Startup Europe Awards
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DATABASE (682)
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ARTICLES (719)
COO and co-founder of iLoF
Mehak Mumtaz grew up in Pakistan and decided to study biochemistry when she saw her brother suffering from an unknown learning disability. Her parents, both medical doctors, could not get an accurate diagnosis for their son. In her search to understand the molecular mechanisms behind diseases, she applied to study at the University of Oxford. In 2008, she was granted the Reach Oxford Scholarship and graduated with a master’s in biochemistry in 2012. In 2015, the St Hilda’s alumna worked as an undergraduate tutor at Oxford while completing a PhD in pathology, specializing in oncology and cancer biology.In 2018, she worked on a rare cancer project as EIT Health Business Innovation fellow for a year. She left academia and joined a three-month bioentrepreneur bootcamp in Munich and a one-month Lev8 Woman Program at her alma mater’s Oxford Foundry. She joined EY-Parthenon in London as a strategy consultant in April 2019.In 2019, Mumtaz also met the iLoF co-founding team at the EIT Health Wild Card venture-building program. iLoF is a medtech startup that focuses on personalized medicine through the use of AI and photonics to create optical fingerprints in a cloud-based library to gather and manages disease biomarkers and biological profiles.She joined iLoF as COO and co-founder in December 2019 and left her full-time consultancy role at EY in March 2020.
Mehak Mumtaz grew up in Pakistan and decided to study biochemistry when she saw her brother suffering from an unknown learning disability. Her parents, both medical doctors, could not get an accurate diagnosis for their son. In her search to understand the molecular mechanisms behind diseases, she applied to study at the University of Oxford. In 2008, she was granted the Reach Oxford Scholarship and graduated with a master’s in biochemistry in 2012. In 2015, the St Hilda’s alumna worked as an undergraduate tutor at Oxford while completing a PhD in pathology, specializing in oncology and cancer biology.In 2018, she worked on a rare cancer project as EIT Health Business Innovation fellow for a year. She left academia and joined a three-month bioentrepreneur bootcamp in Munich and a one-month Lev8 Woman Program at her alma mater’s Oxford Foundry. She joined EY-Parthenon in London as a strategy consultant in April 2019.In 2019, Mumtaz also met the iLoF co-founding team at the EIT Health Wild Card venture-building program. iLoF is a medtech startup that focuses on personalized medicine through the use of AI and photonics to create optical fingerprints in a cloud-based library to gather and manages disease biomarkers and biological profiles.She joined iLoF as COO and co-founder in December 2019 and left her full-time consultancy role at EY in March 2020.
Advisor, board member, co-founder of NovoNutrients
Brian Sefton has been co-founder, a board member and a part-time advisor at NovoNutrients, a San Francisco-based biotech manufacturer of alt-protein produced from fermentation and CO2 since it was founded in 2017. In 2009, he co-founded research entity Oakbio, from which NovoNutrients evolved, and was its President and CTO. Sefton was CTO and President at NovoNutrients and also co-CEO and Chief Scientist at Oakbio until 2021 when he became the CEO at San Francisco-based fermentation commercialization startup Sincarne. Between 2005 and 2011, Sefton was also CEO at pharma research company Pharmadyn, working on drugs development for Alzheimer's Disease, and, for three of those years, was also Managing Partner of Stratsyn, a consultancy specializing in creation, development, management and fund raising for not-for-profit organizations. Sefton’s earlier posts include: directing nanotechnology commercialization and investment company Nanosig for three years, CEO of Silicon Valley’s Fastlane, a high-profile pioneer in real-time network traffic and security analysis for six years; and, simultaneously, being CEO at Bluebox Communications, developing high-end network security applications and appliances for Fortune 500 companies and the US government.Sefton holds an MBA from Santa Clara University in California and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley
Brian Sefton has been co-founder, a board member and a part-time advisor at NovoNutrients, a San Francisco-based biotech manufacturer of alt-protein produced from fermentation and CO2 since it was founded in 2017. In 2009, he co-founded research entity Oakbio, from which NovoNutrients evolved, and was its President and CTO. Sefton was CTO and President at NovoNutrients and also co-CEO and Chief Scientist at Oakbio until 2021 when he became the CEO at San Francisco-based fermentation commercialization startup Sincarne. Between 2005 and 2011, Sefton was also CEO at pharma research company Pharmadyn, working on drugs development for Alzheimer's Disease, and, for three of those years, was also Managing Partner of Stratsyn, a consultancy specializing in creation, development, management and fund raising for not-for-profit organizations. Sefton’s earlier posts include: directing nanotechnology commercialization and investment company Nanosig for three years, CEO of Silicon Valley’s Fastlane, a high-profile pioneer in real-time network traffic and security analysis for six years; and, simultaneously, being CEO at Bluebox Communications, developing high-end network security applications and appliances for Fortune 500 companies and the US government.Sefton holds an MBA from Santa Clara University in California and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley
