Who We Are

Four women. A shared conviction.

Lumina was founded by four women who between them have navigated the boardrooms of NASA, global aerospace programs, Fortune 500 risk management, international trade, and the front lines of entrepreneurship and capital access. We bring deep sector expertise, active investor networks, and a shared conviction that the right capital in the right hands changes everything.

Meet the team

Laura Langone

Founding Partner

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Few professionals have navigated risk management as broadly as Laura, whose career spans casualty underwriting, captive insurance, treasury, and enterprise risk leadership across companies like Genentech, PayPal, Airbnb, and Rivian. Holding both an MBA and JD, she brings rare legal, financial, and operational depth to evaluating the complex risk landscape facing today's high-growth, AI-driven companies.

As Board President of RIMS, the leading global organization for risk management professionals, Laura has the governance experience and strategic foresight that mission-driven founders need at the table. She is particularly drawn to early-stage companies operating in stealth mode with IPO ambitions, where her ability to assess exposure, structure protection, and anticipate what could derail a company before it scales is not just valuable, it is essential.

Sevi Hodjeva

Founding Partner

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With a career spanning satellites, geosynchronous spacecraft, RF payload design, and swarm technology, Sevi has worked at the leading edge of global aerospace for over two decades. From managing flight hardware and power systems at SSL (now Maxar/Latelys) to serving as in-house company representative for Telesat's geosynchronous spacecraft through SpaceX Falcon-9 launches, she has operated at the highest levels of technical complexity, earning a NASA Ames Honor Award for her leadership on the Starling swarm technology mission.

A Senior Principal Aerospace Engineer with an MS in Communications Systems Engineering and Business Management from Santa Clara University, Sevi brings the same precision and long-view thinking she applies to spacecraft to her work as an investor and fundraiser. Her ability to evaluate emerging technology, assess technical risk, and spot what is truly breakthrough makes her a powerful force in identifying the next generation of companies shaping the future.

Letizia Pileggi

Founding Partner

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An entrepreneur, investor, and author who built her career across continents, from international trade between the U.S. and Bali to impact investing and fundraising. With a track record spanning customer relationship management, national and international sales, and building the kind of longstanding partnerships that open doors and move capital, she brings a rare combination of global perspective and relationship-driven growth strategy to every venture she touches.

A mountaineer who has climbed Kilimanjaro and trekked to Everest Base Camp, Letizia carries that same drive and long-view thinking into her investment work. She is drawn to mission-driven founders and innovations that expand opportunity for women and marginalized communities, grounded in the belief she chronicles in her book, The Thought Itself, that purpose and economic independence have the power to change generations and redefine what is possible for women everywhere.

Merril Gilbert

Founding Partner

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Sees what is coming before most people know to look. A strategist and operator who has spent her career at the intersection of founders, investors, and growing companies, she is known for cutting through complexity and turning vision into execution across food, health, technology, consumer, and climate sectors, including energy, agriculture, natural resources, and supply chains.

She brings something rare to the table: the ability to sit on both sides of the investment equation. With deep relationships spanning founders, institutional investors, and industry leaders, she is uniquely positioned to source deals, assess investment readiness, and support portfolio companies through the decisions that define long-term success. A recognized voice in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, she serves in advisory and leadership roles across multiple organizations championing innovation and capital access, and is the author of Fired to Founder, a blueprint for the founder journey she has guided hundreds of leaders through.