2018

About

Co-founded Tespack at the age of 24 – a smart technology company that has raised more than €2.6M and concentrates on mobile energy solutions. The solutions are currently used by the UN and various government entities. Her company has won more than 30+ international awards. New projects include releasing patented ultra-fast charging technology (re-charge a battery in less than 12 mins!), the first solar smart helmet for action cameras, and testing equipment for astronauts and scientists.

Recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30, named a “tech & Energy” industry disruptor, and one of the Top 200 Leaders of Tomorrow Globally. Participated in the St. Gallen Symposium, debating with prime ministers, top entrepreneurs and higher education (HE) leaders on how to achieve global growth with entrepreneurship and HE. Was also named one of the Top 30 Social Entrepreneurs, Under 30 in Spain and appointed Mentor for the Queen’s Young Leaders to support leading social entrepreneurs and NGOs across 53 commonwealth countries. Advises on tech, personal development, entrepreneurship and PR in the programme lead by Her Majesty, the Queen of England.

#futureofenergy #tespack #mobileenergy

About

Author, speaker, and a practising barrister. Past Fellow of the Harvard University Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Studied history and politics at Magdalen College and Oxford, graduating first in his year before turning to the law.

Passionate about technology (from AI to Blockchain, Robotics, and Virtual Reality) and politics. Author of Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech (Oxford University Press, 2018). The book confronts the question of how digital technology will transform politics and society.

Writes and speaks about the future of power, freedom, justice, and democracy.

#AI #futurepolitics #law

About

Entrepreneur-turned-kiteboarder and world-traveler, paving the way for newest ventures. Landed her business on the Forbes list of “Fastest Growing Women-Owned Businesses“, sold her business Matisia Consultants, and has her blue eyes on a new prize.

Her new mission – bring together badass women from around the world. “Women don’t enjoy enough together. There’s always been men’s clubs, they play golf, and it’s where ideas are made. When you get a bunch of strong-willed women together, magic can happen.”

Newest venture SuperShe is a not-so-secret society, a community of women from around the world brought together to create change and achieve the impossible. SuperShe has transformed dated ideas of networking. Ditch your pantsuit and fluorescent-lit ballrooms in exchange for a bikini and beachfront, or in more recent news, a private island?

#superwoman #community #leadership

About

Technology correspondent at The Economist. Interested in internet policy and economics, robotics, artificial intelligence, infrastructure and biotechnology. Also reports from abroad, including Bolivia, Mexico, South Korea and Finland.

Works on stories about the technologies that shape our lives, the systems that control them, and the people who find themselves in the yoke. Has explored warehouse husks filled with insects for human consumption in Ohio, watched dead rivers come back to life in Mexico, rescued a hexacopter from the side of a volcano in Bolivia, debated basic income in a sauna with 12 naked Finns, and seen the world’s greatest robots fail to climb a set of stairs — all in pursuit of a story.

Graduated in 2010 from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in astrophysics.

#dataprotection #innovation #future

About

American journalist based in Washington, D.C. Has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, as well as several international news outlets and documentaries. Was a correspondent and anchor for the US branch of RT TV from 2011 to 2014 and made international headlines following her resignation from the channel, publicly denouncing the distorted coverage of the conflict in Ukraine and Russian intervention in Crimea.

Has spoken internationally and on college campuses about modern day propaganda tactics, media literacy and disinformation in the  digital age. Previously worked as a news writer and producer in her home state of Connecticut. Born on a US Naval base in the Philippines, and is of Hungarian and Filipino descent.

#disinformation #fightdisinfo #medialiteracy

About

Chris has worked in multiple roles around the startup scene for the past several years both in Europe and in the US. He’s a passionate and driven connector and advisor, and most recently has started a small venture experiment, worked on startup/corporate collaboration, run accelerators and incubators, and helped build and lead brand ecosystems. Chris views startups and technology as an essential element to breaking down the walls between cultures and opportunities that separate humanity. Chris currently leads the 500 Startups Moscow program.

