Startups & Investment Matching | Speakers

Speakers

Elena Davidson

CEO

Liberty Comms

As Global CEO, Elena runs Liberty’s operations globally overseeing offices across 3 continents as well as a global partner network across the rest of the world. She has over 20 years experience in PR and before that was a broadcast journalist with the BBC. Elena has run international PR programmes for large corporate organisations such as Nokia, Qualcomm, AT&T, O2 and Google as well as for challenger brands covering a wide variety of tech sectors including AI, AR, VR, robotics, telecoms, enterprise tech, fintech, retail tech, martech, property tech, clean tech and many others.

Nuno Fonseca

Founder / CEO

Sound Particles

Founder/CEO at Sound Particles, a company that creates 3D audio software for top videogames companies, world class musicians, and all major Hollywood studios, used in productions such as StarWars, Dune, Game of Thrones, Frozen, Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones and Oppenheimer. Former university professor, with a PhD in computer audio, Nuno is also the author of 2 books and more than 20 papers on audio research topics.

Sean Seton-Rogers

Partner

PROfounders Capital

Sean is a founding Partner at PROfounders Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund investing in European digital startups. PROfounders invests in technology companies that fix broken customer experiences and has invested and supported leading startups such as Unity, GetYourGuide, Busuu, and Small Giant Games. Sean co-founded PROfounders in 2010 after joining from Benchmark Capital, and in 2019 and 2020 he was selected by Forbes for the Midas List Europe. Sean has an engineering degree from Rice University and an MBA from Wharton.

Cristina Fonseca

General Partner

Indico Capital Partners

Cristina Fonseca is the General Partner at Indico Capital Partners, a leading venture capital firm in Portugal focused on tech and sustainability investments from Pre-Seed to Series B. She co-founded Talkdesk in 2011, which became a major cloud-native call center solution, raising $500M. In 2018, she co-founded Cleverly.ai, later acquired by Zendesk, where she now leads AI strategy as VP of Product. Cristina is also a board member of several companies, a Young Global Leader (WEF 2021), and holds key roles at Galp, Singularity University Portugal, and the University of Lisbon.

Inês Santos Silva

Co-founder

Portuguese Women in Tech

Inês Santos Silva is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at TejoMed, Portugal’s first membership-based family medicine clinic. She also serves as an Executive Advisor for AthenaDAO, a decentralized community of researchers, funders, and advocates dedicated to advancing women’s health research, education, and funding. Inês is a dedicated advocate for diversity and inclusion, co-founding Portuguese Women in Tech to support and amplify women in technology. Her work focuses on breaking barriers and empowering underrepresented groups in tech and entrepreneurship.

Carolin Wais

Partner

Plug and Play Ventures

Carolin has been in the Venture industry for the last 10 years, combining experiences in growth, early and Fund of Funds investments across 4 continents. As a Partner at Plug and Play, she oversees the investments in the EMEA region and has led investments into over 70 startups and supported more than 250 in EMEA. She supports 30+ offices within Plug and Play and works closely with the corporate and government partners on strategic investment topics. She is also an active startup mentor, speaker and lecturer.

Mário Tarouca

Co-founder & COO

Framedrop.ai

Mário Tarouca is the co-founder and COO of Framedrop.ai, a SaaS startup enabling traditional media companies to repurpose and optimize content for social media, trusted by brands like A BOLA, BAUER (Rádio Comercial), Diário de Notícias, and Observador.

António Miguel

Managing Partner

maze impact

António is the founder and CEO of maze, as well as the Managing Partner of the impact venture capital fund. With over 15 years of experience in impact investment across the UK, Canada, and Europe, António has built a career dedicated to driving meaningful change through innovative finance. António also teaches Impact Investment and Impact Venture Capital at NOVA SBE and previously worked as an Analyst at Social Finance UK. Holding an MSc in Business Administration from Católica Business School and recognised a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum.

