Edin is a co-founder of Gideon Brothers, where he currently serves as the Head of Hardware Development. He earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in the field of biologically inspired robotic systems management. His responsibilities at Gideon Brothers include product development from concept to mass production, and he is also actively involved in strategic planning and various business and management activities of the company. Throughout his professional career, he has led multidisciplinary teams and actively participated in the development of many systems in the field of robotics, from the specification phase to commercialization.
Jakob has been active in the startup community since 2015, when he co-founded the startup accelerator ABC, where he was responsible for securing additional funding for the accelerator’s portfolio. In 2018, he took on the role of Executive Director at the Ljubljana University Incubator, where he focuses on creating a new generation of startups emerging from research.
Lidija Supek Koršoš is a business consultant and mentor for business development, specializing in the areas of marketing, communications, and brand development. With over 20 years of experience in these fields, she mentors entrepreneurs who aim to build a strong market identity, improve their business strategies, and enhance their market communications.
Matija graduated in Computer Science from FER in 2014. He has worked as a software engineer and developer in various companies in Zagreb, London, Singapore, and New York, and has collaborated with his brother Martin on their own startups. In his current startup, Wasp-lang, he holds the position of CEO.
Ida is a partner at the law firm Stančić-Rokotov and Partners LLC. After completing her law studies at King’s College London and passing the bar exams in both London and Zagreb, Ida further specialized in the jurisdictions of Scotland and Chile. She is a member of the European Lawyers’ Association and advises clients on various commercial law issues.
Marin is the co-founder and CEO of Ascalia, a company specializing in developing and implementing Industry 4.0 solutions in factories. With a background in automation, he began his startup journey back in 2012 in the USA by founding a startup in underwater robotics. He continued his path as a CTO of a startup in San Francisco, and today he applies the experiences gained there in Ascalia. He has experienced various stages of startup development – from ideation and commercialization of university research to raising seed investment and VC funding on both sides of the Atlantic. Currently, he is focused on the growth of Ascalia and expanding into foreign markets.
Gorjan je stručnjak za digitalne tehnologije s prekoGorjan is a digital technology expert with over 20 years of experience in developing digital products, customer engagement, data analysis, and insurtech. He is one of the founders of Amoda, a successful insurtech company where he worked as CPO for 7 years. Currently, he manages business development for MarinaCloud, a company specializing in telematics applications for boats and support for new insurance products based on new data sources. Additionally, he advises the Blue World Institute on the digitization of their research work. 20 godina iskustva u području razvoja digitalnih proizvoda, customer engagementa, analize podataka i insurtecha. Jedan je od osnivača Amoda, uspješne insurtech tvrtke gdje je 7 godina radio kao CPO. Trenutno upravlja razvojem poslovanja za tvrtku MarinaCloud koja se bavi primjenom telematike na brodovima i podrškom za nove osigurateljske proizvode bazirane na novim izvorima podataka, a uz to i savjetuje Institut Plavi Svijet u digitalizaciji njihovog istraživačkog rada.
Martin graduated in Computer Science from FER in 2014 and has been primarily involved in startups with his brother Matija since then. They are currently working on their startup, a programming language for building web applications (Wasp-lang), where Martin serves as the CTO. Martin is a former algorithmic competitor who interned at companies such as Google and Palantir, and he particularly enjoys applying technical knowledge to create products that bring value to others.
Mateja has been involved in communication consultancy and public relations for over a decade. Throughout her career, she has advised various organizations and companies, specializing in the development of communication strategies, creative concepts, and risk management. She has taught at the Business Skills Academy and mentored in the field of PR and communications at the Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator.
Ivan is the editor and founder of Netokracija, the leading media outlet dedicated to the technology industry in Croatia and the region, which he founded at the age of 22. He helps leading brands such as Mastercard, Microsoft, A1, and Raiffeisen Bank in developing digital content and employer branding. He has also lectured and moderated panels on topics related to the digital economy at major international conferences such as the Weekend Media Festival, How to Web, Shift, and Webcamp Zagreb.