#venturecapital #advisor #connector

About

A social innovator who has worked with numerous global organisations on solving social and environmental issues in collaboration with non-profit organizations, governments, customers and partners. Explores how technology is changing the way we live and work, and advises companies on implementing critical strategic changes that will help them successfully compete in the digital world.

Currently President of the Women’s Council of HypoVereinsbank UNICREDIT and a member of the Computer Science Advisory Board at the University of People. Until departing from HP in December 2015, also served as a Hewlett-Packard GmbH Germany Board of Directors member, an EU Commission E-skills Leadership Board member, a Junior Achievement (EMEA) member, and as a World Economic Forum Council on Social Innovation and the Corporate Advisory Group member in the We Mean Business Coalition.

Was honored by Newsweek and the Daily Beast as one of 150 “Women Who Shake the World” in 2011. Was named by FastCompany to the League of Extraordinary Women, and was awarded the DLDWomen Impact Award in 2012. Named by InspiringFifty as “one of the 50 most inspiring women in European technology” in 2015. Featured among the Top 500 influencers and players active on Twitter in regards to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Included in the Elle magazine HOT 100 list as “one of 10 Power Women to be watched” (Digital 3.0) in 2016.Accomplished international speaker on the subjects of sustainable management, social innovation and the future of work. The author of numerous articles (Forbes, Huffington Post, the Financial Review) and textbooks.

#futureofgoodwork #socialinnovation #humansfirst

About

Worked over 10 years with leading brands to craft and articulate underlying strategy and execution for innovative business models.  Charged with coordinating and managing comprehensive changes addressing everything from updating how a company works, to building out entirely new businesses. A strong bias towards action, bold thinking and external empathy allows for blending and enhancing the rest of the C-Suite to focus on: making digital integral to corporate strategy, implementing an “Obsess over the customer” strategic approach, building agility, speed, and data driven operations.

Intrigued by the revolution implicitly underlying technology: the blockchain, which he expects to have an impact on the global economy greater than the internet. Focuses on artificial intelligence, funcion integration, digital transformation and the internet of things.

Worked many years as an insurance broker at top firms accredited by Lloyds, such as AON and Willis, before joining the digital revolution in 2005. Was in charge of large accounts, regional business development, and organization and operations in Italy, Israel and Asia. Earned a Bachelor Degree in international business and an MSc in finance and strategy from the Cass Business School in London. Currently working on an Executive PhD at Cass Business School and researching digital growth strategies and corporate decision making.

#blockchain #digitalID #IoT

About

A seasoned European technology journalist and Founding Editor of Tech.eu, the premier source of European technology news, data analysis and market intelligence. Formerly the European Editor at The Next Web, and a Senior Editor at TechCrunch.

#entrepreneurship #startups #DFFalumni

About

Holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence. Co-Founder and Head of Research and Education at Women in AI. Currently Head of Research and Development at A.I.Mergence, a robotics and artificial intelligence startup specialising in intelligent autonomous robots for home security. Lecturer at Sorbonne Universities, conducts research in specific areas of applied artificial intelligence. Has been published in several international peer-reviewed conferences and journals on social robotics and intelligent affective computing. Research interests include artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, social robotics, computer vision, machine learning and affective computing. Advocate of technology for the common good, and is currently investigating how blockchain technology could transform artificial intelligence and vice-versa.

#WomenInAI #biasInAI #WomenEmpowerment

About

Received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Engineering and a PhD in Telematics. Began designing, developing and coding a unique, free 42-day self-development programme in 2005. Created an online platform incorporating new technology to help people balance their busy lifestyles and digital behavior. The online meditation service platform has served more than 120,000 people worldwide.

Become ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk in Thailand after completing his PhD, and was subsequently invited to join the Peace Revolution project as a meditation instructor. Teaches an online meditation programme and Peace-On-Demand meditation sessions to over 10,000 people from 123 countries. Taught in 20 Fellowship programmes, as well as meditation workshops and retreats in 52 countries all together, incuding Africa, America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean.