Madalena Rugeroni

Founder

Madgrowth

Madalena is an entrepreneur at heart, startup investor, leadership mentor, and tech and growth enthusiast. A former Googler and startup executive, now focused on helping other tech leaders start and scale their businesses.

Jason Esseboom

CEO

Joyned Capital

Jason is the founder of Joyned Capital and a former athlete who found his calling outside of sports. He made it his mission to change the athletes’ narrative and the face of investors in technology.

Stephan de Moraes

Managing General Partner

Indico Capital Partners

Stephan de Moraes is the Managing General Partner of Indico Capital Partners, a leading venture capital tech and sustainability focused firm based in Portugal. He has invested in 5 unicorns over the last decade and is current President of APCRI – the Portuguese Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Stephan holds a degree in Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon), and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Nuno Brito Jorge

Founder and CEO

Goparity

Nuno is an environmental engineer and an innovation and sustainability enthusiast. Before becoming a dedicated entrepreneur, he was in the European Parliament (Belgium) as an advisor for energy and environmental policy, in innovation consulting and funding in Spain and as a project manager for large renewable energy projects in Portugal. He is the CEO and co-founder of Goparity (his third company), an impact finance platform that allows people and companies to invest in projects that contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in already 19 countries worldwide.

Marta Palmeiro

Co-founder

StudentFinance

Marta Palmeiro is the Co-founder of StudentFinance, a career mobility platform dedicated to helping individuals upskill in the most in-demand skills in the labor market. The company’s mission is to close the skills gap and address the impact of AI on jobs by providing tailored career pathways, access to top-tier upskilling programs, and flexible payment options. These include Government Benefits for Upskilling, Zero-Interest Flexible Payment Plans, and Income Share Agreements, ensuring accessibility for all.

João Guimarães

Co-founder & CEO

Intuitivo

João Guimarães, originally from Porto, Portugal, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Católica Porto Business School and an International Master’s degree in Management from Nova School of Business and Economics. He is currently the Co-founder & CEO of Intuitivo, an edtech startup founded in 2021. Intuitivo is a digital assessment platform with the mission of helping teachers become more productive.

Julian Melchiorri

Founder & CEO

Arborea

Julian is an entrepreneur and innovator recognised for his pioneering work on photosynthesis and biomimicry. He is the CEO and Founder of Arborea, a company that leverages microbial photosynthesis in a radical new way to convert CO2 and sunlight into the most scalable proteins on the planet. Named by Forbes as one of the EU’s Top 30 Under 30, he is also a TEDx speaker and winner of the Perez Award for Social Innovation. Julian holds dual Master’s degrees in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial College London and the RCA.

Bárbara Leão de Carvalho

Impact Investment Manager

3xP Global

An Ecologist at heart, Bárbara co-founded several environmental organizations and has accumulated over 15 years of experience in regeneration and impact investing. Having obtained a Ph.D. in conscious consumerism and becoming a coach and mentor for hundreds of social innovation projects. Bárbara dedicates her life to the transformation of the national regenerative ecosystem and speaks to the world through her theoretical and practical work. Currently, managing the first woman-led Impact Fund in Portugal, Bárbara bridges the worlds of Deep Ecology, Marketing and Impact Investment.

Mike Sigal

Founder

Sigal Ventures

Based in Portugal after 35 years in Silicon Valley, Mike Sigal is an advisor, coach, and speaker dedicated to helping innovators thrive. As an entrepreneur, he successfully exited four startups—including one through IPO. As General Partner at 500 Startups Fintech Fund, he invested in over 80 early-stage startups, with three reaching unicorn status. He currently serves as advisor and non-executive director to funds, startups, and corporations globally. Through his Pitch Slap Academy, Mike transforms exceptional founders from outside Silicon Valley into unstoppable fundraisers.

