Martijn Lopes Cardozo

Martijn is a Partner at Regeneration.VC, supporting the fund’s European expansion strategy across fundraising, sourcing, diligence, and ecosystem building.

His journey to become a serial entrepreneur began in California, where Martijn built successful companies in mobile and digital media including GoldPocket Interactive (exit: Tandberg/Ericsson) and GPW (exit: Motricity). Returning to the Netherlands, he pivoted focus to the circular economy transition, moving the world from a “take, make, dispose” linear economy to one that uplifts material flows through intentional design, responsible use, and systematic reuse.

For six years, Martijn served as CEO of Black Bear, a circular economy technology company upcycling end-of-life tires into valuable materials. During this period, he joined the Supervisory Board of Circle Economy Foundation, an Amsterdam-based organization empowering nations, cities, and businesses with practical and scalable circular solutions. Martijn was soon asked to step in as CEO of Circle Economy, where he closed key partnerships with European Investment Bank and Deloitte, spearheaded the launch of the annual Circularity Gap Report and secured long term projects together with UNIDO, European Union and Chatham House.

Martijn serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence with YES!Delft and has presented at World Economic Forum, COP, UNGA Climate Week, and TEDx. He holds an MSc in Applied Physics from TU Delft and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He now lives in the Netherlands with his wife and three sons.