#digitaldetox #monkwhocodes #DFFalumni

About

Almost ten years of experience working in TV. Pursued an interest in filmmaking at the Backyard Productions production houses in Los Angeles, and at Ark Media in New York. Works with documentary, experimental and narrative genres as a filmmaker and curator. Holds an MFA in Film/Video from the California Institute of the Arts, where she worked under the supervision of mentors Betzy Bromberg, Thom Andersen, James Bening, Debrah LaVine and James Franco. Started working at the New York-based studio of Jonas Mekas, the legendary ‘godfather’ of avant-garde cinema, in 2012. Premiered her debut feature documentary “Flying Monks Temple” in 2017. It tells the story of the award-winning structure at the top of the Songshan mountain in China.

#lifestyle #filmmaking #music

About

Expert on how technology impacts our global human identity. Sitting at the intersection of technology, travel, culture and branding, he architects scaling strategies shaped around a new augmented, nomadic and tribal human. Organizations such as Microsoft, Conde Nast, eBay, Fujitsu, Lagardere Travel, IATA, SAB Miller, EDF, EY, Criteo, Siemens, Evernote, Tumblr and the ITU have trusted him to challenge them.

A sought-after keynote speaker, he impacts audiences on all continents, and has been billed next to leaders such as Barack Obama and Steve Wozniak. Draws his unique perspective from a multicultural background – a Swiss, Greek and Finn having lived in Tokyo, Geneva, Manila and London – and his constant travels to discover more. His understanding of our time has appeared in The Economist, ABC, TF1, Channel 4, or the Japan Times. Also hosts extraordinary conferences, and is the creator and host of successful shows about the future of travel, the future of finance and the future of enterprise.

Has always been at the forefront of understanding what’s next, from shaping the first ever commercial mobile website, to participating in the development of numerous startups ecosystems. An air travel nerd and chocolate lover.

#getshitdone #trulyglobal #uniqueoutlook

About

Corporate mindfulness and emotional agility coach with a background in management and marketing. Passionate about implementing neuroscience-based cognitive training tools in workplaces across the globe.  

Worked in the public and NGO sectors during the first half of his 20-year career. Over the past decade during the short periods he wasn’t busy studying the legacy of ancient contemplative traditions in Asia, he worked with companies as an independent consultant. A dynamic public speaker with experience in TV journalism, PR and organizational change.

His immersion in traditional mind training practices over the course of 10 years (including as a Buddhist monk) has led him to become a Teacher in Training at the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute in San Francisco – an NGO set up to meet the increasing demand for the mindfulness-based emotional intelligence program called SIY, which was born at Google.

Studied Management & Governance at the LSE (UK), Duke University (US), NPS (US) and Tartu University (EE), gaining MSc and MA degrees. Also considers himself a hobby-anthropologist and an amateur-linguist, and can find his way around in 4 to 8 languages, to varying degrees. Adapting obscure concepts from Eastern thought into the secular language of the West has become one of his driving interests.

#mindfulness #leadership #neuroscience

About

Managing Director at Techstars, and a board member, advisor, mentor and investor in multiple startups and accelerators around Europe.

Has started, succeeded and failed with several startups in Europe and the Middle East – including Farmvillain – an app which some described as the ‘South Park of Facebook’. First started building games (as an eight-year-old) to impress girls in the late 1980s. His efforts were unsuccessful. His love for games lives on in spite of that fact.

After that business was acquired by Gamestop he worked with Kiip helping them win their first clients, and establish their footprint and offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In addition to working at Techstars he is a board member and advisor at Lingvist, Motivii and Sorry as a Service where he helps with the product, marketing and business development. Acts as a special advisor at Brandwatch, the leading social monitoring and analytics tool.

Has invested in over 25 companies around the world and is a regular conference speaker. He also writes for Wired, TechCrunch, Mashable and other media.

