Marek has been working as Programme Manager of the business incubation center of the European Space Agency in Prague (ESA BIC Prague) since its establishment in 2016. His aim is to look for entrepreneurs and young start-ups with innovative ideas for utilizing space technologies and help them to develop their businesses on (and around) Earth. ESA BIC transforms space technologies into solutions for everyday life, and the Europe-wide network of almost 20 incubators has produced more than 700 startups to date. The programme in the Czech Republic is run by the investment and business development agency CzechInvest.
#MentorOndrej was one of three founding partners of Credo Ventures in 2010. A venture capitalist since 2004, and an angel investor since 2001, Ondrej originally started as an entrepreneur in 1996, when he co-founded his first company while still in college. Before Credo Ventures, he served as Senior Investment Director with the Polish VC/PE group, MCI Management, where he was responsible for investments in Central and South Eastern Europe.
#MentorFor the past two years, Tomáš Bělohoubek has been the director of E.ON Czech Republic. He is primarily responsible for the IT and customer service departments. On top of that, he is the main driving force behind the company’s Operational Excellence program and :agile, its startup accelerator. The bottom line of all these initiatives and their priority is digitalisation. Prior to joining E.ON, Tomáš Bělohoubek spent five years in the business development department at T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary company. From there he moved to Detecon International, a consultancy firm where he spent almost ten years and focused on projects connected with strategy, digital transformation and corporate finance, mainly in the ICT and telco sector. His career has taken him not just to Germany and the rest of Europe but also to the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He enjoys alpinism and cycling, is passionate about history and likes to discuss global topics.
#SpeakerSociologist and an Executive MBA, studies coworking spaces and startups. Writes PhD on how coworking spaces influence people and their work. Advised and worked for corporate business, as well as, startups. Guest Lecturer at Warsaw School of Economics. Runs ultra-marathons.
#Mentor- Petr Beneš6DCo-Founder
Petr Beneš spent more than 20 years in banking. In addition to the Czech Republic, he worked in Poland, the USA and Thailand, where he was in charge of opening the greenfield bank. For the last 10 years, he has worked as a CIO in two Czech banks - GE Money (Moneta) and Česká spořitelna. He has a personal experience of transferring a large company to a public cloud environment.
In 2016 he co-founded 6D, which helps companies and individuals adapt to technological and social changes. It deals with the impact of digitization not only on the world of business and the social environment but also on how the current civilization revolution transforms our individual customs and values.
Petr is committed to the influence of corporate culture on the efficient functioning of teams and the networking of corporations and startups. He acts as an Expert / Mentor in the UP21 Startup Incubator, helping to bring to life the innovative business plans of start-ups.
Throughout his careers, Petr moves on the interface between technology and business. Last years as a CIO, but also as a facilitator, culture changer, coach and people connector. "Simplification is my mantra, ... I'm extrovert, I believe less is more and I believe in here and now. I like to keep myself out of the comfort zone because I realize that overwhelming welfare stands behind collapse of most civilizations in history...," says Petr Beneš.
#Mentor Driven by a search for game-changing brands that improve consumers’ lives. Interested in Blockchain, Tokenization-based Business Models that actually work, and Blockchain Product Development.
Ivan has been a part of the Tech Industry for 17 years, either as an Engineer, Tech Executive or a company Founder. He contributed to building Devana Technologies - one of the most successful Serbian tech companies. Their SaaS ManageWP was acquired by GoDaddy, one of the biggest hosting companies in the world, and for two years Ivan was the Operating Director of GoDaddy Europe.
He was voted one of the "30 under 30" most successful Serbian entrepreneurs in 2011. After that, he shifted his focus towards developing his company MVP Workshop, which specializes both in consultancy and R&D related to emerging Blockchain technologies.
In 2018 MVP Workshop successfully executed the Celsius Network’s ICO, which raised $50 million. As an Advisory Board Member at Celsius Network, Ivan has been working with his team on a Blockchain-powered lending and borrowing platform. Currently, MVP Workshop works on several Blockchain projects focused on FinTech, Supply Chain, Asset Management and Healthcare. As the CEO of MVP Workshop, Ivan has been named 2018 EY Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year, along with his colleague Malisa Pusonja.
He is a Co-founder and the President of Serbian Blockchain Initiative (SBI) – the industry network for businesses implementing Blockchain solutions, with many national and international professionals contributing to the same cause. Ivan is a Partner and Board Member at the Serbian Venture Network, which organizes the Belgrade Venture Forum - one of the largest VC investment events in the region. Ivan is also a startup mentor at the Founder Institute, StartIT Startup Academy, ICT Hub, and EKOF Startup Centar. He co-founded Zivojin Misic – the NGO which reinvests 10% of Devana Technologies’ profits back to the local community to support education and entrepreneurship among youth.
#MentorUS Market Access Center is the longest-standing high-tech business incubator in Silicon Valley for foreign companies seeking to successfully enter the Silicon Valley and the greater US Markets.
Alfredo has over 25 years of business development and management consulting experience in the information technology sector. He has advised over 150 early-stage technology companies in his career and he also worked with large multinationals such as Adobe, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Prior to US MAC, Alfredo was president and co-founder of two Canadian digital media companies, where he established offices in Ottawa, Toronto, and San Francisco, California.
