Meet the #LTST23 Speakers

Gazelle is a Content Creator on TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn, where she discusses being trans, using pronouns and inclusive language at the workplace. She tells her stories from a humorous but nonetheless educational and empowering point of view. For ten years, she has been making a career in Recruiting and corporate D&I work.

Florence Given is a bestselling, record-breaking author, podcaster, award-winning influencer and illustrator. With her debut book Women Don’t Owe You Pretty, Floss became the youngest author to hold a position in the top 5 of the Sunday Times best-seller list for 12 weeks in a row. With over 611K Instagram followers, Florence’s work confronts oppressive attitudes towards women and their bodies and she uses her platform to raise awareness of issues surrounding sexuality, consent, race and gender.

Photo by: Sophia French

Kirsten has spent the best part of the last decade working alongside Europe’s most exciting high-growth startups either as part of an accelerator, seed investor or VC. She is proud to be an angel investor in some brilliant companies like Tessian, Immersive Labs, Senseon, DynaRisk, Cybersmart, Zamna, RiskLedger and eCora.

Dejan Jovicevic is the founder and CEO of brutkasten, Austria’s leading media company for startups, innovation and the digital economy. He is considered a visionary digital entrepreneur, publisher and anchorman in the startup ecosystem.

Hanna is a part of the business development team at AWS Startups, where she helps startups launch, build and succeed. Prior to joining AWS, Hanna worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey and ran her own startup. She leverages nearly 10 years of professional experience to advise and support startups with tech, business and go-to-market topics. In her free time, Hanna spends time in the mountains together with her husband and daughter.

Since 2019, the Turkish-born Alpaslan Deliloglu has been CEO of IKEA Austria. Before that, he worked for IKEA in Switzerland and Turkey. Sustainability and innovation are particularly close to his heart. He studied international relations, politics and economics at Kirikkale University with the aim of “making the world a little better”. His career in IKEA startet in 2004 in Turkey as Commercial Director. Establishing new business areas remained a constant companion of his career.

Born in Graz, Austria, Christian moved to Vienna to study business and economics. His professional journey led to roles in a fintech startup, an AI venture, and a stint at a tech NGO. This trajectory too him to Berlin, where Christian worked at the rapidly growing unicorn, Razor Group. Afterwards, he joined the investment team at First Momentum Ventures. His passion? Tech. Christian is particularly interested in digital infrastructure and climate tech. Outside of work, you’ll find him in the mountains.

Axel Anderl joined DORDA in 2005 and became a Managing Partner in 2018. He heads the IT/IP, Media and Unfair Competition team, which has been the recipient of multiple awards, as well as DORDA’s Digital Industries Group. He and his practice group are continuously named as leading in its field by all internationally relevant lawyer directories eg as Tier 1 in IT, IP, and Data Protection by both, Chambers Europe and Legal 500.

Markus Raunig is the chairman of AustrianStartups – Austria’s leading think tank for innovative entrepreneurship. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Startup Council by the Austrian government and of the advisory board of the Europe Startup Nations Alliance. He is hosting one of Austria’s leading tech podcasts Future Weekly and is pushing for Europe to develop into a hub for innovative technologies.

Markus Linder, a father, husband, and climate activist, is also the founder and CEO at inoqo. With a history of fostering successful startups like Zoovu, he now channels his efforts into inoqo, a platform aiding grocery retailers and F&B brands in assessing product impacts. Besides leading inoqo, Markus is an avid impact investor, targeting global business models that address climate and biodiversity issues.

Ute is the Head of the entrepreneurship department at aws. With a team of 22, she is in charge pre-seed and seed funding programs addressing impact-driven innovation, the federal film funding programs, the EU-coordination unit, the Austrian National Innovation Award, and Jugend Innovativ and aws first, programs catering the next generation of founders. Prior to that, she was in charge of foreign direct investments from the Americas, Portugal, and Spain to Vienna at the Vienna Business Agency.

Miruna is an Investment Manager with the European Investment Fund, which she joined in 2016. She is currently part of the Lower Mid-Market team, investing in equity and hybrid debt/equity funds across Europe, focusing on the Central and Eastern European region. She represents EIF on the Advisory Boards of c. 20 funds. Before EIF, Miruna gained experience in direct investments, having been exposed to both private equity (with Advent International and UniCredit) and lending.