Chairman of the Board, co-founder, co-inventor of NovoNutrients
Russell J. Howard has been co-founder and chairman of the board at NovoNutrients, a San Francisco biotech manufacturer of alt-protein produced using fermentation and CO2, and the research company Oakbio, since the latter’s foundation in 2009. During this period, for a year, Howard also worked as head of commercial strategy at Genome.One, a genetics startup. Howard is also on the board of executives of two Australian pharma companies, Immutep and NeuClone. Previously, between 1997 and 2009, he was CEO at California-based Maxygen, dedicated to the commercialization of molecular breeding and gene shuffling in protein. The year before that, Howard was president and scientific director at global pharma giant GSK in Santa Clara, and between 1994 and 1996, he held the same position at AFFYMAX Research Institute, working on new drugs research. Howard also held long-term research positions, heading up the laboratory at Palo Alto’s DNAX Research Institute of Molecular & Cellular Biology for six years, and earlier spent nine years at Bethesda’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) working on identifying new malarial pathogens. The doctor of biochemistry from the University of Melbourne has over 140 peer-reviewed publications. Following his studies, Howard spent three years undertaking postdoctoral research at Australia’s WEHI (formerly the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research).
Russell J. Howard has been co-founder and chairman of the board at NovoNutrients, a San Francisco biotech manufacturer of alt-protein produced using fermentation and CO2, and the research company Oakbio, since the latter’s foundation in 2009. During this period, for a year, Howard also worked as head of commercial strategy at Genome.One, a genetics startup. Howard is also on the board of executives of two Australian pharma companies, Immutep and NeuClone. Previously, between 1997 and 2009, he was CEO at California-based Maxygen, dedicated to the commercialization of molecular breeding and gene shuffling in protein. The year before that, Howard was president and scientific director at global pharma giant GSK in Santa Clara, and between 1994 and 1996, he held the same position at AFFYMAX Research Institute, working on new drugs research. Howard also held long-term research positions, heading up the laboratory at Palo Alto’s DNAX Research Institute of Molecular & Cellular Biology for six years, and earlier spent nine years at Bethesda’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) working on identifying new malarial pathogens. The doctor of biochemistry from the University of Melbourne has over 140 peer-reviewed publications. Following his studies, Howard spent three years undertaking postdoctoral research at Australia’s WEHI (formerly the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research).
CEO and Founder of Didimo
Argentinian-born Verónica Costa Orvalho is a veteran in animation technology. In 2016, she became the CEO and founder of Didimo that was inspired by an earlier venture Face In Motion, established in 2007 to focus on cinematic quality and animation production of faces. Orvalho won the award for the AI and virtual reality category at a Women Startup Challenge event held in New York in 2017. Orvalho has a long academic track record in related fields, beginning with a first degree in Software Engineering from the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. She moved to Barcelona and obtained a master's degree in Videogame Design and Development at University Pompeu Fabra where she continued to work on creating a facial animation system “For CG Films”. She later completed her PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia with her thesis: Fast and Reusable Facial Rigging and Animation to develop an application that could speed up the traditional “slowing rigging” process. She has worked at Ericsson as a systems analyst and was a producer at the Argentinian film company Patagonik Film Group that helped to produce the Oscar-winning movie El hijo de la novia. She worked for four years as the founder of Panorama Consulting, a consultancy focusing on developing systems for the medical, logistics and entertainment industries. Since 2003, she has lectured in different institutions, including Porto University's Porto Interactive Center as its specialist in facial animation since 2008.
