Speaker Biographies
DAY 1-Opening Session
Nihat Ergün
Minister of Trade & Industry of Turkey
He was born in Izmit in 1962. After his primary, elementary and high school education in Izmit, he finished Economics and Administrative Sciences at Marmara University in 1984. At high school and university he participated in various social and political activities. He was elected mayor of Kocaeli (Derince) in 1994. Free trade, accounting, consultation and management consultancy are the fields that he worked in. He was assigned Kocaeli Province Chairman of Justice and Development Party (AKP) on September 26, 2001. On November 3, 2002, he was elected Kocaeli’s member of Parliament from Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was also member of TBMM KIT commission and board member of Justice and Development Party’s TBMM group. He became member of MKYK at 1. Ordinary Great Congress of AKP (12 Ekim 2003). He was assigned vice chairman who is responsible for local authority on April 12, 2005. He became member of MKYK once more at 2. Ordinary Great Congress of AKP (11 Kasim 2006). He was again elected Kocaeli’s member of Parliament on July 22, 2007. On August 8,2007, he was elected AKP Group’s deputy president. He was assigned Minister of Industry and Commerce on May 1, 2009. He is married with two children.
Dr. Ahmet AcarRector of METU
Dr. Acar is professor of business administration. His areas of interest are strategic management, entrepreneurship, and quantitative decision methods. He has served as board chair/member of several organizations and companies. He has extensive research experience and provided management training and counseling support to a wide array of private and public organizations, and he has publications on strategic management, innovation and small business management, and quantitative decision methods. At METU, he has served as the chair of Department of Business Administration, Dean of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Vice-Rector, and founding Rector of METU Northern Cyprus Campus. In August 2008, he was appointed Rector of METU.
Nuri TunaVice Chairman of Istanbul Chamber of Industry
Nuri Tuna is born in 1965 in Malatya. He graduated from Kabatas Erkek Lisesi and Economics department of Istanbul University. Nuri Tuna is the acting president of Tuna Celik Eya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. which is manufacturing office furniture since 1970. Nuri Tuna has been a convocator of Istanbul Chamber of Industry between 1995-2001. He was elected as a member to board of directors in 2001 and he is conducting this duty between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, he is elected as the vise chairman of the board and he still assigned for this position. Nuri Tuna is also a board member of Girsberger Oturma Elemanlar? San. ve Tic. A.S. The company is founded with the partnership of Girsberger Holding (Switzerland ) Tuna Çelik Esya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.’nin (Turkey) Nuri Tuna can speak English. He is married with three children.
Brigitte BaumannPresident EBAN
Brigitte is President of the Board of EBAN. Brigitte is also the Founder and CEO of Go Beyond Ltd., the European Early Stage Investing specialists, www.gobeyond.biz. Go Beyond offers cross border investment opportunities, syndication/pooling, due diligence, investment monitoring services and training/coaching, Brigitte is a business angel and serves on a number of selection and investment committees. She is on the Certification Board of CTI Start-Up, the Swiss agency promoting technology and innovation. Brigitte Chairs Young Presidents Organization’s global Angel Investing group. She has 20 years of experience in bringing new technologies to market in the US and Europe . She was the CEO and Director of iWORLD Group, a VC backed, global developer of mobile content. She came to iWG from American Express Corporate Services, where she held the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager Internet. There she launched a variety of new internet businesses including online travel (including Expedia.com), e-Procurement, online servicing of cards and online payment. Prior to that, Brigitte spent three years as President for US and Canada of GEMPLUS (now Gemalto), the world’s leader in smart card technology and applications to orchestrate the introduction of smart cards to the US. She moved to GEMPLUS from American Express TRS Inc., where she had spent over six years in different Vice-Presidential/General Manager positions in the UK, France and Switzerland. She also spent five years with McKinsey & Company Inc. as Senior Engagement Manager, based in New York, Paris and Tokyo. She began her career in manufacturing and sales with Rohm & Haas, a leading specialty chemicals company. Brigitte holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University, Boston and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. Born and raised in France, Brigitte and her family now live in Zurich.
Claire MunckClaire Munck is managing director of EBAN. She leads the association's business development, partnership and growth strategy, advocacy work and product development. Claire coordinates EBAN’s involvement in European funded projects, and is a frequent speaker at conferences relating to risk capital to promote the role of business angels in economic development across the world. Since March 2009, Claire has joined the Board of Be Angels, the business angel network for the Walloon Region in Belgium. She participates as expert on the European Commission’s Advisory Board to improve SME participation in Framework Programme 7 projects (2008-). From 2003 to 2006, Claire was project manager for EURADA, European Association of Regional Development Agencies. She worked on RIS and RIS-NAC, Interreg, Leonardo, Paxis, and FP6 projects. Her educational background includes a Post-Graduate degree in International Politics (Free University of Brussels - Great Distinction), an MA in Political Communication EFAP – Belgium – Great Distinction) and a BA in Political Science (McGill University – Canada - Distinction).
Jan AndresenBorn in 1976 with German and British nationality he studied industrial engineering and management in Germany and Sweden. During his studies he founded elkware GmbH, which later became an international leading mobile games developer with over 100 million sold games between 2001 and 2004 and was acquired by US NASDAQ Company Infospace Inc end of 2004. Since 2005 Jan founded and invested into over 20 new internet, mobile and interactive entertainment Start-Ups. He is a board member of various companies and Partner at True Global Ventures.
DAY 1
Antoni Abad, President of ESBAN (E)
Mr. Abad works as Finance Director and Chief Executive of a number of privately owned SME companies in the metallurgical sector. He is a business angel in several Start-ups. Mr. Abad has a background in Economic and business science and a Master Degree in Business Administration from ESADE. He is currently very active in entrepreneurial education and mentoring programs designed to ensure that more entrepreneurs develop sustainable, innovative businesses. He is lecturer in the entrepreneur classes in ESADE, “Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña” and “Universidad Pompeu Fabra”.
Mr. Abad leads two non-profit organizations: Business Angels Network Catalunya (BANC) and ESBAN, the Spanish Business Network Federation which coordinates and promotes the different business angels networks in Spain.