Alfredo is a certified Kauffman FastTrac instructor and teaches the “Tech Venture” and “GrowthVenture” curricula to foreign entrepreneurs and economic development groups worldwide.
Specialties: Management consulting, business development, export strategies, investment attraction and new business acquisition. Market entry strategy, market intelligence, demand assessment, lead-generation, lead management, partner strategy, business case development, and raising venture capital.
#MentorTomas is a partner at MAVERICKS (www.mavericks.legal), a boutique law firm based in Prague with focus on startups and emerging markets, new technology, VC financing, M&A transactions, IT and IP law. Tomas holds law degree from Charles University in Prague (JUDr., LL.M.) and from UC Hastings School of Law, San Francisco (LL.M.).
Tomas is a proud counsel to many amazing tech companies, VC funds, angel investors, incubators and accelerators. Since 2017, he had been advising on 30+ venture capital transactions, representing both entrepreneurs and investors. Tomas frequently lectures on topics related to startups and digital economy and mentors in various incubators and accelerators.
#MentorVuk has been with SC Ventures as Principal since its launch in 2015 where he supported the growth of the portfolio to its current number and leading many of the deals. Prior to that he worked in private equity and M&A for over a decade covering a wide range of sectors and focusing on the SEE region. His main focus is negotiations, deal structuring and operations. He graduated from ACG Deree in Greece and speaks four languages.
#MentorAndré founded logistic startup Shipvio. Shipvio is removing loss from logistics by radically simplifying rules of logistics as we know them by one-click shipping platform.
Passionate about startups and mobile technologies in general. He loves to work with talented people. Currently based in Prague. He holds a masters degree with distinction in International relations and Diplomacy.
#SpeakerDiamantis has gathered over 25 years of experience strengthening blue chip global brands and leading a number of multi-dimensional marketing, innovation and new product developments across both Europe and Asia.
As a true globetrotter, Diamantis has lived and worked in 14 countries. His professional experience spans across categories like FMCG, direct B2B, or OTC, giving him an excellent global vision of what it takes to build strong brands, scale them up, and achieve sustainable long-term growth.
#MentorDave Evans has a long history in innovation. He was part of Apple in the early days, where he led the first mouse team and introduced laser printing to the masses. Next, he was a co-founder of Electronic Arts and became the company’s first VP of Talent. After fifteen successful years as a tech executive, Dave went out on his own as a management consultant assisting both startups and multi-nationals in strategy, marketing, and corporate culture formation.
Along the way, Dave discovered his real passion is to help people discern and build the life they really want. That led Dave to co-found the Stanford Life Design Lab with Bill Burnett in 2007 with the mission of applying the innovation principles of design thinking to the wicked problem of designing your life.
The Life Design Lab has enjoyed great success at Stanford and is now expanding broadly across higher education. Bill and Dave's 2016 book, Designing Your Life, How to Build a Well-Lived and Joyful Life, is a NY Times #1 bestseller, available in 23 languages worldwide.
#Speaker#European JuryViktor Fischer joined Rockaway from McKinsey & Company, where he worked as a Junior Partner focusing on strategy and corporate finance. Prior to McKinsey & Co, he lived in France for eleven years where he co-founded Innovatrics – a technology startup providing fast biometric identification worldwide. He also taught project management at the Faculty of International Law at a university in Paris. Viktor served as a mentor in several accelerators such as Startupyard and Wayra in Prague and the Spot in Slovakia. He is also an investor in several technological start-ups. Viktor holds a master’s degree from HEC Paris and an MBA from INSEAD.
In Rockaway, Viktor Fischer focuses on Ventures and Blockchain opportunities.
The firms under Rockaway’s administration achieved aggregate sales of more than EUR 2 billion in 2018 and employ more than five thousand people in 17 European countries. Rockaway is focused on the area of e-commerce (Mall Group and Heureka Shopping), e-travel (Invia Group) and book publishing (Euromedia Group) with operations in the CEE region, and plays an active role in the firms within the Rockaway group and takes part in their management. In addition to the main pillars of its portfolio, Rockaway constantly seeks new opportunities among global technology start-ups and in the fields of fintech and blockchain.
#MentorMilan is a digital strategist and a real expert when it comes to influencers marketing. During his 12 years with Red Bull Media House, Milan has helped more than 200 projects and 100 global athletes and artists to rise and shine.
He successfully kicked-off the marketing of ODIVI fashion brand (Forbes 30 under 30). Consults with both corporate and CSR clients (T-Mobile, Siemens, CAMP IPR, Hospodářská komora, Czechitas) and is happy to share his knowledge with knowledge-hungry seed startups.
#MentorKristian has spent the last 15 years in B2B sales building and leading sales teams. He has been through more than 8,000 negotiations and managed to close over 1,300 deals with companies like Heineken, Unilever, Harley-Davidson, Maersk, and Carl Zeiss. In the past three years he has mentored dozens of startups and helped them to find their own go-to market strategy and automate their sales process. Currently he manages sales teams and pipelines of a few billion CZK in two technological startups. He has exchanged his former passion for MMA and motorbike racing for a more adrenaline inducing discipline - being the father of three awesome children.
