Andrus is the partner and CEO of Tartu Biotechnology Park, which provides physical infrastructure and business development services for clients, mainly biotech companies. Starting from 2006 Andrus is also the partner and CEO of TBD-Biodiscovery, a company active in the field of organic and analytical chemistry and since 2010 Andrus is chairman of the board and advisor for business development of Competence Centre on Health Technologies, a company focused on applied research and product development in clinical and translational medicine, as well as in biotechnology. Andrus has a PhD in Environmental Microbiology, is the author of three patent applications and owner or co-owner of five life science companies. He has participated in about 70 international R&D projects and has coordinated more than 20 of them.

Christos Vaitsis is leading the development and implementation of the Accelerator (Business Creation) Pillar for the EIT Health Scandinavian node, which consists of regional, industry and educational partners in Sweden, Denmark and Estonia. Christos has a background in Computer Science and holds a MSc in Health Informatics from Karolinska Institutet where he previously worked as Researcher and Course Director in the field of Contemporary Technologies in Health (e.g. Big Data and Analytics for impacting and improving reasoning and decision making).

Dr Dimitris G. Hatzinikolaou is an Associate Professor of Microbial Biotechnology at the Department of Biology of the University of Athens. He holds a Diploma and a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece and a M.S.E. degree from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, USA. He has extensive experience in the general area of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology through his participation from various scientific posts, in several EU (FP5-FP7 and H2020 frameworks) and many national research projects. His wide research interests involve the microbial utilization of lignocellulosic biomass towards 2nd generation biorefinery applications, the design and optimization of processes for the microbial production of enzymes and low MW compounds (upstream and downstream), the biosynthesis, purification and study of industrially important enzymes and the biodegradation of industrial pollutants.

Francesco Gatto is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Elypta, a start-up focussed to improve the survival outlook of cancer patients by developing systems biology-driven biomarkers. He co-invented a diagnostic and prognostic test for renal cell carcinoma based on an exceptionally accurate liquid biopsy, which leverages on a novel systems biomarker for this common form of kidney cancer. This test recently showed unprecedented potential for other cancer types.

After working for 5 years in leasing-financing Ivar started his entrepreneurial path in 2007. Together with partners he created a fleet-management monitoring company, which connected some dots of different IT-services combining new value for business-customers. In 2012 it was merged to one major competitor, which is today the European market-leader.

In 2011 Ivar started a company Werrowool, which is manufacturing environmentally friendly cellulose insulation. The company was honored in 2014 as the most environmentally-friendly company in Estonia. In 2018, Ivar started his 4th season in Climate-KIC programme Pioneers into Practice, where he has been a pioneer and a coach. The programme is perfect for linking environmental experts, scientists, entrepreneurs and organizations to create new ventures or at least networks.

Working with the group of people Ivar sees himself as a creative adviser. He supports creating and sustaining the change and disruptive business-models. His previous history with the Climate-KIC and hands-on business experience has taught him about the local context, low-carbon economy challenges and possible solutions.

Jovin Hurry is a Core Team Member of NELIS (Next Leaders' Initiative for Sustainability). As a strategist, he works with owners of small and medium enterprises to get them to think through their strategies on business and sustainability, for them to stay competitively relevant in their fragmented landscapes. (LinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovinhurry/)

PhD Krister Talvinen has a long history with the different players in the field of higher education. He has worked at the Academy of Finland, in the Ministry of Education and Culture, and in the National Defense University. His academic background is in social sciences and humanities, and his doctoral thesis in philosophy in 2009 dealt with the impossibility of knowledge. At the time of his thesis, he worked for a marketing research company, Taloustutkimus Ltd. Providing surveys or brand image analyses for all kinds of businesses proved to be an invaluable lesson in the ethos and operating logics of the business world.

Lucia Vannini is assistant professor in Food Microbiology at the Department of Agricultural and Food Science at the University of Bologna (Italy). Lucia holds a Master in Food Science and Technology and a Ph.D in Food Biotechnology. Her main research activities are in the area of Food Science and Technology with a special focus on the selection, characterization and use of microbial cultures to produce traditional or innovative fermented foods, and innovative/emerging technologies for food processing. She has also acquired experience in the development of biotechnological processes for the treatment and valorization of agro-industrial wastes and by-products into added-value compounds. In this context her interest is in the exploitation of microbial biodiversity for the production of different metabolites relevant for the food and feed industries (e.g. antioxidants, antimicrobials, flavouring, microbial biomasses) and/or usable in new value chains in the perspective of a circular economy approach.

The Nordic Council of Ministers is an inter-governmental co-operation body and Madis is working towards more cohesion between Nordic and Baltic countries in a number of sustainability-related areas. The focus areas cover environment, energy, sustainable consumption and circular bioeconomy. The aim is to initiate new developments, facilitate networks and concert efforts among international stakeholders for more sustainable living patterns. Madis also assists the Baltic Sea Region Bioeconomy Council and has gained some valuable experiences in mentoring/evaluating green start-ups. There is often not a need for new tech invention but for courage to change.

University of Tartu IdeaLab Manager. Experience in mentotring student early-stage startups in customer discovery and product development. Long term experience in management training and coaching.

Robert MISKUF is CEO at PEDAL Consulting, the top Horizon 2020 performer in Slovakia that brought to a sustainable life several startups and companies. Among others, the company made a strong footprint in the bioeconomy domain through the implementation of the “Transition to Green Economy” project as well as the BIOWAYS, BIOVOICES and BIOBRIDGES projects.

Robert’s personal mission is to contribute to the development of sustainable and circular Bioeconomy at regional and local level based on local biological resources to create new value chains, local green energy, considering various elements, ranging from ecology with resilience and biodiversity, water management to cultural heritage.

Environmental Engineer, active in the Clean Tech and Bio-Economy sectors since 2005. He contributed to the start-up of several initiatives worldwide, with a special focus on the agro-industry, renewable energies, and bio-tech. Entrepreneur and Manager during the last 12 years, he got involved in different sustainable business cases, shifting from the bio-energy and the bio-fuels sectors, to innovative applications in the green chemistry and bio-materials. In 2015, with the aim of developing innovative products from a natural technology following the principle of the Circular Economy, he co-founded Mogu S.r.l. (Italy). Employing the mycelium (fungi roots) as natural glue, the Company is developing and producing bio-composites, valorising agro-industrial wastes and co-products.

Sven is the General Manager of Tartu Biotechnology Park, which provides business development services for companies in biotechnology and other related sectors.

He has been working as a Technology Transfer Expert in University of Tartu for almost 4 years helping companies and the university to collaborate on multiple topics in biotechnology. He has been involved in 3 startups, 2 in biotechnology and 1 in mobile health and is involved with Kinasera and RNAexact.

In 2016 he was a member of board of the Connected Health cluster representing the interests of R&D institutions.

Triinu Sirge is European Ergonomist, and young scientist, movement and sport sciences PhD student in University of Tartu. Triinu has spin-off (University of Tartu) company ErgowayOÜ, which offers occupational health and safety services, and ergonomic services.

Gunars Kisis is a founder of S/B PRO and has been an active start-up scene member for many years. His first start-up was 10 years ago when in the region there was no support for startups. Currently, he is an active member of the Latvian Young Scientist Association and head of Commercialization unit. Gunars Kisis is certified business coach and business mentor with more than 350+ hours coaching experience particularly for tech companies and startups. Besides business experience, Gunars has obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering and has been active member of several NGOs.

Roel is an expert in Public Private Partnerships and Innovation Officer at EIT Health / Food & Health. He is working in Center for Development and Innovation (CDI) and University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), The Netherlands.