Mr. Abad leads two non-profit organizations: Business Angels Network Catalunya (BANC) and ESBAN, the Spanish Business Network Federation which coordinates and promotes the different business angels networks in Spain.
Luisa Alemani Luisa Alemani is associate professor of entrepreneurial finance at ESADE Business School and academic responsible for the ESADE BAN. Luisa is also director of ESADE Entrepreneurship Institute, and co-director of the ESADE Business Angels Academy. Luisa previously worked for The Carlyle Group and LVMH VC fund Europ@web. She had also worked for McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Her research interests are in the areas of business angels, venture capital, entrepreneurial finance and private equity. She is currently researching on philanthropic venture capital and business angels in Europe. Luisa has an MBA from Stanford University and a PhD in Finance from Universidad Complutense (Madrid).
Thierry BaujardThierry Baujard is founder of Pan European Investment Network Media Deals focusing on cross border Media investment. He is also CEO of peacefulfish, a consultancy specialised in the financing of the content industry. He offers 15 years experience in the communication and entertainment industry. After graduating in Paris, he worked in London as a business consultant for entertainment companies and telecom operators, then in France and Germany in Business Development for Vivendi and for ARTE (Franco-German TV station) in Strasbourg. He then completed an MBA at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and at UCLA in Los Angeles, where he specialized in film financing and e-commerce. He then worked on film projects in the USA with Mandalay Entertainment before becoming Head of Strategic Development for the Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, near Berlin. Thierry is in charge of developing the network membership across Europe and to manage the investment Forums from Media Deals. He is also Project Director of EU project ImMediaTe looking at financial mechanisms for digital media between five European clusters (Barcelona, Rome, Malta, Paris and Amsterdam).
Malcolm Begemann
Malcolm Begemann is an entrepreneur. Through his holding company Delphys, he is co-founder and director in three Medical Technology Start-up companies. Malcolm Begemann is also active in a consortium project with the University Medical Centre of Utrecht, commercialising a spirometer which can also measure the lung function of young children. In addition he is a coach for companies of YES Delft, the incubator of the Delft University of Technology. Malcolm Begemann won the prestigious LiveWire Young Business Award and the Golden Opportunity Award with the company DEAM. Malcolm Begeman is also active as an informal investor. Together with 5 partner he founded Business Angels Technostarters (BAT), a seed investment fund which is supported by the Dutch Government TechnoPartner Seed-facility. BAT invests in young technological start-up companies, which the partners also support with their knowledge, experience and network. The BAT fund is now fully invested with investments in six companies. The same group has now founded Business Angels Technostarters II (BAT II) with the same philosophy as BAT, but with more investment funds available. Until 2003 Malcolm Begemann was Director of Strategy and Business Development for Vitatron. Previous to this he was Director of New Therapies. Begemann, who joined Vitatron-Medtronic in 1986 is considered the architect of Vitatron's pacemaker/programmer systems and as Director of Strategy and Business Development was overseeing a project that involves the first pacemaker with features to treat atrial fibrillation. Malcolm Begemann was nominated for the European Inventor of the Year 2007 Award, Europe’s highest distinction for inventors worldwide. He held two Staff Lectures for the European Patent Offices (Rijswijk, Munchen) on the topic “Building a Business on IP”. Malcolm Begemann has acquired twenty-three patents in the areas of minimal invasive surgery, pacemaker technology, and signal processing and received the Medtronic Patent of Distinction Award in 1999. In the same year Begemann was inducted in the Medtronic Bakken society, recognizing multiple contributions to the corporation and to the biomedical device industry. He has also been a recipient of the Meditrina Award, the highest marketing award within Medtronic, and the Star of Excellence Award. Begemann studied technical physics at the University of Groningen, received a degree in physiology and electrical engineering from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and a Masters degree in experimental physics and biophysics from the University of Groningen.
Guilhem BertholetWhen, in 2003, Guilhem Bertholet launched his first business (Methodia) he was still a student. The company, which specializes in private domestic tutoring, developed quickly to include 5 agencies in France as well as 3 in Spain by the time Guilhem left the company in 2006. He then turned to creating the French branch of a Belgian Events Management company (Eventattitude), and continued in a similar sector in 2007 by creating a Communications Agency based on comic strips (Sydo). After spending a brief length of time working at Microsoft, Guilhem joined HEC Paris to take on the position of Director of the startups Incubator. HEC’s Incubator currently supports 30 startup companies (in the internet, mobile phone, software, media, and business services sectors) each of which offer innovative services and a high potential for strong development. He is also the author of the comic strip “Lucy and Valentin… create their own business” a project aiming to raise awareness about creating one’s own business and taking the initiative amongst students aged between 12 and 14 years old.
Jean-Marc BlankertJean-Marc Blankert is member of Go-Beyond and a cross-border business angel, who invests in start-up companies in Europe, and actively provides management and financing expertise as well as networking support . In addition, Jean-Marc is Board Member EBAN. He is an international senior executive with over 15 years experience in banking and capital markets, advising both corporate and financial institutions on debt and capital raising. Jean-Marc holds an MSc in Business Economics from Erasmus University and currently lives in Switzerland.
Jacek BlonskiJacek Blonski is Vice-President of the Board of EBAN. Jacek is CEO of Lewiatan Business Angels – the largest and most active business angels network in Poland. Prior to business angels experience, Jacek worked for Simon Kucher and Partners, Enterprise Investors Corporation- leading Private Equity and Venture Capital Fund in the Central and Eastern European Region and for BMW Group - Poland and Germany.
