Erik Bethel is a General Partner at Mare Liberum. He is a seasoned global finance professional with over two decades of experience in private equity, venture capital, and investment banking at J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Franklin Templeton. Most recently, he was a Partner at Americas Frontier Fund (AFF), where he specialized in deep tech and strategic investments. Erik's public sector experience includes his tenure as the U.S. Representative to the World Bank, where he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate and oversaw the deployment of over $100 billion in capital. In 2020, he was nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy (BS) and the Wharton School (MBA). Erik also serves on the board of the U.S. Naval War College Foundation, as he is on the Board of Directors of Windward, a leading maritime AI company providing predictive intelligence and domain awareness. Erik is a Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and an Advisor to Oxford Analytica.