#MentorRostya Gordon-Smith has been in the HR management and talent development business for over 25 years, not only in Czechia, but also in Canada, Great Britain Japan, Brazil, Estonia, Russia, Hong Kong and other countries.
She was named one of the top 50 most successful HR managers in the world. Rostya is also experienced in the areas of equal opportunities, personal development, strategic HR management and many more.
She was also voted one of the 20 most influential women in Czechia in 2006. She is the founder of PeopleIMPACT s.r.o., and an association for development of men and women “MINERVA 21. She is the co-author of a motivational book “Úspěšně s kůží na trh” and is a co-founder of HR Academy at the economics faculty of University of Ostrava.
Rostya is also a frequent speaker at international conferences, presentations and seminars (Canada, USA, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangalore, Amsterdam, London, Budapest, Vienna, Frankfurt, Tallinn, Moscow)
#MentorAndrew (New Zealander based in Prague) is CFO at Institute H21 and Director at D21, a civic-tech startup tackling the important challenge in today's society of connecting communities and leaders. D21 does this by developing tools and methods for voting/participating in key decision processes - to date, over 750k people on four continents have used H21's platform.
Andrew is passionate about futurism, social innovation and venture financing - all passions which he is looking forward to sharing with his startups in the SWCS this year. Andrew enjoys immersing himself in the local startup scene and is a mentor at local incubator. Andrew believes in the growing strength of Prague as a clustered hub of CEE venture activity and is excited to see the increased deal flow and maturing of the ecosystem here.
Prior to living in Prague, Andrew worked at a top Management Consulting firm in New Zealand. Andrew is a qualified Chartered Accountant and the proud father of two small monsters.
#Mentor- Julian HartmannMiddleCapBusiness Strategist
With 10+ years of experience in tough consultancy business, Julian has developed a very strong suit - a business development.
Focusing on innovations, startups and tech companies he is helping entrepreneurs to scale-up on the new markets and also to grow their business. With very strong connections in “DACH” region but also other parts of Europe, Julian is a right advisor when it comes to rapid growth across the borders.
#Mentor Director of Startup Department at CzechInvest - Investment and Business Development Agency of the Czech Republic. Marketa is responsible for managing programs and activities for start-up ecosystem and start-ups itself both in the Czech Republic and abroad. She was at the inception of the CzechStartups.org - the first on-line startup hub in the Czech Republic. Marketa is also involved at V4 Innovation Task Force Group. Marketa is also a main contact as an official Startup Ambassador for the Czech Republic named by European Commission. In 2017, Marketa was announced as one of the three Top Czech Woman of startup scene. She started her career on department of Research, Development and Innovation at CzechInvest. Marketa graduated from the University of Life Sciences, Prague.
#V4 JuryJames brings all the answers to all your intellectual property questions. How to protect the know-how your startup creates? How to prove the value of the technology behind your company?
Meet James, TMT Lawyer with broad experience in intellectual property protection, information technology, and contract negotiations.
Author of several articles on protecting intellectual property online with a recent publication in the Communication Law Review on U.S. telecommunications and information technology regulations and also a law school lecturer.
#MentorJasmina has been with Pioneers since 2016 and she is currently acting as the Head of Startups & Community Partnerships. She is leading the team responsible for startup scouting for Pioneers events and Pioneers Ventures. Beside being actively involved in Pioneers Ventures, she is building strategic partnerships with other investors, accelerators and ecosystem players worldwide. She is well known for speaking her mind out and giving honest feedback when startups pitch. She is especially passionate about deep tech startups with special focus on MedTech and BioTech.
#MentorPeter travels the globe helping people tell clearer stories with stronger impact. Bringing more value to their ideas. He helps executives and entrepreneurs develop their speaking style in front of a crowd or on camera, gain investment and persuade with impact.
From Dubai to Amsterdam, Shanghai to Berlin, Peter’s workshops and coaching skills are in high demand across global digital, entreprenership and business scenes. Equally, as an internationally experienced live events MC, Peter has developed an extensive global portfolio of shaping large scale conferences. He loves to be kept on his toes wearing many hats – mentor, coach, presenter and voiceover talent. Peter has lived in 7 countries and now lives in Croatia.
#ModeratorMartin is a senior retail/marketing/business leader focused on building high-performance teams and brands such as Air Bank, J&T Banka, mBank, Citibank, and several other business projects over last 20 years. Visionary and pioneer, with ability to find innovative and creative solutions. Martin is best suited for startups or transformational projects, you might have heard his name with the relation of Maappi project, J&T and many other pioneering brands. Martin is a LinkedIn pro (only handful of people are able to build such strong LinkedIn presence), Proximity Marketing pioneer, branding and product expert... Cut the 20 years in marketing short - you wont’t find another Martin at the CE market easily.
#MentorTino Hrnčiar is an entrepreneur. Over the last six years he has co-founded several companies, among them the provocative streetwear brand Life is Porno, with its unique marketing style and projects that connect art with action sports. Today, he also runs Forbidden Taste, a company that creates tailor-made gastronomic experiences and events, and Forbidden Spot, which is an art space in Prague.
Tino’s professional background is in marketing. Before starting his own companies, he had worked at Red Bull for six years, three years of which were spent at the company’s headquarters in the Global Brand Marketing team.. He also hosts a podcast and video interviews with inspiring people called INSP.EAT.