Ziya G. BoyacigillerInvestor/Entrepreneur/Mentor, makes early-stage investments in innovative technology-driven start-up companies (in Silicon Valley and Istanbul) and works with the founding teams to help grow their companies (USA: Formative Ventures, Aeroprise, FusionOps... Turkey: AirTies, Artesis, Vistek,...). He is consulting member of Endeavor Turkey, Golden Horn Ventures, and Inovent. He also teaches MBA students entrepreneurship, at Sabanci University, Istanbul. He is the co-president of the National Innovation Initiative/Financing of Innovation workgroup in Turkey. Until October 2000, he was Business Unit Vice President / General Manager at Maxim Integrated Products - a NASDAQ 100 semiconductor company (MXIM). Mr. Boyacigiller joined Maxim in 1983 when the company was started, as a founding partner, and served in various technical and executive management capacities for 17 years, helping build the company to over billion dollars in revenues. Prior to Maxim, he worked at Intersil Inc. and designed state-of-art mixed-signal CMOS integrated circuits, including the world’s first digitally calibrated 14-bit data converters. In the late 1970s, he started E/Z CAD Inc., a pioneer in the PC-based electronics design tools industry. Mr. Boyacigiller holds an MSc in Engineering from UCLA, and a BSEE from Bosphorus University, Istanbul. His current mission is to help to create and develop a world-class, technology-based entrepreneurship environment in Turkey.
Hendrik BrandisCo-founder and Managing Partner of Earlybird, one of the most successful European venture investors. He is Chairman of the Venture Capital Platform Council and board member of EVCA. Hendrik brings together long standing investment, operational and entrepreneurial experience. He successfully exited several companies such as element5 to Digital River and currently serves on the boards of Earlybird companies conject, Mikini Media, Music Networx and nfon. Hendrik gained entrepreneurial experience as a Co-Founder of GMM, focusing on buy-outs of mid-sized companies and gained his operational experience at MBB (now Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace). Previously, Hendrik was a Partner with McKinsey.
Valerio CarraccioloI was born July 6, 1958 in Rome and after my degree in Physics, I started working in the family business dealing with Industrial Gases. During those years I developed the segment of home care, increasing significantly the market share on a national level. In 1994 foreseeing the suitable time and fearing the syndrome of the third generation ( which usually destroys what was built by those that preceded….) I sold the company to a multinational company, Linde A.G.. After a first professional engagement in the group's headquarters in Germany, in 1998 I was appointed managing director for its French subsidiary, a role that I covered until the end of 2002. Afterwards I worked as managing director of the Italian subsidiary. Then I decided to make a completely different experience accepting the office of Director for Italy of NGOs Amref (African Medical Research Foundation). Afterwards I became an active investor in real estate performing operations both in Italy and Great Britain. Finally I'm back as an Entrepreneur both as a business angel and as entrepreneur in the field of renewable energy. I received training and developed experience in IT and management and was actively involved with the Confederation of Italian Manufacturers “ Confindustria”. I am married with 3 children, I enjoy skiing, trekking , rock climbing, diving and currently am a member of IAG Italian Angels for Growth, the Italian association of business angels. As B.A. during the program Easy, I had the opportunity to address several interesting projects in particular to discover the fascinating project Akoya, an ULA exceptionally powerful, developed by Lisa Airplanes in France. Although rather ignorant in the field (at the time ...) I had a helping heart. As a member of IAG I invested in Quotient Diagnostic ltd, in Senseor sa (being a champion of the deal) and recently in S5 Tech.
Anthony Clarke
(EBAN Chairman Emeritus 2009-2010)
Anthony Clarke is Chief Executive and founder of Angel Capital Group. He previously founded London Seed Capital in 2002 which is the UK’s first angel co-investment fund and co founded in 2006 the UK’s first Enterprise Capital Fund, the £30 million Seraphim Capital Fund. He has Chaired British Business Angel Association (BBAA) since 2004 and was President of EBAN from 2004- 2009 and is currently its President Emeritus. Anthony qualified as a Chartered Secretary in 1977 and as a Chartered Accountant in 1980 whilst with Deloitte Haskins & Sells (now PWC).Thereafter, he worked on a full time basis as a Finance Director and Chief Executive of a number of small and medium sized enterprises and from 1995 was a business angel investor / non-executive director of many early stage businesses prior to joining the GLE Group in 2002. He sat on the main Boards of GLE and its fund management arm YFM prior to leaving GLE in late 2009. 
Nicolas Fritz Nicolas Fritz is the General Manager of France Angels, the French national association for business angels. France Angels promote and represent Business Angels. France Angels is the federation of the 80 French local business angels networks. Nicolas Fritz is also responsible of a small business angels funds called ECLEOR which invest in French Start-ups. Previously, he was project manager at EM-Lyon Business School. In 2002, he made a world tour and wrote a book about “Entrepreneurship in the world” He has a master degree in entrepreneurship from EM-Lyon
Philippe GluntzChairman ( Hon. ) of ADP Europe
President of France Angels
Vice President of Paris Business Angels
Member of the Executive Committee of EBAN
Professor of Corporate Strategy ( University of Aix-Marseille )
Philippe Gluntz, a French Citizen, is graduated from Ivy League “Ecole Polytechnique” and “Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées”. He also graduated from “ l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris” in Economics and holds a PhD in Management from Vanderbilt University ( USA ). Philippe Gluntz spent most of his career as C.O.O. then C.E.O. of computer services and telecom companies, singularly of GSI, European leader in IT and payroll outsourcing, that he started up with close friends in the mid seventies, and eventually sold in 1995 to ADP Employer Services, for which he served as C.E.O. for Europe and Corporate Vice-President until 2002, when he was appointed non executive Chairman , and started to invest as a business angel in several start-ups in the IT and Telecom sectors. He has also been in charge of one the largest mergers of the 80’s, between Alcatel-CIT (France) and I.T.T. Telecom (USA), leading to the creation of the current Alcatel Group (13 Billion USD and 120000 employees at that time), of which he has been the C.O.O. from 1986 to 1991. Philippe Gluntz is now Chairman and Board Member of several NTIC and Logistic companies, and is heavily involved in the Venture Capital market, on top of his academic teaching. He spends most of his time as President of the French federation of business angels networks and early stage funds.
Sally GoodsellSally Goodsell comes from a background in investment banking, having spent a number of years in corporate and structured lending with major financial institutions in the City of London. She joined Finance South East as Chief Executive in November 2002 and has led the organisation through a period of rapid growth. Sally’s role involves managing the complex demands of a publicly backed but privately governed organisation, while ensuring the needs of the region’s businesses within an ever-changing financial landscape, stay central to its focus. Sally is on the Board of the BBAA and EBAN, and was recipient of the Prowess Award for Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Enterprise Development.
