Amazon, China & Robots?

Sophia is Hanson Robotics’ most advanced and celebrated robot endowed with remarkable expressiveness, aesthetics, and interactivity. She can simulate a full range of facial expressions, track and recognize faces, look people in the eye, and hold natural conversations with them. She’s a star.

Sophia made her debut at the South by Southwest show in 2016. Since then, she has become a sought-after media personality: she has done numerous press interviews, garnering over one billion engagements on a CNBC online coverage. She has appeared on the much loved and watched television shows, including CBS 60 Minutes with Charlie Rose, the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Good Morning Britain.

Her resume continues to impress: Sophia is a keynote speaker, panel member, and meet-and-greeter at some of the world’s most prestigious conferences. She is also an accomplished brand ambassador. The career-driven robot lady was featured in AUDI’s annual report and graced the cover and centerfold of ELLE magazine.

Sophia has even addressed members of the United Nations General Assembly committee. She was recently named the world’s first United Nation Innovation Champion by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Ravi Belani is Fenwick & West Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at Stanford University, and Managing Director of the Alchemist Accelerator, an enterprise seed accelerator backed by Cisco, DFJ, Khosla Ventures, Salesforce, Sapphire Ventures, and USVP. Alchemist grads include MightyHive, Rigetti Quantum Computing, and Zipongo. Ravi formerly spent six years as part of the investment team at Draper Fisher Jurvetson's Menlo Park global headquarters, where he led investments and served on the boards as the first institutional investor in companies such as Justin.TV & Twitch (acquired by Amazon for $970m), Pubmatic, Vizu (acq’d by Nielsen), and Yield Software (acq'd by Autonomy). Ravi formerly worked in product management at two Kleiner Perkins enterprise startups, and as a consultant in McKinsey and Company's San Francisco office. Ravi is a Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi graduate of Stanford University, holding a BS with Distinction and MS in Industrial Engineering. Ravi also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

David Chen is strongly into entrepreneurship. He has founded and managed several technology start-ups and is currently the co-founder of AngelVest Group. AngelVest Group has grown into one of the most significant organized angel groups in Greater China with around 70 members from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

David has set himself high goals. He is behind the AngelVest Fund which has led the investments in over 25 early-stage companies on behalf of AngelVest members. By having an active role in select portfolio companies, David has helped young companies with their strategy, operations, and growth.

The remarkable man is also the CFO and Board member of Hanson Robotics since its Series A financing. For those who are not yet familiar with the company, it is the world’s leading manufacturer of human-like robots with artificial intelligence technology. You have most probably heard of the famous “Sophia” robot.

And last, but not least, David is the founding Chairman of the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of China. His mission is to provide an educational and networking forum for Harvard alumni interested in angel investing.

Ralph Echemendia is a world-renowned cyber security expert, known internationally by his alter ego “The Ethical Hacker.” For over 20 years, Ralph has delivered training on hacking and other security information to corporations including the US Marine Corps, NASA, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, AMEX, Intel, Boeing, Symantec, and IBM.

His portfolio of work and reputation as a leading professional across several industries has landed him the credibility to make appearances on CNN, Fox News, USA Today, and Forbes, to name a few. He has now joined forces with some of the music industry and Hollywood’s most influential names and is working on cutting edge technology for consumer cyber security.

Reimo Hammerberg is the Partner and Head of the Banking & Finance team at Sorainen Estonia. Reimo is, without a doubt, a one of the highest of experts on financial and capital markets law.

Reimo’s advice is golden. He has advised a vast number of domestic and international companies in landmark transactions, helping them to expand or restructure their businesses.

When Port of Tallinn did their initial public offering, the first IPO of a state-owned entity in Estonia since 1999, Reimo was naturally involved. He assisted Northern Horizon Capital with their IPO and secondary public offerings, also the secondary listing of units of the Baltic Horizon Fund on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange.

Reimo is a board member of financial sector representative organization FinanceEstonia to establish a regulation for ICOs and secondary markets of token trading.

Curious fact: as Reimo anticipates blockchain technologies to create opportunities not yet seen or heard before. He is highly interested in the intersection of blockchain technology, financial markets, and law.

