Innostart | Innostart

ABOUT THE EVENT

INNOSTART Forum is organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria and Israel – American Chamber of Commerce and with the support of the Embassy of the United States and the Embassy of Israel in Sofia.

The one-day forum gathered high-level government officials and international businesses from Israel, USA and the region to explore best practices for building of a sustainable start-up ecosystem and innovation community. Venture and corporate representatives, investors, entrepreneurs, select startups, universities and governments shared thought-leadership to thrive on the global stage.

Key-topics in the agenda

How to Become an Innovation and Start-up Nation: The Israeli and U.S. Models
The Organic Entrepreneur Economy – Building a Sustainable Culture of Innovation
Interviews with Inspiring Leaders and Entrepreneurs
The EU view to address its innovation competitiveness and limited scale in digitization and AI
Founder Stories – From Idea to a Million-Euro Startup
Investors & Venture Capitals Value Chain
Trends at Global Startup Ecosystems and the Urgency for Governments and Cities to Invest Now.

ORGANIZERS

Organizers

With the support of

With the special support of the Embassy of the Republic

of Bulgaria in the State of Israel

Main Partner

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AGENDA

Get inspired from the fastest-growing tech ecosystems in the world!

08:30 – 09:00 a.m. Registration

09:00 – 09:40 a.m. OPENING SESSION

Olivier Marquette, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria
Maryia Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, EU Commission (video-address)
H.E. Irit Lillian, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Bulgaria
Justin Friedman, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy in Sofia
Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister, Republic of Bulgaria

09:40 – 10:30 a.m. KEY-NOTE SPEAKERS

Yaniv Garty, Chairman, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce and Vice President, Intel
Chemi J. Peres, Managing General Partner, Co-Founder, Pitango Venture Capital
Lyubomir Minchev, Founder & CEO, Telelink Holding

Moderator:

Daniel Lorer, Managing Partner, BrightCap Ventures

10:30 – 11:00 a.m. BUILDING THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE: POLICY, INCENTIVES, ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Speakers:

Rossen Jeliazkov, Minister of Transport and Communications, Republic of Bulgaria
Nenad Popovic, Minister of Innovation and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia
Damjan Manchevski, Minister of Information Society and Administration, North Macedonia

Moderator:

Poli Zlatareva, Journalist, Anchor, Bulgarian National Television

11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:30 p.m. HOW TO BECOME AN INNOVATION AND START-UP NATION

Speakers:

Emil Karanikolov, Minister of Economy, Republic of Bulgaria
Iliyana Tsanova, Deputy Managing Director, European Investment Bank
Nili Shalev, Managing Director, ISERD, Israel EU R&I Directorate, Israel Innovation Authority
Bjorn-Soren Gigler, Senior Digital Policy Officer, European Commission
Pastora Valero, Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs for EMEAR, Cisco Systems
Gary D. Schneider, Regional Head of North America Public Sector, Capital Markets and Advisory, Citi
Igor Pravica, Country Sales Leader, IBM Bulgaria

Moderator:

Bojidar Neytchev, Senior Partner, PwC

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Networking Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. THE ORGANIC ENTREPRENEUR ECONOMY – BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE CULTURE OF INNOVATION

Speakers:

Julie Ziskind, Project Lead, Digital Europe, World Economic Forum
Ornit Shinar, Head of Ventures Investments, Citi Israel
Adam Lazovski, Co-Founder, Quedma Innovation, The Center for Israeli Innovation by Taglit
Gal Avidan, Cloud Business Manager, Google Cloud
Giacomo Volpi, Head of Retail Banking, UniCredit Bulbank
Nir Netzer, Founding Partner at Equitech, Co-founder of FinTech-Aviv – the Israeli FinTech Association

Moderator:

Philip Genov, Founder and Managing Partner, Sophia Lab

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. SOCIETY-DRIVEN INNOVATION & EDUCATION

Speakers:

Krassimir Valchev, Minister of Education of Republic of Bulgaria
Veneta Andonova, Associate Professor of Business Strategy, Universidad de los Andes
Mark Johnson, WU Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Professor of Materials Science, Clemson University, USA
Maya Kotler, Head of Marketing, RAMOT, Tel Aviv University
Jodi-Tatiana Charles, Marketing Strategist and Author, LCG Brands Consulting / MassChallenge
Plamen Toshev, Managing Director, Acronis Bulgaria

Moderator:

Natalia Miteva, Program Director, America for Bulgaria Foundation

3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Coffee break

4:00 – 4:30 p.m. MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS

Yaniv Garty, Chairman, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce and Vice President, Intel
Chemi J. Peres, Managing General Partner, Co-Founder, Pitango Venture Capital

4:30 – 5:30 p.m. INVESTING IN INNOVATION

Speakers:

Iliyana Tsanova, Deputy Managing Director, European Investment Bank
Bjorn-Soren Gigler, Senior Digital Policy Officer, European Commission
Gabby Czertok, General Manager, The Builders
Jodi-Tatiana Charles, Marketing Strategist and Author, LCG Brands Consulting / MassChallenge
Ivaylo Slavov, Founder and CEO, BULPROS
Evgeny Angelov, Partner, PostScriptum Ventures and Chairman, Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association

Moderator:

Alex Behar, Managing Partner, Mereo Technology Group

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. STARTUP PITCH SESSION

Moderator:

Natanail Stefanov, Chairman at BESCO and Vice Chairman at Sofia Tech Park

THE SPEAKERS

Olivier Marquette

President, American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria

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Justin Friedman

Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Sofia

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H.E. Irit Lillian

Ambassador of Israel to Republic of Bulgaria

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Yaniv Garty

Chairman, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce and Vice President at Intel

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Mariya Gabriel

European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (video-address)

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Chemi J. Peres

Managing General Partner, Founder, Pitango Venture Capital

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Poli Zlatareva

Journalist, Anchor, Bulgarian National Television

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Tomislav Donchev

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria

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Rossen Zhelyazkov

Minister of Transport and Communications of Republic of Bulgaria

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Damjan Manchevski

Minister of Information Society and Administration, North Macedonia

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Iliyana Tsanova

Deputy Managing Director, European Investment Bank

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Nenad Popovic

Minister of Innovation and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia

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Nili Shalev

Managing Director, ISERD, Israel EU R&I Directorate, Israel Innovation Authority

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Jodi-Tatiana Charles

Marketing Strategist and Author, LCG Brands Consulting

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Maya Kotler

Head of Marketing, RAMOT at Tel Aviv University

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Emil Karanikolov

Minister of Economy, Republic of Bulgaria

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Lubomir Minchev

Founder & CEO Telelink Holdings
Founding BoD member of Endeavor Bulgaria

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Julie Ziskind

Project Lead, Digital Europe, World Economic Forum

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Daniel Lorer

Managing Partner at BrightCap Ventures

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Pastora Valero

Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs for EMEAR at Cisco Systems

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Adam Lazovski

Co-Founder, Quedma Innovation, The Center for Israeli Innovation by Taglit

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Ornit Shinar

Head of Ventures Investments at Citi Israel

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Mark Johnson

WU Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Professor of Materials Science, Clemson University, USA

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Evgeny Angelov

Partner at PostScriptum Ventures and Chairman, Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association

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Gal Avidan

Cloud Business Manager, Google Cloud

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Gary D. Schneider

Regional Head of North America Public Sector, Capital Markets and Advisory, Citi

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Nir Netzer

Founding Partner at Equitech; Co-founder of FinTech-Aviv – the Israeli FinTech Association

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Krassimir Valchev

Minister of Education of Republic of Bulgaria

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Alex Behar

Managing Partner, Mereo Technology Group

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Bjorn-Soren Gigler

Senior Digital Policy Officer at European Commission

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Igor Pravica

Country Sales Leader, IBM Bulgaria

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Natalia Miteva

Program Director, America for Bulgaria Foundation

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Giacomo Volpi

Head of Retail Banking, UniCredit Bulbank

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Gabby Czertok

General Manager, The Builders

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Filip Genov

Founder and Managing Partner, Sophia Lab

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Natanail Stefanov

Chairman at BESCO and Vice Chairman at Sofia Tech Park

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Veneta Andonova

Associate Professor of Business at AUBG and Universidad de los Andes

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Bojidar Neytchev

South East Europe Managing Partner, PwC

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Plamen Toshev

Managing Director, Acronis Bulgaria

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THE VENUE

SOFIA EVENT CENTER

1407 Sofia, Bulgaria

Address: Cherni Vrah Blvd 100,

Paradise Center, Floor 3

OUR SPONSORS

Logistic partners of the event

ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

Photos from the event

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Contact us!

American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria
Business Park Sofia, Bldg. 2, Fl. 6
1766 Sofia
https://amcham.bg
[email protected]

Olivier Marquette

President, American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria

Olivier Marquette was elected as a president of the American Chamber of Commerce in December 2018.

As of June 2017, Olivier Marquette assumed the position of Head of Business Development Eurasia & AES Bulgaria President.

Prior to joining AES Bulgaria in 2015, he was a VP Business Development in AES Dominican Republic. His career in the energy sector began in 1995 with the French company “Electricité de France“(EDF) where he worked for 9 years prior to joining the AES Corporation.

Preceding his relocation to Bulgaria, Olivier Marquette has been a Manager Business Development for AES in the United States, Director Business Development for AES Singapore and VP Business Development for AES Brazil and Dominican Republic.

Mr. Marquette has graduated from “Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris”- Paris, France. He has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University- USA, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Justin Friedman

Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Sofia

Mr. Friedman assumed his duties as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria in August, 2018. Previously, he was Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (2014-17). Other overseas assignments include DCM at the U.S. Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (2006-8), and positions in Croatia (2003-6), Canada (1997-9) and Ukraine (1995-7).

In Washington, Mr. Friedman served as the Director of the State Department’s Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts (2011-13) and as Director of the Office of Export Control Cooperation (2009-11). His other Washington assignments were as Special Assistant for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy (2001-2) and on the Russia Desk (1999-2001).

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Friedman was Vice President of International Technology Consultants, a Washington, DC-based telecommunications market consulting firm (1990-5). Mr. Friedman received an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College in 2009. He also holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley (1985) and an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University (1989). He speaks Bulgarian, Turkish, Russian, Croatian and French.

H.E. Irit Lillian

Ambassador of Israel to Republic of Bulgaria

Since August 2015, H.E. Mrs. Irit Lillian is Ambassador of Israel in Bulgaria. She is a career diplomat and before being part of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986, she works as a journalist for three years.

Before arriving to Bulgaria as head of the diplomatic mission, Irit Lilian was Director of South Europe Department and Arts & Literature Department at the Israeli Foreign Ministry. She also held diplomatic posts in France and Singapore.

Ambassador Irit Lillian holds B.A. degree in Archeology and Ancient Cultures from Tel Aviv University and M.A. degree (with special honor) in Egyptology & Classical Studies from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Yaniv Garty

Chairman, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce and Vice President at Intel

Yaniv Garty is general manager of Intel Israel and Chairman of Israel-America Chamber of Commerce and Vice President at Inte. Garty oversees Intel Israel site activities and operations across the development centers and Fab, as well as a worldwide organization responsible for delivering wireless connectivity technologies and products. These products include Wi-Fi, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and location, Bluetooth, FM and wireless gigabit (WiGig), in addition to IoT flavors of modem and connectivity technologies.

Garty joined Intel in 2004 with the acquisition of Envara Inc. and initially served as chief operating officer of Intel's Broadband Wireless Division. Subsequently, he managed strategic planning for Wireless Networking Technologies and managed Connectivity Core Solutions, both within the Mobile Wireless Group. Before assuming his CDG position, he held the same role within the Mobile and Communications Group as part of the Wireless Platform Research and Development organization.

Prior to Intel's acquisition of Envara, Garty ran the company's North American operation and served as head of Marketing, vice president and general manager. Earlier in his career, he was chief operating officer at Serconet and vice president of Marketing and Business Development at Optibase Inc.

Garty earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University in Israel and went on to obtain his MBA degree from the university's Recanati Business School.