Argentinian-born Verónica Costa Orvalho is a veteran in animation technology. In 2016, she became the CEO and founder of Didimo that was inspired by an earlier venture Face In Motion, established in 2007 to focus on cinematic quality and animation production of faces. Orvalho won the award for the AI and virtual reality category at a Women Startup Challenge event held in New York in 2017. Orvalho has a long academic track record in related fields, beginning with a first degree in Software Engineering from the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. She moved to Barcelona and obtained a master's degree in Videogame Design and Development at University Pompeu Fabra where she continued to work on creating a facial animation system “For CG Films”. She later completed her PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia with her thesis: Fast and Reusable Facial Rigging and Animation to develop an application that could speed up the traditional “slowing rigging” process. She has worked at Ericsson as a systems analyst and was a producer at the Argentinian film company Patagonik Film Group that helped to produce the Oscar-winning movie El hijo de la novia. She worked for four years as the founder of Panorama Consulting, a consultancy focusing on developing systems for the medical, logistics and entertainment industries. Since 2003, she has lectured in different institutions, including Porto University's Porto Interactive Center as its specialist in facial animation since 2008.
Co-CEO and co-founder of Pula
Dutch-born Rosa Goslinga has spent most of her career working in Africa and speaks five languages, including Swahili. She graduated in business, economics and international development at the University of Amsterdam in 2004. She also completed a master’s in political economy of development at the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 2005.In 2006, she worked as an economist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Rwanda where she realized there was an urgent need for small-scale farming insurance to protect the local farmers’ livelihoods against natural hazards.In 2008, she joined Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) in Kenya, where she initiated a pilot Kilimo Salama in Nairobi as program director. The program was a success, starting with 185 farmers taking up index insurance and growing to be the largest in Africa with over 185,000 participants. Goslinga also met and started working with Thomas Njeru, the lead actuary for UAP Insurance for the Kilimo project.In 2013, with investors backing her project, she developed and patented a system and method for providing a site-related weather insurance contract. She left SFSA in 2014 and went on to set up Kenya’s pioneering insurtech Pula with Njeru as co-founder in 2015.Both are now co-CEOs of the Nairobi-based startup, education and helping over 4m small-scale farmers to protect their livelihoods from environmental hazards with tailor-made micro-finance and insurance products.
Dutch-born Rosa Goslinga has spent most of her career working in Africa and speaks five languages, including Swahili. She graduated in business, economics and international development at the University of Amsterdam in 2004. She also completed a master’s in political economy of development at the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 2005.In 2006, she worked as an economist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Rwanda where she realized there was an urgent need for small-scale farming insurance to protect the local farmers’ livelihoods against natural hazards.In 2008, she joined Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) in Kenya, where she initiated a pilot Kilimo Salama in Nairobi as program director. The program was a success, starting with 185 farmers taking up index insurance and growing to be the largest in Africa with over 185,000 participants. Goslinga also met and started working with Thomas Njeru, the lead actuary for UAP Insurance for the Kilimo project.In 2013, with investors backing her project, she developed and patented a system and method for providing a site-related weather insurance contract. She left SFSA in 2014 and went on to set up Kenya’s pioneering insurtech Pula with Njeru as co-founder in 2015.Both are now co-CEOs of the Nairobi-based startup, education and helping over 4m small-scale farmers to protect their livelihoods from environmental hazards with tailor-made micro-finance and insurance products.
