Second speaker announcement
Haraldur Þorleifsson
↪ CEO / Founder at Ueno
I’ve founded and sold a design and innovation agency that worked with the biggest brands in the world, founded an artist community. I’ve created a restaurant, a movie theater, a bank, ramps, a recording studio, written and released music, illustrated books, been a keynote speaker, written for and acted in films and TV shows, hosted podcasts. I proudly paid the highest taxes in my home country three years in a row. I studied philosophy, finance, economics. I’ve been man of the year, designer of the year, philanthropist of the year, business man of the year. I have a wife, two kids, two cats and a presidential medal of chivalry.
Hanna Katrín Friðriksson
↪ Minister of Industries of Iceland
Hanna Katrín has served as Minister of Industries since December 2024 and has been a Member of Alþingi for the Viðreisn Liberal Reform Party since 2016. Born in Paris in 1964, she holds a BA in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Iceland and an MBA from the University of California, Davis. Her career spans journalism, academia, public administration, and senior leadership roles, including Managing Director of Reykjavik University, executive positions at Eimskip and Icepharma, and advisory roles to the Ministers of Health and Education. She has served on numerous boards and government committees in areas including innovation, education, gender equality, fisheries, and cultural heritage, and brings extensive experience at the intersection of policy, business, and societal development.
Erki Ani
↪ CEO & Co-Founder at Jälle Technologies
Erki Ani is a cleantech and deeptech innovator, ecosystem builder and investor. Over the past decade he has helped transform Estonia’s cleantech landscape by launching and leading a suite of accelerators, incubators, hackathons and investment vehicles. As head of the Estonian Cleantech Association he designed programmes that nurtured early‑stage startups and built an innovation pipeline now engaging hundreds of millions of euros in capital. He has co‑created specialised venture funds and advocated for policies that make Estonia a living lab for climate solutions. Today he serves as CEO and co-founder of Jälle Technologies, a deeptech venture recovering critical metals from end‑of‑life lithium‑ion batteries and upcycling discarded graphite into graphene‑like materials. In this role he is scaling advanced recycling technologies, forging industrial partnerships and pushing Europe toward a circular battery economy. Beyond Jälle, Erki continues as a member of the supervisory board at the Estonian Cleantech Association and champions regulatory frameworks that align innovation with environmental stewardship.
Gabriele Poteliunaite
↪ Principal at Balnord VC
Gabriele Poteliunaite is a principal at Balnord - early-stage VC fund, backing founders across the Nordics, Baltics, Poland & Germany, with the focus on frontier and dual-use technologies, especially space, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. Based in Berlin. Previously principal at Porsche & Axel Springer’s early-stage fund (APX)/Heartfelt_, where she led 20+ investments across Europe & the US; and senior associate at Change Ventures - seed stage VC backing Baltic founders. MSc in Artificial Intelligence, BSc and research experience in Cognitive Neuroscience.
Kristi Kurvits
↪ Program Manager at TechStars
Founder-first to the core. 10 years of building startup ecosystems, physical hubs, and early-stage startup programs across Europe. I bridge the gap between investors, corporates, and founders to create spaces that actually work. Big believer in inclusive design and supporting unstoppable founders.
R. Michael Hendrix
↪ Founder at Huldunótur
R. Michael Hendrix is a designer, educator, and author working at the intersection of creativity, innovation, and culture. Formerly a Partner and Global Design Director at IDEO, he now leads Huldunótur in Reykjavík, helping organizations translate insight into brand, strategy, and growth. He is the co-author of Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation and host of Two Beats Ahead Live!, the podcast that extends the book’s ideas through conversations with creative leaders. Michael teaches design and entrepreneurship at Bifröst University and the Iceland University of the Arts.
Ragnhildur Ágústsdóttir
↪ Founder & Lava Ambassador at Lava Show
Ragnhildur Ágústsdóttir — known as Lady Lava — is the founder of Lava Show, the only live lava show in the world. Together with her husband and co-founder Julius, she turned a once-in-a-lifetime moment into a world-class innovation after the couple witnessed a lavafall during the 2010 Fimmvörðuháls eruption — an experience that sparked the bold idea of bringing real molten lava safely indoors.