Ryan Brown

Managing Director

GRA, Family Office

Ryan is a startup founder turned investor with a passion for innovation & storytelling. In 2010, he & his sister embarked on a documentary journey from Alaska to Argentina, tackling big issues post-financial crisis. Sponsored by Timberland & distributed by Participant Media & Huffington, their interview series sparked conversations across continents. He later co-founded LQD, reimagining urban technology with Frog Design – leading to Verizon’s acquisition in 2016. Now, as Managing Director of a Nashville-based family office (GRA), he invests in early-stage startups across multiple sectors.

Marcelo Lebre

President and Co-founder

Remote

Marcelo is the co-founder and President of Remote. Marcelo was previously VP of Engineering at Unbabel and has held several CTO positions. He frequently speaks at events about leadership and managing remote teams. Marcelo is also a startup advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs. He is a passionate engineer, proud dad, and sci-fi nerd.

Miguel Santo Amaro

CEO

Coverflex

Miguel Amaro is a tech entrepreneur and investor, known for his role in co-founding Uniplaces and Coverflex, two pioneering Portuguese startups. His entrepreneurial journey underscored the significance of mentorship, leading him to establish the Entrepreneurs Organization Portugal and become a lead mentor at Techstars. Co-founding Coverflex, a company revolutionizing the world of compensation, further showcased his expertise, propelling it to become the largest pre-seed round in Portugal.

Alice Segre

Associate

maze impact

Alice Segre is an Italian impact investor based in Portugal, working at maze impact, an investment firm dedicated to supporting businesses that generate positive social and environmental impact. At maze, she focuses on identifying and investing in startups that drive meaningful change while ensuring sustainable financial growth.

André Santos

Partner

Indico Capital Partners

André de Almeida Santos is a Partner at Indico Capital, leading an early-stage impact VC fund for Oceans. With 20+ years of experience in responsible investment, he spent a decade at the African Development Bank working on poverty reduction. A former Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, he has contributed to courses on Impact Investment and Moral Leadership. He also supports the Inner Development Goals initiative, mobilizing the Lisbon hub towards its mission of personal development.

Anne-Charlotte Joubert

Project Lead

HER FUND project

Anne-Charlotte is an expert in securing EU funding with 15 years experience in navigating the European landscape, supporting organisations’ growth, building bridges between R&I ecosystems. She firmly believes in the transformative power of collaboration. A passionate advocate for women in STEAM, with restless dedication to empowering women, she leads the HER Fund initiative building a network of investors and ecosystems to uplift women entrepreneurs across Europe, creating a more inclusive and equitable landscape.

António Grilo

President

ANI - National Agency for Innovation

Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management currently holding the position of President of the National Agency for Innovation. Previously was Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at NOVA School of Science and Technology, Director of UNIDEMI, Member of the Board of NOVA.ID, Director of the PhD Program in Industrial Engineering, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Madan Parque Incubator, and Member of the Board of Directors of UNINOVA. António has managed more than 20 research & development and innovation projects, mainly in partnership with companies.

Duarte Mineiro

Partner

Armilar

Duarte has gradually adopted the role of leading the fundraising efforts at Armilar, whilst keeping up as an active member of the HealthTech space within the firm. Duarte has a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (USA). He has over 10 year experience in Strategic and Management Consulting in The Boston Consulting Group. He is a Board member/observer of several Armilar portfolio companies, and fluently speaks English, French, Spanish and Italian.

João Dias

Partner

Armilar

With a background in Electrical and Computer Engineering, João is a Partner at Armilar, being a board member/observer of several Armilar portfolio companies while playing a key role in the screening of tech-based investment opportunities in Europe.

João Paulo Oliveira

Founder & Managing Director

Sobreiro Capital

João Paulo Oliveira is the founder and managing director of Sobreiro Capital, a fund dedicated to acquiring a Portuguese SME and turning it into a global benchmark. Previously, he earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and worked in M&A in New York. His entrepreneurial journey began as the founder and co-CEO of BiLD Analytics, a data analytics startup that successfully exited to a UK private equity fund.