Marko is a lawyer with over 12 years of experience advising domestic and foreign clients on all matters of commercial law and corporate law related to the establishment or continuation of business in Croatia. He completed postgraduate studies abroad, earning the title of LLM. He regularly lectures at domestic and international conferences and writes articles for Croatian legal journals.
Vedran is an Investment Manager at South Central Ventures, a regional VC fund. He has worked as a management consultant at Big 4 firms, and currently at SCV, he focuses on finding new investment opportunities and advising portfolio companies.
Boris is a digital product designer with several years of experience in turning chaos into a little less chaos. He is currently freelancing with interesting AI/ML, Big Data, Blockchain, Fintech, and EduTech startups.
Matija has been involved in web development since 2005 and mobile development since 2013. He graduated from FER in 2015, and since 2016 has been working as a software development consultant at his own company, ITalk d.o.o. He has launched several startup projects, some of which are still active and currently under development. Over his 14 years in development, he has worked on over 200 different projects, always striving to learn a new technology with each new project.
Mihovil graduated from the Study of Design at the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb. He is a professional digital product designer. He has worked as a UX designer at digital product development agencies and has been part of product teams in SaaS companies and startups. Currently, he works as a permanent UX consultant for a European company and participates in projects across various domains through his office, Baselinebasic.
Tomislav je konzultant za digitalne komunikacije i brending, radio je s najvećim klijentima u regiji i iza sebe ima bogato predavačko iskustvo. Piše za više portala i vodi svoj YouTube kanal i blog. Nakon niza pozicija u marketinškim agencijama i korporacijama osamostalio se i zadnje četiri godine vodi svoj biznis za komunikacijsko savjetovanje.
Gordan is the CEO of Visage Technologies, a company that develops computer vision algorithms for applications in the automotive industry (driver assistance and autonomous driving) and facial analysis. He graduated and earned his PhD in Computer Science from FER. Throughout his professional career, he has worked as a product manager, data scientist, team and department leader, and company director. Gordan’s work and academic experience bridge scientific research, engineering, and management. He is the author or co-author of over 25 scientific papers and serves as an adjunct professor at the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb.
Stevica is a seasoned startup entrepreneur. He has founded several companies, the latest of which, Locodels, was acquired by Croatian Post. Since 2018, he has been part of Fil Rouge Capital, a VC fund with €46 million that invests in Croatian companies in their early and growth stages. To date, he has mentored over 500 startups and listened to more than 4,500 pitches. Stevica je dugogodišnji startup poduzetnik. Pokreno je nekoliko kompanija, a posljednju, Locodels, kupila je Hrvatska Pošta. Od 2018. godine dio je Fil Rouge Capitala, VC fonda koji raspolaže s 46 milijuna eura i investira u hrvatske kompanije u ranom i rastućem stupnju razvoja. Do sada je mentorirao više od 500 startupa i odslušao više od 4,500 pitcheva.
Filip graduated in psychology from the Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb. He worked for three and a half years at Hendal – an independent market research agency based in Zagreb – as a researcher and project manager. He gained knowledge in conducting ad-hoc qualitative and quantitative research; defining methodology, defining end users, setting up market research projects, data collection, data quality control, data analysis, data visualization, and presenting data to clients. After Hendal, he moved to Infobip where he is currently involved in market research. In addition to traditional quantitative research, he now also analyzes macroeconomic trends in markets and monitors competitors.
Ante has been working in the digital and creative industry since 1996. He is one of the founders of several successful and well-known entrepreneurial projects in the Croatian market (klik.hr, iskon.hr, tportal.hr, max adsl, max tv, net.hr, HUB385, etc.). With rich and extensive experience in creating corporate strategies and managing them from top positions, he has always sought new ways to push the boundaries of the market and the business world itself. His main areas of expertise and interest are brand strategy and communication, business design, product design, idea formation, and rapid business growth.
Although he graduated in telecommunications from FER in 1997, Božidar found himself in banking, where he spent about twenty years in leadership positions (COO, CTO, CEO). When he grew tired of this, he became active in developing the local startup ecosystem through various forms of collaboration, networking, investing, consulting, mentoring, and educating. He often moderates and gives lectures at international conferences and writes articles for various electronic media.
