The global head of legal for Swiss private equity giant Partners Group has left to be the first general counsel for Blue Horizon, a venture capital firm active in the food industry.

Anela Musat has relocated from London to join the company’s executive team in its Zurich headquarters, bringing with her more than 15 years of experience in corporate law with a focus on private equity and venture capital. 

At Blue Horizon she’s expected to build a ‘best in class’ legal and compliance function to match the scaling of the company, which has seen five consecutive years of growth. The company invests in businesses that develop and manufacture alternative proteins and to date has raised funds of more than $850m.

Bjoern Witte, managing partner and CEO of Blue Horizon, commented that Musat “joining from such a prestigious institution and position is a strong statement underpinning our growth prospects. I very much look forward to working closely together with her.”

Prior to her two-year stint at Partners Group, Musat was a corporate partner at CMS Cameron McKenna in London and also served as legal counsel for AnaCap Financial Partners and the Royal Bank of Scotland, having begun her career in the Bucharest office of Linklaters.

Musat said she was “excited to join Blue Horizon at this early stage in its journey,” adding that “it used to be that ‘positive impact’ and ‘attractive returns’ were not mentioned in the same breath, but that is changing rapidly with thematic impact investors like Blue Horizon. I’ve been impressed with the calibre of the team and I am very much looking forward to the challenge.”