Elodie started her career at EIF in 2004, where she held various positions, such as fund administrator (specifically for EIF’s Turkish and Portuguese funds-of-funds) and investment professional. For the past five years, she has been working with EIF’s Lower Mid-Market team, making growth and debt investments throughout Europe. She has been involved in the due diligence of more than 40 opportunities and also monitored a portfolio of funds spread across Europe.

In early 2017, she joined EIF’s Innovation and Technology investment team, where she embraced the challenges of early-stage investing. In particular, she has worked on several transactions focussing on the CEE region. Elodie holds a Bachelor’s in Marketing and Communications from the Montpellier Business School and a Corporate Finance Certificate from the Sacred Heart University.

Keitumetse Pule is a social entrepreneur with ventures in the technology and nonprofit sectors. She is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Legal Standpoint, an app-centred legal tech startup working to democratize legal education and services, which has been recognised as one of the Top 5 democracy-affirming startups in Africa (Tech4Democracy 2023). She has been part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem for 10 years, as a startup founder, advisory board member and Fellow of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation.

Keitumetse is also a youth and gender equality activist, notably working with the G20, G7, UN Women and Women Political Leaders to make policy recommendations and advance discourse on increasing women’s economic participation and amplifying youth and women’s voices in decision-making spaces.

Marie Kober is the CEO and Co-Founder at Senvo GmbH – a data-driven software for logistic departments. She boasts six years of logistics industry experience –  five years at DHL Express (being in the top 10% of sales nationwide for four consecutive years) and a 1-year freelance logistics consulting. She completed her MBA at ESMT Berlin, #9 Business School in Europe according to the FT Ranking. 

Ghislain is an Investment Manager in the venture capital team of the European Investment Fund, specialised in ICT and infrastructure investments. Before joining EIF, Ghislain was doing mid-market buyout investments at Unigestion in Geneva and prior to that, he was in the corporate finance team at PwC in Paris and an auditor in the private equity practice at E&Y Luxembourg.

Nora has been Head of Venture Development at Wayra Germany since the beginning of 2022. In this position, she and her team are responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating the start-up investments of Wayra Germany, Telefónica’s open innovation hub. Nora scouts relevant start-ups and works with them at the interface of investors, stakeholders and external funding programs. As a venture client expert, she mediates between the different worlds of corporates and start-ups.

Markus Holzer is CEO and Co-Founder of contextflow, responsible for articulating strategies related to vision, business development, investment, people and company culture. After completing his Masters’s degree in Medical Computer Science from TU Wien, he began working at the Computational Imaging Research Lab (CIR). There, he became heavily involved in the EU research project KHRESMOI, working on software & AI medical imaging development, data collection, framework management and user tests.

Kristina is a forward-thinking professional deeply immersed in the world of Artificial Intelligence and data-driven innovation. With a strong track record spanning over 6 years, she excels in harnessing the power of AI to elevate sales, craft cutting-edge tech solutions, and engage customers effectively. Her role as Microsoft Austria’s Data & AI Specialist positions her at the forefront of AI-driven innovation and transformative endeavours.

Becky Tsadik heads Marketing & Communications for Mesirat, a project co-created by the Mastercard Foundation and tech startup Gebeya Inc. to accelerate Ethiopia’s gig economy.  Becky worked in Africa, Europe, and North America and is currently active in mentorship programs, including Women in Marketing, Female Founders, and Northwestern University’s Affinity Leaders & Learners program. Becky loves to share work experiences and insights with young women early in their career journeys.

Hamy is the Co-Founder of Leato – the first learning platform that democratizes Learning and Development by bringing relevant skills and knowledge to everyone. As a passionate entrepreneur with a multidisciplinary background, she studied Law and Economics in Zurich, Berlin and Singapore. With a robust foundation from her studies, Hamy first embarked on a journey at Baker McKenzie and Rothschild. Yet, with a growing appetite and a strong desire to keep learning and advancing, she stepped into leadership roles and previously scaled two B2B SaaS companies. Knowing the ins and outs of successfully growing startups, she’s now dedicated to her own venture and impacting people’s lifelong learning journey.

