John serves as a Senior Advisor to Starburst, based in Washington, DC, where he focuses on strategy, M&A, and aerospace & defense innovation. He brings deep expertise in identifying and advancing dual-use technologies, shaping market entry strategies, and connecting emerging defense companies to the networks, capital, and partnerships they need to scale.
With more than 25 years of experience spanning defense, aerospace, engineering services, and professional services, John has led strategy and growth initiatives across some of the sector’s most complex international environments. He has carried P&L accountability for a $1.1B global engineering and consulting business, executed more than 25 M&A transactions across buy-side, sell-side, and strategic diligence assignments, and built international operations spanning the US, UK, Europe, and the Middle East.
His defense credentials include deep engagement with major primes and government clients across NATO-allied markets, from primes to startups, as well as direct advisory work for US and allied government stakeholders on industrial policy, innovation strategy, and security cooperation.John’s international experience is a defining feature of his career.
He co-founded and scaled Renaissance Strategic Advisors, a boutique global defense and aerospace consultancy, with operations in London and Washington and client engagements across more than 20 countries. He has built and led teams across six countries, developed market strategies for clients operating in the Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America, and navigated the regulatory, cultural, and stakeholder complexities of cross-border defense and technology transactions. He has been a recognized voice in international aerospace and defense strategy, with media appearances on the BBC, Bloomberg, 60 Minutes, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.
Prior to Starburst, John held senior roles at AtkinsRéalis, Cyient, PA Consulting, and Jane’s Information Group, and holds a B.A. in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs and Political Science from Miami University.
Harold Strong is Senior Advisor to Starburst Accelerator’s Innovation Corridor Defense Accelerator (ICDA).
Harold is a technology commercialization and innovation ecosystem leader with 25+ years of experience building public-private partnerships that accelerate entrepreneurship, regional economic growth, and national security outcomes.
As Senior Advisor to Starburst Accelerator’s Innovation Corridor Defense Accelerator (ICDA), Harold helps build a dual-use innovation ecosystem spanning San Antonio and Austin by connecting high-growth startups in aerospace, defense, and emerging technologies with DoD stakeholders, investors, universities, and regional anchors.
Previously, as Executive Director of STAR Park at Texas State University, he launched startup acceleration programs and helped secure more than $40 million in investment for emerging companies. Earlier roles at the University of North Texas and Texas A&M Research Park further built his expertise in translating research into market-ready ventures.
Jérémie Phan is an operations executive with a background spanning aerospace & defense and digital media. He joined Starburst as Chief Operating Officer, where he is responsible for structuring and scaling the organization across its global footprint.
Prior to Starburst, Jérémie spent eight years at Webedia, a leading digital media and entertainment group. As Chief of Staff to the CEO, he led strategic and cross-functional initiatives – new business ventures, long-term incentive design, and organizational restructuring. He was then appointed COO of the Production & Talents division, overseeing a €70M P&L and ~300 people across influence marketing, audiovisual production, media IP, and esport. He later joined the Executive Committee as Chief Operations Hubs Officer, driving the group’s operational transformation.
Jérémie began his career at Cylad Consulting, an aerospace & defense management consulting firm, embedded in critical European defense and commercial aviation programs – including Airbus A320/A350, A400M, and classified platforms.
He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO, with a specialization in aeronautical systems, industrial management, and applied machine learning.
Nicholas Hong, Starburst Singapore Managing Director, brings over 14 years of experience in innovation consulting, ecosystem development, and cross-border venture building across Southeast Asia.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and began his career in management consulting. He later served in key roles at Enterprise Singapore and IMDA, where he helped shape sector innovation strategies, brokered international partnerships (including bilateral programs with Israel) and drove digital transformation for high-growth SMEs across multiple sectors.
Nicholas also has hands-on experience as a founder and operator, having built and scaled multiple ventures in retail, fitness, and entertainment across the CLMV countries.
Having worked extensively with SMEs, government agencies, and founders, Nicholas brings a uniquely blended perspective to deep tech innovation in Southeast Asia. Currently based in Singapore, he leads Starburst’s efforts in startup sourcing, corporate innovation partnerships, and ecosystem development.
Michael leads Starburst’s US east coast operations based in Arlington, VA.
Michael is an international commercial aerospace, defense & space executive experienced in working with disruptively innovative start-ups across numerous commercial aerospace, defense & space domains as their banker, consultant, acquirer and employee since before it became popular.