Filip graduated from FER and his first love was developing iOS applications. He spent the first seven years of his career developing mobile applications and leading teams that create digital products in the fields of AR, e-commerce, enterprise tools, and lifestyle applications. After that, he joined Photomath, where he led a full-stack team developing systems and services that provide solutions to math problems in the Photomath app. Following Google’s acquisition of Photomath, he now works at Google as an Engineering Manager on education-related projects.
After working at Netokracija and ZIP in Zagreb, launching his own startup TimePrep, completing studies at FER and EFZG, and working at Techstars with 6 programs and around 80 startups, Marko is currently the COO of Memgraph.
Matija graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing among the top 5% of his class. In his final year of studies, he started the startup Noomly, which he led for three years. With the startup, he participated in various competitions and won numerous awards, including reaching the finals of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup in Seattle and receiving financial support from HAMAG BICRO through the PoC7 program.
Fran is a lawyer and partner at the law firm Vukina & Partneri d.o.o. For many years, he has been advising clients in the fields of financial, corporate, and commercial law. He advises investors and startups, among other things, during capital raising. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb and completed an LL.M. in financial law at the Institute for Law and Finance at Goethe University in Frankfurt. In addition to being a lawyer, Fran is also a court interpreter for English and German.
Mislav specializes in legal areas related to intellectual property law, digital law, data protection law, competition law, and related commercial contracts. He is a member of the AIPPI (the oldest International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, established in 1897) committee for the digital economy and the committee for information technology and the internet. Additionally, Mislav has advised and assisted clients in legal matters concerning digital platforms, online advertising, the pharmaceutical industry, and the information technology industry.
Luka’s startup career began in Orqa, where he led one of the company’s business segments for more than two years. After that, he devoted himself to freelance work with startups in the field of hardware, which enabled him to further expand his knowledge and skills. During the last two years, he has been working at the intersection of the corporate and startup worlds as an investment and M&A consultant in the German-speaking world. Luka’s expertise includes hardware, sales, business development, business model and strategy development, and technology commercialization.
Igor S. Pandžić is a professor at FER’s Department of Telecommunications. He graduated from FER and received his doctorate in 1998 from the University of Geneva. He was a visiting scientist at AT&T Labs, Linköping University, and Kyoto University. In Linköping, in 2002, he founded the software company Visage Technologies AB with two partners, investing intellectual property and about €500 in capital. Through the organic growth of the company, he met most of the roles that appear in the development of a small and medium-sized company. He is now a member of the company’s supervisory board.
Mario graduated in mechanical engineering at FSB and then went to London for a doctorate in materials science. After that, he spent 5 years as a consultant at the TWI Institute Ltd. in Cambridge, participating in the preparation of several hundred R&D projects funded through the Horizon 2020 program and the British program InnovateUK. Upon his return to Croatia, he worked as an EU consultant for several successful Croatian startups and provided them with multimillion-dollar funding for their R&D projects. In 2022, he founded the consulting company Kostan Consultancy & Innovation d.o.o. (KCI) with the aim of contributing to the development of the Croatian startup ecosystem using EU funds and focusing on digitization and advanced technologies of Industry 4.0.
Slaven Steković is a serial entrepreneur in the fields of life science, automation, and AI with business exit experience. He is a molecular biologist and expert in longevity and age-related diseases, while working with multimodal datasets and new technologies. Slaven is also a bestselling author as well as a partner in Sevedge Ventures, a London-based VC investing in the life science and medtech fields.
Emil graduated from the Faculty of Graphics in Zagreb, and after a short period of work as an independent interactive designer, in 2003 he joined Hrvatski Telekom in the then newly established digital product development sector, where he participated in leading many projects for business and residential users. One of the projects was MAXtv, which after 5 years was used in over 400,000 households in Croatia and was the first commercial project of interactive television within the Deutsche Telekom Group on a global level. After seven years at Hrvatski Telekom, he leaves the company as the director for the development of applications and business solutions. Since 2008, he has been working as an independent interactive designer, where he has realized a number of projects in Croatia and abroad. In 2015, he joined the Faculty of Design in Zagreb as an external expert and is the instructor of the Basics of Interactive Media course at the undergraduate level and Interactive Media at the graduate level.
