Organization

EXECUTIVE AND ADVISORY TEAMS

Executive Team

Sebastien Torre, President & CEO, EAEC - San Francisco, CA
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastientorre

Mr. Sebastien Torre has 20+ years of successful experience in the leadership and management of international marketing/sales and corporate/business development teams/divisions of various technology firms. Partner and founder of Venture Development International, LLC and Venture & Capital International LLC (1999), Mr. Torre has directly participated in the US, EU and international business development, strategic marketing, venture capital funding and M&A efforts of 100+ small, medium and large (some public) European and US software, hardware and wireless companies; including long term executive/VP roles at SWT SA acquired by Captiva Software and then acquired by EMC, and at Captaris, Inc. acquired by Opentext.
For the last 10 years, in addition to offering global executive search and capital/grant advisory services for local and international tech firms, Sebastien has been focusing on co-developing and implementing Ecosystem Management Programs and Platforms for Transatlantic Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
In January 2020, Sebastien Torre joined Temple University – Small Business Development Center as a part-time Senior Consultant for ENRICH in the USA Programs and Platforms.

Dave Mosby, Director Capital Access, EAEC - San Francisco, CA
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastientorre

Director, Capital Access acceleration programs for early-stage business leaders and new angel investors who participate in EU and corporate-sponsored learning programs, derived from direct Silicon Valley successes, which equip international participants to accelerate their access to capital, networks/knowledge, and other resources essential for their enterprises to thrive in the US and beyond. Dane is an entrepreneur, investor, and educator expert at equipping entrepreneurs, investors, and innovation centers to accelerate success by resonating with each other.

German Loperena, Vice President, and Managing Director, EAEC - Madrid, Spain
Linkedin: http://es.linkedin.com/in/loperena

Mr. German Loperena, Aerospace Engineer and MBA, has more than 16 years experience in business development, management and international relations. Infrastructures, Transportation, Energy, ITC, Industry and Aerospace are his main areas of interest.
Managing partner of S&F International and European American Enterprise Council Board Member, Mr. Loperena has helped construction, engineering, IT, Cleantech, Energy and Aerospace companies from abroad to develop their business in the USA. German has worked with several US and European States and Public Institutions in order to promote trade, by organizing trade missions, as well as implementing business development and investment programs.

Blandine Chantepie-Kari, Vice President, University & Entrepreneurship - Soft Landing Programs, EAEC - Philadelphia, PA
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blandinechantepie

Blandine Chantepie-Kari, international strategist, has more than 10 years of experience advising companies on business development in the US, Canada, France, and beyond. She specializes in planning entry strategies to new markets, creating a network of business partners, and establishing a foreign branch.
In January 2014, Blandine, as the co-director of the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia Chapter, created the Global Access soft-landing program for incubators and universities as a partnership with the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. Global Access supports the local community to welcome international businesses and foreign entrepreneurs as they invest and launch their enterprises in the United States. It provides mentoring and guidance on how to overcome various obstacles, such as the American business climate, immigration, cross-cultural differences, and capital investment.
Previously, Blandine worked with the French company Claremont as the US Director of Sales & Business Development for the Medical and Railway Divisions. In 2005, Blandine joined the Montréal, Québec branch of Enterprise Rhône-Alpes International (ERAI), the French business development agency of the Rhône-Alpes region. After four years, she was hired by ERAI US, based in Atlanta, Georgia, to open and manage their office in Philadelphia. Blandine also served as Project Manager for the Regional Council of Picardie in France. Blandine received a Master’s Degree in Economics, majoring in International Management from the International School of Business and Management of Lille (IESEG) in France. She did her Master’s thesis at the University of Texas at El Paso - Border Studies Department.
Blandine has experience in a wide range of industries, including Healthcare, Environment, Information Technology, Packaging, Customer goods, Defense, Transportation, Electrical and Electronics Manufacturing, Entertainment, Textile and Food.
In March 2020, Blandine joined Temple University – Small Business Development Center as an Instructor & International Business Consultant, and to support the new International Incubator. Since March 2021, she became Program Manager, International Programs. She is managing the ENRICH in the USA – European Network of Research and Innovation Centers and Hubs – program funded by the European Commission. As a consortium partner, Temple SBDC leads the ENRICH initiative in the USA with the support of NCURA National Council of University Research Administrators.

