TEAM

Mindaugas is the founder of Girteka, a leader and builder of successful businesses and teams. He founded Girteka in 1996, and starting with just one truck, scaled Girteka to a company with a fleet of over 10,000 trucks that employs more than 20,000 people. Mindaugas is actively engaged in Willgrow’s investment decision making and provides leadership to the firm. He completed the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Edvardas has been with the company since 1997. Together, with Mindaugas they continue to be the sole shareholders of the company. During Edvardas’ leadership as the CEO, Girteka grew 40 times in size. He graduated from Vilnius Tech university, received his MBA from the BMI Executive Institute and furthered his business education at the Wharton Business School and IMD.

Adam Saulius is the Founder and Managing Director of Civitta, a management consultancy regional leader covering over 20 countries with a team of 800 professionals. Prior to Civitta, Adam Saulius worked at McKinsey and Company in Warsaw (Poland).  Adam Saulius brings the expertise he gained from serving on the boards of leading companies in the Baltic region. He graduated from Harvard University and received an MBA from the Wharton Business School.

Mantas has more than 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, including positions at the Big 4 auditing companies. He has been Willgrow’s Group CFO since 2004. In 2021 he became Willgrow’s CEO. Mantas graduated from Vilnius University and holds an ACCA qualification and continues to pursue his executive education at IMD and the Harvard Business School.

Tomas has more than 17 years of experience in the financial industry working with various asset classes, both private and public. Tomas serves on the investment board of Vilnius University Endowment. He graduated from Vilnius University before completing an MBA at ISM University as well as the PE/VC Executive Program at Harvard Business School.

Justinas has 15+ years of cross-asset investment experience. Prior to Willgrow, he was Head of Trading at Luminor Bank, Institutional Sales at BGC Aurel, and Portfolio Manager at Aegon Asset Management. Justinas is also an active angel investor and a member of LITBAN. He is a graduate of Vilnius University (BSc) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (MSc). Additionally, he passed three levels of the CFA exam and completed executive studies at UC Berkeley Haas.

Arvydas is a specialist in real estate and private equity investments, alternatives research intelligence & strategy. Prior to joining Willgrow, he was with Anthos Fund & Asset Management in Amsterdam covering its private equity and real estate capital allocation programmes. He holds both a Master’s degree and a PhD from Edinburgh Napier University, is ESMA/MiFID II compliant Institutional Investment Advisor and CAIA charter holder.

Domilė has extensive experience providing advice on corporate finance and fundraising to various clients, ranging from startups to publicly listed companies. Prior to joining Willgrow, she lived and worked in the UK and the Netherlands for more than a decade. She holds an MSc in Finance from Cranfield University and a BSc in Economics from University of Essex.

Lisa co-founded Top Tier Capital Partners as Managing Director and Investment Committee member. Her previous roles include positions at WR Hambrecht, Horsley Bridge, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Lisa, who has lived in San Francisco and London, splits her time between the US, UK, and Europe. She currently advises Limited and General Partners independently. Lisa earned her B.S. in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas.

Nicolas founded Swan Capital, a research and investment firm based in Zurich and was a Founding Partner & CIO of InPact Partners. Before this, he spent 20 years in Investment Banking in management functions across Global Markets at Credit Suisse and Salomon Brothers. He is an Independent Board Member of L1D, a FINMA regulated Crypto/Blockchain asset manager. Nicolas holds a Master’s degree in Banking & Finance from Regent’s University in London and is an Alumnus of IMD and Singularity University.

Mark Schmitz, a co-founder of Equation, is a seasoned technology investor with previous experience as a Partner and founding team member at Lakestar, one of the leading European VC firms. He served as Vice-Chairman of Germany’s PE and VC Association (BVK) from 2019 to 2023. An active member of Founders Pledge, Mark also supports Ashoka’s Carry for Good initiative. He holds degrees in law and business from Bucerius Law School and TU Munich, and completed postgraduate studies at Stanford University, fuelling his passion for entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Vilma has two decades of industry experience in the hedge fund and asset management industries across Lithuania, Monaco, and Malta. She joined Willgrow from a senior management role at a quantitative trading group, following her position as COO at GWM Asset Management. Prior to that, Vilma was a founding member and COO at Seia Capital Management and held key operational roles at Pivot Capital Management. Vilma is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) and holds a degree in Economics from Vilnius University in Lithuania.

Eugenijus has extensive experience advising clients on M&A, corporate and investment transactions, as well as energy projects in the Baltics, CEE and the Nordics. He has experience serving on the Board of Directors and Supervisory Boards at the top companies in the Baltics.  Eugenijus holds a Master’s degree from Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania, and has completed the European Law program in Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

Šarūnas has experience in financial controlling, financial planning and M&A. He previously worked at Ignitis Group after graduating from Lancaster University with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics. He also passed three levels of the CFA exam.

Rokas is a finance specialist responsible for managing various financial operations within the company. Before joining Willgrow, he acquired valuable experience at Ernst & Young (EY), where he contributed to multiple external audit engagements. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from ISM University, Rokas has also successfully completed the necessary exams for the ACCA qualification.

Jurgita has over 20 years of experience in operations, support services and workspace management. She has a Master’s degree from Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences.