian SME Magazine: Meet the Canadian Woman Who Built an International Cannabis Company from the Ground Up

In addition to her JMCC role, Diane is also the co-founder of SX2 Ventures, an international venture capital firm business based in London, which focuses on innovation and value creation in the human care sector, investing in life sciences, longevity, specialized care and emerging market healthcare solutions. Sx2’s founders share the belief that business and capital must always benefit humanity: hence, every investment by Sx2 has a strong social “give-back” component.