Nick Pickles

Chief Policy Officer

Tools for Humanity

Nick leads Tools for Humanity’s public policy work as Chief Policy Officer, where he spearheads the company’s engagement with global regulators, policymakers, and civil society. Previously Vice President of Global Affairs at X (formerly Twitter), he brings over fifteen years of experience navigating complex policy environments. Before joining X, Nick led a British privacy-focused civil society group. A law graduate of the University of Durham, Nick is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an internationally published photographer, and sits on the board of BBC Media Action.

 

André Marquet

CEO & Founder

Productized

André Marquet is an entrepreneur and product leader, founder of Productized, helping companies launch digital tech products. With a background in engineering and ventures like Beta-i, he consults for top European firms and speaks at international conferences. Founder and leader of the Portugal Defence Tech Startups Community.

Sharon Goldstein

Founder & CEO

Amplify+

Sharon is an advisor, coach, and fractional operator guiding companies to unlock the full value of AI. She supports both sides of the AI equation – guiding leadership teams through enterprise adoption, and advising startup CEOs on fundraising, GTM, and scaling. These efforts are grounded in Sharon’s extensive operating experience at both startups and enterprises. As CEO of LimeSpot, an e-commerce AI platform, she led the company to profitability and a successful exit in 2022. She’s also held CMO roles at multiple startups and strategic leadership positions at Amazon and Shutterfly. Sharon has led organizations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia, and is currently based in San Francisco.

António Dias Martins

Executive Director

Startup Portugal

António is the executive director of Startup Portugal. With a strong background in investment management, venture capital, and private equity, António is committed to developing the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem on a global scale.

Marta Cardeano

SVP AI Care Delivery Solutions

Sword Health

Marta joined Sword Health in its early days, in January 2016, as Chief of Staff. She managed internal operations in this role and drove the company’s growth from its Portugal headquarters. In February 2022, Marta took on the General Manager position at Bloom, Sword Health’s next-generation pelvic-health care solution for women. By August 2023, she also assumed the same role for Move, and now, in 2025, as SVP, AI Care Solutions, she oversees the company’s main solutions – Thrive, Bloom, and Move – continuing to focus on ensuring everyone gets the care they need and deserve.

Sacha Michaud

Co-Founder

Glovo App

Sacha Michaud is a British-Canadian entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in Spain’s online sector, known for founding and leading successful businesses. In 1997, he founded LatinRed, one of the largest Spanish-language internet service providers, which was acquired by StarMedia two years later. Throughout his career, he established several companies, including Inlander (sold in 2000), Binaria (a digital communication agency), and Transword (an online translation company). After leading Betfair Iberia for nine years, he co-founded Glovo in 2014 with Oscar Pierre, creating an on-demand delivery platform that now operates in 25 countries, connecting consumers with local couriers for fast delivery from restaurants and stores in their cities.

Nuno Gonçalves Pedro

Founder & Managing Partner

Chamaeleon

Nuno Gonçalves Pedro is the Founder and Managing Partner at Chamaeleon, with over 20 years of experience in digital strategy, business development, and corporate investments. A former senior leader at McKinsey in Technology, Digital, Media, and Telecom, he has a background in Computer Engineering and studied at Stanford GSB. Nuno is also a guest lecturer at Stanford and UC Berkeley Haas, co-founder of Tech Deciphered, and an advisor to multiple companies. He specializes in strategy, product management, and scaling businesses through high-performance teams.

Alex Santos

Co-Founder & General Partner

Chamaeleon

Co-founder and General Partner at Chamaeleon, an innovative early-stage VC firm with a disruptive operating model. Chamaeleon leverages its in-house developed quantitative and technology platform, Mantis, to enhance deal sourcing, due diligence, risk assessment, portfolio management, and liquidation processes. While headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, the firm also operates in Europe and focuses on Series Seed and Series A investments. Alex primarily targets B2B-driven startups, spanning vertical and horizontal SaaS, cloud, cybersecurity, and more.