Jonas studied management with a pinch of computer science at TU Munich. During that time, he gained experience in strategy, consulting, and venture capital. His entrepreneurial journey started with the Manage and More Scholarship of UnternehmerTUM where he met his Co-Founders, Kathi and Simona. After building their first venture in COVID lockdown together, they started their mission to tackle bias in medical imaging AI with RYVER.AI.

Sophie is a young, ambitious talent, passionate about moderation and entrepreneurship. She is the founder of GREEN, a startup dedicated to sustainability. When Sophie is not studying or working, she creates engaging TikTok content for WKO LOOKAUT and Wienerzeitung. Her dream is to host a talk show, connecting with fascinating people. Sophie is just starting her journey but thrilled to see where it leads. She is driven, eager to learn, and always seeking new opportunities.

Dynamic business leader who is passionate about empowering others to succeed in what they do. With 20+ years of professional experience, Petronela brings leadership capabilities across Sales, Business Management and Marketing and is looking back on a successful career path leading international teams and delivering outstanding business results. As a COO, Petronela aims to inspire others to accelerate digital transformation and place customers and partners into the centre of everything MS does.

“Someone who has been working at UNIQA for 27 years has experienced one or two changes. This applies to hardly anyone as much as to Ulrike Kienast-Salmhofer. She was a manager for a long time and was most recently responsible for customer service and debt collection. Since August 2020, Ulrike has headed the Future of Work department and is therefore the officer for inclusion and diversity.Ulrike started the Diversity @UNIQA project in September 2020 and formulated guiding principles for the future. One focus is on the topics of gender, generations and internationality. She sees them as the greatest lever, but it shouldn’t stop there: “Once you open an organization to a topic, for example gender, which is easily measurable and affects all employees, then you clear the way for other topics such as people with a disability or sexual orientation.”

 Read the full interview with Ulrike here.

Anna is one of the founders and MD of nevernot – the first beauty brand for intimate wellness. In 2020, she founded nevernot together with Katharina Trebitsch where she takes over the role of CFO/COO. With a strong background in consulting and tech startups, Anna has gained substantial experience in startup funding while working for an investor of some of the fastest growing consumer brand startups in Europe.

Heidrun supports companies from startups to blue chip as an executive advisor on capital market topics as well as in transformation processes. As a mentor and business angel, she supports founders and accelerators. Heidrun is co-host of the German Podcast „EQUALIZER“, and co-author of “Das Gründerinnen-Handbuch”. She has accompanied numerous companies to the stock exchange. As a board member, she was instrumental in building and scaling one of Germany’s leading investor relations agencies.

Carina Klaffl is the Co-CEO of Female Founders after having led their startup accelerator Grow F for over 1,5 years working closely together with over 79 female-led ventures on their journey to get investment-readiness. Prior to that Carina was driving sales and business development in several startups both in Vienna and Amsterdam. She was also Head of Partnerships at Pioneers- one of the first platforms in Europe bringing together startups, investors, and corporates. Carina’s passion for entrepreneurship evolved when she specialized in Entrepreneurship at Vienna University for Economics and Business leading to a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship at Lund University in Sweden.

Lama Yammine-Hocks, Co-Founder of OPTO, is an inspiring entrepreneur and thought leader who has had a remarkable career at Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered with positions in Shanghai, South Korea, UAE, and Germany she has built her experience and knowledge in the global finance industry. 

Social responsibility and equality are particularly close to Lama’s heart. That’s why she founded the FinTech-SaaS OPTO together with Sebastian Nerz in 2020. OPTO supports logistics companies to unlock their stuck cash and automate their cash flow through Artificial Intelligence. Lama realized that especially small logistics companies with an average of 5 trucks often have financial difficulties, and those tend to make 95% of the European market. Her goal is to give these companies a voice and a financial infrastructure to help them first survive and then thrive. Through OPTO, she wants to help right where support is needed most: With a factoring solution tailored to the industry and a disrupting AI model , OPTO offers companies financing solutions with one click only — to ensure the liquidity of these everyday heroes.

