OUR PEOPLE
Individuals with complementary skills have been recruited to form a solid, dynamic investment team.
Matt Hermann
Senior Managing Director
Ryan Schuler
Managing Director
Tara Butler, M.D.
Managing Director
Victor Kats
Managing Director
Rubal Bedi
Investment Director
Jamie Wehrung
Senior Director,
Finance & Administration
John Kuelper
Investment Director
Jordan Prohaska
Investment Associate
Stephen Cooper
Investment Associate
Matt Hermann
Senior Managing Director
Matt Hermann actively leads Ascension Ventures' overall investing efforts. Matt has been a board member or observer at several Ascension Ventures portfolio companies, including Advanced Practice Strategies, BioEnterprise, BioImagene, BodyMedia, Cheetah Medical, Millennium Pharmacy Systems, Vascular Pathways and Zonare. Before joining Ascension Ventures in 2001, he served as vice president with Atlantic Medical Management, LLC, a New York-based venture capital management company focused on early- to mid-stage healthcare services and information technology investments. Prior to that, Matt served in financial management roles at two publicly traded healthcare companies, Nutrition 21, Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and worked at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City. He holds a BS in Engineering from Tufts University, and an MBA in Finance from New York University, Leonard N. Stern Graduate School of Business. In his free time, Matt enjoys participating in sports like basketball and tennis, spending time with his family, and eating at restaurants with amazing food at reasonable prices.
Ryan Schuler
Managing Director
Ryan Schuler joined Ascension Ventures in 2002 and primarily focuses on investments in the healthcare services sector. He has been a board member or observer for several Ascension Ventures portfolio companies, including Aethon, Comprehensive Pharmacy Services, Haven Behavioral, Impulse Monitoring, NaviHealth, SeQual Technologies, Solstas Lab Partners, and SterilMed. Ryan previously worked with A.G. Edward's mergers and acquisitions investment banking group. He began his career in the transaction support and audit practices at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ryan earned his MBA from Washington University and his BS from Christian Brothers University. Ryan enjoys spending time with his family and friends and he aims to find the wind that will one day carry his sails to tropical ports.
Tara Butler, M.D.
Managing Director
Tara Butler came to Ascension Ventures in 2002 after completing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University in St. Louis. She primarily focuses on investments in the medical device and diagnostics sector. Tara has been a board member or observer at several Ascension Ventures portfolio companies, including Apama Medical, Augmenix, CHF Solutions, Confluent Surgical, CSA Medical, HemoSphere, Interventional Spine, ISTO Technologies, Ivantis, MindFrame, Neurolutions, Novasys, Ocular Therapeutix, OptiScan Biomedical, PathoGenetix, Stereotaxis (NASD:STXS), and TomoTherapy (NASD:TOMO). Prior to attending medical school, she held positions in business development at Medtronic, in finance at Honeywell and as a laboratory research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She holds a BS in Economics and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Tara keeps busy with her three children, but enjoys skiing and traveling whenever possible.
John Kuelper
Investment Director
John Kuelper joined Ascension Ventures in 2014 as a Kauffman Fellow. John is Founder and President of Qualia Holdings LLC, a platform for systems biology and therapeutic ventures. He has advised or worked for several investment firms (Adams Street Partners, Sterling Partners, Abundant Venture Partners), medical technology companies (Stereotaxis, Orpheden Therapeutics), and non-profits (The Kresge Foundation, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association). John began his career as a medical researcher studying computational neuroscience and medical robotics and has over fifteen years of experience as a commercial software developer. John earned JD and MBA degrees from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Kellogg School of Management where he graduated with honors and was elected Beta Gamma Sigma (top 10% of class). He earned a BA in cognitive neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis, graduating magna cum laude. In 2014 he was elected to the Kauffman Fellows Society. In his spare time, John enjoys hiking and camping with his two dogs and listening to live music.
Victor Kats
Managing Director
Victor Kats joined Ascension Ventures in 2009 from Allscripts-Misys, a $3 billion healthcare information technology company, where he led corporate development, strategy and integration activities. Victor leads Ascension Ventures' investments in the healthcare information technology sector and brings an operating perspective across the acute care, ambulatory and post acute continuum. He is a Director of Ingenious Med, Phreesia, Quantros, Vivify Health and a Board Observer at GetWellNetwork. He is past Director of MedVentive which was sold to McKesson in 2012. Prior to his tenure at Allscripts-Misys, Victor served as Vice President at Lehman Brothers where he focused on mergers and acquisitions in the communications, media and technology sectors. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is married with four children and enjoys playing golf, tennis and watching North Carolina basketball.
Jamie Wehrung
Senior Director, Finance & Administration
Jamie Wehrung joined Ascension Ventures in 2001 and brings several years of accounting and finance experience to her position at Ascension Ventures, including more than 20 years with Catholic healthcare systems. She joined Ascension Ventures after three years as a Senior Analyst in the financial planning group at Ascension Health. Prior to that, Jamie spent seven years in finance posts with Caritas Christi Healthcare System in Boston, including Director of Finance for the system and several subsidiaries. She began her career in the audit division of Deloitte & Touche LLP in Boston. A certified public accountant, she earned her BS in Accounting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Jamie enjoys all things culinary, gardening and yoga.
Helen Ciesielski
Investment Principal
Helen Ciesielski joined Ascension Ventures in 2011 from The Fortune Group, a middle-market investment bank, where she served as an analyst. Prior to her tenure at The Fortune Group, Helen held an analyst position in the finance division of Planar Systems. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound and received an MBA from the University of Portland. Helen enjoys spending time with her family and friends, running, swimming, and traveling.
Rubal Bedi
Investment Director
Rubal Bedi joined Ascension Ventures in 2016 after nearly a decade at Medtronic, where he led business development within the Aortic and Peripheral Vascular group. He primarily focuses on investments in the medical device and diagnostics sector. While he was at Medtronic, Rubal served as a board observer at TVA Medical and 480 Biomedical. Previously, Rubal worked at PTV Healthcare Capital, a late-stage venture and growth equity firm. Rubal received an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a BA from the University of California at Irvine. Outside of Ascension Ventures, Rubal enjoys spending time with his family, rooting for his Bay Area sports teams and traveling internationally with his family and friends.
Jordan Prohaska
Investment Associate
Jordan Prohaska joined Ascension Ventures in 2016 from Hovde Group, a boutique investment bank focused on the financial services industry. Prior to Hovde Group, Jordan was an analyst at Northern Trust, focusing on corporate actions for hedge fund clients. Jordan graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in finance. In his free time, Jordan enjoys playing golf and tennis, working out and cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Stephen Cooper
Investment Associate
Stephen Cooper joined Ascension Ventures in 2016 from BJC HealthCare, a leading St. Louis hospital system. Stephen served as senior analyst in the treasury group helping to manage and allocate BJC's corporate, pension, and foundation investments. He is a candidate in the CFA program and graduated with honors from the University of Missouri – Columbia with a BS in Finance and Banking. In his free time, Stephen enjoys traveling abroad and trail running.