Third speaker announcement

Ellert Arnarson

↪ CFO, Amaroq

Ellert Arnarson joined Amaroq in 2024. With extensive experience across corporate finance, investment banking and capital markets, Ellert has a demonstrated history of leading high-performing teams. Prior to joining Amaroq, Ellert was Head of Corporate Finance at Icelandic bank Landsbankinn, and previously held senior positions at the Pension Fund of Commerce, Iceland’s second-largest pension fund, and at GAMMA Capital Management. Mr. Arnarson holds a Master’s Degree in Financial Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from the University of Iceland.

Clara Gandslandt

↪ Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Iceland/ Delegation of the European Union to Iceland

Ambassador Clara Ganslandt has spent the bulk of her career at the forefront of European Union foreign policy and external relations. Currently serving as the Ambassador of the European Union to Iceland, she previously held pivotal roles within the European External Action Service (EEAS), including serving as the Special Envoy for Arctic Matters and Head of Division for Western Europe. Her expertise spans a wide range of critical geopolitical sectors, from managing relations with non-EU partners like Switzerland and Norway to EU’s Common Defence and Security Policy.  Ambassador Ganslandt holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Lund and a Diplôme d’Etudes Européennes Approfondies from the College of Europe in Bruges.

Gísli Ragnar Guðmundsson

↪ Country Lead, New Nordics AI

Gísli is a leading expert in artificial intelligence. In recent years, he has focused on helping companies and public institutions identify realistic, high-impact opportunities to apply AI, particularly genAI and turn them into practical initiatives that deliver measurable results. He previously headed the AI consultancy at KPMG in Iceland, where he worked closely with leadership teams to adopt AI at scale. Earlier in his career, Gísli worked internationally across startups and technology hardware development. After returning to Iceland, he moved into the public sector, where he spent several years working on technology and innovation policy. In his most recent role within the Icelandic Government, he led the development of Iceland’s first national action plan for artificial intelligence. Gísli now works at Almannarómur, Iceland’s language technology centre, where he leads the Nordic AI collaboration initiative New Nordics AI on behalf of Iceland.

Sara Lind Guðbergsdóttir

↪ Country Director, Climeworks Iceland

Sara Lind Guðbergsdóttir is the Country Director for Climeworks in Iceland, leading the world's largest direct air capture (DAC) and carbon storage project, Mammoth.With a background in law and extensive leadership experience in both the public and private sectors, she has been instrumental in driving efficiency, innovation, and sustainability in Icelandic industries. A passionate advocate for the intersection of technology, climate action, and public policy, Sara is committed to positioning Iceland as a global leader in carbon removal and sustainable energy solutions.

Frederik Jensen

↪ Founder & CEO, SUMM ingredients

 Frederik Jensen is a Danish food innovator, entrepreneur, and former fine-dining chef who eventually swapped Michelin kitchens for Big Food. After working in top restaurants across Europe and Asia, he co-founded a Boston-based food innovation lab that grew into a 40-person team developing breakthrough products for global food companies across categories. Today, he is the Founder of SUMM Ingredients, a foodtech company creating multifunctional ingredients through cross-fermentation to replace additives with plants. His work focuses on helping food taste better, function better, and rely less on long ingredient lists — proving that cleaner labels don’t have to mean compromise.

Arna Harðardóttir

↪ CEO, Helix

Arna is a biomedical engineer passionate about driving change in the healthcare system with innovative tech solutions addressing the most pressing problems in healthcare today: limited resources, both financially and of medical experts in the field. Arna leads the health tech company Helix, a company inhabiting deep knowledge of the sector, building on decades of revolutionary health tech innovations. Arna is a strong advocate for bringing together companies working within the field of health innovation, for a more focused approach to solving the complex challenges facing the healthcare industry today.

Daragh Brown

↪ Senior Regional Representative for Scandinavia and Iceland, European Investment Fund

Daragh is the European Investment Fund’s Senior Regional Representative for Scandinavia and Iceland, based in Copenhagen. In this role, he works closely with governments, venture capital and private equity funds, national promotional institutions, banks, and ecosystem stakeholders to strengthen access to finance for SMEs across the region.

An Irish national, he has over 25 years of experience in the financial sector and has been with the EIF for 17 years, previously serving in roles spanning operational strategy, marketing, and most recently as Chief of Staff to the CEO. Prior to joining EIF, he held positions at Fidelity, JP Morgan, Bank of New York, and KPMG.

Payal J. Shah

↪ Culture & Consumer Lead, Smitten

Payal Shah is a human-experience designer at heart, with over 25 years of experience in the innovation and insights space.  Her background is centered in shaping how people engage across industries like gaming, technology, CPG, and retail, while impacted by the cultural forces around us. She's also an entrepreneurial ideator who has founded multiple businesses, she brings a builder’s mindset to everything she does. She is a passionate and dedicated advocate for girls and womens' rights through board service, volunteer leadership and professional projects, including leading EVE Online’s first-ever exploration into the experiences of women and non-binary gamers in 2023. Driven by deep curiosity and a love of people and cultures, she is always looking for what’s next, and how it can make the world a better place through design.

Fabian Siegel

↪ Partner, LifeX Ventures

Fabian is a Partner at LifeX Ventures. Fabian co-founded and led several startups including ClickandBuy (CTO, raised $80m, sold to Deutsche Telekom), Delivery Hero (co-CEO, raised $7.6B, IPO 2017), Marley Spoon (CEO, raised $240M, IPO 2018). He has personally invested in over 30 startups. He studied Economics and Law at the University of Bonn.

Réka R. Artner

↪ Head, BOLD Community

Réka is the Head of the BOLD Community, a global innovation network initiated by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) to foster cross-sector collaboration among BOLD Minds from business, science, creative industries, and policy-making. With a background in economic psychology from the University of Vienna, Réka has a strong track record in building inclusive communities and driving innovation. She has led TEDxVienna for eight years, facilitated numerous ideation workshops, and actively mentors in various organizations, advocating for diversity and female empowerment.

Valerie Bures

↪ Partner & MD Dach, XAnge

Valerie Bures-Bönström is Partner and Managing Director for DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) of XAnge, an early stage venture capital firm, with over 1€ billion AUM. Before joining XAnge, Ms. Bures-Bönström was the founder and CEO of Pixformance Sports and the founder and CEO of Vaha. Prior to that, she co-founded Mrs. Sporty and, for over 20 years, served, among others, as COO and CEO for the women’s fitness chain’s international business. During this time, she contributed significantly to the growth of the franchise company to more than 500 gyms

Helga Valfells

↪ Founding Partner, Crowberry Capital

Helga is a founding Partner of Crowberry, a Nordic seed and early stage venture capital fund. Currently Helga sits on the boards of six of Crowberry's portfolio companies: Aldin Dynamics, Tiimo, Kickercloud, Porcelain Fortress, Saidot, and Scale-up Finance. Helga is also the Chairman of the Icelandic Venture Capital Association. Prior to co-founding Crowberry in 2017, Helga was CEO of NSA Venture (now Krýa)  from 2010 - 2017 and Chairman of the Board of Frumtak.  Helga also managed several marketing and funding initiatives for startups on behalf of the Trade Council of Iceland and served as a non-political advisor to the Minister of Business Affairs following the 2009 financial crisis. Helga was deputy chairman of the board of listed telco Siminn from 2018 - 2021 deputy chairman of Islandsbanki from 2013 to 2019. Helga was on the board of the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce from 2020 to 2024 and the Icelandic Design Center from 2021 to 2025.