Philippos Ioulianou brings over 16 years of international experience across the energy and maritime sectors, underpinned by a multidisciplinary foundation spanning engineering, business, law, shipping, and diplomacy. This unique blend equips him with a holistic, strategic perspective on the global energy transition. He joined Columbia Group in early 2023 as Group Director, Energy and Renewables, where he leads the Group’s decarbonisation roadmap and the development of alternative energy solutions across its global operations. In parallel, Philippos serves as Managing Director of EmissionLink, supporting organisations in emissions management, regulatory compliance, and sustainability strategies, and is actively involved with Galactic Beacon Ventures, where he evaluates and supports startups focused on energy innovation and maritime decarbonisation. He has also held prominent industry leadership roles, having served as President of YoungShip International and Founder of YoungShip Cyprus, contributing to the development of the next generation of maritime leaders.

Victoria is an influential leader with a career spanning corporate leadership, governance and venture investment. She currently serves on the boards of listed and private companies, strengthening governance and strategy across telecoms, banking, mobility and industrial technologies.  She is Member of the Board of the European Innovation Council, contributing to the strategic orientation of the European Union’s flagship instrument for breakthrough and deep-tech innovation, and on the design and governance of innovation programs at continental scale.

She has held top executive positions at leading multinational companies, including President of Orange Spain, Senior Vice President at Proximus, and Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at British Telecom Europe, where she led strategic transformations, large-scale investments, and corporate growth initiatives. A recognized voice on the ethical dimensions of technology, she is actively engaged in Digital Humanism, and has published essays on how AI, governance and human agency can be aligned in the age of disruptive innovation. Victoria is President Europe of Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN).

Dr. Gideon Friedmann brings a wealth of expertise from his tenure as the Chief Scientist at the Israeli Ministry of Energy, where he shaped the nation's energy framework and pioneered initiatives in renewable energy, market structuring, energy conservation, and electric mobility. He spearheaded a major funding program that bolstered innovative strides in energy technology, academic study, and entrepreneurial ventures, and directed the transition to sustainable energy within Israel's governmental bodies.

With a diverse background in the high-tech sector, Gideon has made significant contributions to semiconductor metrology, medical devices, biotech, and energy-saving technologies through both research and development and executive leadership.

Presently, as the Chief Technology Officer of NetZero Tech Ventures, he plays a pivotal role in fostering early-stage companies at the forefront of energy technology and climate change mitigation.

Dr. Friedmann is academically accomplished, holding a Doctorate in Physics from Stanford University, a Master’s in Economics from Purdue University, a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Physics with high honors from Tel Aviv University, and a Diploma in Bioinformatics.

Alexandros Charalambides is a Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of the Cyprus University of Technology. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London, is a Fulbright scholar, has served on the Board of the International Solar Energy Society and, as from 2024, serves on the Board of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. He is the founder of Chrysalis LEAP, the first cleantech accelerator in Cyprus, and has trained over 200 entrepreneurs in transforming research ideas into viable businesses. Currently, he is primarily working on developing forecasting models to predict the intra-day energy output of Photovoltaics and on how innovation and entrepreneurship can assist the decarbonization strategy of Cyprus.

Eugene Smyth is an Investment Partner for Furthr VC Funds in Ireland, including the €53m AIB Seed Capital Fund where he manages the fast-growth technology portfolio. He is also an industry expert consultant on a variety of European Commission technology innovation programmes.  His specialist areas include Cleantech, IOT, New Media, SaaS, DeepTech and emerging platform technologies.

Dr. Florin Paun is Chief Science & Partnership Officer for ARESIA Groupe. His mission is to Support the group Offers by strengthening their Innovative content. He is also in charge with architecting an entire Innovation Ecosystem around ARESIA allowing thus to aggregate within ARESIA’s future offers the state of the art in emerging technologies in partnership with R&D laboratories, start-ups, SME, suppliers etc. He is also Innovation manager for Cluj IT Cluster, European Innovation Council Jury member, Business Angel, Entrepreneur and Governments advisor.

Dr. Florin Paun was AKKA Technologies Innovation Director, Industrial Innovation Deputy Director at ONERA – The French Aerospace Lab and Strategy & Development Director for the Competitiveness Cluster SAFE. His expertise is in Innovation Ecosystem, Technology Transfer, IP strategy and negotiation, International Business Development and is focusing on complementary knowledge, cross supporting offers, mutual intellectual property valuation, joint spin-off, risk sharing co-development. Previously, he was Senior Science and Technology Expert and coordinated the Multifunctional Materials program at ONERA. (40+ Scientific Papers, 12 Patents, 20+ Technical reports, DARPA Technical Project leader, h-index=13)

He got his Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from MIT Sloan School of Management, Boston 2007, his PhD at ISAE, Toulouse 1998, his Master in Aerospace Engineering at the Aeronautic Faculty in Bucharest 1993 and his Certificate “Sciences de l’Ingénieur”, within the International Program, at Ecole Polytechnique de Palaiseau 1993 (X90). Dr. Paun is teaching at Toulouse Business School, ISAE, Ecole de l’Air, ENAC and ESEO, published 5 books in innovation management, J’innove donc je suis, Innover ou Périr, Tous Entre-Preneurs, Sky is no longer a limit… and has been quoted in multiple international newspapers: Aerospace Testing Magazine, Les Echos, l’Usine Nouvelle, Air & Cosmos.

Dr. Paun has also an extensive business development experience out of the aerospace domain, especially in emerging East-European markets. He had created his own Engineering and Development Company (Celidea), his Innovation Strategy Company (Agilising Innovation) and his own startup on cross participative evaluation platform and Qualificative AI (XValuator.fr).

Laureen is the CEO of Extelcon Consulting and an Alumni of the IFC (World Bank), where she was formerly the Principal TMT Adviser, in the Global Telecoms, Media & Technology Investment Sector, providing technical and commercial oversight to the Investment Banking Community, Regulators, and TMT, Satellite and Technology industry sectors as Lender’s Technical Adviser for multi-million USD new and existing Digital Infrastructure & Technology companies.

As a member at the IFC (World Bank’s) TMT Private Equity/Venture Capital Team, she was responsible for the technical, commercial & financial evaluation of companies for investment, including business development, due diligence, and the portfolio oversight of companies from concept through to exit. Her focus verticals include Mobile (2G - 6G), MVNO’s, Towers, Broadband (Wired & Wireless), Backhaul (Satellite & Terrestrial Fiber), Subsea Fiber, Data Centers, IoT/AI, Quantum and Deep Tech.

Prior to joining the IFC, Laureen was with Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia), as Vice President 4G/LTE Strategy & Innovation. At ALU, she was focused on the development of revenue generating, IoT applications for 4G/LTE including Automotive, Gaming, Security, Logistics, eHealth and e-Commerce applications. She is a founding Director of Global Telecommunications Woman’s Network, connecting and mentoring C level women in the TMT industry and was an Investment Committee Member of Disrupt Cyprus, a 10m Euro, European Union Venture Capital Fund and a Mentor to the European Commission’s EIC Scaling Club, a 1B Euro series A-D Deep Tech PPP Fund. Additionally, she was an Investment Committee Member & Operating Partner at Triple Point, a FTSE 250 listed ESG TMT Fund. As an industry veteran with 25+ years of Digital Infrastructure experience, she has held Executive and BOD roles with the world’s leading operators including MTC-Vodafone (now Zain) in the Middle East, Deutsche Telekom (Germany), Cable & Wireless, PLC (UK), and NYNEX USA (now Verizon).

She is a founding Director of several joint venture European and Asian wireless companies; Debitel GmbH (Germany), Telestet (now Nova, Greece), and PT Satelindo (now Ooredoo) of Indonesia. Additionally, she was a Partner at KPMG Consulting in the UK and has been a Member of the Board of Directors at several international telcos; Paktel (Pakistan), Mobikom (Bulgaria), and MTN (South Africa). Her background includes private equity, venture capital, business development, strategic planning, financial/operational execution, regulatory, engineering and re-engineering of Telecoms, Satellite & Deep Tech companies. She holds an MSc in Telecommunications Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Long Island University in New York.