#MentorTomas is a programmer, cryptoanarchist, and hacker. His background is in theoretical computer science and finance. Over the years he has gained experience working for corporations like PwC and EY, and also from founding his own startup. Since 2013 he has been deeply interested in cryptocurrencies, decentralization, and their impact on society. Now he is a supervisory board member of Paralelni Polis. Paralelni Polis provides the technologies and education that people need to engage in an independent society and protect individual liberty. His role there is to oversee the coworking space Paper Hub, which is one of the concepts in Paralelni Polis focusing on freelancers and startups.
#MentorŠtěpán is a technology enthusiast excelling in combining the latest technologies with the needs of aspiring businesses from financial services to e-commerce and the automotive sector. His deep technical knowledge coupled with his understanding of client business needs and the latest trends make him an advisor trusted by many executives seeking guidance with navigating their digital transformation journeys.
In his current position, he is responsible for innovation, vision and strategy, product development, sales, and building competencies and managing the Financial Services Technology services practice. Štěpán has hands-on-experience with managing complex delivery teams. In addition, he leads the Open Banking technical community and helps develop technology practices across Deloitte Central Europe. His responsibilities include strategic technology partnerships and identification of technology startups matching the needs of corporations keen to innovate their services or business models.
The beginning of Štěpán’s career is closely connected with two technology startups – Systinet and the e-commerce technology provider Schemantix. At Systinet he was responsible for delivery, product development and innovations, and as software engineer at Schemantix, he designed innovative products. Before joining Deloitte, Štěpán worked for IBM as a Client Enterprise Architect and led the CEE Banking Technical Community. Štěpán also has experience running his own family business.
#MentorLucie has been working as a Head of Startup Acceleration since 2017. She has joined CzechInvest after the experience in the banking sector, while working with innovations for the major bank in Amsterdam. Her passion is to help young Czech entrepreneurs and innovative companies to guide their way to the foreign markets, set their footsteps in the international environment and suceed globally. So far CzechInvest has supported more than 250 startups.
#MentorVítek Ježek is a Founder and CEO of Rekola. Rekola is the biggest micromobility platform in the Czech Republic with more than 1 million rides annually. Vítek is passionate about innovation in public space and how changes in urban transportation will affect us in the years ahead. Vítek was listed as Forbes 30 under 30.
#MentorMathematician, visionary and author of the D21 voting system. Who else could bring such find blend of unique personality features apart from Karel Janecek?
A Czech billionaire with a rich history of support of both business and social-responsible causes stands behind UP21 incubator and supports innovators and startups.
A believer into new technologies through which mankind has a unique chance to change the world for the better.
#SpeakerMichal leads spearhead projects that introduce innovative technologies into the conservative field of distribution network operation. A graduate from Czech Technical University in Prague, Michal has 5 years’ work experience in E.ON, in regional units in the Czech Republic and Germany.
His primary occupation is electricity storage. In the years 2017-2018, he led the deployment of the first large-scale battery storage unit for energy industry purposes in the Czech Republic, and is now actively advocating for full integration of the technology into the Czech regulatory framework. He consults on innovative projects for storage technologies in the E.ON Energy Globe Award.
Michal also leads a project that aims to develop a fast and reliable fault location method for compensated electric distribution grids. His overarching goal is to help explore the contribution of new technologies towards reliable and sustainable electric power delivery.
#MentorMaster´s degree from the University of South Bohemia Faculty of Economics and Management, with a focus on Quality and Process management. 14 years of experience in the automotive industry in various positions. At the beginning of his career he started as a sales manager for a General Motors dealership in South Bohemia, and help to create a greenfield dealership, which became the number one in its region. After nearly four successful years, he took an opportunity to become part of the world’s second biggest automotive industry supplier, Magna International. He spent three and half years as a quality control engineer in the regional Magna unit in Czechia. After this period, he became part of the Magna Europe Head Office in Germany as a Resident Engineer for Skoda Auto, and spent the next seven years there. As the automotive market is dramatically changing, he decided in 2018 to undertake a challenge to lead the emobility department for E.ON Czechia, mainly focusing on establishing completely new business.
#MentorGained all-rounded global experience in business development, enterprise sales, strategic partnerships, and building startups & growing communities. Started career in the in the USA, then spent 10 years launching green field operations in Latin America. Transitioned to strategic management consulting, first as a sales&marketing manager in Brazil, later as Head of Sales in the UK. Prior to WeWork also founded several of his own businesses, built an award-winning startup, organised travel conferences and startup competitions. Lived in 4 and visited over 50 countries. Speaks 5 languages. Avid wreck diver and free-ride snowboarder.
#Mentor#V4 JuryAdam Kocik is Managing Director and Member of the Investment Committee of venture capital fund J&T Ventures.
He has more then 15 years of professional experience in the investment industry (PPF, Morgan Stanley, Brookdale Group) and more then 8 years of investment experience is startup investments. He frequently participates as selection jury member in startup competitions (Czech Republic, Slovakia, CEE/SEE), acts as mentor at startup events and invests as angel investor.
Adam focuses on discovering and investing in innovative technology startups with high growth potential in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) and SEE (South East Europe) regions and on helping the startups to reach full rollout and to grow internationally, with particular focus on fintech, healthcare, education, smart city, Big Data and IoT/IoE sectors.
