Mislav Tolusic was born and raised in Croatia, trained as an aerospace engineer at the University of Zagreb where he graduated first in his class, then worked inside Airbus UK before earning his MBA at Vanderbilt and building a career in distressed private equity at Highland Capital, where he focused on aerospace and manufacturing companies. That path shapes how he invests today: he starts with specific problems rather than broad themes, prefers backing infrastructure over single products, takes a hands-on, private-equity-style role with portfolio companies, and has built a track record with companies like Chainalysis, PreVeil, Trinity Cyber, Slingshot Aerospace, Hoverfly Technologies, and WhiteFox—pointing to moments like the Silicon Valley Bank disruption as proof of his speed under pressure and to companies like Anduril as evidence that newer tech-driven companies are reshaping defense alongside the traditional industry giants.