MS

Margarita Skarkou

Investor at 2150

London, England

Overview 

Margarita Skarkou is a VC Investor at 2150 and a Non-Executive member of the Innovate UK - UKRI Credit Committee, with a focus on ClimateTech/CleanTech and FinTech sectors. She has held various leadership roles at Barclays and serves as an Advisory Board Member for UK Research and Innovation, showcasing a strong background in finance and investment strategy. Skarkou's career highlights include serving as a Principal at 2150 and being involved in investments such as Nature Metrics at the Series B stage, demonstrating her expertise in sustainable investing and leveraging her diverse skill set in financial risk, project management, and stakeholder management.

Work Experience 

  • Senior Principal - Infrastructure Private Equity

    2025 - Current

  • Advisory Board Member

    2023

    Member of the Building a Green Future Advisory Board.

  • Non Executive Credit Committee Member

    2021

    Non executive member of the credit committee for Innovate UK’s innovation loans programme.

  • Angel Investor

    2019

    Focusing primarily on climate / sustainability, healthtech and AI. Investments include BeZero Carbon, Greenworkx, What3words, Carwow, JustPark (exited), Tala Thrive, AUAR and others.

  • Principal

    2021 - 2025

    - Principal in the investment team at 2150. Member of the leadership group and sustainability committee. - Board roles / investments: NatureMetrics, Nodes & Links, Blue Frontier, Mission Zero Tech, Metycle.

  • Vice President - Principal Investments, Sustainable Impact Capital

    2021 - 2021

    - VP in Sustainable Impact Capital team, which is part of Barclays' Principal Investments team, committed to investing £500m into climatetech businesses globally. - Focused on Series A and B minority equity investments.

  • Green Banking Council Member

    2016 - 2021

    - Member of this cross-departmental group led by Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas developing and launching a green finance strategy and range of green finance products at Barclays. - Worked on development on the bank's first green taxonomy, as well as green deposits and loans products for consumers and corporates.

  • Vice President / Founder Member - Barclays Ventures

    2018 - 2021

    - Co-founded new Business Unit and helped grow team from 4 to 100+ in 18months. - Involved in strategy development, spanning investments, new product development and start-up acceleration / incubation. - Developed investment thesis focused on financial wellbeing and inclusion. - Worked on 5+ minority equity investments (Seed - Series B), leading 3 of those deals.

  • Associate, Leveraged Finance Credit - Barclays Investment Bank

    2017 - 2018

    - Analyst to Associate in European Leveraged Finance Credit team - Worked on LBO transactions across industries; notable deals included Akzo Nobel Specialty Chemicals carve-out (acquired by Carlyle), Flora Foods Group carve-out (acquired by KKR), A&O Hostels & Hotels (TPG Real Estate), Clarion Events (Blackstone), Holland & Barrett (Letter One) - Member of ‘Junior Women in Banking’ committee

  • Analyst - Barclays Investment Bank

    2015 - 2016

    - Analyst in Strategic Risk Management team; focused primarily on credit and market risk.

  • Future Leaders Development Programme (FLDP)

    2014 - 2015

  • Advisory Board Member - Women in Finance

    2020 - 2021

  • Head of Strategy

    2016 - 2018

    The Greek Economic Forum (GEF) was a think-tank and global business network dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship, sustainable economic growth and investments in Greece. Run entirely by volunteers, < 30 years old. Member of the Executive Committee. Responsible for developing and implementing strategy, engaging stakeholders (sponsors, government, media, academics, etc.) and presenting / speaking at events. Awarded by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, in December 2017 for our work. Currently operate under the auspices of the Hellenic Republic. http://greekeconomicforum.org

  • Assistant Project Manager

    2013 - 2013

  • Teaching & Development Summer Placement

    2012 - 2012

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