Hrvoje graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb. He currently works at Dell Technologies in Boston, where he is responsible for the profitability of storage and cloud business, as well as for investments in AI/cloud startups. In 2020, he co-founded the startup Yotta Leads, which was acquired at the end of 2021. He mentors startups participating in MassChallenge and the MIT Enterprise Forum. He actively invests in stocks and publishes the FintechWave financial newsletter.
Ivo Sluganović is the founder and CEO of PhishAR, a spinout launched in 2020 as a result of research and patents created during his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford.
Over the past 15 years, he has been actively involved in both the academic world (through various research projects, a doctorate, and different associations) and the entrepreneurial one (through the eSTUDENT Association, two startups, advising other startups, etc.).Ivo Sluganović je osnivač i CEO PhishAR-a, spinouta pokrenutog 2020. godine kao rezultat radova i patenata napravljenih tijekom završenog doktorskog studija na Sveučilištu u Oxfordu.
Belma Gutlić is a graduate program engineer from FER with a passion for new technologies. Even during her college days, she was involved in the creation of several startups. She gained experience with fullstack development, and after graduating in 2017, she decided to start her journey by building her own company, NodeFactory, for the development of decentralized applications on the blockchain. A year ago, Belma made her first exit with the acquisition by the Canadian company ChainSafe. Now she works as the head of the research and development team. She is the co-founder of the Alice in Blockchains association and a member of the board of directors of UBIK.
Marin is the co-founder and CEO of Omnisearch, a startup developing a new generation of search technology with a special focus on non-textual data types such as audio and video. Omnisearch was officially launched in April last year and has so far raised $450,000 USD in pre-seed investment from VC fund GoAhead Ventures. Before starting his own startup, he got his master’s degree at FER and then spent four years at MemSQL, a Silicon Valley startup, and later at Amazon, where he worked on Amazon Web Services and Alexa.
Ante Medić, co-founder and director of Pulsar Labs, a company for the development and design of products for industry and consumer goods.
Vedran graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb (English program) and is the winner of two rector’s and two dean’s awards. After gaining business experience in Croatia (IKEA, EY), his career path took him abroad. As a senior financial analyst and business intelligence engineer at Amazon, he first worked in the EU headquarters in Luxembourg, after which he moved to the United States, where he currently works from Seattle. He is currently working on internal products for the automation and standardization of financial planning and analytics.
Dragan Jović is a telecommunications engineer with 19 years of experience in the field of ICT and a regulatory consultant with 7 years of experience in the field of regulation for the development and production of medical devices. He has extensive experience in the development and implementation of various regulatory strategies in the field of design and production of medical devices within the European Union and the USA. His work is particularly prominent in projects that use telemedicine, software as a medical device, and artificial intelligence to improve health care and protection.
Ema has extensive experience in the fields of creating customer strategy, service design, user research, and brand strategy. She works with companies to help them simplify and humanize complex business systems, turning them into new business opportunities. In short, Ema can answer all questions related to the creation of an interesting product or service on behalf of the user and thus create a profit. For the last eight years, she worked on projects for Fortune 500 companies such as HP, Corona, Boehringer Ingelheim, The Times, and many others in London and Croatia.
Juraj develops innovative and scalable AI solutions. He is currently in the position of head of the engineering team, in which he develops projects in the fields of education, finance, and healthcare. In addition to software development, Juraj has many years of experience in organizing and coordinating teams in solving real problems. As a mentor, he helps younger members of his team develop their engineering careers.
Zoran has more than two decades of experience in marketing, sales, and working with multi-functional teams. He worked in managerial positions at Procter & Gamble in the markets of Croatia and Central Europe and is one of the global pioneers of Shopper Marketing. For 10 years, he held the position of Marketing Director of Red Bull Croatia, working and mentoring teams around the world (Japan, France, Latin America). He initiated the Wings for Life World Run race in Croatia and led the Red Bull Air Race project in Rovinj.