Jochebed HeilandJochebed Heiland is Senior Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands, DG Enterprise and Innovation. She is Policy Manager of the Business Angel Program which is designed to encourage informal investment in the Netherlands. This program was recently launched by the Minister of Economic Affairs and is executed in close cooperation with the major business angel networks. Jochebed has an extensive experience in developing, implementing and evaluating government instruments to improve access to finance for SME’s. Jochebed also worked as Special Advisor to the Minister for the Interior and Kingdom Relations concerning the negotiations to reform the constitutional structure of the Netherlands Antilles. Before this, Jochebed worked as a Financial Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and was formerly a Tax Consultant at Ernst & Young. Jochebed holds a Master’s degree in Fiscal Economics from the Maastricht University.
Arne-G. HostrupAfter studies in business management in Germany, the USA and the UK, Arne-G. Hostrup assumed the commercial leadership of a German medium-sized company for several years. He then moved into the franchise-field of an international fast-food-company before being responsible for the Northern Bavarian Business Plan Competition as project leader in 2000. Further, he acted as Finance Director and shareholder in building a start-up in the media branch for two years. Since January 2003 he is Managing Director at netzwerk nordbayern. His main ambits are fiscal planning and private-equity finance of high-growth companies by business angels and venture capital. He is a Member of the Board of the European Business Angel Network (EBAN).
John O. HustonDuring his 30-year commercial banking career, John’s positions at banks in five states ranged from Chief Lending Officer to Chief Credit Officer to CEO. Upon retiring from banking in 2000 he commenced his business angel activities and formed USPrivateCompanies, LLC which has provided equity to over thirty of Ohio’s most promising entrepreneurs. When John launched the first Ohio TechAngel Fund in 2004 the group became a founding member of the Angel Capital Association (ACA). Now with three funds and 280 members, the Ohio TechAngels is one of North America’s largest angel groups. John is member of both the North Coast Angel Fund (Cleveland) and the East Central Ohio TechAngel Fund (Athens), serving on their Executive Committees. John has taught finance at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and is a frequent lecturer regarding entrepreneurship. In addition to managing the Ohio TechAngels he serves on the boards of several of his portfolio ventures. His not-for-profit activities include the Advisory Board of WELD (Women for Economic and Leadership Development), the TechColumbus Deal Flow Assessment Committee, and the TechColumbus Investment Committee for all its pre-seed funds. Nationally, John is the current Chairman of the ACA and past Chairman of the Angel Capital Education Foundation.
Jean-Philippe LallementJean-Philippe Lallement has over 20 years experience in entrepreneurship, general management and strategic consulting primarily within the Information and Communication Technology sectors. Jean-Philippe holds master degrees in IT / telecoms from Ecole Polytechnique and Telecom Paris in France, and an MBA from Insead. He started his career in management consulting with McKinsey & Co and in investment banking with a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, then moved into corporate strategy and general management of worldwide business units at SITA, the global leader of telecommunication and IT services to the air-transport industry. He was instrumental in the set-up of a spin-off that reached € billions in revenues and market valuation, and then had responsibility over a €200 million business line. In 2001 Jean-Philippe co-founded a start-up providing online monitoring solutions for industrial equipment, a permanent health-check of critical industrial installations used by a dozen multinational corporations. The company received several innovation awards and raised over €5 million in funding. Since 2006, Jean-Philippe has advised numerous start-ups on their business development and fund-raising as business coach, board member and/or investor . He holds the positions of Managing Director of the EPFL Science Park, is President of the SwissParks association, Chairman of Prediggo SA, and a CTI Start-up coach.
Matey Nedkov de LacampMr. Nedkov founded Infonet Media, the largest instore advertising company in Canada and Europe. The company was sold after 17 years to Actmedia Incorporated now a Subsidiary of Newscorp. Mr. Nedkov currently is the founder and president of Nedcorp Holdings Inc, a domestic and international corporation specializing in Investment Banking, International Corporate Expansion (ICE) and M&A for small and medium enterprises and assists companies by setting up appropriate infrastructures, recruiting local management and establishing sales networks. The company’s current investments include medical services, medical technology, software development, alternative energy and mining. He is shareholder and Chairman of Eminence II a CPC/TSX Venture Company. He is currently on the board of the Maple Leaf Angels, the National Angel Organization in Canada, committee member of the Angel Capital Associations in the USA and the Canadian Representative of La Baule World Investment Conference. European-born Mr. Nedkov moved to Canada 30 years ago after being raised in France and the US.
John May John May is the managing partner of New Vantage Group, a Vienna, VA firm that innovatively mobilizes private equity into early-stage companies and provides advisory services to both funds and private investors. Mr. May has been at the forefront of the angel investor movement and his experience in private equity capital over the last 20 years ranges from venture capital fund management to angel investing to overseas consulting. In 1991, he co-founded the Investors' Circle, a national non-profit group of 150 family and institutional investors working to grow the social venture capital industry. Additionally in 1996, he co-founded and became executive director of the Private Investors Network, an angel network sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, which he led until 2002. In 1999 he co-found The Dinner Club, an investment group of 60 regional angels who collectively invest in early-stage ventures, followed by the eMedia Club and in 2000, the Washington Dinner Club. In 2003, he created Active Angel Investors, a mid-atlantic fund with 60 active angels. He was managing general partner of Calvert Social Venture Partners LP, the Mid-Atlantic Fund of Funds LP, and an advisor to three other early-stage funds. In 2006 he became director and general partner in Seraphim Capital, a 30 million £ venture fund based in London. He is chair-emeritus of the Angel Capital Association and is a lead instructor for their "Power of Angel Investing" seminar and is co-chair of the World Business Angels Association. He is the co-author of two books, Every Business Needs an Angel and State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing. In the fall of 2002, the Batten Institute at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business appointed Mr. May a “Batten Fellow”. He has lectured extensively on venture capital and angel investing and has presented talks and seminars in over 20 countries.