Franziska Kraft started her career in communications at Sky, after which she drove the implementation of marketing/sales at Red Bull. As Head of Marketing, Kraft has been responsible for all marketing activities of Wayra Germany, Telefónica’s open innovation initiative, since 2019. Another focus of hers is on the topic of team development and coaching of start-ups.

Tara Ndichu is a serial entrepreneur and business expert. Throughout 15 years in the corporate world, Tara accumulated experience in organizational and business development, human resource management, customer service, partnership building, and public relations in the marketing, banking, and services sectors. With a Masters in Organisational Psychology, she cultivates a forte for unearthing greater capabilities hence garnering recognition from peers as a Turnaround Leader, Change Agent, and Creative Innovator committed to investing in people, communities, and businesses in transforming the society for sustainable socio-economic development.

In 2022, she founded She Raises Africa. Created by women for women, She Raises Africa is a bespoke online mentoring platform that aims to support strong women in their different walks of life by providing them with Online Mentoring and Workshops and supportive services of Storytelling and Community.

Chisoko Luala Simbule is a business professional with over eight years of experience in the financial industry. She is currently working as the Innovation and Partnerships Head at Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco), where she is responsible for developing and executing strategic plans that help the bank grow and innovate.

Vwanganji Amatende-Bowa is a social entrepreneur and business enthusiast with experience in retail banking, microfinance and agricultural finance, agriculture, and manufacturing.

Maureen is a motivated entrepreneur, community leader and self-driven sales team builder with a proven track record of success and extraordinary achievements in building company from a simple idea to a multinational dollar business. She has served more than ten companies both as an employee and independent consultant in market research, product development, market penetration, due diligence, deal parameter and connecting people to brands.

Maureen Amakabane is an award winner, Tony Elumelu and Women Entrepreneurship 4 Africa finalist and grant recipient. 

Natascha is an expert in climate and gender justice. According to the motto action inspires action, she campaigns for the visibility of women and their unseen potential for the environment, science and society.

​Jay is a key part of the investment team and is leading investment strategy at Fund F. Her career spans across Big Tech, Fintech startups and then early-stage investing. ​Jay has an MBA from the University of Oxford, Said Business School, a Postgraduate Diploma in Liberal Arts, Bachelor’s in Electronics Engineering.

Zsuzsanna Kerémi is Vice President at Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, leading the efforts on expanding IVL in the CEE region. She joined the Lab after spending 2 years in Morgan Stanley’s Innovation Office, where she pioneered scaling Design Thinking as a practice within the firm. Prior to that she worked across the startup ecosystem. She holds MSc. in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Sweden and BBA in International Business from Finland.

Monik is one of the co-founders and General Partners at Pact VC – an early-stage fund based in the UK investing in technology companies providing access, betterment and climate solutions. She has been in technology for 10+ years as an operator, fund manager and angel investor and has built multiple social enterprises globally.

Sanghamitra Karra is currently the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Head of the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Group. Sanghamitra has been at Morgan Stanley for over 15 years and is focused on developing solutions to combat long-term systemic risks, such as climate change and social inequity. Sanghamitra holds a Masters degree in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute and an MSc in Climate Change & Development from SOAS University of London.

Madeline is “making rich men richer.” At 21, Madeline helped build a first check fund for young founders. Today, she leads new investments for founder-backed VC Peak. Armed with wit and critique, you may recognize her cutting voice in the European tech scene.

Rita Isiba is the Executive Director at ZARA, an NGO for Civil Courage and Anti-Racism Work. She is also the Founder of Aphropean Partners, which provides engagement services for team cohesion and workplace inclusion. As a corporate trainer, Rita provides workshops and speeches for organisations from the Austrian Development Agency to Dynatrace. As a lecturer at Vienna’s University of Applied Arts, Rita teaches community engagement for the Master’s Programme for Applied Human Rights.

Wunni, a 24-year-old pragmatic founder from Mali, moved to Germany at five and discovered his passion for tech early, building his first website by 15. A believer in lasting and sustainable solutions, no shortcuts! His experience in online marketing and venture development led to his venture, ‘yamuntu’: Peer-to-peer social UGC fashion app. Creating a safe space for Gen Z to share & receive genuine product recommendations from their own people. Let’s skip the small talk and talk about animes!