An expert in AI and deep tech with over 20 years of experience, ranging from large research institutions to startup ventures and investment funds. He is a co-owner of Azimut Zero, where he helps investors understand which deep-tech investments are profitable and worthwhile. He is active in the European ecosystem through the European Innovation Council and helps numerous stakeholders identify technological proposals worth investing in. His interests and expertise are also focused on AI strategy consulting and in-depth knowledge and application of AI sciences.
Josipa is a serial tech entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in building scalable tech ventures. She leads product and development teams, sells products, co-develops them with Fortune 100 customers, and raises capital from global professional investors. Launched products include award-winning consumer electronics, B2B SaaS, and B2C fintech/crypto products, featured in WSJ, Time, and the BBC. She is a Seedcamp alumnus and a lecturer in affective computing at the University of Zagreb. Josipa is also a mentor at Swissconect across Europe and writes for Forbes in the USA.
Peđa Predin is the general manager and co-founder of Fifth Quarter Ventures, a new regional early-stage VC fund focused on providing extensive operating support to startups and building global stories from Southeast Europe. Peđa has more than 12 years of experience in VC investing, corporate strategy, business development, and global expansion. Before setting up his own fund, he worked as VC investor at South Central Ventures, and has served in various management roles at Norwegian unicorn company Gelato, including Head of Global Expansion, China Country Manager and Head of Logistics, and as Business Manager at Microsoft CEE (based out of Germany). He obtained his MBA from INSEAD (France), and BS in Finance from St. Francis College (New York, US).
Tena Žganec is a phonetician and an expert in rhetoric, specializing in public speaking and communication skills training. The topics she primarily covers are public speaking composition, oratorical argumentation, and speech performance. So far, she has participated as a mentor and trainer in numerous speech schools, education, and training sessions across Croatia, working equally with all age groups.
Davor Aničić is the director and one of the founders of Velebit.AI, the only domestic specialized AI agency. Since 2015, he has been working on the development of products and business solutions based on artificial intelligence technology, most often from the position of connecting business needs and technological solutions. He spent more than ten years managing products and projects in the telecommunications industry and has four years of experience in technology transfer, intellectual property protection, and patents at the Ruđer Bošković Institute. He had his first startup experience back in his student days at the end of the last millennium with the first domestic web stores. He returned to the startup world in 2019 when they founded Velebit.AI and embarked on the adventure of a small company that grows as a builder of business solutions built on data and the application of deep learning methods.
Marija Butković is a law graduate, entrepreneur, startup mentor, consultant, former Forbes journalist, and jury member of the EIC Accelerator program in Brussels. She lived and worked in London for more than 10 years in the tech and consumer health sectors, working with brands such as Abbott, Philips, Google, McKinsey, and AWS. She is the founder of a global organization for women in the world of health technology – Women of Wearables, which counts members in more than 50 countries globally. She is a member of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, and for the last seven years (2018-2024) she has been recognized as one of the most influential women in the UK technology sector.
Marko Štefančić is an experienced technology leader with over a decade of experience in software development, managing engineering teams, and strategic technology decision-making. As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Notch, he plays a pivotal role in defining the company’s vision and technological strategy, leading innovative research and development initiatives, and securing EU funding through various R&D project proposals. His career spans a variety of roles, including software architecture, solution design, and implementation of blockchain and AI technology on the one hand, and board member on the other. In addition to leadership in the business environment, he is an active mentor and organizer of hackathons and meetups that have helped develop a new generation of developers in Croatia. With an educational background in computing from TVZ, he is passionate about fostering innovation and collaboration in technology.
Snježana Miliša is electrical engineer and project manager with over 30 years of experience in the fields of electrical engineering, project management, and procurement. Recognized as the first Croatian Female Engineer of the Year in 2023, she has a proven track record of leading complex, high-budget projects and programs, particularly in the automotive, energy distribution, card processing and banking sectors. Known for exceptional organizational, management, and communication skills, she is proficient in various project management methodologies and tools. Her expertise spans across team leadership, strategic planning, and implementation of innovative solutions.