Henrik Husman is the President of Nasdaq Helsinki since March 2016. From 2009 to March 2016, Husman served as a Deputy CEO of Nasdaq Helsinki. He also holds the position of Vice President, Cash Equities Product Management at Nasdaq Nordic. Husman has worked in several executive positions at Nasdaq and its predecessors in Finland since 1997. He is a graduate of Helsinki School of Business (currently Aalto University School of Business).

Ieva Elvyra Kazakeviciute is a seasoned communications professional and PR and Community Manager for Northern Europe at Revolut – one of the fastest growing start-ups in the world, and UK’s first digital bank unicorn. With a degree in Political Sciences and a title of World’s Debating Champion, Ieva Elvyra has been leading a very colorful professional career in public relations and communication. Passion for writing led her to become the Deputy Editor-in-chief of an award-winning design and food art magazine VMG, named World’s Best in 2015 and 2016. She then transferred to television as the Communications and Foreign Relations Executive at TV Play, largest television production house in the Baltics. Inspired by Revolut’s vision of borderless mobile banking, Ieva Elvyra is now set to contribute shaping the public discourse on fintech and have Northern Europe talk about Revolut as the future of radically better banking.

LHV is one of the most innovative and start-up friendly banks in our region. Andres has been managing LHV retail banking over 5 years and is currently heading the business unit focusing on the growing fintech sector and running the LHV UK business. He has 18 years of experience in banking, payments and technology, including 7 exciting years in Skype.

Kaarel Kotkas is the CEO and founder of Veriff. The tech-savvy serial entrepreneur started two companies before settling his focus on Veriff in 2015.

Kaarel’s mission is to gain the trust of the internet and rid the world of online identity theft, empowering the many who use the web with good intentions, and stopping those who don’t, in their tracks.

Veriff is online identity verification with superpowers. Whether you’re offering your home on Airbnb, hailing an Uber driver or a buying on Amazon – the people you trust with your home, safety, or property can be ‘veriffed’ by those platforms safely and seamlessly in seconds.

Veriff is one of 2018’s most successful Y-Combinator Alumni. Having raised 8.3 million dollars and boasting shareholders including the likes of Mosaic Ventures, Taavet Hinrikus, Ashton Kutcher, Paul Buchheit, and Elad Gil.

Veriff’s customers include financial enterprises, marketplaces, sharing economy companies and e-commerce sites around the globe.

PS! Nordic Business Report has listed Kaarel Kotkas among the 25 most outstanding young entrepreneurs of Northern Europe.

Tim Filip Leche is the director of Speedinvest, the European venture capital fund for early-stage tech startups. Leche has been involved in the world of banking for years: before joining Speedinvest, he held the position of Vice President of Morgan Stanley, co-founded Banking Startup in Berlin, and worked as an associate at Credit Suisse.

Kevin Murcko is a know face in the retail FX world, his company FXPIG was a pioneer in bringing transparency to retail FX.

A Crypto Enthusiast before the term was even a ‘thing’, Kevin brought transparency to Forex and continually pushes to close the profit gap between institutional and retail traders. As the founder of CoinMetro and a board member of the European Crypto Association he is now looking to help shape a tokenized future.

Madis Müller is a Deputy Governor of Eesti Pank and a member of the European Central Bank’s Supervisory
Board for bank supervision. Mr Müller is responsible at Eesti Pank for developing payment systems in a reliable
and cost-efficient way and safeguarding financial stability. He is also responsible for implementing monetary
policy decisions, managing the financial assets of Eesti Pank, coordinating currency circulation, and maintaining
the safety of the bank’s operational and physical working environment.

Before taking on his current position in 2011, Mr Müller worked for International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a
portfolio manager in 2006–2011. He has also held the roles of an advisor and senior advisor to the executive
director of the Nordic-Baltic constituency at the World Bank, an economic advisor to the Prime Minister and
the Minister of Finance of Estonia and that of a corporate finance consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr Müller holds a Masters in Finance degree from George Washington University in the US, which he received
in 2006, and he graduated in international business management, banking and finance from Estonian Business
School in 1999. He is also an FRM (Financial Risk Manager) and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder.