Mariya Gabriel

European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society

Mariya Gabriel is the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society since July 2017. Within her overarching portfolio, she has as an overall objective the realisation of the Digital Single Market which should directly benefit the European citizens. She served as Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to July 2017. Being the EPP Group Vice-President, she tackled issues related to EU enlargement, Mediterranean region, Middle East and North Africa. She chaired the EUROMED Working Group and focused on various priorities, e.g. migration, security, fight against terrorism and radicalisation, EU external policy, Western Balkans, women`s rights. The EPP Strategic position on the Mediterranean for the legislature 2014 – 2019 was drawn up under her leadership. Her second term as MEP coincided with major challenges for the EU in issues of utmost importance like migration and security where she actively contributed with her work. Mariya Gabriel also has considerable achievements in the area of the EU visa policy – she is the EP rapporteur on 1/3 of all EU visa liberalisation agreements. She was awarded twice the prestigious prize “MEP of the year” – in 2016 for the Development category, and in 2013 for the Gender equality category. During her academic career, she worked in the area of International Relations, History of the European Institutions, Political Sociology and Comparative Politics.

Chemi J. Peres

Managing General Partner, Founder, Pitango Venture Capital

Chemi Peres is one of Israel’s foremost venture capital and innovation pioneers, serving as Managing General Partner and Co-Founder of Pitango Venture Capital, Israel’s leading Venture Capital Group, with a portfolio of some 230 global hi-tech companies. Mr. Peres, with a wealth of experience, is an integral part of the thriving Israeli innovation scene and key player on the global entrepreneurial stage. Mr. Peres serves on the board of directors of numerous companies such as Taboola and Via Transportation, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries – global leader in generic pharmaceuticals.
Chemi has dedicated himself to continuing the legacy of his late father, Ninth President of Israel, Shimon Peres, by fulfilling his vision through leading the implementation of his numerous initiatives and activities in the field of Peace and Innovation.
Chemi serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Peres Center for Peace & Innovation, Israel’s leading non-profit organization, established in 1996 by Shimon Peres. Chemi is leading the Peres Center’s flagship initiative, the Israeli Innovation Center, which will tell the remarkable story of Israel as the Innovation Nation. The Peres Center is a pioneer in developing and implementing innovative and cutting-edge peacebuilding programs in the fields of Innovation, Peace Education, Medicine, Business, and Environment, bringing together tens of thousands of Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians in meaningful cooperation over the last 21 years.
Mr. Peres also serves as Chairman of Peres & Associates Global Advisory, which he established together with his late father. Peres & Associates was founded with the objective of harnessing the vast professional network and wealth of experience at its disposal to advance the goals of a diverse host of clients, both private and governmental. Furthermore, Chemi is co-founder and board member of SOSA – Connecting Global Innovators.
Mr. Peres is highly active in the field of impact investments in Israel. He is Chairman of the Al-Bawader Fund (Investing in the Israeli Arab Minority sector), Chair of the Advisory Board of Impact1st (early stage technology fund addressing social and environmental challenges) and serves on the board of Social Finance Israel (Social Impact Bonds). He is Founder and Chairman of Amelia Investments (Focused on the Middle East Region) and chairs the investment committee of TakwinLabs (An Israeli Arab technology Incubator).
Chemi founded and served as Chairman of Israel Venture Capital Association (aka IAI - Israel Advanced Technology Industries), and was Chairman of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce.
Chemi is married to Gila, they have three children and live in Ra’anana, Israel. Mr. Peres holds a BSc. degree in Industrial Engineering & Management and MBA degree from Tel Aviv University. He served as a pilot in the IAF (Israeli Air Force).

Poli Zlatareva

Journalist, Anchor, Bulgarian National Television

more info coming soon

Tomislav Donchev

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria

Donchev holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the Veliko Tarnovo Univesity St. Cyril and St. Methodius with a second major in Journalism. In 2006 he received a second Master's degree in Business Administration from the same university. In 1998 Tomislav Donchev completed a training course in Political Science at the International Summer School of Political Science and International Relations in Poland. In 2001 he completed a training course in Support of High-Tech Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Research and Development Start-Ups at the Institute in Negev, Israel. In 2005 Donchev completed a course in Business Mentoring at the Academy of Business Mentoring in Oxford, UK.

From 1995 to 2000 Donchev worked as a volunteer, member of the management and staff of various NGOs in the field of Education and Science and was also contributor to a sociological research agency.

From 1997 to 1999 he worked as a teacher at St. Cyril and St. Methodius High School of Humanities in the town of Veliko Tarnovo, where he taught psychology, logic, ethics, and philosophy.

From 1999 to 2000 Donchev worked as editor at Radio Gabrovo.

From 2000 to 2004 he was Executive Director of the High-Technology Business Incubator -Gabrovo, and from 2004 to 2007 - a program director at the Open Society Institute.

In 2007 he was elected mayor of Gabrovo. The main priority in his work as mayor was to attract external funding and develop quality project proposals, through which Gabrovo Municipality became one of the most successful beneficiaries in Bulgaria in terms of management of EU-funded projects in all areas of social and economic life. 21 proposals were prepared in only 2 years. Of those, 19 received funding.

In March 2010 Donchev became Minister for Management of EU Funds in the government of Boyko Borissov.

From May 2013 to May 2014 Donchev served as MP from GERB in the 42nd National Assembly.

From May to November 2014 he was Member of the European Parliament from the EPP Group. He was elected Deputy Prime Minister for European Funds and Economic Policies on November 7, 2014, by the 43rd National Assembly.

From November 2014 to January 2016 he was a Deputy Prime Minister of EU funds in the second government of Boyko Borissov.

Rossen Zhelyazkov

Minister of Transport and Communications of Republic of Bulgaria

Rossen Jeliazkov was born on 5 April 1968. He has been awarded a Master’s Degree in Law from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

In the period 1994-1995 he was consecutively a Counselor, a Senior Counselor and later a Secretary and a Deputy Mayor at the Sredetz district of the Sofia Municipality. Since 1995 he has been an attorney in Civil and Commercial Law, Member of Sofia Bar Association. He was a Deputy Mayor for “Law enforcement and Control” of the Lozenetz district of the Sofia Municipality (1998-1999).

From 2003 until July 2009 he was a Secretary of the Sofia Municipality.

In the period 2011-2013 he was a Chairman of the Management Board of the Institute of Public Administration and a representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

From 2009 to 2013 he was a Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, and in the period 2014-2016 he was an Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Administration and e-Government issues.