CEO and Co-founder of Plastic Bank
David Katz is the Canadian co-founder, president and CEO of Plastic Bank, a-first-of-a-kind social enterprise startup that monetizes plastic waste collection for some of the world’s poorest communities. Katz was inspired by a university seminar about recycling plastic waste in 2013 and founded Plastic Bank with CTO and brand strategist Shaun Frankson in Vancouver.In 2019, he became a fellow for the Unreasonable Group’s Impact Hub in Vancouver, an organization that supports social and environmental entrepreneurship. In 2011, he also founded Vancouver’s Core Values Institute, a consulting and global thought leadership platform for entrepreneurs.In 2014, he was also president of Vancouver’s chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization for one year. He was named Global Citizen of the Year in 2014 by the international organization that has a network of over 10,000 business owners in 131 chapters across 40 countries. He also won the 2017 UN Lighthouse award for Planetary Health and Plastic Bank received the Paris COP21 Climate Conference Sustania Community Award in 2015.Katz completed a diploma in Hospitality Administration & Management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 1991 and started his own business in 1992 as founder and CEO of Nero Alarms. From 2005 to 2014, Katz worked full-time as the founder and president of Nero Global Tracking, a SaaS platform created to monitor the operations of mobile service vehicles. Nero SaaS is used in many Canadian cities and by the nation’s Defence Ministry. The company is now part of Vecima Networks Inc.
David Katz is the Canadian co-founder, president and CEO of Plastic Bank, a-first-of-a-kind social enterprise startup that monetizes plastic waste collection for some of the world’s poorest communities. Katz was inspired by a university seminar about recycling plastic waste in 2013 and founded Plastic Bank with CTO and brand strategist Shaun Frankson in Vancouver.In 2019, he became a fellow for the Unreasonable Group’s Impact Hub in Vancouver, an organization that supports social and environmental entrepreneurship. In 2011, he also founded Vancouver’s Core Values Institute, a consulting and global thought leadership platform for entrepreneurs.In 2014, he was also president of Vancouver’s chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization for one year. He was named Global Citizen of the Year in 2014 by the international organization that has a network of over 10,000 business owners in 131 chapters across 40 countries. He also won the 2017 UN Lighthouse award for Planetary Health and Plastic Bank received the Paris COP21 Climate Conference Sustania Community Award in 2015.Katz completed a diploma in Hospitality Administration & Management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 1991 and started his own business in 1992 as founder and CEO of Nero Alarms. From 2005 to 2014, Katz worked full-time as the founder and president of Nero Global Tracking, a SaaS platform created to monitor the operations of mobile service vehicles. Nero SaaS is used in many Canadian cities and by the nation’s Defence Ministry. The company is now part of Vecima Networks Inc.
CEO and co-founder of OLIO
Tessa Clarke is the British CEO and co-founder of food-sharing app OLIO that was inspired by her experience of having to throw away perfectly good unused food when she was packing up to move from Switzerland back to the UK in 2014.After graduating with a first-class degree in social and political sciences at the University of Cambridge in UK in 1997, she worked for three years at the Boston Consulting Group as a junior associate. She joined an MBA program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2002 and met Saasha Celestial-One, who was also studying for an MBA at Stanford. In 2015, Clarke and Celestial-One decided to use their savings to create a food-sharing app OLIO after successfully testing the idea as a private WhatsApp group in North London.Before becoming an entrepreneur in 2015, Clarke has held various senior management roles since completing her MBA in 2004. She worked for global business publisher EMAP from 2005 until 2009, when she joined Dyson Inc as e-commerce managing director (MD). In 2013, she left Dyson to become MD of fintech PayLater based in Switzerland run by the Wonga payday loan company. Known then as Tessa Cook, she later became Wonga’s MD for eight months when she was tasked with “cleaning up” the tarnished reputation of the high interest loan company. From 2013 to 2021, she was also chair of the management board of St George’s Palace, a boutique apart-hotel and spa complex in Bansko, Bulgaria.In 2018, she became a fellow at Unreasonable, an organization that supports social and environmental entrepreneurship. For two years until 2021, Clarke was ambassador for the Meaningful Business 100 global event that advocates the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She was also a board member for six years at Contentive, a global B2B media and information company. In 2021, her busy schedule now includes becoming a business mentor for not-for-profit Virgin Startup.