James Oates is one of the best known and most experienced figures in Central and Eastern European finance.

He currently runs Cicero Capital, a specialist investment company focused on central & eastern Europe (CEE) based in Tallinn. He has also served as a supervisory board member of several financial and industrial companies in the Baltic, Polish and wider Central European markets.

In a distinguished career, he has been Head of Eastern European Equities (Research & Specialist Sales) at UBS and Lazard, has invested as a fund manager in the region for Flemings Investment Management, and began his career at JP. Morgan -working in corporate finance. In the past, he has been rated a number one analyst by Greenwich Investors and Institutional Investor magazine.

Henrik Roonemaa is one of Estonia’s best known tech journalists. He is the publisher of Geenius.ee, a leading tech news website in Estonia and a host of two tech radio shows, Digitund and Restart. He has been covering tech as a journalist for almost 20 years and witnessed the rise and fall of many ideas, services, technologies, brands and devices.

Baiba Rubesa is Supervisory Board member in Latvenergo AS (largest electricity trader in the Baltics). Recently resigned as CEO of Rail Baltica (RB Rail)-Europe’s most complex greenfield cross-border infrastructure project to build a high speed railway from Estonia to Poland.

Previously an executive in different positions in Statoil ASA (VP CSR, Government Affairs in the Caspian, Managing Director, Latvia, etc), she has also served on the Supervisory Boards of Citadeles Banka, DNB Nord Banka and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI); has been Chair, Foreign Investors Council in Latvia and VP, Latvian Chamber of Commerce. Known as an experienced, results oriented and inspiring manager with a range of business experience from oil & gas, retail, automotive, banking - and most recently, transport/railways, she is currently a candidate for the European Parliament Elections for Latvia’s alliance of liberal democrats - Attistībai PAR!

On 1 February 2017, Mr Ruijters was appointed Director of Directorate B - Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport in DG Mobility and Transport, while at the same time continuing as Head of Unit responsible for the Trans European Network (TEN-T) until 1 April. He assumed the role of Head of Unit in 2009 and was directly involved in developing
the TEN-T Guidelines.

He previously worked in the same DG from 2005 to 2009, in order to promote the implementation of TEN-T projects in cooperation with the European Coordinators, and for the development of road safety policy, from 1997 to 2005. Before coming to the Commission he held various positions in The Netherlands related to transport.

Dr. Christopher Sier recently Chaired the UK Financial Conduct Authority's panel investigating costs, fees and transparency in institutional investment. He has previously worked with the World Bank, EIOPA, the Committee on Workers Capital and institutional investors around the world.

Chris is also Fintech Envoy for England, the UK Treasury and Chairman of Fintech North, the innovation community for the North of England. Combining these two worlds, he is the Chairman of two fintechs, each looking at different aspects of the pensions market.

But that is not all. Chris is also the Visiting Professor of Financial Technology at the University of Leeds, and curiously – used to be a police officer in Edinburgh.

Tomosaku Sohara is the Managing Partner at NordicNinja VC by JB Nordic Ventures. He has mastered his skills in corporate finance, financial analysis and private equity.

Tomosakus background in financing is as impressive as it is international: throughout the years Tomosaku has been part of the world of finance in Japan, Finland and Mexico.

Kustaa Valtonen is a Board Member of Valtonen Capital, a privately held investment company. He is also a partner at a startup ecosystem and new funding mechanism FinestLove.

His current focus is set on building up the FinEst BayArea and heading the FinEst Bay Area Development Company program management office. The project aims to design, plan and construct the Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel.

But, Kustaa is a man of many talents. And one of those is investments, especially private capital investments in startup phase companies. His current investments are Agens, Audiodraft, Earth House Systems, Insjö, Playgain, Ramminspeed Entertainment, Scatman, Usetrace, Valopaa, and Valota. His past investments include SongHi Entertainment, FilmmeNetworks, and MoovieCloud.

Kustaa also coaches startups on a regular basis and works closely with accelerator programs such as Startup Sauna. One other of his fortes is giving stellar advice to companies. Just ask away.