He managed and participated in the preparation of a number of conceptual and strategic documents and programmes in the field of e-government, local government and local administration, as well as public-private partnerships. He was a representative of Bulgaria to the annual meetings of the Open Government Partnership Initiative (2011, 2015). He coordinated the Bulgarian contribution to the initiatives related to the European policies on implementation of the European Programme for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security.

He participated in the strategic planning and policy making in the field of public administration and e-government. As of 30 September 2016 by Decision of the Council of Ministers he was appointed Chairman of the State e-Government Agency.

By Decision of the Council of Ministers of 20 December 2017 he was appointed Chairman of the Communications Regulation Commission. The Decision entered into force as of 15 January 2018.

Elected Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications on September 20, 2018 by the 44-thNational Assembly.

Damjan Manchevski

Minister of Information Society and Administration, North Macedonia

Damjan Mancevski has more than ten years of working experience in the field of ICT, as manager and CEO of several companies. Between 2005 and 2006 he worked as radio frequency engineer in the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEC).

He was elected Member of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia in the December Parliamentary Elections.

His vision as Minister of Information Society and Administration is to work together with ICT companies to create innovative solutions for strengthening the efficiency of policies and introducing new technological processes to boost productivity, raising Macedonia as an example for the countries in the region in terms of Digital Transformation. Together with his team, Mancevski will work on creating an accountable and transparent public administration that works in service of the citizens, by re-establishing the merit system and strengthening programs for the professional training of officials. Public Administration Reform (PAR) will be implemented in an open, consultative process with civil society, trade unions, chambers, and other relevant stakeholders.

Damjan Mancevski holds a degree from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the "St. Cyril and Methodius" University in Skopje, at the study program" Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications". In 2009, he was a Chevening scholar at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, gaining a postgraduate degree. In 2003, he participated in the US Department of State program "Young European Leaders and Policies on Current Political, Economic and Social Issues", while in the period 2003-2004 he participated in the "School for Future Politicians" organized by the Friedrich Ebert and Alfred Moser Foundations.

Mancevski is fluent in English and Serbian/Croatian.

Iliyana Tsanova

Deputy Managing Director, European Investment Bank

Ms. Iliyana Tsanova is Deputy Managing Director of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) – a EUR 33 billion guarantee facility, launched jointly by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group to stimulate investments in the European Union. Prior to joining EFSI, Ms. Tsanova had over 12 years of development banking experience with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, London, UK. Ms. Tsanova held a number of non-executive board positions with infrastructure funds and utility companies.
In 2013 and 2014, Ms. Tsanova was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in two caretaker governments of Bulgaria.
In 2015 Ms. Tsanova was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Switzerland.
Ms. Tsanova’s academic background is in Corporate and Business Finance. She holds a MSc. in Finance from University for National and World Economy – Sofia, Bulgaria, and a postgraduate studies in Financial Management as visiting scholar at Georgetown University – Washington DC, USA.

Nenad Popovic

Minister of Innovation and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia

Dr. Nenad Popovic currently serves as the Serbian Minister of Innovation and Technological Development. He is a successful entrepreneur, businessman, economist, and author who retired from all of his business enterprises in order to enter public service full time in his native Serbia. He is applying his very unique background and business experience to benefit the Serbian entrepreneurial ecosystems, and move Serbia towards a more promising and innovative technological future. He hopes to turn Serbia into a regional and global tech leader through his initiatives to cut bureaucracy, increase and expand budgets for Serbian entrepreneurs, and create investment incentives and opportunities. He is a fierce advocate for Serbian technology and innovation, and tirelessly promotes it to foreign Governments, investors, and global tech companies.

ABS Electro, the company Dr. Popovic founded 25 years ago started as a trading and production company producing aluminum electro-technical equipment and automation systems for factories. Over the years it grew to 3,000 employees with 6 factories in Russia and annual revenues of more than 200 million EUROS. They are a leading supplier of secondary electro-technical equipment to power stations, hydro-electric, and hydro-nuclear facilities in Russia and the surrounding areas.

Dr. Popovic is the author of eight books on a variety of topics including Economy and Management, Economic Relations between Serbia and Russia, Kosovo and Metohija, and Political and Economic Neutrality for Serbia. He received his BA in Mechanical Engineering in 1991 from the University of Belgrade, and an MA and PhD in Economics from Moscow State Mining University in 2001. He was a Professor at that University as well.

In 2002 Dr. Popovic founded ABS Slavyanskiy, a charitable foundation that supports various projects benefiting children, culture, science, education and sports. He is the Chairman of the Serbian Olympic Gymnastic Association and previously served as President of Partisan Belgrade FC.

A Serbian Orthodox, Dr. Popovic is very active in the Church and has received several prestigious awards recognizing his dedicated involvement and contributions. He also received the Medal of Humanity of the State Union Serbia and Montenegro for his exceptional work in aiding the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija.

Nili Shalev

Managing Director and National Coordinator, Israel Innovation Authority

As a Managing Director, ISERD, Israel Innovation Authority, Nili has more than 20 years of experience representing the Ministry of Industry and Trade in a wide range of executive positions. From 2011 a Israel’s Economic Minister to North America she is responsible for promoting trade and investment between North America and Israel. Ms. Shalev served as the Director of the International Projects and Financing Department at the Foreign Trade Administration in the Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor. She managed several multimillion dollar funds in order to promote and finance Israeli industries. In 2010 Ms. Shalev was the Executive Director of the Foreign Trade Administration elite cadet course for commercial attaché’s. From 2008-2010, Ms. Shalev was employed in the private sector as Marketing Director for Miya, an Arison Group company that offers comprehensive water efficiency solutions for municipalities. Ms. Shalev was responsible for the company’s marketing strategy and managed its launch in the international market. From 2004 – 2008, Ms Shalev served as the Israeli Trade Commissioner in Australia and New Zealand. In this position, Shalev was instrumental in initiating and concluding the first R&D agreement between the State of Victoria and Israel. During her tenure, several financial groups initiated activities in Israel, and cultivated business relationships in the areas of high technology, infrastructure and cleantech. Since first joining the Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor in 1995, Ms Shalev held several other senior positions. She was the Director of the Government SEED Fund at the Office of the Chief Scientist, a multimillion dollar support program aimed at providing incentives for prospective investors in Israeli high-tech start-up companies. She also served as the Advisor to the Director General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Prior to that, she was Deputy Director of the North American Division in the Ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration. Ms. Shalev holds an MBA (1996) , an MA in Communications (1996) and a BA in International Relations (Cum Laude, 1989-1992), from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is married with two children.