#investor #startups #DFFalumni

About

A native New Yorker and the youngest female to make Venture Partner at 500 Startups. She started working hands-on with companies in 2014 by coaching them through the Seed Accelerator Program. Invests in consumer companies, including a specialty track within the programme focusing on retail, beauty, and fashion verticals. Passionate about bridging the gap between international founders and Silicon Valley, and spends the rest of her time recruiting companies from around the globe. Tanya graduated in three years with a BS in business management from Babson College.

#SiliconValley #BeautyTech #DFFalumni

About

Based in Berlin and Moscow, Lucian Kim is an American journalist who has covered Europe and the former Soviet Union since 1996. He has reported for Bloomberg, Reuters, BuzzFeed, Slate, The Moscow Times, among other news organizations. He is currently National Public Radio’s Moscow correspondent.

#journalism #media #news

About

Director of Strategic Initiatives at ni2o, a revolutionary AI-driven, brain-computer interface for the treatment of neurological disorders and cognitive enhancement.

A community leader, organiser and facilitator in fostering tech ecosystems in France and the CCE, both at the local and global level. Always ready for the next challenge, and believes that making a positive difference is a just a choice away.

Extensive networking and leadership experience working in international environments. Consultant on growth strategy, development and open source practices.

Skilled professional with 7+ years of diverse experience in strategy, operations, cross-project team management in global environments and with tech startups.

#AI #neuroscience #technology

About

Ton is the Founding Partner & CEO of 01 Ventures – European early and growth stage deep tech VC. Next to that, he’s the Investor In Residence at StartupDelta working closely together with HRH Prince Constantijn of Oranje. Founded the E/D/T Global Foundation in 2017 to support the pioneers in emerging technologies that are fundamentally changing the way our world operates. He’s also the initiator of angelisland.co – a grassroots unconference held in September, on an island near Amsterdam.

#vamos #vc #community

About

Gamechanger Audio is a music electronics company founded in 2017 in Riga, Latvia. In a little over two years the company produced two innovative and groundbreaking devices – the PLUS Pedal and the PLASMA Pedal. Both pedals instantly achieved cult status and are currently used by thousands of musicians all over the world, including some of the world’s greatest rock acts – Jack White (The White Stripes) and Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) to name a few…

Gamechanger Audio is also a crowdfunding success story. It has always been fully financed by an online community of fans and followers. The latest product, PLASMA Pedal, raised almost 10 times the funding goal on Indiegogo, reaching the first $100 thousand in less than 24 hours.

Both pedals are manufactured in Latvia and the company is developing a new line of products to release in January 2019. Oh, and, Yeah – and they’re hiring engineers 😉

#startup #crowdfunding #lifestyle

About

One of the leading global voices in urbanism. Advises cities and businesses on how to embrace and design bicycle and pedestrian-friendly streets that improve urban life. Known for his pioneering philosophies about simplifying urban planning, and how cities and towns should be designed, instead of engineered. Author and host of urbanism TV series The Life-Sized City. Inspires people around the world with his keynote about making cities better.

#bicycleurbanism #designingcities #design

About

Chief Scientific Officer at Hoomano, startup based in Lyon creating advanced software for social robots. Holds a PhD in Computer Sciences (with a focus on Artificial Intelligence) from the University of Lyon. Before joining Hoomano in 2017, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Lyon and worked at the LIRIS Lab for 10 years. At Hoomano she applies state-of-the-art research results to enhance human-robot interactions and make them more intuitive and engaging. Contributes to creating new ways of envisioning artificial intelligence in robots by implementing developmental learning solutions. She also co-animates a joint laboratory called Behaviors.ai and brings together researchers from the LIRIS Lab, as well as engineers from Hoomano.

Amélie Cordier is also Founder and President of Lyon-iS-Ai, a collective dedicated to promote  AI in Lyon and the region.