With over 30 years of experience in fintech, AIF management, entrepreneurship, angel investing, and mentoring, Andrey leads AAlchemy Ventures Limited, a business angel network - member of EBAN, running its own AngelPath business angels' school and Growth Lab soft-landing scaleup program, and Founder Institute Cyprus helping startups launch and scale in Europe and North America. His business and academic careers began simultaneously in 1992, balancing university studies with entrepreneurial ventures. After graduating as MSc in Accounting and Audit in 1996, He pursued Ph.D. in Taxation and Fiscal Policies and defended his thesis in 2001, which was subsequently recognized by Universitat Ramon Llull in 2021. In parallel, he co-founded a "neobank" in 1998. This journey spanned two attempts and 15 years, culminating in the successful exit in 2013. In 2014, Andrey joined Global Executive MBA (GEMBA 7) program, facilitated by Georgetown University and ESADE Business School, where he was introduced to angel investing – a moment that sparked a lasting passion. In 2015 he established a separate compartment for venture investments within Taurus Aurum Global Property Fund which he managed as GP and CIO since 2007 until its expiration in 2020. Since then, he has been investing in startups through Taurus Aurum Limited, his SIV, directly and in syndicates. 

In November of 2021, I enrolled in the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at Grenoble School of Management and successfully defended his thesis on the impact of mentoring startup founders on their ventures' progress in April of 2025. Passionate about fostering innovation, collaboration, and social impact, he actively mentor startups, serves on select startup executive and advisory boards. As IMA-endorsed consultant and speaker and EMCC-credentialed mentor and coach, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) certified professional, and holder of multiple diplomas and certifications in appraising, service design, negotiations, and related fields. He proudly served as an expert for the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission (2017-2022), and in the Endowment Board of Big Change, a charitable foundation supporting underprivileged youth (2008-2025). He has also been teaching entrepreneurship at bachelor and master levels at Harbour.Space (2020-2022), Grenoble School of Management (2025), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (2026), and ESADE Business School (2026).”

Grigoris Chatzikostas is an expert in financing innovation in agtech, foodtech and climatech. He is managing multi-national and cross-sectoral consortia, developing proposals for EU funding and coordinating large-scale projects that promote tech-enabled entrepreneurship in the agrifood sector. In the past 20 years he has managed projects exceeding the total value of €130m. He has delivered programs supporting more than 150 startups and SMEs with pre-seed funding and business support services. Currently he is partner at Loggerhead Ventures, an early-stage VC fund that invests in climatech startups. He also offers mentoring and strategic consulting to a small number of carefully selected companies that are aligned with his interests.

Marko Seppä has worked with hundreds of founder teams in over 20 countries and knows the pain points you must resolve to succeed: lack of time, awareness, alignment, focus, and the right resources. Marko is builder of HippoEnabler.com, a scaleup diagnostics service to help founders of High-Impact-Potential startups build sustainably growing enterprises. He started career by building the VC arm of a private equity group from scratch through cross-border growth, management-buy-out, global fund raising, market expansion, and exit mode. He then defended PhD on VC strategy logic, built an e-business research centre and a globally shared venture lab, and innovated award-winning company building methods and concepts as university professor.

Anya Eldan serves as a partner is EdgeMed VC, Independent Board Member and Senior Advisor building innovation eco-systems. Former VP at the Israel Innovation Authority, managing the Startup Division funding over 400 startups annually in partnership with the leading Multinationals and VCs. Anya was a Managing Partner of VC funds and CEO of several startups.

His research explores the transformation of energy systems through infrastructure planning and market design, with particular emphasis on flexibility options, sector integration, and decentralization. Methodologically, his work combines open-source energy system modeling with financial and economic analysis to support the development of resilient, efficient, and low-carbon energy systems. He has participated in and led several research projects on the national, Nordic, and European level.