Jodi-Tatiana Charles

Marketing Strategist and Author, LCG Brands Consulting

JODI-TATIANA CHARLES is the owner and “Brandographer™” of LCG Brands, a unique brand and marketing consulting firm dedicated to educating entrepreneurs, small/medium businesses (SMBs), and international professionals on the importance of growing their personal and corporate brands.

She brings 25+ years of executive leadership in marketing, branding and communication successes with high profile organizations, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, MassChallenge, Massachusetts Governor’s Office, Massachusetts Conference for Women (MCW), NBC Universal/Comcast TV, and Clear Channel Communications/iHeart Radio.

When not working, Jodi - Tatiana dedicates her time to children, elderly and the fight against cancer through road races, mentoring and volunteering.

In 2017, Jodi-Tatiana added a third hat, as author of her first book, It’s Just A Rug, educating children about their heritage. 2019 brings her first marketing book and 2020 the second in her children’s book series.

Additionally, she has traveled to 14 countries (lifetime total 273 states in 32 countries) as a part of her MBA experience and a yearlong supplementary research project studying global business trends and best practices of B2B and B2C marketing.

She earned a BA from Suffolk University in communications in journalism with a minor in sociology and a dual MBA from Babson College –Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business in strategic marketing and global management. In May 2019 she added a Global Business certification from Harvard University Business School to her accolades.

Maya Kotler

Head of Marketing, RAMOT at Tel Aviv University

As of 2010 Maya has been serving as Head of Marketing of Ramot at Tel Aviv University. Ramot is the business engagement center of Tel Aviv University, cultivating the special relationships between the academy and the industry. Ramot offer a unique combination of advanced R&D capabilities, and incorporate many of the industry’s best and most experienced professionals.

With vast experience of more than 15 years in the fields of marketing, communications and public relations, Maya has gained deep knowledge and expertise in working closely with leading researchers and innovators of vary technological fields, as well as with senior executives, entrepreneurs and investors.

Maya also runs Ramot's fellowship program, providing dynamic hands-on educational experience to Tel Aviv University’s grad students and alumni.

Before joining Ramot, Maya led the marketing department at Outform, a point of purchase design and advertising agency, bringing eminence and brand awareness to help drive business results. At Leadcom Integrated Solutions, an international services provider for the telecommunications industry, Maya managed the Marcom department, rebranding and strengthening the company's position through mergers, acquisitions and a successful IPO.
Maya holds MBA degree in International Marketing from the University of Derby and her B.A degree in Behavioral Sciences. Maya also holds a Multi-Disciplinary Design diploma from the Tel Aviv College of Design.

Emil Karanikolov

Minister of Economy, Republic of Bulgaria

Master of Law from the University of National and World Economy with additional qualification in the field of Financial Management from UNWE. He has a good command of spoken and written English.

From 2004 to 2010 Karanikolov served as jurist at the "Legal and regulatory services" of Sofia Municipality.

For the period from 12.01.2010 to 27.05.2010 Karanikolov was Director for "Administrative Control, Regional Development and State Property" with the Regional Administration of Sofia.

From 2010 to 2017 Karanikolov served as Executive Director of the Agency for Privatization and Post-Privatization Control.

Karanikolov was elected Minister of Economy on 4 May 2017 by the 44th National Assembly.

Lyubomir Minchev

Founding BoD member of Endeavor Bulgaria and a multiple entrepreneur

Lyubimir Minchev is one of the founders and CEO of Telelink since inception in 2001. During his time with Telelink he has demonstrated exceptional business leadership skills and innovative approach towards the company operations and development.
Under his supervision the company became one of the leading CEE digital transformation engines, helping people and organizations to adopt technology and realize their full potential in the digital world. With an international network spanning across 10 countries and 17 years’ experience Telelink provides a wide range of innovative services and solutions for network infrastructure services, system integration, security and automation, smart cities and education. The company international team numbers 600 highly qualified professionals and over 2000 people working on project basis representing the region’s largest pool of certified experts, trained to work within and across vendors and technologies.
Mr. Minchev is a high-level professional with wide experience in the ICT industry in Central and Eastern Europe and emerging markets with more than 20 years of visionary leadership, business development expertise and distinguished performance. Prior to his role in Telelink Mr. Minchev was country manager of Global Securities Bulgaria from 1999 till 2000. Between
1998 and 1999 he was Senior Analyst at Global Securities Bulgaria and Investments Manager at Global Finance in Sofia from 1997 till 1998.
Lyubomir Minchev is a Master and a Bachelor in Business Administration from the Suffolk University Boston, Massachusetts, 1996 – 1997, after completing three years at the American University in Bulgaria, 1992-1995.
December 2010 he graduated an Executive MBA programme at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
Mr. Minchev actively participates in the business community of the country and is a board member of the American Chamber of Commerce since December, 2017. Chairman of the Board Endeavor Bulgaria.

Julie Ziskind

Project Lead, Digital Europe, World Economic Forum

Julie is a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum where she currently leads the Digital Europe project. Previously at the Forum, she has led projects in the Future of Production, the Future of Urban Development and managed two Global Future Councils, first on Cities and currently on Entrepreneurship. Julie joined the Forum from Telefonica where she focused on strategy for digital projects, including smart city initiatives. Prior to Telefonica, Julie held various positions in project management, strategy, and financial operations with KPMG Consulting, IESE Business School, and the Obama for America 2008 Presidential Campaign. Julie began her career as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers. She holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School and a BA from Northwestern University with a double major in economics and psychology.

Maydell´s priorities focus on enhancing skills-creation and the use of innovation and technologies, supporting entrepreneurs and investments in Europe. In the European Parliament, she is a member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and the key Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Eva Maydell is currently working on several legislative files, part of the Digital Single Market Strategy – the e-Privacy Regulation, the Directive for the supply of digital content, the Regulation on portability, Digitising European industry and the European cloud initiatives. She was also rapporteur for the EPP Group on the implementation of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the New Skills Agenda and the Influence of technology on the future of the financial sector (FinTech).