Matija Renić is the Chief Program Engineer at Bugatti Rimac, where he leads the development of the Rimac Nevera, a globally homologated, record-breaking electric hypercar. With over a decade of experience in the automotive and railway industries, he has overseen the engineering of groundbreaking technologies, from powertrain systems and electrical architecture to testing and complete vehicle development. His leadership has been instrumental in delivering the Nevera, which set 23 world records, and he continues to drive innovation within the automotive sector. Before starting the Nevera project, Matija held various leadership and engineering roles at Rimac Automobili, including Head of Embedded Software Development, where he led teams in developing critical vehicle systems. Earlier in his career, he worked at Altpro, developing real-time railway signaling systems. Matija holds a Master’s degree in Computing from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb.
Davor is the founder of Upp Agency, a company specializing in consulting and implementing solutions in the fields of AI and Machine Learning. Since 2017, he has been fully dedicated to these areas, improving his skills primarily through work in startups. Of particular note is his experience in a Google-funded startup in New York, where, as the head of the ML team, he helped raise two rounds of funding totaling over 20 million dollars. He worked on the development of four different AI and ML-based SaaS products, some of which achieved significant commercial success, enabling users to save over a million dollars annually, automate 90% of their work processes, and reduce storage costs by 20%. He spent part of his career as a freelance, which allowed him to work on a wide range of challenges and technologies (demand forecasting, genAI, recommendation systems, optimization, computer vision, remote sensing, and GIS) across various industries (retail/e-commerce, supply chains, fashion, telecommunications, agrotechnology, hospitality, customer support, business automation, and environmental protection).
Bojan is currently holding position of Head of Sales for Europe at PlanRadar, a SaaS company revolutionizing the construction and real estate sectors. With extensive experience in sales strategy, market expansion, and go-to-market execution, he has successfully led teams across diverse European markets, delivering measurable growth and building scalable sales operations. He brings deep expertise in developing sales strategies, crafting GTM plans, and navigating the challenges of scaling startups. He holds Executive MBA from Wu Vienna focused on Startup and Innovation.
A specialist in EU communications, public relations, and an advocate for #AllThingsDigital, Antonia Lončar combines extensive experience in managing complex public projects and implementing international campaigns. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with the private and public sectors, international NGOs, the European Commission, and the United Nations. As a senior communications expert for the European Commission, she contributes to shaping the EU’s foreign policy in other European regions, such as the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as in other continents, including Africa. With a strong background in EU projects, intellectual property, and media, she actively follows and advocates for the latest regulations in these areas within the EU. Fluent in five languages, she advises media, technology, and creative start-ups, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, helping them navigate public funding opportunities to expand their business and increase social engagement. As a PhD candidate at the University of Zadar and Libertas Business School, she researches international relations with a special focus on the EU Green Deal and its impact on global trade. In this role, she has recently lectured at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM), inspiring students with topics such as sustainability, international institutional communication, and policy.
Andrea is a Programme Coordinator at EISMEA (European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency) managing the European Innovation Council, European innovation Ecosystems, SME Pillar of the Single Market Programme and Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument. She has more than 10 years of experience in the public and private sector in business analysis, project management and EU funding. She holds degrees in economics and strategic project management.
Coaching/Mentoring is my professional ID. It is my calling, passion and my essence in all other similar services. Being 20+ years in the professional executive coaching & team coaching, reminds me that every new coaching is a new and authentic adventure. In the terms of EMCC accreditation my is Senior Practitioner Coach & Mentor EIA EMCC. Furthermore, I am ESIA EMCC certified supervisor. My coaching development fundament is 2-years intensive Masters in coaching, in The Netherlands. What my clients says about me? 1. Dragan is like tennis backend coach, the way he returns ball me to me always – “Big four”, executive 2. He is like Mr. Wolf from Pulp fiction – arriving quickly bringing the structure in the chaos- Retail executive 3. He bring clarity and wisdom with confidence – IT founder & board executive What will you say if we join our efforts? If we work together, we will be focused, playful and devoted to your agenda and beyond. Both change or transformation goes with a dose of Humour and Resilience. That is “HR” I believe in!