Modwenna Rees-Mogg
Modwenna owns and operates AngelNews, a media business focused on business angels, VCs and early stage funded companies. It is a free focused service for all companies that have been funded by business angels or venture capitalists reporting news and opinion on the business angel market. The website is www.angelnews.co.uk. We also publish the monthly e-AngelNewsletter Online and an online magazine www.makinglifericher.co.uk, as well as holding monthly events ranging from “Pitching for Management, not Money” to Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs. AngelNews is supported by a wide range of Preferred Partners: P&G, Pera, Daniel Stewart, Kingston Smith, Stephenson Harwood, Shell and Ministry of Defense all of whom are passionate about supporting the high growth company market. Modwenna is the author of Dragons or Angels the unofficial guide to Dragons’ Den and a handbook for people wanting to become or raise money from business angels. Prior to founding AngelNews, Modwenna has run an angel group and been an angel investor. She started her career as a corporate financier at Kleinwort Benson.
Diane Roberts
Diane Roberts is the National Director for HBAN – Halo Business Angel Network, a new umbrella organisation, to represent the Angel Capital Industry in Ireland. Diane has spent her entire career in international Sales and Marketing roles, and brings over 15 years rich industry experience, selling in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia Pacific. She spent 6 years in Silicon Valley, working with early stage Irish start-ups. On return to Ireland, she has been at the heart of the entrepreneurial community, and has assisted many companies raise start up finance.
Stuart RockStuart is one of the most respected figures in British business journalism. A former PPA “Editor of the Year” for the launch of Real Business, Stuart oversees Caspian’s editorial and publishing activities. Stuart has been a business journalist for 20 years. Before co-founding Caspian, he was editor of Director magazine.
Jose RomanoJose Romano heads the Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative and is responsible for EIF’s Turkish operations. Prior to EIF, Mr. Romano was a Manager at the Emerging Markets Group of Deloitte & Touche where his principal responsibility was co-managing a € 25m fund. He also led several investment advisory projects, principally in Nigeria, the Middle East and Latin America. Before he briefly worked at private equity adviser Actis, and as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Romano started his career as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow working as an economist in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Namibia. Mr .Romano is a graduate (First Class Honours) in Economics from Queen Mary College, University of London and holds an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University. He obtained his MBA (“la Caixa Scholar”) from London Business School.
Sam RosenbalmSam Rosenbalm is Director of Community Development for Microsoft's Emerging Business Team (EBT). His team is responsible for fostering global partnerships between Microsoft, the venture investing community, startup companies and an ecosystem of supporting service providers. Sam has over 20 years of experience matching computing technology with customer needs. Since joining Microsoft in 2006, Sam has held several strategic business development roles where he worked closely with global partners, customers and senior leaders at Microsoft to improve industry interoperability and contribute to successful product launches including Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, and Windows 7. Prior to Microsoft, Sam worked at Altiris as the Microsoft global alliance director. Sam gained additional industry experience as a Microsoft Certified Trainer, product manager, and datacenter architect. Sam has a Masters in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA in Geography and Russian from Brigham Young University.
Frank Maximilian SalzgeberMr Frank M. Salzgeber is Head of the Technology Transfer Programme Office of the European Space Agency (ESA). Prior this post he was the Head of Commercial Development in European Astronaut Department of the Directorate of Human Spaceflight Micro- gravity and Exploration at the European Space Agency (ESA). Prior to joining ESA, Frank held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO and CFO) at a major IT integrator with the headquarter in Munich, Germany between 2000 and 2003. Frank also spent seven years at Apple Computer (1993 – 2000) initially as an account manager and then as a sales manager covering Central Europe. Frank is genuinely passionate about the importance of human space flight and the European Space Programme, saying ‘a society that stops exploring, stops progressing’. He holds a degree in Graduated Industrial Engineering, is married, has two sons and is living in the Netherlands. The main mission of the Technology Transfer Programme is to strengthen the competitiveness of European Industry and to demonstrate the benefit of the European Space Programme to European citizens via the transferring of space technologies to non-space applications. The Technology Transfer Programme Office is responsible for defining the overall approach and strategy for the transfer of space technologies applications and systems, including the incubation of start up companies and a related venture fund.
Niko Slavnic
Niko Slavnic is a user ambassador. He wrote a first book about venture capital in the SEE. His inspiring venture & users lectures at conferences and business schools like ESSCA, IEDC – Bled School of Management, Advancia etc. have aroused much interest. As a business angel, he is among the most active mentors in the CEE region. He founded few companies, giving him hands-on entrepreneurial experience and keeping him open to new challenges. He presents a unique mix of experience & knowledge and this proved particularly useful for consulting to dynamic companies as well as to the Slovenian Parliament. His interests are user creativity and venture.
Margus Uudam Head of Venture Capital Investments, Ambient Sound Investments (ASI) Margus is responsible for ASI's direct investments, from managing the search for new projects to the development of existing ones. His management and finance experience are excellent complements to ASI's technological competence. He has held management positions in both public and private companies in Estonia, served as the economic policy vice-chancellor at the Ministry of Finance, and worked in the Estonian Compensation Fund's investment department. As a member of the Enterprise Estonia financial committee, he also helped launch the Tallinn Stock Exchange.
Dr. Johannes Velling Born in 1964, Dr. Johannes Velling studied economics at the universities of Mannheim, Germany, and Eugene/Oregon, USA. During his dissertation between 1991 and 1995 he worked as a research fellow at the ZEW (Center of European Economic Research). In 1996 he changed to the German federal government. He hold different positions at the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In 2003 he elaborated the "High-Tech Masterplan" of the German government, an action programme to foster R&D based start-ups and early-stage financing of young innovative companies. Since the beginning of 2004 he has been responsible for the different federal programmes for venture capital financing of young technological companies. In this function, he has been head of the governmental project team on the new "High-Tech Gründerfonds", a new seed fund of the German government, the KfW and three industrial companies being launched at the end of August 2005. Since July 2006 he is Head of the Division “Start-Ups, Entrepreneurship, Seed financing”. Besides the activities around the High-Tech Gründerfonds and the business angel issue, the division is responsible for the government program “EXIST”, a program fostering entrepreneurship at universities and public research institutes and supporting spin-offs from science.
