Team

Johannes Burlin is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Tilia and has over 25 years of professional experience as an operating executive in companies related to Tilia’s investment area, including most recently serving as Partner and President of Safe Foods International, a group focusing solely on making investments in nutrition and safe food and water.

Prior to joining Safe Foods, Johannes served as President of Silliker North America, from October 2008 until July 2013. Johannes joined Silliker from Advanced Bioscience Laboratories, a Mérieux Alliance Company, where he served as President and CEO from 2003 until 2008 and Chairman from 2003 until 2013.

From 2000 until 2003, Johannes served as Vice President of Business Development for the Mérieux Group located in Lyon, France. From 1995 to 2000, he served as the General Counsel of bioMérieux, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of bioMérieux, where he was also responsible for licensing and intellectual property. Prior to joining bioMérieux in 1995, he practiced corporate law with the law firm of Bryan Cave.

A native of Sweden, Johannes holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College in Economics and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

 Eric Larson, Tilia’s Chairman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, started his career as a private equity investor and business builder in 1986.  Prior to co-founding Tilia in 2017, Eric established Linden Life Science in 2002, now known as Linden Capital Partners, a leading healthcare focused middle-market private equity firm.  Eric was Linden’s Chairman and, as its senior investment professional, developed the firm’s strategy and organization.

Before Linden, Eric was Executive Vice President and Managing General Partner of First Chicago Equity Capital (now One Equity Partners), which he co-founded in 1991.  He began his private equity career at First Chicago Venture Capital (now Madison Dearborn Partners), where he was a Partner and Investment Principal.

In addition to Tilia, Eric is involved with several technically-oriented organizations, including: the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Member of the Nutrition Roundtable); the National Geographic Society; the Illinois Institute of Technology (Trustee and Chairman of its Institute of Design); Center for Higher Ambition Leadership (Executive Fellow); and the Commercial Club of Chicago (member).

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rob Celin is a Managing Director and serves as Chief of Staff and has 11 years of principal investing, operating and investment banking experience. Prior to joining Tilia in 2017, Rob worked as an Investment Associate at Linden Capital Partners and held an Executive Team management role at one of Linden’s portfolio companies, Young Innovations, where he worked on a variety of strategic initiatives with the company’s CEO. Rob began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Technology, Media and Telecom group at Barclays Capital.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance, summa cum laude, from Boston College with a Dean’s Letter of Commendation and an MBA and MS in Design Innovation from the Kellogg School of Management and Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University.

JD Elder is a Managing Director on the investment team and also serves as Head of Data Strategy for Tilia, where he oversees the implementation of technology and data solutions that enhance decision making and productivity.

JD has 10 years of principal investing, investment banking, and strategy experience. He began his career in investment banking at Citigroup before transitioning to an investment professional role at Linden Capital Partners.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Finance, summa cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. JD is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

Margaret is Managing Director and Chief Growth Officer at Tilia Holdings. In this role, she leads strategies to drive profitable revenue growth and maximize value creation across the firm and its portfolio companies.

She is also the Director of the Tilia Innovation Collaboratory, whose mission is to promote collaborative innovation and shared solutions across the food system to address complex issues that no single company can tackle alone.

Previously, Margaret served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Executives’ Club of Chicago, the region’s premier business forum. There, she oversaw strategic direction and operations for more than 100 programs annually, serving a network of over 16,000 executives.

After earning her Ph.D. in Sociology, Margaret transitioned from academia to pursue a career in market research and brand strategy. In 2012, she launched CarbonSix, growing it into one of the most successful strategic research firms in the Health and Wellness space. Following the company’s sale, she led the roll-up of four firms into a single brand, Shapiro+Raj, and became its President in 2016. Under her leadership, the firm underwent a significant transformation, becoming the sixth-largest independent insights company in North America.

Margaret is the past President of the University of Chicago Alumni Board and currently serves on the boards of World Business Chicago, the Lurie Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective. She also serves on the Advisory Boards of First Women’s Bank and NEXT Integrative Minds Life Sciences.

She is an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Private Directors Association, Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), The Chicago Network, Commercial Club of Chicago, Economic Club of Chicago, and the International Women’s Forum. Recognized as one of “Who’s Who in Chicago,” Margaret lives in Chicago with her husband and twin sons.

Marisa Vavruska is a Vice President with 8 years of principal investing, investment banking, and management consulting experience. Prior to joining Tilia in 2023, Marisa was a Vice President at Pritzker Private Capital, leading diligence on new investment opportunities in the manufactured products sector and supporting M&A and strategic initiatives at portfolio companies. She also served as an investment banking associate in the Global Industrials group at Citigroup and began her career as a management consultant at PwC.

Marisa holds a BA in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought from Amherst College and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Cole Spruyt is a Vice President with 7 years of principal investing and investment banking experience. Prior to joining Tilia in 2024, Cole was an Investment Associate at New Harbor Capital, leading diligence on new investment opportunities and supporting M&A and strategic initiatives at portfolio companies. He also served as an investment banking associate in the Diversified Industrials group at Stifel and began his career as an investment banking analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Cole holds dual BAs in Finance and Economics from Michigan State University, an MS in Computer Science from The University of Chicago, and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Judy Huong Slater joined Tilia in 2019 as VP of Finance and Administration and serves as Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Tilia, Judy was Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Glencoe Capital, LLC, a middle-market private equity firm. From 2003 to 2018 at Glencoe Capital, Judy gained private equity experience focused on corporate accounting & financial reporting, while administering human resources and IT functions, among others, and most recently, SEC compliance. Prior to Glencoe Capital, Judy spent 1998 to 2002 at Heller Financial (G.E. Finance) in corporate accounting. Judy started her career in 1994 as an accountant at SPS Transaction Services, Inc. (Associates Capital) and earned her CPA designation in 1995.

Judy holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Elyse Hughes joined Tilia as Administrative Services Manager in 2022. Elyse brings extensive operations, project management and property asset management experience from several sectors including real estate, advertising, and technology.

Prior to joining Tilia, Elyse was the Operations/Asset Manager at Newcastle Partners, a boutique real estate investment firm in San Francisco. During her 10-year tenure at Newcastle, Elyse ran the day-to-day operations of the firm and managed several aspects of real estate development, property accounting, website development and HR functions.

Elyse has her Bachelor of Arts from the College of the Holy Cross.

Henry Stack joined Tilia as an Associate in 2022. Prior to joining Tilia, Henry was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Consumer & Retail group at William Blair, in Chicago. Henry holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Indiana University.

Brian Dunlap joined Tilia in 2024 as a Senior Associate. Prior to Tilia, Brian worked for FMG Leading where he focused on sales, strategy, and operations. He started his career with Copley Equity Partners where he focused on originating and evaluating investment opportunities across diverse industries in the lower middle market.

Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Harvard University.

Joe joined Tilia as an Associate in 2024. Prior to joining Tilia, Joe worked for Deloitte in Chicago as a M&A Advisory Analyst and as an Analyst in Baird’s Industrial Investment Banking Group. Joe graduated with Highest Honors and received his B.S. and M.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.