Michael’s formative experiences include intelligence operations and combat service with the 82nd Airborne Division for Operation Desert Storm, with Task Force 118 for then-classified Operation Prime Chance, and missions with the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion (Airborne) (Tactical Exploitation) supporting the XVIII Airborne Corps, the JFK Special Warfare Center & School and national level agencies.
Since graduating from the Wharton School, Michael worked in strategy consulting (McKinsey & PricewaterhouseCoopers), Fortune 500 corporate development (Rockwell Collins & Thales) and investment banking (PCE Investment Bankers & The McLean Group) roles. More recently, he served as Strategy, Business Development & Sales VP at AI start-up SparkCognition and as the VP of Strategic Partnerships at Israeli offensive cyber counter-UAS start-up D-Fend Solutions.
Michael is the founder of senior executive association Wharton Aerospace and its 1492 Club. He is also a board director at the National Defense University Foundation.
Íñigo Estébanez de la Mata leads Starburst’s activities in Spain, driving collaborations between local institutions, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs. He played a key role in launching Spain’s first space-dedicated startup accelerator, the New Space Catalonia Accelerator, and has supported major aerospace and defense corporations in their open innovation strategies.
With a background in aerospace engineering, Íñigo studied at Universidad Europea de Madrid and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Before joining Starburst, he contributed to the design of a small satellite launcher and a nanosatellite, gaining hands-on experience in both engineering and procurement.
Ilan Rozenkopf is Senior Advisor at Starburst.
After graduating with a master’s degree in development economics from the London School of Economics and an engineering degree from École Centrale de Paris, he joined McKinsey & Company. During more than 13 years as a Partner at McKinsey & Company, he specialized in strategy and corporate finance for aviation, defense, and space corporates (with a focus on growth and innovation).
His distinctiveness within the sector lies in three main areas: expertise in strategy and corporate finance, space industry specialization, and experience with startups and scale-ups. Ilan has substantial knowledge in strategy and corporate finance, serving numerous heads of strategy, M&A, CFOs within the industry, as well as private equity investors. In space expertise, he led McKinsey’s space practice in Europe, working closely with major European space players and the European Space Agency. Additionally, he brings significant experience working with startups and scale-ups, particularly in urban air mobility and the emerging “new space” sector.
Louis Mangold is a growth-focused executive with over a decade of international experience across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. His background combines strong operational leadership in business development and project management with strategic expertise developed at INSEAD and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
He is currently Managing Director for France at Starburst, a role he assumed in 2026, where he leads the development and expansion of aerospace and defense innovation ecosystems.
Prior to this, Louis spent nearly five years at BCG as a Senior Manager, leading teams on high-impact strategic projects with a strong sovereign dimension. His work included public policy reviews at cabinet level, critical infrastructure development strategies, and strategic deal sourcing in regulated or state-influenced environments.
Earlier in his career, Louis served as Business Development Manager for several infrastructure and energy companies. He sourced and negotiated over 30 infrastructure deals across West Africa and the Middle East, while contributing to regional strategy development, engaging with local industrial players, and collaborating with institutional stakeholders and private equity funds to finance complex projects.
Louis holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Master’s degree in Engineering from INP Grenoble.
Bart supports researchers and entrepreneurs in developing solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges. As Head of Accelerator at Starburst, he leads the new Innovation Corridor Defense Accelerator (ICDA) to catalyze the Austin-to-San Antonio, Texas region’s emerging aerospace, defense and space technology sectors.
As a Partner at ATP, he invests in early stage, deep-tech startups tackling energy transition, future-of-compute and climate change challenges. Bart teaches Entrepreneurial Finance at The University of Texas at Austin and is a co-founder of the emerging Texas Futures Coalition, a group of regional leaders developing a Texas-wide climate solutions ecosystem.
Previously in Bart’s entrepreneurial journey, he founded 3 Day Startup to provide learning-by-doing entrepreneurship educational programs to college students around the world; ATI Water to reduce embedded water in agriculture, energy production and manufacturing; WaterRIOT to get internet-of-things technologists to focus on our water infrastructure; UT SEAL to transition the most promising university-sourced startups to the mainstream startup ecosystem; Build Sec Foundry to help veterans launch cyber security startups; and co-designed and co-led the Onward climate tech startup accelerator with a division of Shell Energy. His own AI startups were members of Techstars, Capital Factory and ATI and he was previously a management consultant with KPMG Consulting (BearingPoint) and Arthur Andersen.