Rolf-Christian WentzDr. Rolf-Christian Wentz, native of Germany, has been business angel since the end of 2006. Before he has worked for 26 years in the consumer goods industry as director and managing director for Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Campbell´s. Dr. Wentz has so far made 3 investments in start-up companies ranging from biology over software to pneumatics. As a business angel, he is keen, apart from money, to contribute his competence and/ or his network contacts to the start-up companies. In most cases he acts as a coach in general management, marketing and sales, or he even helps out hands-on in these areas. Alongside his business angel activities, Dr. Wentz is a lecturer in innovation management at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Hochschule (RWTH) University in Aachen, Germany. He is author of the book “Die Innovationsmaschine” and of the website www.the-innovation-machine.com.
Haluk ZontulHe received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Middle East Technical University (METU) Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department (EE) in 1991 and 1994. He started his professional career at Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) Information Technologies and Electronics Research Institute (BILTEN) as part time researcher. He worked in sequence as research assistant in METU EE (1991-1995), as Information technology policy expert in TÜBITAK-Science and Policy Dept. (1995-1997), as project coordinator in the Turkish National Information Infrastructure (TUENA) Project (1997-1999), as principal researcher and coordinator of electronics system design group in TÜBITAK-BILTEN (1999-2005), and coordinator in TTGV Technology Development Project Group(2005 September- 2007 February). He works as General Manager and Board Member of Teknoloji Yatirim besides being TTGV Istanbul Representative. He represents TTGV and Teknoloji Yatirim as member of the board of directors in UCA Medikal, Infotech, Mobiga, Asset, ESIM and Ari Teknokent A.S.; and as an investment committee member in IS Girisim and Teknoloji Yatirim. He is married with a child.
DAY 2
Luís Filipe CostaWith a Degree in Economics and several specializations in areas such as: Monetary Politics and International Economic Relations, he is presently the CEO of IAPMEI a public agency that supports SME activities, and also Chairman of INOVCAPITAL a leading company of Private Equity, which focus its investment strategy on start-ups, innovative entrepreneurship and high-tech companies. IAPMEI was one of his crossing lines in his professional career, where he was Member of the Board, with special focus on developing and promoting enterprise development, mainly for entrepreneurship. He was Board Member of Partinvest Imobiliária SGPS, S.A., and of some real estate promoters, and has also held important positions in other areas such as financial administration, in some well known banks and companies, among them Bank Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria (BBVA), Crédit Lyonnais Portugal, S.A. (CLP), COVINA and Banco Português de Negócios.
Cristina Sousa DiasCristina Sousa Dias, Senior manager of BDO with a degree in Economics, joined BDO in 1992, Cristina is senior manager of BDO Portugal in charge for the Corporate Finance Services Department. She has a wide experience in financial consultancy in assignments made for large and medium sized companies of several sectors as transport, universities, municipalities, technologies, construction, health, tourism, food industry, logistics and distribution, shipping, real estate management, utilities, financial institutions etc. The performed advisory services include mergers & acquisitions, valuations, rising finance, strategy and restructuring, viability studies and related studies.
Please click for Cristina Sousa Dias's presentation
Göktekin DinçerlerGöktekin is Operating Partner at Turkven Private Equity. He was formerly the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Avea, the mobile communications JV of Telecom Italia and Turk Telekom in Turkey and partner with McKinsey & Company in Istanbul and Houston with banking and telecoms focus. Göktekin has an MBA from the University of Texas Austin, a MSc from Stanford University, and a BSc from Bilkent University in Electrical Engineering. Göktekin represents Turkven on the Board of Provus and Tekin Acar. Göktekin is also a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Board of TOBB (the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey).
Uli W. Fricke Since 1997, Uli W. Fricke has been Founding General Partner and CEO at Triangle Venture Capital Group. On the investment side, Uli is focusing on mobile communication and media, chairing a number of boards of Triangle’s portfolio companies. Triangle has advised investments in 15 start-up companies, acting as lead investor in all portfolio companies with more than 60 transactions completed, including follow-on rounds and several exit transactions. Uli is chairman elect of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association EVCA and chairing its Professional Standards Committee. Previously Managing Partner of an international insurance company, Uli sold this business successfully in a cross-Atlantic transaction, realizing a triple-digit multiple for a business which has been break even from day one. Prior to that she was Managing Director of a mid-size customer service company which specialized in international travel operation. Uli initiated the “Starkenburg Enterprise Forum“, a program following the model of the MIT Enterprise Forum, to help young scientists commercialize their innovations and start technology companies under the guidance of experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts. Uli completed her study of Business Administration at the University of Applied Sciences Worms at the age of 22.