A former Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, he holds a PhD in Economics from Technische Universität Berlin, where he also completed his habilitation in Energy Economics and Modeling. Prior to joining CBS, he served as Research Associate at TU Berlin’s Workgroup for Infrastructure Policy (WIP), where he continues to be affiliated as a Guest Researcher. He studied Industrial Engineering and Management with a focus on energy and transportation infrastructure at TU Berlin and the University of California, Berkeley.

Barak Ben-Avinoam is an expert in the field of early-stage investments, climate technology startups, accelerators and incubators. Barak is the General Manager of CGV, ClimaTech Global Ventures, a cross-border fund that invest in companies that are in the intersection of AI and Climatech. Prior to CGV, Barak was the CEO of NetZero Technology Ventures, the leading technology incubator in Israel dedicated to EnergyTech companies, backed by energy giants TotalEnergies and Delek US, and investment firms BGV and OSEG, and endorsed by the Israel Innovation Authority. Barak is also the Managing Partner, Israel, for BGV, an early-stage venture capital firm with deep Silicon Valley roots.  Barak was a Member of the Israel Innovation Authority Investment Committee, and a member of the EU Horizon 2020 Innovation Council. Barak also serves as a Jury Member at the European Innovation Council, which provides funding and support for breakthrough innovation projects in the EU. Barak curated the academic content of the GreenSyn Accelerator. Specialties: New venture creation, fund raising, accelerators, incubators, Climate Technologies.

Dr. Nikolas P. Mastroyiannopoulos is Founding Managing Partner of W11 Ventures, a boutique growth and innovation advisory, venture friend and value adding connector of corporates with the innovation ecosystem, geared to genuine value creation and growth. He is an Investment Jury Member at the European Innovation Council (EIC Fund €10bn) and advisor to international deeptech VC funds. He is on the Board of Advisors of the CIM Business School in Nicosia, Cyprus. He has previously served as the Cyprus Chief Scientist of Research and Innovation, appointed by H.E. the President of the Republic of Cyprus. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation, the national Research and Innovation fund of Cyprus, and a Board member of the JRC Board of Governors, the Cyprus National Board for Research and Innovation, a member of the Steering Investment Committee of the Cyprus Equity Fund in collaboration with the European Equity Fund (EIF), Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Research, Innovation and Technology, the national representative to SESAME and the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP), among others. Dr. Mastroyiannopoulos was a leading researcher, and academic. He has extensive translational and innovative research experience, focusing on developing Therapeutic approaches for Neuromuscular and Heart disorders with the aim to commercialize. He established national and international collaborations with various academic and research institutions around the world and has a solid publication record with several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters with considerable citations. He has attracted numerous grants and seed funding as principal investigator or collaborator from National and international funding bodies as well as private initiatives. He holds a doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology and a B.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences.

Stavriana is a Founding Partner of W11 Ventures, a unique boutique growth and innovation advisory and venture friend. She is an Investment Advisor to deeptech VC and FO funds, a member of the Investment Jury Committee of the European Innovation Council (EIC Fund €10bn) for European deeptech startups since its beginning, an EIC Ambassador and a NED Board Mentor to EIC Scaling Club New Biotech Platform startups. Stavriana has been active in the European startup ecosystem, as Cofounder and Chair of Startup Cyprus, a member of EU’s Innovation Ecosystem Leaders Group, member of the European Digital Leaders Network of WEF, and a member of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Biosense Institute in Serbia. She is a Cofounder of the European Startup Network and has served as Vice Chair and a member of the Transatlantic Council of Allied for Startups, Brussels-based startup advocacy organizations. She is the former Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Research Innovation Foundation, the national Research and Innovation fund of Cyprus. She is experienced in startup support in C-Executive and Board roles and deeptech investments with positions in deeptech startups. She holds degrees in Business Administration and Political Science (ULV) and Certificates in Entrepreneurship Development (MIT-Fulbright Scholar), Corporate Finance (Columbiax), and Venture Capital (EVCA).