Amongst others, Eva´s work has been recognised by the Financial Times, which included her in the “New Europe 100”, the ranking of CEE´s brightest and best people that are changing the status quo through their ideas and innovative solutions. She is also part of the European Forbes 30 under 30 list, featuring the change agents in 20 different sectors. Politico defined her as one of “the most eye-catching 28 people from 28 countries who are shaping, shaking and stirring Europe”. She was awarded the MEP of the Year Award twice.

Daniel Lorer

Managing Partner at BrightCap Ventures

Daniel has been a tech entrepreneur for nearly two decades with international experience in technology start-ups and large multi-nationals.

Previously, Daniel was a founding partner at OPTiiM, a new EMEA system integrator, which he started with his partners in 2009 and exited in 2016. Earlier, he was responsible for EMEA pre-sales of several products at HP Software. Prior to HP, Daniel was part of EMEA customer R&D and presales at Mercury Interactive, the #1 testing software company at the time, acquired by Hewlett-Packard for €4.5bn. In 1999, he created his first e-commerce start-up, FranceBusinessPlus in Paris, as co-founder and lead developer and exited to a private angel in 28 months.

Daniel holds a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration.

Pastora Valero

Public Policy and Government Affairs for EMEAR at Cisco Systems

Pastora Valero is Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia (EMEAR) for Cisco Systems Inc. She leads government affairs’ activities in the EMEAR region and is responsible for developing and advancing Cisco’s technology and communications policy agenda.
Pastora Valero joined Cisco in 2003, and prior to her regional role, she led Cisco’s European Union Government Affairs strategy between 2003 and 2013. She has over two decades of experience in regulatory and public policy issues in the telecommunications and internet related areas, as well as on EU public policy with respect to competition, trade and information technology regulation.
Prior to Cisco, Pastora Valero was Vice-President Regulatory Affairs for Global TeleSystems (GTS), a pan-European fibre optic network operator. She started her career with the Brussels law firm Van Bael & Bellis, and dealt in particular with EU trade and competition law issues.
Pastora Valero holds leadership positions within several industry organisations including as Vice Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. She is a qualified lawyer in Spain, holds a Masters degree in European law (ULB, Brussels) and an L.L.M in International law (VUB, Brussels).

Adam Lazovski

Co-Founder, Quedma Innovation, The Center for Israeli Innovation by Taglit

Adam Lazovski is the Co-Founder of Quedma Innovation, which builds and operates Acceleration& Innovation programs with Israel's leading Municipalities, Academic Institutions, NGOs and Corporations.

Prior to founding Quedma, Adam was the Founder and Manager of the Excel Ventures Program, a pre-acceleration program bringing together top students from North America together with Israelis from elite IDF technology units to form start-ups together. Previously he was a Strategy and Business Development Consultant at Robus Legal Marketing, Israel’s leading legal consulting firm, where he also founded “Tech&Law” - Israel's Legal Tech Community. Adam holds a LL.B in Law and a B.A in Psychology from the IDC Herzliya and is a graduate of the prestigious Zvi Meitar Emerging Technologies Program and The Rabin Leadership Fellowship.

Ornit Shinar

Head of Ventures Investments at Citi Israel

Ornit joined Citi Ventures in March 2017 to lead its venture investment activities in Israel. Her focus of interest includes data analytics & Machine Learning, cybersecurity and FinTech. As part of her role, she also manages the Tel Aviv Accelerator.

Prior to this role, Ornit ran External Innovation and Business Development for Lenovo in Europe and Israel. In this capacity, she invested in Cloud technologies as well as Artificial Intelligence and biometric authentication. Prior to Lenovo, Ornit worked at Citi, where she founded and ran the first Accelerator out of Citi’s Tel Aviv Lab and co-founded Citi’s women’s network in Israel. Prior to Citi, she founded and served in managerial roles in several companies.

Ornit founded Yazamiyot, Israel's leading women's entrepreneur network, and she was selected by Haaretz (one of Israel's leading newspapers) as one of 66 Women You Should Know. Ornit, who clerked for the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, holds a joint honors degree in English Law and French Law from the London School of Economics and an LLM cum laude from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Mark Johnson

Fulbright-Hall Distinguished Visit Professor, WU Inst. for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Thomas L. Hash Endowed Chair for Sustainable Development

Prof. Johnson work is the exploration of technology innovation at the frontier between scientific discovery in the research environment and economic impact in the commercial environment, particularly for emerging technologies for sustainable energy and advanced manufacturing. He has done this work from the perspective of an academic researcher, an educator, an entrepreneur and a government official. At Clemson University as the Director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Thomas L. Hash Chair for Sustainable Development, Professor Johnson research is related to the sustainable use of energy in manufacturing and the advancement of manufacturing as the foundation of economic growth. Prior to Clemson, he was on the faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. At NC State, he was also the Director of Technology for the Technology, Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) Program, a joint graduate program between Colleges of Engineering and Management. He was founding Director of Industry and Innovation Programs for the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. He was a DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) recipient for his research on nitride semiconductor materials and devices.

From 2010-2013, Mark was a Program Director during the launch of Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) in US Department of Energy. His portfolio a ARPA-E focused on grid-scale energy storage, rare-earth materials and advanced electric power. From 2013-2017 Mark was the Director of Advanced Manufacturing for the US Department of Energy, serving in both the Obama and Trump administrations. Under his leadership, the Advanced Manufacturing Office introduced their first strategic plan in nearly a decade and built significant congressional support for focused R&D as well as public-private partnership formation, all related to technology innovation in US manufacturing.

Earlier in his career, Mark was a principal in three different venture capital backed start-up businesses in the semiconductor industry: Quantum Epitaxial Designs (exit as merger with IQE International); EPI System (exit as acquisition by Veeco); and Nitronex (exit as acquisition by M/A Com).

Evgeny Angelov

Partner at PostScriptum Ventures and Chairman, Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA)

Evgeny Angelov is Chairman of the Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. In parallel, he is Partner at PostScriptum Ventures.