Candace JohnsonCandace Johnson is a global infrastructure, network and innovation expert and entrepreneur. She is co-initiator of SES/ASTRA and SES Global, the world’s pre-eminent satellite group. She is also founding President of Europe Online Investments S.A., the world’s first internet-based online service and satellite broadband network, and founder of Loral Cyberstar-Teleport Europe, Europe’s first independent private trans-border satellite communications network. Ms. Johnson is also founding President of the VATM, the Association of Private Telecom Operators in Germany and founding President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN). Ms. Johnson is also President of Johnson Paradigm Ventures (JPV) which is a principal founding shareholder with AXA, Caisse des Depots, Bayerische Landesbank, and the SPEF of Sophia Euro Lab, Europe’s first trans-border early-stage investment company based in Sophia Antipolis. JPV is also a principal founding shareholder in London-based Ariadne Capital, “Architecting Europe.net”, one of the earliest supporters and promoters of Skype, the global VoIP phenomenon. Ms. Johnson has served as Founding Member of the Boards of both companies. In her personal capacity, Ms. Johnson is a Member of the Supervisory Boards of Garage Canada, Iris Capital (Europe) and Inovent (Turkey). Ms. Johnson is founding Member and was President of the Board of the Sophia Business Angels in Sophia Antipolis, France from 2006 – 2008 as well as founding president of three multi-million Euro investment vehicles, Succès Europe, Croissance Europe and Innovation Europe, together with Meeschaert Gestion Prive. Ms. Johnson is also Founding Member of the Advisory Board of the Luxembourg Business Angels Network. Ms. Johnson is minority owner of FMN, a German telephone manufacturing company, and a member of their Supervisory Council. She is also a minority owner of Alpha Com, a wireless data manufacturing company. Ms. Johnson holds Masters Degrees with Honors from the Sorbonne and Stanford Universities, a Bachelors Degree from Vassar College and her high-school degree from Punahou, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Prof. Dr. Mark HarrisIntel® Director Higher Education & Research
Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA)
Associated Professor for Technology Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Prof. Dr. Mark Harris is a seasoned executive with nearly 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry and is Director of the Intel® Higher Education & Research Programs for the EMEA Region, responsible for advancing innovation in key areas of Intel, collaborating with top universities in EMEA to expand university curricula, engage in focused research, and encourage students to pursue a range of opportunities for technical study, research and Entrepreneurship. The Intel® Higher Education & Research Programs are successfully running in over 150 Universities in >25 EMEA countries. Mark joined Intel in 1983 holding a number of Engineering, managerial and Director positions before in 2003 assuming responsibility in his current role. Mark holds Masters Degrees in Computer Science and in Economics from the Technical University in Munich as well as Professorships as Associated Professor for Technology Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University Politehnica of Bucharest and at the University St. Kliment Ohridski of Sofia.
Mark is also expert for the Executive MBA Program at the Technical University of Munich and is a Senior Fellow of the Intentac Organization (International Entrepreneurship Academy) based in Jönkoping Sweden as well as being Executive board member of Informatics Europe and member of the EQANIE Accreditation Committee. Mark also received a Doctor honoris causa and the “Blue Ribbon” of Sofia the highest award for academic achievement from the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia.
Ari KorhonenAri Korhonen is the CEO and owner of Lagoon Capital. He has been a successful technology entrepreneur and a business angel for over 25 years. He developed his company Komartek into an international success story. Komartek was bought in 2004 by WM-data (presently Logica). His position in WM-data was Vice President. As a business angel Ari has investedin 10 companies during the last three years – these include Severa, 360 Cities, CitySocialising and Bidray. He was nominated by EBAN as European Business Angel of the Year in 2009. Additionally he holds four memberships as a professional board member. Ari has been featured in several business magazines and blogs. He holds aMaster of Sciencedegree in engineering from Lappeenranta University of Technology where he has also been a visiting lecturer.
Sven LingjaerdeSven is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Endeavour Vision www.endeavourvision.com . In 1996, he co-founded Vision Capital, a Trans-Atlantic technology venture capital firm with €140 million under management. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director of Genevest, a Swiss venture capital firm that he joined in 1987. Through his leadership, Genevest developed an excellent track record of early to late stage investments in High Tech and Biotech ventures on both sides of the Atlantic. With 20 years of Venture Capital experience, Sven has developed an extensive network in Europe, Silicon Valley, the Middle East and India. This network of contacts was leveraged through the European Tech Tour Association that he founded in 1998. Sven - a veteran European venture capitalist - was recognised for his contribution in shaping the European technology ecosystem through a number of awards and was featured in many international publications. Thanks to his reputation in the industry, he is regularly approached by venture capitalists, research centres, entrepreneurs, analysts and corporations with new investment opportunities. Sven studied business administration at HEC, Lausanne, and graduated from the ECADE business school, also in Lausanne.
Alphan ManasAlphan Manas was born in 1962 in Izmir, Turkey. He graduated with a degree in Textile and Apparel Engineering from Aegean University in 1983. He received his Master's degree in Production Management from State University of New York (SUNY) in 1987.Alphan Manas has founded and invested in many companies during his partnership at Teknoloji Holding and subsequently, at Brightwell Holdings, and also as a private investor, in energy and IT businesses, added value and successfully realized the sale of these companies to strategic partners. Alphan Manas is a self-taught futurist. He is a prolific inventor and lately spends a considerable part of his time conceiving of and devising inventions on various scales which entail the use of innovative technology.
His endeavors adhere to the betterment of society. His designs range from household items, safety and everyday products, to the redesign of existing products that have not been improved for decades. He evaluates trends, in generations from baby boomers to Gen-Z closely while continuously developing ideas to serve and convey tomorrow's technology with better life-style, living environment and today products. He is a technology and innovation expert, working closely with institutions and University Technology Transfer Centers in Turkey and in the U.S., in realization of projects for developing countries. He is a board member at the “Institute of Ecolonomics” in the U.S., which is a non-profit organization that promotes economic sustainability of rural areas by local production of energy, food, housing and other products.As a member of the World Future Society, he chaired the Turkish chapter and later founded Turkish Futurists Association, of which he is currently the honorary chairman. Alphan Manas is also a member of TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association), Turkish Business and Sustainable Development Association (Founding Member), American-Turkish Council and the TUBITAK MAM (Scientific and Technical Research Council/Laboratory of Turkey, Marmara Research Center) Advisory Council (Energy, Chemicals and Environment). After having written several articles in a number of periodicals and newspapers, he wrote as a columnist for Forbes Turkey for 2 years, and is currently writing for BusinessWeek since December 2007. He is also an editor for FUTUREtakes magazine of World Future Society in the U.S. His blog, www.alphanmanas.com, includes his articles in various publications as well as his observations on local and global developments. He is the Honorary Consul General of Cambodia in Istanbul since 2005. In November 2009, Manas became the president of Mensa High IQ Society in Turkey. In December 2009, Manas received the Commander of the Royal Order of Sahametrie of Cambodia.