Fahima Sadaoui-Ramos, Vice President and Managing Director, EAEC - Paris, France
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/fahimasadaouiramos

Fahima has been working for more than 20 years in the international development of companies. In this capacity, from 2007 to 2018 she was Head of North America (United States, Canada, Quebec) within the International Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Ile-de-France Region. Its mission was to advise, prepare and support a number of ILE-de-France SMEs for the targeted countries.
Recently, Fahima was Attaché for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Québec Government Office in Paris. She also took the role of part tie executive director at the CDEFQ – Cercle des Dirigeants d’Entreprises Franco-Québécois, as well as part time project director at ENRICH Global to supportthe NGI Enrichers EU funded initiative.
With a background in Marketing and International Economics, graduated from a DESS (Master2) in International Business at Sorbonne University. In March 2013, she graduated from the Executive MBA Paris Sorbonne – CELSA (Management, Communication and Societies. She is also a lecturer on the Practice of International Trade with students in Master 2 International Relations and Actions Abroad at the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne.

Marc Cohen, Vice President, IoT - Las Vegas, NV
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-cohen-b0597a2/

Mr. Cohen’s experience helping to manage and grow a profitable family business was the driving force behind the start of his entrepreneurial life and which has driven him through his career. This all started at the age of 22 when he moved to Geneva, Switzerland to join a family business. The company, called Lumiverre, designed, manufactured, and installed false ceilings including technical and decorative lighting systems. Over the course of 7 years, Mr. Cohen learned the whole business expanding his knowledge in building construction to acoustics, sound engineering and electricity. He also had the fortunate opportunity to successfully manage a factory with one of Lumiverre’s sister companies located in Morocco.
During one project in 1980, during the construction of the Noga Hilton Geneva, Mr. Cohen established a good relationship with the executives of the Noga Group, owners of hotels in Europe and Nigeria, and specialists in commodity exports to Africa. So in 1984, he joined the Noga Group as VP Procurement focused on technical goods. He lived and extensively traveled throughout Europe, Asia and Lagos, Nigeria.
In 1988, he was significantly involved in the renovations of the Noga Hilton Geneva, including the selection, design and purchase of the automatic mini-bar systems, which would be installed in this 410-room hotel. He was so impressed with this concept that he partnered with two engineers to start Bartech Systems two years later. Bartech (www.bartech.com) designs, manufactures, markets and installs automatic mini-bars in qualified hotels worldwide.
Bartech is the undisputed worldwide leader for automatic minibar systems for the hospitality industry. More than 320,000 of these high-end online minibars have been installed across 53 countries in a range of hospitality properties from cruise ships to some of the largest casino resorts to high-end and boutique hotels. With his partner Mario Agrario, they have invented and patented a new concept of online double-door minibars. Bartech has won various awards within the hospitality industry.

Nathalie Louis, Senior Innovation Director and Creative Industries specialist
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denathalielouis/

26 years experienced in the private cultural sector in a large international company Sacem. Management of a Business Unit of 80 M€ / year . Member of the Innovation Committee strategic recommendations to Comex. Support for business transformation projects and tools, impacting customers, employees and organization (automation and data management). In close partnership with media and tech providers AMOA on calls for tenders from technical service providers (recognition algorithms / tracking of musical works).
As Senior Innovation Director and Creative Industries specialist, Nathalie has joined EAEC and built an international network of innovative design or consulting actors to bring creativity to the workplace. Today Nathalie has a dual skill set: consulting in innovation strategy for cultural and creative industries and advising board of growing companies.
Independent Qualified Director member of the ADAE (Association of Business Leaders and Directors), Coordinator and editor of the working group "governance and the new HR deal" (publication by Editions de l'Harmattan to come). Certification research paper in progress (April 2023) "the administrator facing cyber risk". Member of the IFA association (French Institute of Directors) and EIC club (independent directior of Innovative and Growth Companies).
Executive MBA ESG-Paris Strategy Consulting and Digital Transformation. Executive MBA CELSA-Paris Sorbonne Management Communications and Societies. Master 2 Pro Human Resources and Social Diagnosis Master of Economic and Social Administration University of Paris - Pantheon Sorbonne.