#AI #socialrobots #startup

About

Not all life-changing experiences are easy, and some of us take the hard road. This happened after not one, but two accidents. After a few operations (9 in total) and some setbacks, his journey began through YouTube. From being told he will never run again and will never be able to play the sports he did, to beating the odds and doing exactly what they said he never would. This time he went a step further. Not only did he get back up, but he became a fitness instructor, started his own company entering and running obstacle-course races in Europe and the USA. This was just the beginning of his journey. With all the information and inspiration out there, no matter what your situation, there will always be someone to lift you up. Someone who will be a mentor, and open the door to becoming the best you can be.

#liveinthemoment #dontbeordinary #nooneisaverage

About

Steve Munroe is the Founder of Hubud, a coworking community in Bali that has been the home and inspiration to thousands of digital nomads since opening in 2013. He also runs CU Asia, Asia’s largest coworking conference series. The main motivation for him these days is understanding how place and purpose can help rehumanize the working experience.

Hubud is recognized as one of the world’s best coworking spaces by Forbes, Lonely Planet, Coworker.com, and the ASEAN Rice Bowl Awards. It pioneered the concept of destination working.

In 2015 Steve founded the Coworking Alliance for Asia Pacific (CAAP), which organizes the annual Coworking Unconference Asia (CU Asia), Asia’s premier coworking conference. There, hundreds of coworking spaces from over 30 countries connect and explore the future of work, startup solutions, real estate directions and other industry disrupting trends. It has been called “The best coworking conference on the planet”, and strives to be an experience, not an event.

#futureofwork #digitalnomad #humanconnection

About

A former DJ, advertising guy and Member of European Parliament turned travel designer, designing worldwide tailor-made travel experiences and curated cultural adventures. On a daily basis, he steps into the shoes of at least 55 different types of people and connects them to travel adventures that fit their personalities.

Aldis looks at and analyses travel trends as part of economic and societal development. He believes human development is closely related to who travels, how people travel and most importantly, why they travel.

With worldwide cultural connections and insider knowledge, he also curates the Michelin 3 Star Guide for culture, seeking out performances and exhibitions representing the highest achievements in the fine arts, music, and other artistic manifestations.

#traveldesign #tailor-made #traveltrends

About

Head of the Digital Innovation and Blockchain Unit at the Digital Single Market Directorate for DG CONNECT, as well as Co-chair of the European Commission FinTech Task Force. Was nominated for CoinDesk’s “Most Influential People in Blockchain 2017”. Former Visiting EU Fellow at St. Antony’s College and University of Oxford from 2013-14, where he’s an Associate in the Political Economy of Financial Markets programme. From 1997 to 2005 was Deputy Head of the Bioethics Department at the Council of Europe, within the Directorate General of Legal Affairs.  In addition, he’s held various positions in the Latvian civil service (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development). Former Senior Environmental Law Advisor at the World Bank/Russian Federation Environmental Management Project, and Regional Environmental Specialist for the Baltic Countries at the World Bank. Member of the California State Bar since 1991, completed his J.D. at the University of Southern California, a B.A. in Political Science Cum Laude at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the High Potentials Leadership Programme at Harvard Business School. Recently published “The Need for an Innovation Principle in Regulatory Impact Assessment: The Case of Finance and Innovation in Europe” in Policy & Internet.

#FinTech #innovation #blockchain

About

Manuel Koelman is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and advisor.

Manuel has built companies since 2003 and has experienced the entrepreneurial rollercoaster first-hand. Currently, he is actively pushing for purposeful disruption and opening up startup ecosystems with PIRATE.global and Startup SAFARI.

Manuel is a sought after advisor and helps corporates understand technological disruption and startup dna. He supports on board level with successfully implementing corporate innovation initiatives.

Finally, Manuel is co-director of the Founder Institute Cologne-Bonn and mentor in various startup programmes. He also invests as an angel investor in tech-focused very early stage companies in the machine intelligence space.