Georgia Watson

Partner

Lakestar Advisors UK LLP

Georgia Watson is Partner at Lakestar, leading their growth strategy across Europe whilst additionally specialising in FinTech. Prior to joining Lakestar, Georgia was a member of the Growth Equity investment team for EMEA at Goldman Sachs, with a focus on consumer and financial technology. She has worked as a private markets investor her entire career and has seen buy-out, early-stage venture, and growth equity across a range of sectors.

Stephen James

Founder & CEO

Eyes Wide Open Foundation

Stephen James is a 2x National Emmy Award Winning Director with over 30 years of broadcasting experience with network and syndicated television media companies. He is the Founder and CEO of Eyes Wide Open Foundation. EWO engages, inspires, and motivates young students to exceed their own expectations by exposing them to a myriad of opportunities available in the media industry.

Carla Coutinho

Industry Manager

Google

Carla Coutinho is an Industry Manager at Google Portugal. Passionate about digital marketing and driving business growth, with work experiences in Dublin, California, and now back in Portugal, she is dedicated to helping companies scale and transform their business online.

Anila Shaheen

Startup Consultant

Pivot Upstart

Anila Shaheen has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs from different parts of the world over the past 6 years, helping build scalable, sustainable, investment-ready business models. She brings rich multicultural experience from both emerging and developed markets, currently supporting digital and green innovation through GIZ initiatives across Africa, Asia, and LAC. Founder of Pivot Upstart and a seasoned program designer, Anila has led 40+ startup programs and climate-smart bootcamps – equipping founders with tools to turn impact into scale.

Alexandre Mendes

Head of Ventures

Subvisual

Alexandre Mendes is mainly acknowledged for successfully creating schools for the digital economy, reskilling programs, and helping shape the Portuguese Entrepreneurship scene. For the last 14 years, Alexandre has been designing and implementing acceleration programs, and incubators. He served as the Executive Director of Startup Braga for a few years and consulted cities, corporations, and VCs. After serving as the Managing Director of DTx-Colab for the Digital Transformation decided to fully focus on expanding the Venture Studio of Subvisual as the Head of Ventures.

Bruno Pica

Senior Manager

Portuguese MoD

Bruno Pica is Commander in the Portuguese Navy, currently serving at the Ministry of National Defense as the National Focal Point for the European Defense Fund. He holds a degree in Naval Engineering with a specialization in Weapons and Electronics, is an expert in submarine operations, postgraduates in Information Technology, and has a master’s in project management, he holds an Executive MBA and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations. Has extensive experience in managing complex international programs and European funds, Business M & A, Industry Advisor & Consultancy.

Carlos Alberto Silva

Co-founder & Managing Partner

33N Ventures

Over 12 years in VC investment and M&A across Europe, the US, and Israel, in Technology and Cybersecurity, Carlos Alberto Silva had several Executive and Non Executive Board positions in high-growth tech companies. Active management of portfolio companies leveraging operational, transformational, and global market experience. Turnaround, Growth, and Buy & Build track record coupled with a strong technological background.

Christian Rôças

CEO

Flint

Christian Rôças, known as Crocas, has over 25 years of experience at the intersection of technology, media, and behavior, with key roles at Instagram, Facebook, Gruda, and Porta dos Fundos. He led major projects like the Olympics, World Cup, Rock in Rio, and São Paulo Fashion Week, and helped expand Porta internationally. Named one of Brazil’s top 10 media professionals by Meio & Mensagem, he’s also won awards such as the Caboré, Clio, iBest, New York Film Festival, and Clube de Criação. Currently, he is the CEO and co-founder of Flint, an education publisher focused on the Creator Economy

David González Martín

EIFs Senior Regional Representative for Portugal and Spain

European Investment Fund (EIF)

David joined EIF in 2010. Before becoming Senior Regional Representative for Portugal & Spain in 2024, he held the positions of Head of Sustainable Finance and Advisory Solutions since 2022, and Head of Growth and Educational Programmes since 2015, after a few years as Business Development manager. Previously to EIF, he held positions in business development in La Caixa, Morgan Stanley, Airbus, and Citibank. David holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and an MBA from CEIBS (Shanghai, China).

