Meet the Jury & Speakers
Investor Day Jury consists of European and Finnish Business Angel Board Members.
Jussi Heinilä, jury
FiBAN, Finland
Jussi has an extensive background in USA Silicon Valley, where he has been developing international business opportunities for technology growth companies. He has special interest in the companies in digital space and focus on greentech too. Jussi has been involved directly with more than 200 firms in their international expansion. He has worked first over 13 years in project, product, and unit management at Nokia and in Sales, Partner and Marketing management of TeamWARE Group. He has founded Partner Up Ltd. and co-founded Accelerando + and more than half a dozen startups since 1998. He is also a co-founder of Fiban and Angel investor in 50 companies. Jussi has a Master of Science degree in Economics (speciality in ICT) and a PD degree (International Marketing Management).
Audra Shallal, jury
EBAN Board Member, Nordic Female BAN, Corenvest
France
Audra is an expert in Women Entrepreneurship and Angel Investment in the EMEA region. She promotes Entrepreneurship and Angel Investing through programs, mentoring, business plan competitions, Business Angel Networks and Women Economic Empowerment within the EU and MENA region.
She consults for international organizations OECD, UNEP, UNIDO and the European Commission, and teaches courses on Entrepreneurship to the Grandes Ecoles such as ENSCP, X, ParisTech, CELSA. Audra has played a key role in launching the Enterprise Financing Network within the MENA-OECD Investment Programme which creates a unique platform to connect entrepreneurs, financiers, research bodies and policymakers in order to improve the conditions for financing entrepreneurship.
Charles Sidman, jury
ECS Capital Partners, EBAN
US
Charles L. Sidman, MBA, PhD, is Founder and Managing Partner of ECS Capital Partners, LLC, an innovative early-stage venture fund based in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA. He is a founding member of the American Angel Capital Association (ACA), a frequent advocate for and speaker on financial, entrepreneurship, policy and ethical issues and a member at NACO, EBAN, GBAN networks. He invests in and supports early-stage companies throughout the world. He has retired as a Professor of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Cincinnati, where he also served as Professor of Management. His education includes a PhD in Immunology from Harvard University, an MBA specializing in Management from the University of Cincinnati, and sabbatical study in Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also an ATP-licensed pilot and Certificated Flight Instructor.
Jean-Claude Goldenstein, jury
WAICF, CREOpoint Europe, EBAN
US & France
Jean-Claude Goldenstein is a European-American technology entrepreneur with a unique perspective on solving complex global challenges. Armed with M.Sc. in Aerospace Systems Engineering and an M.B.A., Jean-Claude started out in aerospace R&D and Trust & Integrity for United Technologies (with clients such as Boeing and Airbus), followed by 15 years in risk-mitigation for EY and leading consulting boutiques. He founded CREOpoint.ai to help leaders combat disinformation and restore trust. The company is now expanding in the EU with a New Cannes-based CREOpoint Europe. JC has been granted multiple related patents and seeks to partner with industry leaders who can quickly realize the full potential of the company's artificial & collective intelligence inventions. He has recently served as a trusted advisor to leaders who needed personalized intelligence also to help mitigate brand safety risks and reputational damage. Jean-Claude has provided featured insights including about filtering social media information overload, disinformation and generative-AI such as deepfakes to Bloomberg TV, The Financial Times, Le Point, Nasdaq.com, NBC News, Nikkei, Techonomy, VivaTech and the Wall Street Journal.
Annukka Mickelsson, jury
Finnish Business Angel Network FiBAN
Finland
Annukka got excited about startup investing during the financial crisis when there was a lack of financing for potential ideas and competent teams. She saw a need for an ecosystem where brainpower meets capital/funding to build new growth. She became a FiBAN member in 2015 to learn in practice about startups’ growth paths. Annukka’s background is in the real-estate and financial sector as well as politics. She has long experience in team leading and board work.
Jonas Lundberg, keynote speaker
Liquido Ventures
Finland
Jonas Lundberg is the CEO of Liquido Ventures Oy. Lundberg has been a member of the information security giant F-Secure’s management team. Before jumping into the startup world, Lundberg was responsible for F-Secure's consulting business in Finland, Poland, and Japan. Lundberg also has experience in entrepreneurship as he ended up at F-Secure after they bought his company nSense in 2015.