Previously, Evgeny was the Economic Advisor to the President of Bulgaria and the Deputy Minister of Economy. His focus in the public sector has been on economic, investment and innovation policy formulation and implementation. He supervised over 50 state-owned companies and was responsible for the €1.2bn Operational Programme “Competitiveness”. He served as Chairman of the Board of both the Bulgarian Energy Holding, the National Electricity Company, and was a Board member and initiator of Sofia Tech Park. Concurrently, he was the Head of the Investment Board of JEREMIE Bulgaria, a €350mm fund of funds, which provides equity and debt financing to start-ups and SMEs.

Prior to his public sector roles, Evgeny was Director at Trigranit Development Corporation, a leading real estate development company in Central and Eastern Europe. Before that he held various positions at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, where he structured, negotiated and executed debt and equity transactions in the financial services, pharmaceutical, cement, real estate and chemical industries in ten Central and Eastern European countries.

Evgeny holds an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School.

Gal Avidan

Cloud Business Manager, Google Cloud

Gal Avidan is a Business Manager for Google Cloud, supporting customers on how they can leverage the power of Google Cloud Platform to address their business challenges. Working with a variety of big and global customers from several verticals. Before Google, Gal worked at HP Enterprise Service serving enterprise customers with their digital transformation and connecting between IT and the business. Gal holds a BA from IDC Herzliya and an MBA from Bar Ilan University.

Gary D. Schneider

Regional Head of North America Public Sector, Capital Markets and Advisory, Citi

Gary Schneider is responsible for the Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory relationships for the North America Public Sector Business. He works with clients across the Federal, State & Local, Higher Education and Canada. In this role, Gary drives revenue performance and client satisfaction in the delivery of all Citi’s Corporate and Investment Banking product to these segments. Gary is also the Global Lead for Transaction Banking Innovation and client engagement across the Public Sector Group.

Gary is actively involved in supporting military veterans. He provides senior guidance to the US Army War College and volunteers his time at the Fisher House supporting service members and their families.

During his career with Citi, Gary has worked extensively with Public Sector clients. He was the Head of the North America Public Sector State & Local coverage team. He served as the Global Business Manager for Citi’s receivables products for corporate, institutional and public sector clients, a $1.3 billion business.. Earlier in his career, Gary was the Global Head of Citi’s Commercial Cards business where he led the roll-out of Citi’s commercial card products to 40 countries, making Citi the leading global issuer of commercial cards.

Gary earned a BA in International Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He has served on the Board of Directors of NACHA and holds Series 79, 63 and 24 licenses.

Nir Netzer

Founding Partner at Equitech, Co-founder of FinTech-Aviv - the Israeli FinTech Association

Nir is a FinTech Innovation Strategist, a FinTech Transformation Adviser and a keen leader of the Israeli FinTech ecosystem.

Krassimir Valchev

Minister of Education of Republic of Bulgaria

Krassimir Valchev has a Master’s degree in Public Finance. He has graduated from the University of Economics - Varna. Valchev has received "Budget and Financial Management" training at Duke University, USA.

Krasimir Valchev has extensive experience in the field of financing of education, as well as in evaluation and monitoring of the implementation of the European pre-accession programs.

In 2002, he started his career at the Ministry of Finance, and from 2003 to 2009 Valchev was an expert in the State Expenditures Directorate, which is involved in planning, implementing, analyzing, and evaluating budget expenditures. Krassimir Valchev participated in the development and implementation of sectoral and budgetary policies.

From September 2009 until February 2017 he was Secretary General at the Ministry of Education and Science.

From April to May 2017, Valchev served as Head of Department at the Local Government Financing Directorate at the Ministry of Finance.

Elected Minister of Education and Science on May 4, 2017

Alex Behar

Serial Cyber Security Entrepreneur
Managing Partner, Mereo Technology Group

Alex Behar is a seasoned technology entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in the cyber security and finance sectors. Having started his career in Cyber Security in the Israeli Defense sector, he went on to lead Radware USA ($RDWR) cybersecurity division in the Americas region, serving Fortune 100 and Homeland Security organizations in North and South America. Most recently, Alex held the position of co-founder and CTO at Tradeo Inc., a VC-backed financial services company which was successfully acquired by Israeli investors – his third successful exit. Currently, he is the CEO of the crypto-currency and blockchain fund Mer1t Capital, which invests in high-potential blockchain technologies. Alex is a Harvard Business School alum, and when not working, likes to get involved in charities and activism the world over. Alex is a co-founder and investor in the largest Israeli fund-raising platform, jGive, serving charities, non-profits and the firms and communities that back them.

Natanail Stefanov

Chairman, BESCO – Bulgarian Startup Association

Natanail Stefanov is the Chief Enthusiast at BESCO – the Bulgarian Startup Association. He loves Bulgaria and is devoted to working for the economic and social development of the country. He has got diversе professional background having worked on various projects for different organisations, including startups, government institutions, NGOs, international corporations, and local businesses.

His personal mission with BESCO is to establish better communication between the startup community and institutions, so that an even friendlier business and investment environment is created, through legislation improvements, more effective policies, and specific actionable initiatives. Another priority is to promote Bulgaria as “The European Startup Incubator”. Due to its partnership network, BESCO supports companies based in Bulgaria to internationalize and innovate more effectively, sharing the experience, know-how, and contacts of its partners.

As a personality Natanail is keenly interested in entrepreneurship, formal and informal education, business, arts, culture, and social activities. He also teaches at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University.

Bjorn-Soren Gigler

Senior Digital Policy Officer at European Commission

Björn-Sören Gigler is Senior Digital Policy Officer at the Digital Innovation and Blockchain Unit in DG Connect in the European Commission. He is currently working on access-to-finance for digital innovations with a focus on disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, supercomputing and 5G. Previously, he was Senior Innovation & Digital Economy Policy Advisor at the European Investment Bank (2016-18), providing advice on enhancing access to finance for disruptive technologies investment programs. From 1997-2016, Sören Gigler worked at the World Bank as Digital Innovation Program Coordinator, Senior Governance Specialist and Economist. At the World Bank's Innovation Lab, he led Open Government Data, Citizen Feedback, Social Accountability and Mapping for Result programmes. The latter leveraged digital innovations to foster economic development and improve the well-being of communities in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. He was Visiting Associate Professor for Political Economy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (2005-2016). Mr. Gigler holds a Ph.D. in International Development from the London School of Economics, a M.S. in Economics from the University of Munich and a M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University. He is the author of Development as Freedom in a Digital Age (World Bank 2015) and editor of Closing the Feedback Loop: Can Technology address the Accountability Gap?’. He has published over 25 articles on access to finance, digital innovations, information poverty, ICT for development and open government.