David Magboulé

Founder

LabToMarket

With a degree in Biology (University of Nottingham, UK, 2004), David has over 15 years of experience across the full scope of the health sector. Having worked in Pharma, Biotech and Medical Device companies. Since 2014, he has been working as a strategy consultant for several industries. In late 2017, David founded LabToMarket to help startups, clinicians, and researchers across Europe launch their products in the market, having helped over 250 startups globally so far. Between 2022 and 2023, David also worked with Startup Portugal as Head of Growth & Acceleration.

Francisco Andrade e Silva

Manager for Market and Regional Policies

European Cyber Security Organisation

Francisco Andrade e Silva is the Market and Regional Policies Manager at ECSO. He supports startups and scaleups in their fundraising, growth, visibility, and networking, collaborating with investors and CISOs. Francisco also conducts market analysis for the cybersecurity investment market and helps local ecosystems expand across Europe, fostering cross-border interactions and collaborations.

Francisco Vieira Mendes

Former Founder & Fractional Marketing Leader

Yerbo

Ex-founder and ex-Benfica fan. Francisco is a marketer with 12+ years of experience in LatAm, helping B2B startups grow using creative, repeatable strategies. He co-founded Yerbo to fight burnout in remote teams, launching mental well-being tools that reached 300,000 people. Before that, he took Acsendo from scrappy beginnings to acquisition, leading marketing across Porto and Bogotá. Francisco has worked with over a dozen Latin American startups, helping them build scalable growth engines without losing their soul. He likes his marketing like his pandebono: salty.

Inês Morgado

Project Manager

UPTEC

Project Manager for International Projects in the Creative Industries at UPTEC, Inês swapped her bioengineering lab coat for the world of creativity and innovation. With a healthcare background, she brings scientific thinking to bridge the gap between art and tech.

Jade Navega

Founder & CEO

The Mindful Step

Jade is a passionate community builder and entrepreneur, dedicated to connecting people with the authentic heart of Porto. As the founder of The Mindful Step, she curates unique experiences that highlight local, sustainable businesses. Jade also fosters the city’s startup ecosystem as Community & Training Manager at Founders Founders, where she’s currently developing an acceleration program for scale-up founders. Additionally, she leads She Sapiens, a thriving network for female founders. Jade is a proud mother to Alma, her biggest inspiration.

José Miguel Oliveira

Associate Partner

KPMG

José works at KPMG Portugal in Deal Advisory (M&A). He previously worked at PwC, Nors Group, Efacec Group, and Rangel, mostly in the Finance and M&A areas. Additionally, he teaches finance for entrepreneurs at FEUP (University of Porto).

Luís Almeida

Founder

TheFirstNoncarbonArtist

Luís Almeida started working in technology at an early age, initially focused on making his programs elegant. First at Fujitsu and then for 20 years at Microsoft, he worked on technology projects across Europe and Asia, living in Singapore for 2 years. He reached leadership positions in teams and large-scale businesses. After extensive experience with data and technology architecture, he has dedicated the last few years to AI and music: he is studying drums at the Hot Club de Portugal.

Mafalda Franco Frazão

Head of Sales

Google

Mafalda Franco Frazão is the Head of Sales at Google Portugal. She began her career in creative agencies in Portugal, followed by an experience in Berlin working for AICEP and the Portuguese Embassy. After returning to Lisbon, she joined Google, where she has built her career over the past 16 years. She also lived in London for 6 years, where she led client relationships in the Retail and FMCG sectors. Back in Portugal, she took on the role of leading the Agency, Partner, and Platforms teams, and since 2024, she has been leading Google Portugal’s Sales team.

Márcia Pereira

CEO

Bandora

Márcia Pereira is the CEO of Bandora. A mechanical engineer (IST) with a PhD from the MIT Portugal program in Sustainable Energy Systems, she brings nearly 20 years of experience in energy efficiency. Before founding Bandora — which develops innovative solutions for smarter, more autonomous, and sustainable buildings – she worked at ADENE, GLINTT, and several startups.