Experienced with software product management and development, Tech leadership, and SaaS co-founder with successful exit. I am currently working on digital products in the wellbeing and HR industry.
Scott is the CTO of GenSight Biologics. He has been active in gene therapy since 1997 as a graduate student at Purdue University where he used lentiviral and retroviral gene therapy vectors pseudotyped with the Ebola virus glycoprotein. In the early 2000’s he spent a few years studying SARS-CoV and its entry receptors. He moved to France where he gained international experience working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Scott left the academic lab in 2014 and has continued to grow in knowledge and responsibility in chemistry manufacturing and controls management and leadership. He has been part of the successful commercial launch of Hemgenix from uniQure/CSL Bering, filing of INDs and BLAs, and managing process performance qualification efforts. He is excited by the future of gene therapy and being on the cutting edge of this life changing technology.
Iva holds a BSc in Nutrition and an MSc in Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Zagreb and the University of Orléans, along with a PhD in Biomedicine from the University of Barcelona, where she was supported by a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellowship. Her journey spans early research in drug characterization and development and the role of metabolism in health and disease, which led her to postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and now at CECAD Research Institute, where she focuses on metabolism and cancer. She excels in interdisciplinary settings, blending diverse ideas to drive innovation. Iva enjoys building connections, pitching new concepts, and making complex ideas accessible to all. Her goal is to foster teamwork and empower individuals to leverage their strengths for collective success.
Ivan is the Managing Partner at InterCapital, a leading independent financial services group based in Croatia. He oversees the company’s sales, business development, and digital transformation initiatives. Before his current role, Ivan spent 21 years in various leadership positions within InterCapital’s investment banking & brokerage company (InterCapital Securities), serving as both Board Member and CEO helping build the leading independent investment banking & brokerage platform in South & Eastern Europe. From 2016 to 2025, he led InterCapital Asset Management, delivering a 7x growth in assets and launching several innovative products, including regional ETFs and the Genius digital robo-advisory and savings APP. Ivan holds an Executive MBA from IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland), along with a Certificate in Global Management, Coaching Certificate, and Corporate Governance Certificate from INSEAD. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Zagreb and is an alumnus of IMD, INSEAD, and IEDC. His professional interests include business development, corporate governance (as a non-executive director), digital transformation, leadership development, coaching, and investing.
Josip Šimunović is a Croatian and American scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and Research Professor at North Carolina State University, Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, and is one of the co-founders and Chief Science Officer of SinnovaTek/SinnoVita/FirstWave Innovations Inc. He graduated in 1978 from the Faculty of Food Technology, University of Osijek, received his master’s degree in 1983 from the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA and his doctorate from the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, USA. With over 60 registered inventions, he is the named inventor on 23 issued U.S. patents. patent, 3 U.S.C. patent pending and over 50 international patents issued. His licensed and commercialized inventions and patents are the intellectual basis for 11 new companies and 12 new modern plants for the processing of food, beverages and biomaterials. These companies and factories have so far introduced over 250 new products to the commercial markets in the USA, Europe, Australia and Africa, from software applications, sensors and instruments, process equipment to integrated production systems for validating the safety of new products and new food products with improved nutritional and organoleptic properties to new ingredients and applications based on patented and licensed technologies. As an author and co-author, he has published over 60 scientific papers, he is the co-editor of the 3rd edition of the Handbook of Aseptic Processing and Packaging, the author of chapters in many other books, a lecturer at invited and plenary lectures at international scientific and professional conferences and the winner of numerous American and international awards, of which he is the first recipient from Croatia of the 2012 Institute of Thermal Processing Specialists Marvin A. Tung Achievement Award, the 2015 IFT Research and Development Award, the 2019 IFT Fellow selection and 2023. Lifetime Achievement Award – International Association for Engineering and Food.