Sasha MirchandaniSasha Mirchandani, Managing Director for Blue Run Ventures in India, joined the company in 2007. He focuses on consumer internet, mobile, media, entertainment and knowledge process outsourcing. Prior to joining BlueRun Ventures, Mr. Sasha was at Mirc Electronics (Onida) where he was head of corporate affairs and new business. His family is the promoter group for the same. Prior to that he was CEO and Founder of Imercius Technologies, a BPO focused on the telecom space. Sasha sits on the Board of Akasaka Electronics Limited, Fractal Analytics, Algorhythm Tech, Gulita Securities, Dhama Innovations, Blue Run Ventures India, Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited and Mumbai Angels Venture Mentors. He is an observer in Deeya Energy. Sasha completed his Business Administration from University in Virginia and MMDP program at IIM, Ahmedabad. He is also an advisory board member of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International studies (SAIS) in India, Chairman Maharashtra Committee - Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), and Charter Member - TiE Mumbai. He is a co-founder of Mumbai Angels, India’s first Angel Investment group. He is also past President of EO Mumbai.
Frank PetersFrank is past-Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels in Los Angeles where he’s been an active investor in early-stage companies since 1999. Prior to this he wrote software for Wall Street firms; he never raised any venture capital for his startup instead bootstrapping the company for 15 years before a successful exit. Frank is a prolific podcaster; check out theFrankPetersShow.com where he interviews entrepreneurs and angel investors. Frank is a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine. He has a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters degree in Computer Science from UCLA. http://twitter.com/FrankPetersShow
Modwenna Rees-Mogg
Modwenna owns and operates AngelNews, a media business focused on business angels, VCs and early stage funded companies. It is a free focused service for all companies that have been funded by business angels or venture capitalists reporting news and opinion on the business angel market. The website is www.angelnews.co.uk. We also publish the monthly e-AngelNewsletter Online and an online magazine www.makinglifericher.co.uk, as well as holding monthly events ranging from“Pitching for Management, not Money” to Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs. AngelNews is supported by a wide range of Preferred Partners: P&G, Pera, Daniel Stewart, Kingston Smith, Stephenson Harwood, Shell and Ministry of Defence all of whom are passionate about supporting the high growth company market. Modwenna is the author of Dragons or Angels the unofficial guide to Dragons’ Den and a handbook for people wanting to become or raise money from business angels. Prior to founding AngelNews, Modwenna has run an angel group and been an angel investor. She started her career as a corporate financier at Kleinwort Benson.
Helen RodwellHelen Rodwell is the CMS Cameron McKenna Central & Eastern European Head of Corporate Practice Group and is ranked as the number one M&A lawyer in CEE by Mergermarket, having advised clients on corporate and M&A matters in the region for over ten years. Although mainly based in the Czech Republic, she has worked on transactions in Ukraine, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Switzerland, the UK and Australia. Helen has broad experience in cross-border acquisitions, sales, mergers and restructurings and has extensive experience of leading large teams on complex transactions; ensuring clients receive excellent, commercially oriented advice. Helen also focuses on the energy and projects market, and is currently leading several teams advising on renewable energy projects in the Czech Republic.
Please click for Helen Rodwell's paper (full version)
Fuat SamiFounder of Lab-X Business Angels
Fuat Sami, born in London, completed his primary education in Turkey and secondary education at Eton College, London. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Imperial College and Master's Degree from Tanaka Business School, Imperial College. Mr. Sami worked for Helix Management Consultants (local alliance partner of Booz & co.) as a consultant, senior consultant and project manager for several years. He carried out projects in different geographical areas such as Europe, Middle East and Turkey and led business strategy, restructuring, organizational design and sales optimization projects for local and international companies. Mr. Sami also led several due-diligence projects for M&A activities and privatization of high-profile Turkish companies. In 2006, after many years of management consulting experience, Fuat Sami founded LabX Business Angels and currently holds the position of general manager. LabX is Turkey’s first private business incubator backed up by a business angel network and forms a basis for entrepreneurs and business angels to meet and launch innovative business initiatives. Mr. Sami is an active business angel and serves on the boards of 6 different portfolio companies worth over $ 10 milllion with an initial investment of $ 3.5 million and ranging from telecommunications, internet and advertising to health sectors. Mr. Sami moreover runs Turkey’s leading entrepreneurship competition doyouHAVEanIDEA? (www.doyouhaveanidea.com).
Mr. Sami is actively involved in several NGOs:
- Board member of GYIAD (Young Professionals and Businessmen Association)
- President of GYIAD’s Projects Commission
- Executive board member of TOBB (Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) Young Entrepreneurs Committee
- Ozyegin University (Turkey’s leading business and entrepreneurship oriented university) Advisory Board Member and Visiting Lecturer
- Member of Cercl'e d'Orient and Cercl'e d'Orient Foreign Affairs Committee
Jeffrey E. SohlJeffrey E. Sohl is Director of the Center for Venture Research and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Decision Sciences at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. His current research interests are in early-stage equity financing for high growth ventures. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, the eCoast Technology Roundtable and MerchantBanc, and the Editorial Board for Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. In 2006 he was awarded the national Hans Severiens Award by the Kauffman Foundation in recognition of his research on angel investing in the US. He has served as editor for special issues of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and Venture Capital. He has appeared on CNBC, MSNBC, National Public Radio, NHPTV’s NH Outlook, and has been quoted in Inc., Forbes, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Red Herring, Newsweek, Business Week, Newsweek-Japan, Financial Times, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and the Financial Times-France. He has written over 50 articles which have been published in academic journals.
Elbruz YilmazElbruz is the Director of Investments and Business Development of Inovent, a technology commercialization and investment company in Istanbul, Turkey. He focuses on identifying new investment opportunities, managing Inovent’s seed fund and firm’s portfolio of startup companies. Prior to joining Inovent, Elbruz was at Balance Innovations (Overland Park, KS, USA), a retail software startup specializing in technology based cash management solutions, where he was responsible for new product development and management. He joined Balance Innovations from Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC), a private/public partnership focusing on seed and early stage technology investments, where he worked as an Investment Manager. Elbruz has also played an integral role in developing Kansas' angel capital legislation, and helped managed the angel tax credit program while he was at KTEC. He also helped setup statewide network of angel investors and worked closely with groups such as MidWest Venture Alliance and MidAmerica Angels. He is currently the General Secretary and Acting Manager of Galata Business Angels, a newly formed angel group in Istanbul, Turkey. Elbruz studied Economics at Ege University in Turkey and received his MBA from Pittsburg State University in the United States.
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