François Modarresse, Vice President, Media/Broadcast, EAEC - Las Vegas, NV
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francois-modarresse-482172

François Modarresse runs a consulting practice and marketing services company for broadcast, media and big data technologies. François brings over 25 years of experience in the industry with senior positions in companies ranging from start-ups to multi-billion dollar global corporations. Prior to AdvemTV, he was Vice President of Marketing at Dolby Laboratories, Skystream Networks (now part of Ericsson) and Director at Philips Electronics.

Nathalie Rouviere, Vice President, Life Sciences, EAEC - San Francisco, CA
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathalierouviere

Nathalie Rouviere, PhD, has led multi-center multi-year research collaboration between academia and pharmaceutical industry, fostering and validating the concept of “network of experts”.
She has a track record of success in strategic planning, branding the science and launching educational campaigns in pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech industry for high profile products in US and outside US (developed and emerging markets) to position these companies as leaders and achieve double-digits annual sales growth. Her past companies include Merck, Aventis, Boston Scientific, and Baxter.
The success of these campaigns was a consequence of relying on evidence-based medicine, working closely with scientific experts and clinical investigators, and most importantly, focusing on the patients’ needs. She is the recipient of 4 industry awards, and author of 32 publications and presentations.

Oscar Garcia, Vice President, Aviation, Aerospace and Space Transportation Industry, Managing Director, EAEC - Miami, Florida
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/oscar-garcia/0/7b3/79a

Oscar Garcia is the founding Partner, Chairman and CEO of InterFlight Global Corporation (IFG), an aviation, aerospace and space economic, business and financial development consulting and advisory firm, in business in the United States of America since 1992.
He is a Senior Board Advisor, Consultant and Project Leader in the areas of Air-Aviation, Aerospace and Space Transportation Private-Public; Economic Development, Strategic Planning, Financing, Sales and marketing and also optimization of Commercial Spaceflight Operations and Investments worldwide.
Oscar is the Chairman of the Fast Forward Group, a leading Suborbital Transportation Think Tank with an intense focus on Point to Point space transportation. He also serves as an FAA-Aviation Safety Team member, US DOT FAA/AST Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) member and active on both the Operations and Reusable Launch Vehicles and International Space Policy Working Groups.
His business experience ranges from funding start up ventures to designing joint ventures amongst large aerospace conglomerates. His expertise includes, but is not limited to the design, set up, growth and expansion of aerospace companies, their sales and support networks networks as well as their relevant support investment Boards and Committees.
Oscar holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aviation Science and Technology with an Aerospace Engineering specialization from San Diego State University, as well as a Masters Degree in Aviation and Aerospace Business Administration (MBA) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He holds FAA/JAR Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor licenses.

Advisory Team

Luc Julia, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/luc-julia/0/11/975

Dr. Luc JULIA is Vice President and Innovation Fellow at the Samsung Strategy and Open Innovation Center. He’s responsible for defining the vision and strategy for the Internet of Everything by creating an open ecosystem for connected objects. JULIA previously directed Siri, Apple’s personal voice assistant, and was Chief Technologist at Hewlett-Packard, leading a global team of architects and developers. He also co-founded several companies, including ORB Networks, inventing “Place Shifting”, the remote, ubiquitous, streaming of multimedia assets. He started his career at SRI International where he created the Computer Human Interaction Center which was involved in the development of the first smart refrigerator and car as well as the creation of Nuance Communications, now the World leader in Speech Recognition. JULIA holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris, as well as BS and MS degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University Pierre & Marie Curie.