Helga Sigrún Hermannsdóttir
↪ Founder/Chief Product and Science Officer at Dóttir Skin
Helga Sigrún Hermannsdóttir is a scientist and the founder of Dóttir Skin. Her journey started on social media, where years of building a community and shaping brand storytelling became the foundation of what Dóttir Skin stands for today: transparency, education, and trust.
Now, she combines that communication-first mindset with a science-led approach to skincare; creating high-performance products rooted in research, simplicity, and Icelandic identity. At Iceland Innovation Week, Helga shares her perspective on building a modern skincare brand where community and credibility grow side by side.
Matt Penneycard
↪ Founding Partner at Ada Ventures
Matt co-founded Ada with Check in 2018. Before Ada, Matt worked as an investor in PE and VC firms in London and New York since 2002. Matt loves the earliest stages of a company’s life and has a particular focus on founder coaching and helping others to realise their full potential. You want Matt on your cap table if you want a VC partner that doesn’t sweat the small stuff and is there for you over the long and bumpy journey of growing a meaningful business.
Outside of work, Matt loves to run and has completed more than 25 marathons and ultramarathons all around the world. He also gives time selectively in the not-for-profit world. Currently, he serves the MCC Finance Committee, Durham University Venture Labs, The Entrepreneurial Refugees Network, and Verve Cliquot’s Bold Women Awards in this way.
Finnur Pind
↪ Co-founder and CEO at Treble
Finnur Pind is the Co founder and CEO of Treble Technologies, an Icelandic deep tech company building advanced sound simulation software used in AI systems, audio hardware development, virtual product design, and building acoustics.
Since launching its first product, Treble has grown rapidly on the international market and now works with more than two hundred AI, technology, and engineering companies worldwide. Its customers include eight of the twenty largest technology companies globally, including several of the so called Magnificent Seven, as well as leading companies in AI, robotics, automotive, and audio hardware.
Treble’s technology is used to simulate sound and generate high quality synthetic audio data for applications such as speech recognition, machine perception, virtual prototyping, and acoustic design of products, vehicles, and built environments. In 2025, Treble tripled its revenue and continues to scale in response to strong global demand.
Finnur holds a PhD in acoustics and has a background in research and engineering. He co-founded Treble in Reykjavik in 2020, and the company has since raised approximately nineteen million euros from mainly international investors and built a global team working out of Iceland.
Leslie Kapin
↪ Partner, Director of Impact at Astanor
Leslie is a Partner and Director of Impact at Astanor, an agrifood-tech impact investment firm investing from seed to growth. She joined the firm in 2019 to establish and lead its impact management framework. In this role, Leslie is instrumental in driving positive change and promoting sustainability both within Astanor and across its portfolio companies. Her core responsibilities include developing and refining impact measurement methodologies and engaging with industry networks, research institutions, and thought leaders to advance the field of impact investing including leading the creation of the Impact Valuation Hub, an industry initiative designed to accelerate progress on impact measurement and valuation.
Prior to Astanor, Leslie spent 13 years in the asset management industry across both the private and public sectors. She began her career at global asset manager Russell Investments, where she spent nine years as a research analyst and portfolio manager for Asian equity markets, working in London, Paris, and Sydney. She later joined the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, where she was responsible for selecting investment strategies for the BIS Pension Fund for three years.
Ragne Maasel
↪ Head of Impact at Oyster Bay Venture Capital
Ragne leads Impact at Oyster Bay Venture Capital and is part of the senior investment team assessing food and ag-tech companies and founders on a daily basis. She shapes the fund’s impact strategy, embeds practical, founder-aligned impact thinking across the investment process, and works hands-on with portfolio teams to build scalable, resilient businesses. Before venture investing, she served as Head of ESG at LHV, Estonia’s largest financial group, bringing deep experience in sustainable finance and organisational development.