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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lauri Rosendahl is the President of Nasdaq Nordics and Nasdaq Stockholm. He holds the position of Senior Vice President of European Cash Equity and Equity Derivatives within Global Transaction and Market Services at Nasdaq.

Lauri’s curriculum vitae is extraordinary: before taking on a superhero role in Nasdaq in 2009, he held several senior management positions within securities trading, equity research and investment banking with a myriad of prestigious banks and brokers.

During his somewhat challenging, but successful nonetheless, years in Nasdaq Nordic, Lauri implemented CCP clearing for cash equities, launched INET trading system for them and initiated GENIUM INET for equity derivatives. Lauri is also the man behind the Baltic and Armenian operations of Nasdaq.

Lauri is a founding and board member of The Finnish Financial Analyst Society, and member of the board of The Finnish Brokers' Association, The Private Brokers' Association, Supervisory Board of the Helsinki Stock Exchange and Member of the Board in the Finnish Deposit Guarantee Fund.

Oliver is the Managing Partner of Speedinvest GmbH. His know-how on mobile and internet industry is vast and his experience goes impressively deep.

Oliver has a knack for founding successful ventures. He is behind one of the very first European internet start-ups dating back to 1997, himself being a mere university student at the time. Another of his fortes is entrepreneurship and high-level managerial positions.

Some years later he centered company’s aim towards mobile solutions. In 2004 he formed 3united AG, a 3-way merger that gave birth to a top European player in the highly competitive mobile landscape.

In early 2006, 3united was acquired by VeriSign for 55 million euros. After a few years in Silicon Valley, Oliver moved back to Austria and started a platform for business angels. After that came Speedinvest, a fund dedicated to revolutionizing European venture capital, providing entrepreneurial know-how and operational experience.

Speedinvest currently has offices in Vienna, Munich and Silicon Valley. The primary investment targets are IT, fintech, media, and e-commerce start-ups.

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.