#PIRATE #CorporateInnovation #DFFalumni

About

CEO at blockchain healthcare startup Shivom with extensive experience also as a VC, advisor, lecturer and mentor. In his 20+ years of professional experiences, Henry has had the opportunity to engage in all aspects of business as an entrepreneur, advisor and investor. As a VC, he focused on early stage investments in frontier technologies while working at multiple Silicon Valley-based VC funds. Henry also has extensive cross border advisory and corporate finance experiences focused in a variety of sectors ranging from information technology, healthcare, telecommunications to consumer & industrial products. Henry began his career as a management consultant to Fortune 100 companies.

Aside from his current work at Shivom, Henry also serves as an advisor to blockchain projects and tech startups in Silicon Valley; and as a mentor for accelerators & incubators worldwide. He has been a judge for numerous startup pitch competitions and is routinely a featured speaker at industry events globally for a variety of audiences ranging from startups, investors to Fortune 500 companies.

#blockchain #investor #startup

About

Stewart Rogers has over 25 years experience in sales, marketing, managing, and mentoring in the software and IT industries. He is currently Analyst-at-large VentureBeat, where he analyzes and studies marketing technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies, and virtual/mixed reality.

He is also a journalist for VentureBeat, reporting the news on those same topics. Prior to VentureBeat, Rogers ran a number of successful software companies and held global roles in sales and marketing for businesses in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. He has contributed to several sales and marketing publications and is regularly invited to speak at major tech events across the globe.

#AI #digitalnomad #mentalhealth

About

Inga Springe is an award-winning Latvian investigative journalist and a co-founder of the non-profit investigative journalism center Re:Baltica. A previous year Springe spent in the US visiting major newsrooms like New York Times, Washington Post, and Buzzfeed to develop a Media management program at the Stocholm School of Economics Riga. One of the recent Re:Baltica’s products in cooperation with SSE Riga is Baltic Media Health Check which analyses the most popular media outlets in the Baltics and how are their owners doing financially

#journalist #investigativejournalism #re:baltica

About

Start-up-preneur, animal advocate, athlete, cosmopolitan and wannabe president. Co-owner of Amrita Water, the first anti-aging water in the world. Volunteer for more than 15 years at an animal shelter and participating in animal saving around the world. Founded a global charity foundation, which will focus on animal welfare, Amazon jungles and clean water to everyone.

Graduate of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and alumna of a VC backed startup programme in Singapore, where she worked with a team on developing a system allowing any car become autonomous. Lived in the USA while doing market research, was featured on TV shows while launching Amrita Water in Los Angeles.

#startuplife #biohacking #girlboss

About

Arthur Analts (1991) is a Latvian artist and designer working and living in London, UK. Following studies of sculpture at the Riga School of Design and Art (2011) he successfully graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, UAL (2014).

Analts work takes a critical view of political, cultural and environmental issues. His objects are made in a process based on in-depth research, taking into account innovative experiments with materials, new technologies, production techniques and scale. The artist’s methodology remains constant – every work’s theme determines its material and form, while the result always is emotionally powerful.

In 2018 Arthur Analts represented Latvia at London Design Biennale where he was awarded with the gold medal for the best design. Arthur Analts work is in the permanent collection of the Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design and part of several private collections across Europe. Analts most recent exhibitions include Atelier Lachaert Dhanis (Tielrode, Belgium), Royal Academy of Arts (London, UK) and London Design Biennale at Somerset House (London, UK).

#industrialdesigner #london #exhibitions

About

Christian is a startup advisor and mentor to early and growth stage entrepreneurs in B2B SaaS and enterprise software. He is an investor in Pipedrive and currently works with the founders of Hotjar and Lokalise and other selected entrepreneurs on go-to-market strategy, recruiting, SaaS metrics, pricing software products, and VC fundraising. He has a geographic focus on Germany, the Nordics & Baltics, and Central/Eastern Europe. Christian had a 6 year career in Venture Capital as Principal and Venture Partner at Wellington Partners in London and Munich, as well as Paua Ventures in Berlin. Previous to his investor role Christian had a successful five-year career in technical product sales and key account management at ORACLE, the global leader in enterprise software.