Tessa Clarke is the British CEO and co-founder of food-sharing app OLIO that was inspired by her experience of having to throw away perfectly good unused food when she was packing up to move from Switzerland back to the UK in 2014.After graduating with a first-class degree in social and political sciences at the University of Cambridge in UK in 1997, she worked for three years at the Boston Consulting Group as a junior associate. She joined an MBA program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2002 and met Saasha Celestial-One, who was also studying for an MBA at Stanford. In 2015, Clarke and Celestial-One decided to use their savings to create a food-sharing app OLIO after successfully testing the idea as a private WhatsApp group in North London.Before becoming an entrepreneur in 2015, Clarke has held various senior management roles since completing her MBA in 2004. She worked for global business publisher EMAP from 2005 until 2009, when she joined Dyson Inc as e-commerce managing director (MD). In 2013, she left Dyson to become MD of fintech PayLater based in Switzerland run by the Wonga payday loan company. Known then as Tessa Cook, she later became Wonga’s MD for eight months when she was tasked with “cleaning up” the tarnished reputation of the high interest loan company. From 2013 to 2021, she was also chair of the management board of St George’s Palace, a boutique apart-hotel and spa complex in Bansko, Bulgaria.In 2018, she became a fellow at Unreasonable, an organization that supports social and environmental entrepreneurship. For two years until 2021, Clarke was ambassador for the Meaningful Business 100 global event that advocates the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She was also a board member for six years at Contentive, a global B2B media and information company. In 2021, her busy schedule now includes becoming a business mentor for not-for-profit Virgin Startup.
Backed by pharmas, doctors, medtech startup DyCare is expanding fast across Europe
Its remote musculoskeletal rehabilitation and monitoring system sets to improve rehabilitation outcomes in an overtaxed sector
4YFN: Investment booms across Europe during pandemic
Speaking at the recent 4YFN conference, prolific European startup investor Mattias Ljungman provided a highly optimistic assessment of the continent's current ecosystem strength and climate for seed funding
Refurbed: Electronics recycling marketplace gets $54m for EU consolidation, overseas expansion
Consumers can reduce their carbon footprints by shifting toward a circular economy, become carbon-neutral by planting one tree with every purchase from Refurbed
FuVeX: Long-range hybrid-technology drones for multiple business uses
With its innovative hybrid helicopter and airplane technology, FuVeX is poised to take full advantage of the business opportunities afforded by new European regulations governing long-range drones
Sheetgo: Easy and secure cloud-powered spreadsheet data at your fingertips
Named Most Scalable Product at South Summit 2018, Sheetgo turns spreadsheets into data clouds for business users around the world
James, an AI-powered tool for faster, more accurate credit risk assessment
Capable of analyzing over 7,000 types of data, the award-winning credit risk tool for financial institutions is also quick to install and roll out
GOI Travel: From collaborative economy to professional transporter
Optimizing last-mile delivery to guarantee the cheapest service
Clicars: Bringing certainty to buying a used car
Spanish online used car dealer aims to sell 10,000 vehicles by 2021 via its unique sales offer that has booked it €50 million in sales since 2016
Lluvia Sólida: An economic lifeline for farmers in drier, unpredictable climate conditions
Reducing the need for watering by up to 90%, this Mexican startup’s polymer-based water retention technology is a potential game-changer for farming worldwide
In Spain, women are busy launching startups
Official data show women-led startups are on the rise in Spain. We take you to some of the biggest names in the game
Solatom: Cost-effective flatpack mobile solar energy units for SMEs
Solatom's turnkey solar thermal solutions can cut energy costs by 37%. Its real-time data analytics can also be used to ensure that the industrial processing units are operating at optimal conditions
BEEVERYCREATIVE: Taking 3D printing from classrooms into Outer Space
Innovative 3D printing for daily use from a picturesque fishing village in Portugal.
Europe ramps up development of local EV battery sector in race to zero emissions
Startups, automakers jostle or unite to ride the fast-growing EV battery market, as the EU pumps billions into developing its own value chain, to cut reliance on imports
In Portugal tourism tech gets disrupted, in time for post-Covid-19 era
As Portugal reopens to tourists early next month, the sector is banking on a new generation of tourism tech startups to enable safety and reassure visitors
Drone Hopper: Firefighters of the future
A senior Airbus engineer from Spain has developed heavy-duty autonomous drones to quell wildfires safely
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