Mike Lucas, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mikelucassd10

Mike Lucas is the CEO of Audyssey Labs.
Mike is a consumer product and technology leader with deep experience across industries, technologies, business lifecycles and cultures. He is recognized for leadership in solving complex issues through strategic creativity, marketing & sales innovation, analytical rigor and disciplined process.
Mike led Sony’s Television, Sound, Personal Computer and Recording Media Divisions in the fast-paced consumer electronics industry for 12 years. Most recently, as SVP/GM of the Home Entertainment and Sound Group, he captured #1 share in the 4K Ultra HD TV segment through the successful launch of this premium TV technology. Mike also developed, launched and operated the world’s first 4K movie download service. With his Sound team, he drove 67% growth of the premium audio portfolio. As head of the Personal Computer division, Mike spearheaded a consumer-centric focus that led to a #1 customer service ranking and also launched Sony’s first tablet products.
Mike has extensive brand building, leadership and new product development expertise from over a decade in consumer packaged goods at Kraft Foods / Nabisco and Clorox. He brings a strong analytical approach, professional curiosity, global focus and cultural sensitivity originating from international work experience and his engineering background. Mike holds an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology. Mike enjoys running, golf, skiing and cheering for baseball and field hockey.

Bertrand Leroux, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/bertrand-leroux/19/18a/787

Bertrand Leroux has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Head of Global Strategic Sourcing for Activision Blizzard since August 2012. In this capacity, he is responsible for defining Activision’s global information technology strategies; oversees the company’s infrastructure, telecommunications, security and corporate applications; and managing the company’s sourcing strategies, competencies by work closely with all business units and functions to anticipate/plan external vendor needs, and build enduring vendor relationships.
Prior to this position, from 2008 – 2011, Leroux was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Activision Blizzard.
Prior to joining Activision Blizzard, Leroux held various senior executive positions with Vivendi Games, most recently serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer from 2000 - 2008, where he oversaw global information technologies and strategies for the company. Between 2002 and 2003, Leroux was also the Special Advisor to the Vivendi Corp CIO based in NY.
Prior to joining Vivendi Games in April 2000, Leroux spent 10 years with The Walt Disney Company in Europe and in the US. Most recently, he served as the Director of Operations and Technology for the Global Licensing division for Disney Consumer Products where he spearheaded several major technology initiatives, including the global licensing system implementation.
Leroux began his career in 1987 with SKF Distribution, the French subsidiary of SKF Company, an industrial bearings Supply Company based in Sweden.
Leroux holds two Masters Degrees in Finance and in Logistics, IS and Organization from the University of Paris IX Dauphine in France. He also holds two French Baccalauréat, one in Mathematics and Physics and a second in Economics.

Pascal Guillard, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/pascal-guillard/0/248/222

Pascal is Vice President Global Sales at ST Microelectronics. Pascal is a 28-year Semiconductors Veteran with successful leadership positions in Sales, Marketing and operations at STMicroelectronics and Motorola Semiconductors. Based in California, he is responsible for Global Sales at ST Microelectronics. On top of his nanotechnologies Ecosystem knowledge he has expertizes in 5P Marketing, Sales Channels, Strategic Relationship, People & Talent Management, Culture and Change Management, KPI, Cost Saving, Productivity and Coaching. Pascal speaks French, Spanish and English.

Jacques Chirazi, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jchirazi

Jacques Chirazi is the Program Manager for San Diego’s Clean Tech Initiative. He is responsible for promoting, fostering and coordinating strategic alliances and collaborations among local, regional, state and federal institutions to develop and execute a clean technology business attraction strategy. His focus is the creation of economic growth and environmental sustainability by developing a clean technology cluster in San Diego. Prior to this position, Jacques was Senior Program Manager at Bainbridge Inc., a strategic management consulting firm which provides consulting services to Fortune 500 companies (e.g. Yahoo, HP, NCR, DuPont de Nemours, United Technologies).
He received a Master degree from University of California San Diego’s Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies with an emphasis in International Environmental Policy and a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from San Diego State University’s School of Business Administration. He currently teaches sustainability and clean technology courses to business students at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University. Finally, Jacques is a Certified Energy Manager (C.E.M), Renewable Energy Professional (R.E.P) and LEED-GA.