Nuno Alves Silva

Founder

TheFirstNoncarbonArtist

Nuno Alves da Silva started programming at an early age and founded a still-active school theater group. He traveled the world participating in Science Fairs with AI and image recognition projects. He graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Técnico while attending evening classes at the National Society of Fine Arts. He built a 25-year career in management, leading innovative teams and large-scale businesses across America and Europe, at companies such as Procter & Gamble and Microsoft.

Nuno Job

Venture Partner

Belief Capital

Nuno Job is a technologist and entrepreneur based in Portugal. Over the years, he’s built developer tools, worked on infrastructure, and helped grow early-stage startups. He cares deeply about the craft of building software, the people behind it, and the future we’re shaping with technology. These days, he splits his time between writing code, supporting founders, and exploring what’s next in AI.

Patrícia Soares da Costa

CEO & Branding Consultant

Marquinista

Patrícia is the CEO of Marquinista and a trilingual consultant on branding, communication, and tourism, who has traveled to more countries (57) than years of age. A fire starter advisor to corporations, governments, startups, and creative agencies. Program Director for UC Berkeley (Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Europe), a teacher for branding, and a marketing mentor at +20 global entrepreneurship programs.

Ricardo Mesquita

Managing Director

Endeavor

Entrepreneur and founding Managing Director of Endeavor Portugal, a global community of high-impact entrepreneurs present in 40+ markets. The mission of Endeavor is to help build a strong, supportive, and globally connected entrepreneurial ecosystem in Portugal by selecting and servicing high-growth entrepreneurs. By providing global exposure and increasing international reach to top founders and their companies, we are fostering opportunities to pay it forward to the local economy and nurture the entire ecosystem.

Ricardo Tomé

General Manager

TVI / Media Capital Digital

General Manager of Media Capital Digital, responsible for the digital operations of the group’s various brands (TVI, CNN, Selfie, Versa, among others) as well as managing key technology partnerships with Google & YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, MEO, Vodafone, NOS, Endemol/Shine, and more. He holds a degree in “Interactive Television & New Media,” a bachelor’s in Advertising & Marketing from ESCS, and a Master’s in Management & Leadership from Universidade Católica. Married and father of three, he enjoys Trail Running, Padel, and Mountain Biking whenever possible.

Rui Santos Couto

VP of Marketing & Growth

Infraspeak

Rui Santos Couto is the VP of Marketing & Growth at Infraspeak, where he is leading Brand, Strategic Marketing, Demand Generation, and Product Growth. Rui has helped scale the Infraspeak from Pre-Seed to Series B. He previously served as CMO at Bitmaker and held fractional and advisory roles across many tech companies. In 2014, he founded Musicverb, a marketing SaaS acquired in 2017. Rui is also a co-founder of Founders Founders, a guest lecturer at Porto Business School, and was a member of an advisory group to the President of Portugal from 2018 to 2023.

Tocha Serra

Investor

Olisipo Way

Tocha is an early-stage investor and multifaceted entrepreneur based in Portugal. He is a pre-seed investor & founder of Olisipo Way and Angels Way, Host of the Bitalk Podcast, co-founder & CEO of Comudel and fund launcher at OW Ventures. Tocha’s involvement in visionary projects like Cerdeira Home for Creativity and Silveira Tech underscores his dedication to sustainable innovation. With his diverse experience and expertise, Tocha has become a key player in the Portuguese startup scene and a rising influencer in the technology community.

Trisha Saxena

Senior Investment Associate

NATO Innovation Fund

Trisha is a Senior Associate on the investment team at the NATO Innovation Fund, looking at startups and founders across emerging and disruptive technologies as identified by NATO for the defense, security, and resilience of the Alliance. She is particularly excited about the applications of space, quantum, and materials. Prior to this, Trisha spent two years on the investment team at Seraphim Space, a global venture capital fund investing in the New Space industry, and two years in Asset Management at HSBC.

