The team
CEO & Founder
Ex-Palantir Deputy Head of Global Business
Shahreen Reza is a serial entrepreneur. Prior to Astreas, Shahreen was the Deputy Head of Global Business at Palantir Technologies. Reza's first start-up, PurifAid, was a cleantech water company that used the byproduct of Scotch Whisky to decontaminate industrially polluted water in Europe and took the technology to the villages of Bangladesh to tackle the arsenic water crisis.
She studied Finance & Strategy in Sciences-Po, Paris, and holds an MPhil in Counter-Terrorism and Security from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelors in Philosophy, Russian Literature, and Politics from Trinity College, University of Toronto. Shahreen trained at Cordon Bleu, Paris and apprenticed at a Michelin Star restaurant in California, and the iconic French bistro, Chez Marcel, in Paris.
Chief Technology Officer
Research Fellow at MIT, Engineered Payloads for ISS
Dr. Aaron Persad is co-founder of Mission: Space Food and CTO of its Astreas arm. He has over 20 years of experience in space science research and spaceflight technology development with degrees from the University of Toronto in Engineering Science and Biomedical Engineering (BASc), Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (PhD). He has designed and built payloads that have flown on stratospheric balloons, reduced gravity parabolic flights, and the International Space Station. From 2010-16 he represented Canada as a mission team member in the European Space Agency’s Microgravity Applications Program. Dr. Persad is currently a Research Scientist in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is developing nanotechnologies for purification, dialysis treatment, and fusion reactors. He brings his expertise on human spaceflight to the Astreas team and helps develop specialized manufacturing technologies for the company.
Anilkumar Dave Space Strategy Lead
Former Head of Innovation at the Italian Space Agency
Anil Dave started his career as IT specialist between Italy, USA and India before managing EU co-funded R&D and Tech. Transf. (TT) initiatives representing public organisations (eg Italian Min. of Econ. Dev., Regional Innovation Agency, etc) and private entities focusing on interaction between Res. and Ind. He designed, launched and directed the “Innovation and TT” Unit at ASI (Italian Space Agency) working on New Space Economy topics, namely start-ups, risk finance and IPR, before becoming Open Innovation advisor to the president and coordinator of the ASI OECD team. He founded the first Space Economy advisory firm in Italy and is currently member of the board of Global Entrepreneurship Network Space, advisor of Polytechnic of Milan Space Economy observatory and of Italian Institute of Technology Space lab. Since 2023 he is partner of Star Tech Venture Fund. At Astreas, Anil leads the Space Strategy in terms of effective partnerships and liaisons in Europe.
Director of Marketing
MSc X-HEC Entrepreneurs
Richie Kim is a driven and accomplished young professional with a strong background in marketing and entrepreneurship. With a passion for developing and executing innovative strategies, he founded HyperBrand, a successful digital marketing agency based in Toronto. Through HyperBrand, Richie has helped design and scale small and medium-sized brands across a variety of industries, establishing strong brand identities and staying current with industry trends. In addition to his marketing expertise, Richie has also founded a vegan and inclusive Korean skincare brand, introducing clean Korean skincare to the North American market. Richie holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Political Science from the University of Toronto's Trinity College, as well as a Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris and Ecole Polytechnique. He has recently been accepted to Imperial College Business School for a Master's Degree in Strategic Marketing as well. Overall, Richie's key competencies include his ability to develop and execute innovative marketing strategies, his strong foundation in entrepreneurship, and his passion for staying current with industry trends.
Simulation Engineer
NASA Human Test Subject
Driven by his passion for space travel, Waylon works in Mission Control at NASA Johnson Space Center to help land the first woman and next man on the Moon. He is a PhD student researcher with former NASA Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff. Working alongside Astreas' advisor, Greg, Waylon brings to the team high fidelity VR/AR simulation software development and experience as a NASA crew test subject and food taste tester for NASA. His research interests include human spaceflight operations, Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC), and Lunar surface operations. Outside of spaceflight, Waylon is a private pilot, singer, and beatboxer. He enjoys flying around Texas and hopes to be a volunteer emergency life flight pilot. His love for music has granted him the opportunity to perform all over the United States, including on Broadway in New York. Ultimately, he hopes to be a crew member for a long-duration space mission.
Chief Financial Officer
Former Head of Finance of Nestle Health Science Europe
Chief Product Officer
Owner of Recchiuti Confections, NYT Ranked Top Boxed Chocolate of 2022
Nutritional Biochemist
Formulator behind America’s best-selling pre-workout brand C4
Marcelo Bizantino
Technology Evangelist
Leads Payments Operations at gTech Google
Revenue Strategist
VP Marketing at OpFocus
Growth Hacker
Global Product Lead Manager at Google
US Space Strategy
Former NASA Astronaut
Space Advisor
Medical Strategic Research Advisor at Orbital Assembly Corporation