In 2010, together with his brother, Shawn, Travis founded TourRadar to help enrich the world through organized adventures. Under his leadership, TourRadar has grown into a diverse team of more than 50 nationalities collaborating together on one Adventure Booking Platform boasting 50,000 organized adventures in more than 160 countries. When he’s not leading a team of more than 200 adventurers, Travis enjoys mountain biking, wakeboarding, running, and soaking up the great outdoors.

Andrena Woodhams is the Founder and CEO of Yinbound LLC, an American company enhancing well-being and mental health for leaders and entrepreneurs across the globe. A long-term practitioner of using business as a tool for change, Andrena believes that today’s fast-paced, constantly changing world requires a calm, centered, collective approach. Her gentle practices, gleaned in over 20 years of international business and in the fields of transpersonal growth and consciousness, make it no longer

Florian Haas is the head of the startup ecosystem at EY Austria and, together with his team, supports founders and young companies in growing sustainably and finding the right partners in order to successfully turn big ideas into big companies. He is the founder and responsible program director for the EY Scale-up Award in Austria, which brings the best scale-ups of today and tomorrow onto the stage. Florian is a speaker and Angel Investor focusing on sustainability and tech.

Chanyu Xu is a German-Chinese serial entrepreneur and passionate foodie from Berlin. Since 2009, she has co-founded several tech & food startups. In 2017 she founded “HER ONE”, a direct-to-consumer company on a mission to break taboos for women’s health, nutrition and holistic well-being.The HER ONE products are all-natural and science backed; targeting digestion, gut health & beauty from within.

Pauliina is a Partner at Maki.vc, a Nordic 100M€ VC seed fund. She joined the firm in 2019 and made partner in 2022 at the age of 28, becoming one of the youngest female partners in European VC and the youngest across genders in Finland. She writes pre-seed and seed checks from €300k to €3M, and splits her time between covering the Nordics and focusing on European opportunities in large markets (e.g. Health tech and Food tech). Her passion lies in companies that transform our everyday lives.

Hansi is an entrepreneur turned angel investor. Over the past 10 years, he invested in over 75 startups. Successful exits include Runtastic, Shpock, MySugr, Durchblicker & Busuu. He is passionate about technology, sustainability & diversity.

Adaora Oramah is the CEO of AMAKA Studio, a platform for Pan-African creators to publish and monetize their stories. AMAKA develops Africa’s creator economy, collaborating with Nike, YouTube, Access Bank, and more. Oramah, a Nigerian-American Creative Strategist, has experience in content creation and strategy. She holds a master’s in Strategic Communications from LSE and is an NYU alumna. 

Nils Feigenwinter, 22, is the founder and CEO of Bling, Europe’s first family fintech. With a financial app for families, Bling teaches financial education to children, teenagers and families in a playful way. Nils is a serial entrepreneur and was recognized by “Forbes 30 under 30” in 2022. He started at the age of 10 at Swiss television as a children’s presenter, later Nils founded “Tize”, the largest school and student newspaper in Switzerland.

Erika Brodnock is an award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, and angel investor. PhD in Behavioural Science, MBA, She authored Diversity Beyond Gender and co-authored the TRANSPARENT Framework and Better Venture. She is Sky News’ resident parenting expert, co-founder at Extend Ventures, The Black Funding Network, and Kinhub, providing data-driven coaching and personalised employee support. She is one of 16 Black women in the UK that has raised more than £1m in startup funding.

Lily is a physician with experience in the US and German healthcare systems.

In the clinic, she noticed the lack of prevention as part of her patients’ journeys and the tremendous benefits that early recognition of health risks could bring.

To create a monumental shift in how we perceive our health, she co-founded HealthCaters: a startup with the mission to democratize access to preventive care by helping people recognize & act on their health risks outside of the traditional health system.

Driven by her passion, Charlotte Küppers’  journey has taken her from a buzzing fintech startup in Berlin, through the corridors of BCG’s HR, to the innovative Social Commerce department at Douglas. With an MBA focused on entrepreneurial finance, Charlotte delved deep into the intersection of AI and VC. The highlight until now? Assisting in an innvestment in Dr. Vivien Karl, a femhealth pioneer. Charlotte is eager to shape the future by leading today!