Engineer at heart with HBS MBA degree and 13 years in product and GTM roles, balanced between strategy and ops. Yoga teacher, runner, avid horseback rider. DEI ambassador.
C-suite executive with over 18 years of international experience across four industries: retail, telecommunications, global appliances, and advertising. Holding expertise in executive leadership, strategy planning and implementation, business transformation, people management, product and service development, new revenue generation, innovation, digitalization, business development and optimization, project management, marketing and corporate communications, and CSR. Possessing track record in launching new business topics and new business areas, transforming existing operations, and leading within structured and transformative environments. Known as dedicated, curious, and integrator of complex topics, number of stakeholders and diverse people. Worked in Croatia, the USA, Italy, and Germany, with a strong focus on international leadership, stakeholder management, development and delivery excellence. Educational background includes an MSc in Management (Rochester Institute of Technology), an MBA in International Business (MIB School of Management), and a Digital Transformation certification from Stanford. Actively serving on Advisory Boards, volunteering and mentoring. Named Business Woman of the Year 2023 by MBA Croatia – association of business leaders. Foucer of Kairos Advisory: Kairos Advisory
Engineer by education with a strong foundation in data analytics and business strategy. I have built and scaled operations across tech startups and scaleups, including experience in Croatia’s first unicorn, working closely with founders and leadership teams at the intersection of strategy and execution. My experience spans defining and executing scaling strategies, shaping go-to-market approaches, refining product positioning, and setting up sales, presales, and delivery processes. I have also led strategic planning initiatives, including OKR design and execution frameworks that align teams around measurable impact. I am driven by honesty, integrity, and teamwork, and I focus on turning ambitious visions into structured execution.
Mirta is an assistant professor (Royal Holloway University of London) of cognitive neuroscience, examining human and computer vision in the context of face perception. She previously studied at University of Oxford and Harvard University. Her experience spans from early stage startups (Orgnostic) to big technology firms (Facebook/Meta). Her joint industry and academic careers give her a unique insight into the operational workings of research groups and gaps between research and viable products that can be bridged with strategically deployed advisory capacity. She has advised startups in pre-seed and seed funding stages.
C-level menadžerica i izvršna direktorica s preko 18 godina međunarodnog iskustva u četiri industrije: maloprodaja, telekomunikacije, globalni uređaji i oglašavanje. Stručna u izvršnom vodstvu, planiranju i provedbi strategije, transformaciji poslovanja, upravljanju ljudima, razvoju proizvoda i usluga, generiranju novih prihoda, inovacijama, digitalizaciji, razvoju i optimizaciji poslovanja, upravljanju projektima, marketingu i korporativnim komunikacijama te društvenoj odgovornosti. Posjeduje iskustvo u pokretanju novih poslovnih tema i novih poslovnih područja, transformaciji postojećih operacija i vođenju unutar strukturiranih i transformativnih okruženja. Poznata kao predana, znatiželjna i integratorica složenih tema, brojnih dionika i raznolikih ljudi. Radila je u Hrvatskoj, SAD-u, Italiji i Njemačkoj, s jakim fokusom na međunarodno vodstvo, upravljanje raznim dionicima, razvoj i izvrsnost u isporuci. Obrazovanje uključuje fakultetsku diplomu iz menadžmenta (Rochester Institute of Technology), MBA iz međunarodnog poslovanja (MIB School of Management) i certifikat digitalne transformacije sa Stanforda. Aktivno sudjeluje u savjetodavnim odborima, volontira i mentorira. Proglašena je poslovnom ženom godine 2023. od strane MBA Croatia – udruženja poslovnih lidera. Osnivačica Kairos Advisory: Kairos Advisory
Mentorice i mentori su na raspolaganju timovima te prema potrebi dogovaraju sastanke kada i kako najbolje odgovara i njima i timovima. S određenim brojem mentora dogovaraju se i radionice na teme relevantne za ranu fazu startup razvoja.
Ako svojim znanjima i vještinama možete i želite podržati, usmjeriti i savjetovati naše timove, prijavite se za mentoriranje budućih osnivača startupa.