Igor Pravica

Country Sales Leader, IBM Bulgaria

Igor Pravica is a Country Sales Leader for IBM Bulgaria since mid of 2016. In his role Igor is responsible for all client facing activities in Bulgaria, covering IBM's entire portfolio of products and services. During his 13 year career in IBM, Igor has held number of management positions in sales, technical and services ecosystem in South East Europe. He has grown a profound understanding on the dynamics, culture and opportunities in SEE region.
Igor Pravica earned his Advanced Sales Leadership Diplom at Boston University Questrom School of Business and graduated Business and Industry Insight Program at London Business School.

Natalia Miteva

Program Director, America for Bulgaria Foundation

Natalia Miteva is Program Director for Education at the America for Bulgaria Foundation. She manages a portfolio of investments targeted at improving the quality of teaching at schools, preparing students for jobs of the future, promoting educational innovation and analyzing education policy. Natalia holds a Mster’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.

Giacomo Volpi

Head of Retail Banking, UniCredit Bulbank

Giacomo Volpi joined UniCredit 14 years ago – after a successful career in consulting business in The Boston Consulting Group - “Strategy, planning and control” department of Central Eastern European Division. In 2008 he became director of the “Strategy, planning and control” department of UniCredit Bank in Ukraine.

In 2010 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Ukrotsbank, part of the UniCredit Group in Ukraine. In this position he coordinated the activities of accounting, tax, strategy, planning, control, capital management and management of assets and liabilities.

From 2016 and until 2018 he was CEO and Chairman of the Board of UniCredit Consumer Finance in Bulgaria.

From January 2018 Giacomo Volpi is Head of Retail Banking of UniCredit Bulbank.

Gabby Czertok

General Manager, The Builders

Gabby Czertok is a technology and people enthusiast who has been combining both of his passions throughout his career to create unique approaches to problem solving.

Gabby has founded and leads The Builders, an innovation platform comprised of various activities such as commercialization programs, R&D innovation activities and The Builders Fund,

supporting fortune 100 companies such as Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, Mercedes-Benz and Walmart in their journey to implement technology to solve business needs.

Previously Gabby was the CEO of a startup in the water industry and spent many years in the cyber security space.

In addition, Gabby serves as an advisory board member in multiple startups and non-profit organizations, is on the board of the 8200 alumni organization and has an LLB from Tel-Aviv University.

Filip Genov

First Vice President, UniCredit Bulbank

Filip Genov is a senior banker with 25+ years of international and executive experience in banking, IT and innovations.

In Bulgaria Filip launched, led and scaled up several successful businesses,
among which – one of Europe’s best factoring companies, UniCredit Bulbank’s Corporate and Investment Banking and SME Business Divisions, Bulgaria’s first corporate electronic banking system.

He is the first Eastern European manager to be elected to the Executive Committee of the Factors Chain International, responsible for the R&D and innovations.

Filip is an avid supporter, business angel, mentor and investor in FinTech and fast-growth startups.

He holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and the London School of Economics and a master degree in International Economic Relations from the UNWE in Sofia.

Veneta Andonova

Associate Professor of Business at AUBG and Universidad de los Andes

Prof. Andonova is Associate Professor of Business Strategy at the Universidad de los Andes School of Management, a triple-crown accredited business school. She obtained her doctoral degree in management from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain. She was a faculty member at ITAM (Mexico), a visiting scholar at Brown University (USA) and Associate Professor at the American University in Bulgaria. Her research has been published in high-ranked international journals such as Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Business Research, Telecommunications Policy, Entrepreneurial Theory and Practice and many others. Prof. Andonova has been teaching undergraduate, doctoral, MBA and executive courses on the topics of business strategy and internationalization at top executive programs in Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Guatemala. Her experience in high-impact research and executive teaching blended into a very successful book (with M. Losada) by the Cambridge University Press, Multilatinas: Strategies for internationalization (2017). In parallel, Prof. Andonova created and scaled-up the Entrepreneurship program at the American University in Bulgaria. By joining forces with the local accelerator venture funds she promoted and supported local start-ups through different educational formants and mentoring. She is the author of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reports on Bulgaria. In 2019 she published (with M. Nikolova and D. Dimitrov) the first mixed-methods large-scale research on the state of the entrepreneurial ecosystems in South East Europe, Entrepreneurial ecosystems in unexpected places (Palgrave).

Bojidar Neytchev

Senior Partner, PwC

Bojidar is one of PwC's senior partners for Central and Eastern Europe. He started working in PwC in 1994 and has been a partner in the company since 2004.

Bojidar has 25 years experience in advising clients on major private sector transactions as well as privatisations in the region, market entry and exit strategy analysis, restructuring, liquidation and turnaround services, as well as post-acquisition support.

Over the past two decades, Bojidar founded or developed most of the PwC Balkan offices with acquisitions of competing companies and teams of specialists.

Plamen Toshev

Managing Director, Acronis Bulgaria

Mr. Toshev has become interested in Computer Science during his study at the Sofia High School of Mathematics. After that at the Technical University of Sofia he was focused on practical implementation of his skills and during his 3^rd year joined the newly founded company T-Soft.

At T-Soft he was responsible for all company projects and has been appointed as CTO. With his development process knowledge and experience, Mr. Toshev has driven T-Soft and its clients in implementing best practices and different Agile processes. In 2016 he became the sole owner and Managing Director of T-Soft. In 2018 T-Soft was acquired by Acronis, a global leader in hybrid cloud data protection and storage.

As a Managing Director of Acronis Bulgaria Mr. Toshev is focused on expanding company presence and its R&D center in Bulgaria. He is also directly responsible for the development of some of the major products of Acronis.

Mr. Toshev holds a B.S. in Computer Systems and Technologies from the Technical University of Sofia (Bulgaria).