He holds MBA from London Business School in Entrepreneurship and Private Equity and MA from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies in International Relations and International Finance.
#Mentor#V4 JuryHana joined the energy world ten years ago after finishing her Master´s Degree in International Trade at the University of Economics in Prague and Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. Throughout her career she has gained experience working in expert and management positions in different fields – starting with Compliance, Risk Management, and Information Security, then being responsible for the implementation of Lean Management and customer journey work at E.ON. Nowadays, she heads the product development and innovations division, including emobility, with the ambition to drive the transformation of a traditional utility company to a solution-based business. She is a big fan of improvisational theatre, which gives her a great source of inspiration for her own development as well as that of others in general.
#MentorMartin holds a degree in business administration from SUNY Empire State College / University of New York in Prague. Following graduation, he spent three years in private equity with Genesis Capital and Hartenberg Capital, where he was directly responsible for closing acquisitions in both CEE and Western Europe and later served as director of the board for an Irish portfolio company. He served for over a year as the CFO of a technology start-up, overseeing its financial strategy and corporate governance and managing key operational aspects in San Francisco, Prague and Bangalore.
He joined the Rockaway Ventures team, where he uses his investment and entrepreneurial experience to assist with both the current portfolio and new investments.
The firms under Rockaway’s administration achieved aggregate sales of more than EUR 2 billion in 2018 and employ more than five thousand people in 17 European countries. Rockaway is focused on the area of e-commerce (Mall Group and Heureka Shopping), e-travel (Invia Group) and book publishing (Euromedia Group) with operations in the CEE region, and plays an active role in the firms within the Rockaway group and takes part in their management. In addition to the main pillars of its portfolio, Rockaway constantly seeks new opportunities among global technology start-ups and in the fields of fintech and blockchain.
#MentorOndřej studied at the University of Economics, Prague, and won the first prize in the biggest competition for young creative people, Cannes Lions, when he was 28.
And then, after 5 years spent as an employee, he switched careers in order to help business partners Juraj Atlas and Martin Hausenblas found Liftago; and then, step by step, he became its director.
Liftago is a local but best-rated app for ordering a taxi in the world. Its long-term goal is to improve mobility in cities and provide an alternative to personal vehicles.
#MentorMichal is involved in the space industry for more than 6 years. Currently, he works as a project manager at ESA BIC Prague at CzechInvest. His aim is to turn innovative business concepts, using space technologies and satellite data into successful businesses. He has also experience from the international space industry. He is a member of the International Astronautical Federation and Space Generation Advisory Council. He holds two master’s degrees – Corporate Economics and Management from the University of Economics and Aircraft and Space Systems from the Czech Technical University.
#MentorMatej has over 18 years of investment and investment advisory experience in the CEE region. He advised, led and executed many crossboarder transactions and plays a vital role in Mayfair group as a member of its investment board. Matej is currently responsible for the group's real estate development projects and is seeking investments related to innovation in establishing a healthy living environment. Matej is also a founding partner of the Czech and Slovak investment advisory firm MiddleCap, where led the firm's real estate and corporate restructuring engagements. Matej has vast experience in mergers & acquisitions with previous employment included KPMG Corporate Finance, Deloitte Advisory and CBRE where he led its Capital Markets team. Matej has a degree in Finance from Indiana University of PA in the USA.
#SpeakerCedric has been a serial Internet entrepreneur for the past 22 years.
Initially an engineer in AI, Cedric is now running StartupYard, the oldest running startups accelerator in CEE which has invested in companies like DameJidlo, BrandEmbassy, NeuronSW, Rossum, WaymarkTech to name a few.
Cedric is also a Board Member of the French-Czech Chamber of Commerce and an official French Foreign Trade Advisor.
#MentorJaroslav is a partner at MAVERICKS (www.mavericks.legal), a boutique law firm based in Prague with a focus on startups and emerging markets, new technology, VC financing, M&A transactions, IT and IP law. Jaroslav holds law degrees from Masaryk University in Brno (Mgr.) and the New York University School of Law (LL.M.), as well as an economic degree from the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Ing.).
Jaroslav is an enthusiastic advisor of numerous inspirational entrepreneurs, startups, technology companies, investors and other members of the startup ecosystem. Prior to joining MAVERICKS, Jaroslav spent almost 10 years at a leading international law firm, where he acquired extensive expertise in all aspects of transactional law, corporate law, IP & IT law, and public procurement law. A special area of Jaroslav’s interest is transportation and smart mobility.
#MentorJana is a software developer and entrepreneur from Prague. She co-founded a software development agency Juicymo, where she creates custom juicy apps for mobile and web for clients.
She loves to help developers and spread knowledge about technologies as well. Lately, she launched a new project, mobile application Thriftigo, which shows the best thrift stores and second hand stores nearby with a mission to show the world that clothes deserve a second chance.
#MentorJan Müller spent 25 years in leading positions at several renowned Czech media outlets – Lidové noviny, marketing magazine Strategie, professional journal Právo&Byznys, Esence – a magazine in Chinese, lifestyle magazine Formen and more. Today, he is the director of the Flowee magazine. In 2018, he published a book called “Průvodce budoucností aneb Jak si užít globální krizi”, and this April his second book, “Dítě v síti”, is going to be published.
