First speaker announcement

🎤 Meet our first speakers for Iceland Innovation Week 2026

Eric Archambeau

↪ Astanor

Eric Archambeau is Founder and Managing Partner at Astanor, a global impact investing firm in the agrifood space. Astanor, which has grown to circa €1B AUM, invests in technology companies that support the planet and people’s health and accelerate the shift to a resilient economy. Astanor’s flagship investments include ProducePay and Plantible in North America, as well as Aphea.bio, Source.ag, and Standing Ovation in Europe and Tractor Junction in India.

Eric has been a pioneer in the impact investing space for over a-two decades. He has served as Global Chairman of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, and lectured at the graduate business school INSEAD, where he founded the Social Entrepreneurship Department and co‐founded Social Impact International, supporting livelihood development and regenerative agriculture programs in India. Eric was a board member of the Harvard Business School initiative, the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI) in Boston, and now an ambassador of Capitals Coalition as well as a past chairman of the impact investment arm of the UK Government’s NESTA program. He published a book in 2022, Costing the Earth: How to Fix Finance to Save the Planet, outlining how to overhaul finance to achieve net zero.

Prior to Astanor, Eric was a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and later a technology venture capitalist, investing in the likes of Spotify (IPO), Onfido, XING (IPO), PriceMinister (now Rakuten Europe), Betfair (IPO), Maven Clinic, Peakon (now part of Workday), and Freenow (now part of Lyft).

Logi Már Einarsson

↪ Minister of Culture, Innovation, and Higher Education

​Logi Már Einarsson is Iceland's Minister of Culture, Innovation, and Higher Education. A member of the Social Democratic Alliance, he has represented the Northeast Constituency in the Althingi (Icelandic Parliament) since 2016. He served as the party's leader from 2016 to 2022 and has chaired its parliamentary group since 2022.

Hildur Einarsdóttir

↪ CEO at Advania

Hildur Einarsdóttir draws on a rich innovation, strategy, and international business development background. With a career spanning over 16 years at Embla Medical (formerly Össur), most recently as Executive Vice President of Research & Development, Hildur has a strong track record of leading complex, global teams and driving growth through technology and customer focus.

Hildur’s leadership at Advania is centered on customer centricity, clear communication, and a focus on translating innovation into practical solutions. Her experience in strategy, marketing, product development, and operations — combined with a passion for empowering teams — makes her well-suited to guide Advania Iceland’s next chapter.

In addition to her executive roles, Hildur serves on the Science and Innovation Council for the Prime Minister’s Office in Iceland and the Industrial Advisory Board of Imperial College London, reflecting her ongoing contribution to innovation at national and international levels.

Dr. Thor Sigfússon

↪ Iceland Ocean Cluster

An Icelandic entrepreneur and global leader in sustainable ocean innovation, best known as the founder of the Iceland Ocean Cluster, which has grown into an international network with eight sister clusters across the United States, Europe, and Africa. He has also founded Iceland Eco-Business Park, Hlemmur Mathöll—Iceland’s first food hall—Collagen, and several other ventures focused on value creation and zero-waste utilization in marine industries, including the global 100% Fish initiative addressing the estimated 20 million tons of fish wasted annually. Dr. Sigfusson holds a PhD in international business and business networks, has published nine books and his research appears in academic business journals. He is a frequent commentator in international media such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and PBS, a sought-after keynote speaker at major global forums including the World Ocean Summit and The Arctic Circle.

Mark Emil Hermansen

↪ Kost Capital

Mark Emil Hermansen is Project Director at Noma and an Oxford-trained anthropologist with more than a decade of experience in food innovation and organizational strategy. He is a founding partner at Kost Capital, co-founder of Empirical and Swan Neck Bio, and founding advisor to Astanor Ventures. His work spans early-stage venture building, fermentation and biotech strategy, and cross-sector innovation between gastronomy, science, and industry.