Daniela Bach has been part of the HTGF Digital Tech Investment Team since 2018. Before entering the VC business, she worked in various positions at Axel Springer and Gruner + Jahr in Germany and abroad, including as Publishing Manager for GALA and 11FREUNDE. Daniela Bach studied political science at the University of Leipzig and completed a Master’s degree in finance & strategy at Sciences Po Paris.

Kinga Stanislawska is an Investment Committee Member at EIC Fund, the largest deep-tech fund in Europe and a board member at fast-growing companies. She also acts as Board Member of EIC.

As the first VC fund in Europe founded by women, Kinga co-initiated the European Women in VC Community. She was named one of the TOP 50 of Europe’s most influential women in the start-up and venture capital space by EU Startups and top 50 women in tech in Europe by Forbes.

Eva Sommer is obsessed with deep-rooted understanding and the design and creation of the most delicious plant- and cell-based food. Born and raised in Austria, she happily lives everywhere. 

Working at the intersection of cell cultures and organoleptic experiences, Eva had the privilege of leading the food science division in the clean-meat startup SuperMeat. She focused on describing meatiness, conducting culinary experiments, prototyping, designing scientific experiments and endless problem-solving.

Afterwards, Eva has co-founded the cultured meat company Peace of Meat as a scientific co-founder and Chief Product Office with an exit (acquisition) 1.5 years after incorporation. She co-founded Fermify in 2021 her former professor, Christoph Herwig, a highly prominent thought leader in bioprocess engineering.

Björn is a Partner at Cavalry Ventures. He serves on Boards of early-stage companies such as Rouvia, nory, and Scraye. Björn joined the Cavalry as its first employee in 2016 and became a Partner in 2022. Prior to Cavalry, Björn supported startups in their (pre-)seed financing activities (business angel rounds and government grants) and in their business development. He graduated from TU Berlin with a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and also holds a Master of Business Administration.

Felix Faltin, Co-Founder and CEO of haelsi, is committed to making healthcare more accessible by integrating offline and online care for patients and doctors. A former early-stage VC, he has successfully led 9 investments in the health tech space. Felix’s extensive healthcare experience spans senior public sector and corporate roles across Europe and Asia. He lives in Vienna with his wife and two sons.

Lisa-Marie Fassl is the co-founder and CEO of Female Founders, the fastest-growing community of entrepreneurial women in Europe, reaching 68k+ women per week. With her team she solves the two biggest problems of the tech & innovation ecosystem: access to funding for female-led companies and recruitment of female talent. With a 10-year track record in the tech ecosystem and especially in early stage financing, she’s initiated projects all over Europe and supported hundreds of companies. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30, acted as the Special Advisor for Startups at the Federal Ministry for Digital & Economic Affairs, is an active member of Vienna’s highest economic policy advisory board, the Vienna Economic Council, a lecturer at several Austrian universities and holds positions on various boards. In her free time she enjoys everything related to food and traveling.

Active in the European startup community since 2012, Nina got to know the ecosystem from different angles. As a Principal and later Head of Marketing & Community at Speedinvest, a pan-European seed-stage VC fund, she put her focus on portfolio services and knowledge exchange among founders. In 2016 she co-founded Female Founders, an organization that aims to change economy and society by fostering entrepreneurial leadership. In addition to that she is the chairwoman of the Austrian Venture Capital and Private Equity Organization (AVCO).

Cihat is responsible for deal sourcing as well as investment and portfolio management, with a strong focus on the future of digital health. Prior to joining VC, Cihat completed his PhD in Engineering at the University of Cambridge with a research stay at the University of Tokyo, Department of Bioengineering. Cihat also gained experience in various high-tech and software R&D roles in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Germany. He also holds a professional football coaching licence.

Forbes 30 under 30, Austria’s most influential female entrepreneur on Linkedin, serial entrepreneur. With Ada Growth, Kosima offers a solution for companies to make their female talents visible and to take professional growth for women to the next level.

Kosima teaches at several universities and passes on her knowledge and experience as a keynote speaker internationally – for example for the United Nations, the European Commission or MIT.