Benjamin Vallat, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminvallat

Benjamin is Vice President Business Development at Twitch.
Before working at Twitch, he was working at Zeepro as Executive VP of Operations and Partnerships.
Before Zeepro, Benjamin joined Gameloft – a leading global publisher of digital games on smartphones & tablets – in 2008. He first served as Country Manager for Brazil where he built from the ground up a 12 million dollars business in 3 years. He then moved to the U.S. to assume the Sales Director position for North America before overseeing the worldwide operations with key partners like Apple, Google or Amazon. In 2013, Gameloft became the n°2 most popular publisher across all platforms.
Before this, Benjamin held different product management positions within a major CPG company (Henkel).
Graduated from ESSEC – one of the foremost Business Schools in Europe – Benjamin resides in San Francisco, where he can enjoy his passion for sports, mainly surfing and trail running.

Paul Yantus, Senir Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/paulyantus

Paul Yantus brings over 20 years of senior management experience to EAEC having successfully led international businesses offering enterprise products and services. Mr.Yantus has led successful startups, acquired and divested companies throughout Europe and the US, guided a division of a large company through a period of accelerated growth, and has even done a successful turn-around. Prior to joining EAEC, Mr. Yantus was CEO of Vizit, a SharePoint ISV he founded, and then CMO at Sightcall, a French company specialized in WebRTC API'S for online video calls. Mr. Yantus has held senior positions with Captaris (now Open Text), Scan-Optics, MSX International and the Eastman Kodak company.

Olivier Lauvray, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivier-lauvray-ab077514/

Olivier Lauvray is a highly technical executive with more than 25 years of international experience in all facets of the semiconductor industry. His experience spans from technology and product development, to go-to-market and international sales development. During 15 years in Motorola and Freescale Semiconductors, he initiated and grew the very successful i.MX processor product line, as well as several connectivity technologies.
Entrepreneur and CEO of 4 companies in US and in Europe, he built and led teams to develop and successfully brought to market a variety of advanced hardware and software technologies, products and services for the large semiconductor, mobile/telecom/IoT, networking/storage, automotive or multimedia industry players. Linking the dots between technology, business and people to create market value, Mr Lauvray has established a broad worldwide network of partners and industry connections, enabling acceleration and scalability.
Olivier has a BS/MS degree in Electronics & Telecom from Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC).

Ping Wang, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hpwang

Ping is EIR at TechStars, New York, specialszed in IoT, and was the Technical Director at Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator, powered by Techstars, in San Diego, CA.
Ping is an entrepreneur, scientist, and engineer who focuses on bridging and finding synergies between disparate realms of technical and business disciplines, as well as cultures. He founded a startup accelerator program in San Diego, the Ansir Innovation Center, which hosts a dozen or so early-stage technology companies and facilitates mentorship, business development, and funding for them. He is a also “Visioneer” (strategy innovation engineering) at Mytek International, a diversified business group that now produces over 200 products in the home appliance and consumer electronics space with operations and sales in Asia, US, and Latin America, and is a major brand in Latin America, with as much as 60% market share in various home appliance segments. Recently, he has led new initiatives in innovation and design, spearheading a ‘Venture Manufacturing’ model to accelerate commercialization of product concepts by local entrepreneurs. Prior to these efforts, he also founded and spun out VEA Technologies, a branded consumer electronics design company focused on display technologies. He has worked in various silicon valley startup companies as well as larger icons such as Hewlett-Packard/Agilent.
Ping received an interdisciplinary PhD in Computational Neuroscience at the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego in addition to a double major B.S. degree in Computer Science and Biology from Stanford University, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, also from Stanford, and has been published in a number of high level scientific and technical journals, such as Science and IEEE, and was a Mayfield Fellow in the highly-selective entrepreneurship training program of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.

Robert Reyes, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/robert-reyes-balcorta/5/2a/397

Robert Reyes is a partner at Plug & Play Tech Center San Diego, CA.
Upon his return to San Diego in 2007, Robert co-founded StartupCircle, a group that supports entrepreneurs. StartupCircle is today the partner and representative organization of San Diego Plug and Play Tech Center headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA. In addition, he was the President of San Diego Young Entrepreneurs, a 300+ member organization dedicated to bringing together networking and resources in support of local entrepreneurs.
Robert Reyes has 12 years experience in the field of Sales, Marketing, Quality and Supply Chain Management. He founded SafeHaven International in 1999 and based upon its success decided to expand and develop Nordic Mode with his partner Matt Olaiz. Robert has been helping both Nordic and U.S. based firms to expand into the United States, as well as helping American companies reach Nordic markets.

