After a successful corporate career in Finance that led her to become CFO of Shell Aviation—one of Shell Petroleum Inc.’s global businesses—in her mid-thirties, Marianne chose to dedicate her expertise, experience, and international network to serving a greater purpose.

In 2014, she launched her own M&A advisory practice focused on frontier markets, while also investing in and supporting ambitious deep-tech ventures aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2022, Marianne co-founded and now runs Transitions First, one of the few international industrial venture funds dedicated to the underserved segment of scalable industrial start-ups (re)building local, modular and resources-efficient supply chains.

Widely recognized for her leadership, visionary thinking, and ability to act as a powerful bridge between deep-tech entrepreneurs and investment ecosystems, Marianne received the Women’s Business Initiative International Ambition Award in 2014. She firmly believes that value creation stems from the ability to think differently, communicate authentically, and drive transformation.

Throughout both her corporate and entrepreneurial journeys, she has witnessed the best—and the worst—of leadership and is deeply committed to sharing her insights and experience to support others in their own paths.