#hotjar #remotework #culture

About

With more than 15 years in the travel industry as a traveler, travel seller and travel technology provider, Kitija has had a front-row view of changes in the industry. She has seen the travel industry move at the speed of lightning and doesn’t see the innovation stopping anytime soon.

Being part of the Amadeus IT Group as a General Manager for Latvia & Lithuania, she has been responsible for bringing all of the group’s solutions and innovations to Baltics, helping industry players innovate and grow their business.

As a Head of Retail, Travel Channels at Amadeus for the Nordics and Central Europe, Kitija continues to make the travel experiences more connected, efficient and rewarding for industry players and travelers alike.

#travel #technology #Amadeus

About

Organ House is a San Francisco bay area community devoted to normalizing non-monogamy and sexual exploration. Senior Product Manager at Beyond, formerly Pax Labs and Huge. Thought leader on consent. Overshares on platforms such as Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, The Independent, Medium, and OrganHouse.org.

#nonmonogamy #consentissexy #sexploration

About

Hans H. Luik is an Estonian businessman and journalist. Not long after graduating from the University of Tartu, he founded the biggest weekly newspaper, Eesti Ekspress and also Ekspress Grupp of which he’s still the majority owner. AS Ekspress Grupp is the leading media group in the Baltics. The Group excels in online media platforms, publication of daily/weekly newspapers, magazines and books including all the printing services. The group online portal Delfi is well-known in all three Baltic countries.

Hans is a regular speaker and panel moderator on many well-known international conferences and seminars as well as a journalist interviewing top politicians, arts leaders and historians.

#journalist #businessman #DELFI

About

A little bit schizophrenic personality – at the same time he wants the new technologies to leave him alone (he still IS NOT in Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!), but when it comes to corporate interests he wants DELFI to be the most progressive and advanced brand in the field.

#notonsoacialmedia #DELFI #newtechnologies

About

DELFI social network manager, who has a thriving rap career. Has collaborated with popular and underground Latvian artists and performed in the biggest Latvian festivals.

#socialmedia #musician #DELFI

About

Creativity and inspiration are very important to Gerard. Applying psychology is like holding a mirror in front of people. The power of behavior lies in the combination with other disciplines: spatial planning, technology, public administration, etcetera. Logic brings you from A to B; Imagination takes you everywhere. The combination is perfect.

#trafficpsychology #humanbehavior #inovation

About

Tarmo is an experienced media professional and entrepreneur, who founded CoFounder Magazine back in 2014, and whose latest endeavour has taken him to launch Lahhentagge Distillery, making gin and tonic on the island of Saaremaa.

#media #startup #DFFalumni

About

Co-founder and board member of Paybis.com, CryptoCash and Latvian Blockchain Association. IT Expert with over 15 years of experience in Software Development, Project Management and Blockchain Technology. Last 4 years focusing on blockchain and cryptocurrency industry and it’s adoption.

#bitcoin #cryptocurrency #blockchain

About

Anton is a Blockchain Badass with over a decade of experience launching and leading innovative IT projects touching the mobile and web sectors for both small and large international businesses such as Nekupon, Psychofriend, Confeta, Mermaid. Anton has spearheaded Iskander.vc, that from 2016 carries out token sale advisory, tech consulting, blockchain projects accelerator and hosts crypto- and blockchain conferences and educational events.

Now thanks to him a number of startups performed well. These are: Tokenbox, Thaler.one, D1, OpenLongivity. With a multitude of experience gathered over his professional career, it became ever evident to Anton that the success of a project is closely tied to the health of its community. Thus, he brings his expertise to Join.Chat with the goal of establishing it as a Blockchain community building Apex.