#SpeakerLukas is a co-founder of Digital Ant — a firm that helps startups and innovators validate their projects on the market and scale-up the right way. He believes that many great projects fail because of the way they market themselves, so he built Digital Ant with the mission to help others overcome these obstacles.
Also, after spending three years abroad (mostly in Hong Kong), Lukas would like to help others knock down the mental borders we use to restrict ourselves when it comes to doing business.
#MentorLukas is experienced in helping customers with productivity and communication to achieve better cooperation. Creating new innovative business solutions with partners is motivating him to do his job.
Lukas has been passionate about new technologies such as artificial intelligence and innovations. He is currently also working on his own business which does not involve technology but where he wants to implement parts of the advanced technology world. He believes in joint cooperation of new technologies in “non-technology” companies.
#Mentor"The only person who can make your entrepreneurial voyage a ride to the stars is not a mentor. It’s a customer. So NEVER stop talking to him.” Vaclav’s biggest learning from the 10 years in marketing is something he applies to the startup industry when he searches for investment opportunities as a CEO of investment fund Air Ventures.
Vaclav is bridging the gap between the worlds of marketing & innovation. In 10 years of his marketing career he has consulted businesses across the globe – tech companies in US, China but also corporate clients in Europe. In 2013 Vaclav has brought Leo Burnett’s Chicago innovational hub Farmhouse to Prague to foster the innovation within ad business. Before that Vaclav co-founded a brand-tech consultancy Kliché Killers in NYC. In 2016 he has finally decided to devote his time completely to bold entrepreneurs, so he co-founded Air Ventures (www.airvcs.com) fund with Michal Nydrle, well-known admen in CEE. Vaclav is also a partner and creative head of the biggest startup clash in Europe, Startup World Cup & Summit (www.swcsummit.com).
He is a graduate of Tomas Bata University in Zlin, he has studied System Ergonomics and New Media in Portugal and also International Management in Austria. Dog person. Runner. Father. Former DJ.
#Panelist#V4 Jury#European JuryDavid Pavliska joined Revolut in October 2018 and took the position of business development manager in the Czech Republic. In Revolut he is responsible for business development and launching Czech branch.
David Pavliska is an experienced manager with a unique profile - with expertise from the Czech's most significant financial companies (Home Credit, Fincentrum) and financial technology pioneers. Passionate about scaling businesses, defining marketing strategies, and growth hacking.
In 2015-2017, as the project manager at Fincentrum, together with the team, he developed and rolled-out the best-in-class online tool for financial analysis helping clients to better understand their financial matters and save money on spending for products such as life insurance, investments or mortgages. He was developing the solutions which transformed the way how customers are treated by financial institutions and allowed them to regain control over spendings for financial products.
Prior to joining Fincentrum, In 2014-2015, David worked on a project of an online payment method developed by Home Credit. As Key Account Manager, he was responsible for advising on digital business strategies for key clients in the e-commerce. Previously in 2014, David was working in marketing team at content marketing management company Chute in San Francisco, California, where he gained his primary experience in marketing strategies and market analysis.
His passion is technological innovation and travelling. He studied at the faculty of law at Charles University in Prague and in The Netherlands.
#MentorDita is a founder of Czechitas, an organization that focuses on finding and developing future talents for IT, especially girl talents. Since the numbers of “boys and girls” in the IT industry are not exactly, Dita aims to change that.
She is a leader of the change that aims to utilise the hidden potential in women working in the technological industry. And since there is everpresent lack of quality developer all around the world, her mission resonates strong within the society.
In 2016 Dita has received European Citizen Award from European Parliament, she is also in the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
#MentorI remember computers without the Internet, the Internet without Google, and mobile communication without encryption. I have more than 20 years of professional IT experience, lecturing and writing articles on IT security, cryptography, and new technologies. I am a member of Paralelní Polis, a nonprofit organization providing education in the area of digital freedom, an IT security consultant, and the author of www.digitalni-sebeobrana.cz
#MentorA big fish among big fishes in social media.
Although James has kickstarted his career at a rather tech director's chair in Dell UK, in 2011 he joined Facebook to become a social media rising star. He served as Facebook's EMEA Director.
Under his watch, the social media platform number one expanded in the region and so it was no surprise he has climbed up the ladder and become a vice president of Instagram with the focus on business development. From 2014 until 2017 Instagram has seen both massive popularity and revenue growth and so James has acquired yet another success in the startup world.
Since 2017 James is a CEO to Strava, the most engaged community of athletes in the world. Under James watch Strava is skyrocketing its popularity gaining 1 million users every 40 days!
#SpeakerBill Reichert is one of the Silicon Valley's icons.
With Guy Kawasaki Bill stands behind Garage Ventures that he co-founded in 1998. Bill is also a partner in Fenox Ventures and is one of the fathers to the concept of Startup World Cup, the biggest startup challenge on the planet.
Prior to Garage, Bill was a co-founder or senior executive in several venture-backed technology startups - Trademark Software, The Learning Company, and Academic Systems.
#Panelist#V4 Jury#European JuryJohn brings more than 25 years of experience helping to guide some of the world’s most successful technology companies through start-up phases, major product launches, branding and marketing campaigns, rapid growth, acquisitions and IPOs. He has raised over $150M in private and public markets and was a key early-stage contributor to companies that are today delivering well over $100B in combined annual sales.