Mundi Vondi

↪ CEO and Co-Founder Klang Games

Mundi Vondi, originally from Iceland, is CEO and Co-Founder of Klang Games, a Berlin based video game studio. Mundi brings with him varied experience in fashion design, film, graphic design, fine arts, and more. Since co-founding Klang Games in 2013, Mundi has built a diverse and successful team of over 100 employees and has helped produce engaging projects like ReRunners and The Life Cycle Podcast. Currently, Klang is working on SEED, a virtual world and MMO that is exploring the future of humanity, as well as what it means to play online together.

Jennifer Bushman

↪ Fed by Blue

Long before co-founding Fed by Blue, Jennifer was an ocean champion. For more than two decades, she has worked at the intersection of food, sustainability, and ocean health. An award-winning chef, cookbook author, consultant, and storyteller, Jennifer believes the future of our food system lies in the waters that cover most of our planet. She understands that solving the crisis facing our oceans isn’t just about restrictions and regulations—it’s about innovation, education, and giving people hope. A multiple James Beard Award and now Emmy nominee, Jennifer works tirelessly to shine a light on the water farmers, fishers, and scientists driving breakthrough innovations in sustainable aquaculture and fishing. These are the people finding real solutions, solutions that can feed a growing world while helping our waters recover. In addition to her work with Fed by Blue, Jennifer serves on the Board of Directors of The Marine Mammal Center, continuing her lifelong mission to protect and restore ocean health through storytelling, collaboration, and action.

Rune Theill

↪ Rockstart

Rune has nearly 20 years of experience building entrepreneurial ecosystems. He began his journey as a founder while studying at Copenhagen Business School, which later led him to work at Venture Cup in 2010 where he helped grow the largest student-focused business plan competition in the Nordics. In 2011, he joined Startupbootcamp, focusing on community development, marketing, and deal sourcing.

In 2012, Rune moved to Amsterdam to launch Rockstart. Since then, he has played a leading role in identifying, selecting, and fast-tracking founders across AgriFood, Energy, and Emerging Technologies.

Beyond Rockstart, Rune is an avid kitesurfer, an enthusiastic early Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, and a nature lover.

Shan Shan Wong

↪ C-Gen.Ai

Shan Shan Wong is Chief Business Officer at C-Gen.Ai, an AI infrastructure company automating and orchestrating full-stack training environments for frontier model developers. She previously served as COO and interim Co-CEO of Stability AI, where she helped transform and scale the organization, raised funds, and led major commercial and partnership milestones.

Before transitioning into AI, she spent 17 years in top-tier investment banking, leading complex transactions, advising global clients, and developing deep expertise in strategic decision-making and execution under uncertainty. She is known for bridging technical innovation with commercial strategy and building high-performing teams in fast-moving environments. She studied mathematics at the University of Oxford.

Inbal Colley-Croitoru

↪ Partner at Colley Capital

An alumna of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, Inbal began her career in communications and music before founding her own music tech venture. She now brings her expertise to the other side of the table as an investor and private fund manager.

Lóa Fatou Einarsdóttir ↪ COO of GOOD GOOD

Lóa Fatou’s background spans over a decade in manufacturing and operations across the food and consumer goods sectors.

In recent years, she has focused on building and scaling GOOD GOOD’s global supply chains, overseeing production, inventory, and distribution across multiple markets, including expansion into major U.S. retail channels such as Walmart, Costco and Whole Foods.

Her experience includes managing growth in constrained environments, improving supply chain efficiency, and aligning operations with an evolving global landscape.

Karl Birgir Björnsson

↪ Hefring Marine

Karl Birgir Björnsson is the CEO and co-founder of Hefring Marine, an Icelandic company developing intelligent systems to optimize and analyze vessel operations. Since founding the company in 2019, he has led its growth from concept to international scale-up, with customers across defense, commercial, and unmanned maritime sectors. He began his maritime career in 2017 as Director of Business Development at innovative boatbuilder Rafnar, where he played a key role in shaping its international commercial strategy. Prior to that, he worked in Corporate Development at a NASDAQ-listed medical device company, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Karl serves on the board of the Icelandic Association of Startup Companies (Samtök sprotafyrirtækja – SSP) and is a deputy board member of the Icelandic Student Innovation Fund (Nýsköpunarsjóður námsmanna – Rannís).