#community #startups #buildtogether

About

Compassionately sharp professional and agent of more than 14 years of experience in conflict resolution – international peacebuilding, supporting leaders, companies, start-ups and communities in developing effective and lasting strategies for transforming conflicts and building sustainable collaborations and partnerships. Know-how to support leaders and teams in facing inconvenient truth about their habits of communication and developing conflict resolution strategies that embody values and ways of being that serve everyone’s needs and bring about greater good.

Expert of conflict analysis and resolution, multi-party negotiations, violence prevention, criminal justice reforms, local and international environmental conflict resolution in Latvia, Guatemala and United States.

Ilze brings mindful communication and emotional intelligence bridged with researchers’ inquisitive mind to the table. Her company Peace Lab and her social initiatives in peace education and inner peace development are directed towards enhancing individual wellbeing and contribution to meaningful social change in this digital age.

Ilze holds Master in Peace and Justice Studies from University of San Diego, Master in Law, degree in Political Science, is board member of Latvian Certified Mediators Council and Latvia Iyengar Yoga Association.

#conflictresolution #mindfulness #mediator

About

Baibas life motto is “Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.” /I will either find the way or make one/. She believes that recipe for success consists of 4 key elements: matching skills, resources, practice and innovation.

She has handled numerous M&A transactions as lead counsel or lead negotiator.
Managed all facets of a multi-million transaction involving 11 vested interests across four jurisdictions.

Co-author of Latvia’s Corporate (Commercial) Law and Law on Commercial Pledges, registered the first Latvian alternative investment fund and established custodian services for the first Latvian pension fund.

She moderates panels in conferences on corporate governance, corporate law and conflict resolution and has conducted the first environmental mediation in Riga.

#troubleshooter #decisionmaking #investmentnegotiations

About

Majda has 18 years’ experience from the payment industry, where she has spent the last 10 years working for Visa in various roles.

Today Majda heads up the Business Development team for Visa in the Nordics and Baltics, a role that is responsible for development of Visa’s solutions with particular focus on Visa’s engagement in the fintech companies across the region.

#VISA #fintech #bussinesdevelopment

About

Rune Theill is the co-founder and CEO of Rockstart, a company that support startups in becoming scalable by providing access to capital, market, talents and expertises. Prior to building Rockstart, he launched a couple of startups, one that failed pre-market and one that slowly grew over four years before being sold to a competitor. Next to working in his own startup, Rune took an active role in the Danish Startup Ecosystem working part-time for Startupbootcamp and Venture Cup. Rune has expertise within business strategy, pitching personal and team development, marketing strategies and fundraising.

#rockstart #pitching #DFFalumni

About

Workplace strategy consultant with a focus on design management for commercial interiors. With a degree in business from Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and a 15 years experience in event production, Olegs combines the best out of these two fields to help businesses find leverage workplace environments to increase collaboration and engagement within the organization.

In 2017, working with RE developer Hanner Olegs launched an award-winning coworking space in Riga, Teikums. It was during that time, Olegs identified a substantial gap between businesses’ expectations for office design and interior designers’ mindsets and values. To minimize this gap, after the project was completed, Olegs started his consultancy, which develops interior design solutions for commercial spaces, as well as implementation strategies for change management.

#futureofwork #workplacestrategy #officedesign

About

CEO and Co-founder Martins Sulte founded the award-winning peer-to-peer lending marketplace Mintos, which to date is the top European P2P lending market and has raised EUR 2 million in funding to facilitate growth. The company’s mission is to facilitate free and efficient movement of capital from investors to those who need it.

Martins gained more than six years of experience in corporate finance at the leading Nordic corporate bank SEB Enskilda. He holds an MBA from INSEAD (Singapore, France), which is where the idea for Mintos took root. After encountering problems receiving a loan from a traditional bank, he realised that alternative finance solutions could provide the answer!

Martins also holds B.Sc. degree from the Stockholm School of Economics Riga, which is the top  business school in the Baltic/Nordic region, and is also a Supervisory Board Member at the Alternative Financial Services Association of Latvia. In his free time Martins is a passionate poker player.

#P2P lending #fintech #innovations