He began his career with Intel and then joined Apple where he worked hard on the marketing of the first Macintosh computers alongside with demanding genius Steve Jobs. John ran marketing and sales for Weitek, the world’s first fabless chip company, which completed an IPO and pioneered 3D graphics for video gaming. John was also a Vice President of Global Market Planning and Programs at Oracle and CEO of Cahoots/Informative (a social networking and customer intelligence SaaS company).
#Panelist#European JuryVojta Rocek has an impressive track record in business intelligence guiding Leo Express', Bileto's, Rockaway's decision making process based on data. In 2016 Vojta has decided to kickstart his own project focused on BI - Stories that was acquired only two years later by American giant Workday. Not only Vojta is a successful entrepreneur but he is also an out-of-the-box thinker with the passion in rum tasting, critical thinking (he started his own courses focused on critical thinking area) and a balance between the family life and business.
#MentorPetr Rokusek is a visionary entrepreneur and investor in modern energy. In these pursuits, Petr has focused on demonstrating options for a smart combination of nature and technology. In 2008, Petr founded Nano Energies, an energy trading company with three divisions, offering businesses and households the opportunity to consume electricity efficiently and responsibly.
With a team of experts, he is currently developing technologies for electricity-sharing and flexibility aggregation, including blockchain. While still a student at the Czech Technical University, Petr founded his first venture with a Dutch business partner in 1995, establishing what is now a leading visual display group Jansen Display, which was acquired by the US's Sign-Zone last summer. Petr applies an environmentally sustainable approach at several other companies in which he is active. He currently resides in Liechtenstein and spends his workweeks partly in Switzerland and in the Czech Republic researching energy innovations, blockchain technologies and smart textiles under brand NowYou.
Petr has also founded Bluelight.LI fund investing in business ideas with a positive impact on our environment and wants to meet or associate with other investors or funds with a similar mindset and goals.
#MentorExperienced Marketing & Communications professional working for 14 years in the financial services industry. Skilled in Marketing Management, Digital Strategy, Smart Technologies and Banking Innovations. Both – pragmatist and visionary recently dealing mainly with Innovations & Digital Revolution in banking services and its impact on User Experience at the international level of the BNP Paribas group.
#MentorPetr Sobotka is a freelance Interim Sales Manager with more than 15 years of experience in sales. He’s also an Ideaboard leader in the startup incubator UP21, where he’s an expert and a mentor focused on incubated startups. As a sales professional, he helps companies to develop their sales process, which leads to better results of sales teams. Among his clients are international companies from the fields of energetics, IT, banking, insurance and pharmaceuticals.
#MentorMr. Steckler has served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Avast since January 2009.
Through his leadership and business strategies, Mr. Steckler grew billings 35X, reaching $811M in 2017, and has developed an executive leadership team that has consistently delivered industry leading profits to the bottom line.
Prior to joining Avast, Mr. Steckler was the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Consumer Sales at Symantec Corporation, where he was in charge of multi-channel international consumer sales valued at $2.0 billion. Mr. Steckler also served over two years as Symantec’s Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan and was responsible for all enterprise and consumer business in that region. Prior to joining Symantec, Mr. Steckler had 20 years of experience in software development, systems analysis and engineering, and business development.
Mr. Steckler holds two B.S. degrees from the University of California, Irvine, one in Mathematics and the other in Information and Computer Science.
#SpeakerTomáš Studeník is radical innovator and city hacker. Tomáš holds MBA from University of Liverpool and continues with post-gradual studies of innovation at HEC Paris. He is the CEO of Insane Business Ideas (www.inbui.com), a consultancy that helps industry leaders such as ŠKODA AUTO or Plzeňský Prazdroj innovate. Tomáš organized first global CEE Hacks hackathon (www.ceehacks.com) in 2017 and has since then held numerous innovation events to improve mobility, energy and health in European cities. Apart from consulting companies on innovation strategy, Tomáš holds popular monthly FuckUp Nights (www.fuckupnights.cz) where lessons from failure are publicly shared by distinguished entrepreneurs, scientists and artists. In 2018, Tomáš published the Big Book of Fuckups (www.fuckupy.cz) that the world-renowned economist Tomáš Sedláček called the book of the year.
#ModeratorKristina works as marketing manager at ESA BIC Prague and has more than 10 years of experience in international marketing & PR from the private and public sector. Her main focus is B2B communication and she helps technical teams working on deep tech / space tech to approach their marketing & PR strategy in the most efficient way. Currently she supports – marketingwise - the 10 space startups growing under ESA BIC Prague‘s wing. She is crazy for geeky ideas, gadgets, social media, and enjoys working with the Czech space community.
#MentorBrand strategist and value proposition designer who’s worked across the globe for brands like Achmea, Unilever, O2, MINI, Pernod Ricard, Starbucks and many others. As part of the board of UP21 Milan is responsible mainly for strategic and creative steering of the invested ventures. Also active on the advisory board of multiple start-ups and family businesses, heading the strategic efforts of STRV on the American market and building a company called Unicorn Attack that helps corporations to create new value.