Thierry Buffiere, Senior Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/thierry-buffière/1/594/b69

Thierry Buffiere is the US General Manager of the French Company Eliot.
Mr. Buffiere brings more than 14 years of successful experience in Sales, Marketing and Business Development from various technology companies.
Based in Southern California, he has been primarily focused on business activities in Europe, North, Central and South Americas with expertise in High Tech, Energy and New Medias. Mr. Buffiere currently works as a Management Consulting Executive within the Innovation and Product Development practice of a big four consulting firm. He spent most of his career with Dassault Systemes, the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solutions, simulation and CAD software leader, helping fostering innovation through engineering and manufacturing operation and strategy optimization. Mr Buffiere worked also as a Project Engineer in the Energy and Industrial Equipment industries at Alstom Power Conversion US during the late 90s.
Being adept at global networking and a trusted expert in new technologies, he has been serving as a French Trader Commissioner (Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur) in the South West US section since 2008 and was appointed treasurer of that section in 2010.
Mr. Buffiere holds an Engineering Masters degree in Electronics from the Polytech' Engineering School, Montpellier, France and is a professional engineer.

Samantha Simonnet, Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthasimonnet

Samantha Simonnet is Senior Director Talent Acquisition at Intrexon Corp.
Mrs. Simonnet is also the Founder and Managing Director of C-MONet, the Cleantech Management and Organization Network, a Cleantech & Sustainability Human Capital & Organizational Consulting Firm.
Samantha is considered a pioneer in the field of green jobs and sustainability careers, having been focusing on human capital applied to cleantech and alternative energy namely in France, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, India, China and the US on technologies ranging from utility scale solar, biomass, energy efficiency and green buildings to water and energy storage. She has extensive international recruiting, organizational consulting, corporate training and executive coaching experience, acquired with leading outfits such as Amonix, Boyden Executive Search, the Center for Creative Leadership Asian Research Institute.
Presently, Samantha is also an instructor with the University of California Irvine Extension and with Cal State University Fullerton Center for Sustainability. She chairs the Cleantech Open in Orange County and serves on the Advisory Committee for CleanTech OC. She is a regular speaker at cleantech and green career conferences.
Samantha holds a MBA from the University of Surrey, in the UK with a major in Entrepreneurship and Organizational Development. She wrote her senior thesis on Globalization, Leadership and International Team Performance, discussing issues of cross cultural management, flexpatriation, the knowledge worker and employee engagement.

Tomas Hagenfeldt, Advisor, EAEC
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomashagenfeldt

Tomas Hagenfeldt is CFO and administrative director at Grat Connection, Inc. Tomas served as a mentor at The Kauffman Center for Venture Education in Palo Alto. Tomas was also President of Acceleratus Inc, a Swedish soft-landing site for early stage high-tech companies that want to establish themselves in Southern California. Prior to Acceleratus, Tomas was involved as a mentor and coach in a number of successful spin-offs from the University of Linköping in Sweden. He served on a consultancy basis at the LEAD Incubator and was part of the team that developed LEAD to one of the top producing Incubators in Sweden.
Between 1989 and 2000, Tomas worked within the financial industry in Sweden. Notable is that during 1992 and 1998, Tomas was Vice President and Head of Institutional Equity Sales at Handelsbanken, one of the largest Nordic banks with offices not only in the Nordic area but also in London, Paris and New York City. At Handelsbanken, he led his team of sales and analysts to be ranked among the top in the Nordic’s.Tomas started his career as an auditor at KPMG and after five years he started his own business together with family members. A few years later he started to work for a large consultancy firm in Stockholm, Sweden, mainly supporting financial departments at large corporations.
With his broad experience from many different sectors and sizes of companies, Tomas is well suited for the role as mentor to entrepreneurs. An understanding of the mechanisms that successfully drives a venture as well as an ability to inspire young professionals is also factors that have contributed to Tomas much appreciated involvement in many start-ups.