Xavier Jameson

Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer

Musiversal

University of Cambridge graduate, Musician and Co-founder of Musiversal, Xavier helped take Portugal’s fastest growing music startup from 0 to €1.5M ARR in its first 12 months. Xavier also co-led the company’s fundraising efforts, helping Musiversal raise over €5M to date from notable Portuguese VCs including Shilling, Lince and Iberis.

André Campos

Sogrape Transformation Officer

Sogrape

André Campos is the Transformation Officer at Sogrape, where he oversees the group’s Strategy, Innovation, and Transformation. In his role, André has been dedicated to fostering a culture of innovation within Sogrape and positioning the company as a significant player in the innovation ecosystem. André Campos holds an MBA from INSEAD, a degree in Economics, and a master’s degree in Finance from the School of Economics at the University of Porto.

Diogo Mónica

Co-Founder and President

Anchorage Digital

Diogo Mónica is the Founder and President of Anchorage Digital. Anchorage Digital brings the world’s most advanced and proven security architecture to cryptocurrency custody, to deliver the services institutions expect from a traditional custodian.

Before founding Anchorage Digital, he was security lead at Docker, an open platform for building, shipping and running distributed applications. While at Docker he worked on the security foundations of the container and orchestration subsystems that are now used as core building blocks of modern IT infrastructure worldwide.

Diogo Mónica was an early employee at Square where he led the platform security team and built the security infrastructure used by Square to move over $80B in annualized volume. He has a BSc, MSc and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science has published several papers in peer-reviewed security conferences on the topic of distributed systems and information security, and is the author of several patents in secure communications, encrypted hardware, and payment systems.

Diogo Mónica is a sought-after public speaker having keynotes, lectures and technical briefings on the topics of usable security, infrastructure security, and distributed systems security. He is also an angel investor and an advisor and board member to numerous startups.

Daniela Seixas

CEO

Tonic Easy Medical

Daniela Seixas is a medical doctor passionate about tech. She worked in the pharmaceutical industry early in her career; received her PhD in Neuroscience collaborating with the University of Oxford in 2012. In 2015, she completed an Executive MBA at IE Business School Madrid (entrepreneurship). Co-founded Tonic App in 2016, a digital health startup, to which she is now fully dedicated as CEO.

Max Pog

Founder

Venture Studio Family

Founded 4 bootstrapped companies. Conducted and published Big Startup Studios Research 2023. Hosted 7 online conferences for Venture Studios, VCs, & Family Offices with 500-3200 registrations each. Founded a venture studio community.

Ezequiel Abramzon

Founder & Brand Consultant

LALO

Ezequiel Abramzon is the founder of LALO, a brand strategy consultancy that works with entrepreneurs and their startups worldwide providing the strategic clarity and creative direction necessary to establish an indisputable market position for their brands. Previously, he was a senior executive at The Walt Disney Company in Latin America and Europe for 22 years, helping develop brands such as Disney, Marvel and Star Wars. As General Manager of digital business in Latin America, he led international teams and established multiple B2B and B2C operations for the company.

Vivienne Ming

CEO

Socos Labs

Theoretical neuroscientist, entrepreneur, author, and mother of two, Vivienne is featured frequently for her research and inventions in The Financial Times, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. Her AI inventions have launched a dozen companies and nonprofits with a focus on human potential: education, workforce, and health. A self-described “professional mad scientist”, Vivienne founded The Human Trust to fight some of the world’s most pressing problems, and she travels the world sharing the stories of these astonishing projects. In her free time, Vivienne works to design AI systems to help treat her son’s diabetes, predict manic episodes in bipolar sufferers, and reunite orphan refugees with extended family members. She sits on the boards of numerous companies and nonprofits, including UC Berkeley’s Neurotech Collider Hub and RFK Human Rights. For relaxation, she writes science fiction and hikes with her wife and children.

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