#MentorPavel’s experience with startups was gained early and firsthand. After graduating from university, he started his own small consulting firm to assist foreign companies entering the Czech market. In the 1990s, he matched local companies with relevant and eager foreign investors.
Business–IT alignment is Pavel’s greatest strength. During his tenure in the banking industry in the late ’90s, he developed his financial services skills. Later he solidified his experience in technology at IBM where he spent 12 years. Another domain Pavel has been focusing on is cultivating an innovative corporate culture at the companies where he has been involved.
Currently, Pavel leads the Deloitte Consulting and Technology advisory business in Central Europe. He also serves on the advisory boards of several technology startups, where he identifies and builds alliances with various technology vendors (both startup and big tech).
#Mentor#V4 JuryMichal is the founder and CEO of a fintech company called Twisto and a member of Forbes 30 under 30. He has lived a total of 11 years abroad, with time in Russia, Great Britain and the US. He began his career in London where he joined Barclays Capital after graduating from King’s College. When he returned to the Czech Republic in 2013, he founded Twisto. Twisto today has more than 90 employees and is backed by leading investors such as ING, UNIQA, ENERN, Partners and Miton.
#MentorVít Šubert is a co-founder of the startup incubator UP21, a manager with more than 20 years of corporate experience and a team leader in the cultural arts field.
He is one of the founding fathers of online services in the Czech Republic. At the turn of the millennium, he built and led, in typical startup fashion, the Internet division of what was then known as Czech Telecom incumbent under the Internet On Online (IOL) brand.
He spent 23 years of his career at multinational corporations, including serving as marketing and product director at Dell Computers in London, where he was responsible for Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy. He also led 1,400 employees at O2, where he was personally responsible for generating multi-million-€ turnovers is Business Division Director.
In 2015, he started to build, literally out of a garage, the startup incubator UP21, which was funded by Czech billionaire and mathematician Karel Janeček. To date, more than 15 projects in the Czech Republic as well as various other countries have gone through UP21. Vít aims to make UP21 one of the top 10 best startup incubators in Europe.
Vít draws inspiration for leading the incubator and negotiating with promising B2B project founders (UP21’s primary focus) from different types of startup approaches he experienced firsthand. He helmed a startup regime within O2’s corporate environment. In 2010, he founded his own startup selling tennis equipment online and building a network of tennis players and coaches. He sold the company three years later. Today, as the CEO of UP21, he decides which projects the company will finance and also mentors several startups on the Czech market that are not involved with UP21.
#Mentor#V4 Jury#European JuryMartin has an interesting experience in finance from few different perspectives - a consulting firm, a bank, a startup and a seed investor and incubator.
He started his career in financial consulting working for PwC in the Valuation & Strategy Department in 2010. Subsequently, he moved to J&T Bank in 2012 where he analysed loans, solvency and credit risk. After a year and half, he left the bank and took a very interesting and challenging role in a newly established startup called Cashplay which was building a monetarization platform for mobile game developers.
Currently, he works as a CFO in UP21. His main responsibilities are management of funds, the controlling of UP21’s startup portfolio, the assessment of new investment opportunities, financial due diligence and consulting and advising startups with various problems.
#MentorRemco is passionate about digital disruption and has worked in startups focusing on emerging technologies for 5 years, most recently establishing more than 40 applied Artificial Intelligence communities worldwide as part of the core team of CITY.AI before evangelizing the use of data and machine learning for digital transformation in banking with W.UP.
Revolut ambassador, Founder of Budapest AI, and previously co-founded 2 digital health startups.
#Mentor- Jiří VlasákMember of the BoardKofola ČeskoSlovensko
Jiří graduated in business administration at the Technical University of Liberec in 1999. He joined the Kofola group in 2010, when he became responsible for the marketing strategy of Czech operations. In 2011 he also started to head the marketing department in Slovakia. Since 2015 he has been acting as CEO in Poland. Prior to joining the Kofola group, Jiří was the marketing manager at Poděbradka (1999-2000), the export manager at Karlovarské minerální vody (2001-2005), the commercial director at HBSW (Ukraine) (2006-2007), and the marketing director at Poděbradka (2008-2010).
#Mentor Blake Wittman is CEO of GoodCall, known as one of the first disruptors of the recruitment agency business in Central Europe.
Blake has a 17-year career highlighted by a passion for people and purpose, with experience across a broad spectrum of companies – from internet startups to Fortune100 companies.
#MentorJuan is currently part of the team at E.ON responsible for the mass-deployment of smart meters, including all communication technology, IT infrastructure, and data analytics.
In previous years, he led several projects aiming to build E.ON’s smart metering technical specifications. This includes cybersecurity lab tests, field deployment of devices, and cooperation with numerous universities. He also provides support for the analysis and creation of concepts based on new prospective technologies in the energy sector.
In addition to 5 years of experience at E.ON in the Czech Republic and Germany, Juan holds an engineering degree from Czech Technical University in Prague, and is an MBA candidate at the Technical University of Berlin.
#MentorJana has a long-standing experience in the corporate environment in banking, telecommunications, and management consulting in Western Europe, CEE, and North and South America.
Jana has always been passionate about innovations and new business models and over the last couple of years, she has been working with start-ups as a mentor and as an investor.
#V4 Jury
This project is co-financed by European Structural and Investment Funds and Visegrad Fund.