Isabelle Siegrist has been building and investing in companies across Switzerland since 2016 with her company Sandborn. She has a special focus on driving diversity within founder teams and investment decisions. She was recognized as one of the TOP 100 Businesswomen in Switzerland in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and is a Forbes 30 under 30 Alumna (2019), studied Business Innovation at HSG, majored in Social Entrepreneurship at ESCP Europe and conducts research today on AI in VC decision making at ETH.

Triin is the Founding Partner of Sie Ventures backing early-stage gender diverse founding teams, and running a Capital Platform to drive more funding to female founders. Formerly she was Vice President at The Venture Collective, investing in companies across US and UK. She was also an early-stage investor at Founders Factory and Startupbootcamp. Before her career in investments, she was a founder and operator in three companies across FinTech and Future of Work.

Bettine is a believer in the unharnessed potential of female founders. To this end she has set up the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund as founding partner. She previously worked as a strategy consultant, product manager, accelerated nearly 100 companies at Axel Springer Plug and play and has made nearly 20 angel investments. A trained mathematician, Tine loves to crunch numbers, preferably in her weekly focus sessions.

Barbra Gago is the Founder and CEO at Pando, the first employee progression platform. She was formerly the CMO at Miro where she led the re-brand from RealtimeBoard to Miro in 2018, and scaled from $3 to $50m revenue in just under 2 years. As a VP of Marketing, Barbra also brought both Culture Amp and Greenhouse to market and initial scale. Having worked at the intersection of people tech and future of work for over 10 years she’s expert at scaling high performing teams and businesses.

Julia is the co-founder of Tidal Impact, an impact advisory and investment holding firm catalyzing companies driven by social, environmental and financial returns. She also serves as an executive board member of the Sigma Squared Society, a global community of 800+ of the world’s most ambitious founders in their early 20s, previously known as the Kairos Society.

Dr. Lisa Smith is co-founder and managing director of Prewave, an AI startup making tomorrow’s supply chains more transparent, resilient, and sustainable. Lisa developed the technology behind Prewave in her PhD at the Vienna University of Technology. Together with her team, she transformed it into a leading supply chain intelligence platform. Prewave has more than 100 employees and serves companies with large supply chain networks such as Lufthansa, VW, BMW, Dr. Oetker, and many others.

Stuart is the CEO and founder of the UHLALA Group and has been involved in various professional projects for LGBT+ in the working world for more than 10 years. Since 2009, the UHLALA Group has been committed to the networking, further education and promotion of LGBT+ people in their professional lives worldwide, and bringing them in contact with LGBT+ friendly companies and organizations.

Stuart truly believes in diversity & inclusion in all its dimensions and thus his engagement is not limited to LGBT+ visibility, but also the promotion of women in management positions: with his PANDA Women Leadership Network, which he co-founded in 2012 together with Isabelle Hoyer.

Peter was a consultant at McKinsey for several years, advising large marketplaces and e-commerce companies in Europe. Before that he studied business administration in Vienna, Hong Kong, Shanghai & San Francisco. He comes from Upper Austria and has been living in Vienna for almost 10 years.

Refurbed is a marketplace for refurbished products. These are completely refurbished phones, laptops and tablets that look and work like new. Customers save up to 40%, get a guarantee of at least 12 months and the products are 100% sustainable. The combination of sustainability and cheaper products is particularly attractive to many people. The company’s goal is to bring a refurbished product into every household.

With more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience in the mobile and internet industries and 10 years as co-founder of Speedinvest, Oliver is a leading expert in Europe’s technology startup scene to Austria and secured €10M from private investors to found Speedinvest. As of 2023, the early-stage venture capital fund has more than €1B in AuM, +250 portfolio companies, six offices across Europe, and is routinely ranked as one of Europe’s most-active investors

Deepali joined Speedinvest as a Partner in 2022 with a focus on finding and funding investment in underrepresented founders. Previously, she co-founded Alma Angels, a community for female angels and invested in and mentored multiple female-founded companies.

Originally from Kolkata, India with a background in investment banking, private equity, and operations, Deepali has a keen interest in technologies solving society’s large problems in sectors such as Digital Health, Femtech, and Climate Tech