Second speaker announcement
Our second speaker lineup raises the bar featuring a bold mix of innovators, disruptors, and thought leaders. With diverse perspectives and fresh insights, they spark new ideas, unexpected collaborations and thought-provoking discussions. Get ready for another round of inspiration—here’s who’s joining the stage next:
Halla Tómasdóttir
↪ President of Iceland
Halla Tómasdóttir became the first female CEO of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce in 2006. She later co-founded Auður Capital, promoting ethical finance, and was a key organizer of the 2009 National Assembly on Iceland’s future post-crisis. She chaired WE2015, a global gender equality dialogue, and led The B Team (2018–24), advocating responsible business. Halla became Iceland’s president on 1 August 2024.
Navid Samandari
↪ Founder and investor
Navid Samandari is a seasoned founder and investor in sustainable development and environmental innovation. With a wealth of experience in creating scalable solutions, he’s passionate about driving positive change with a specific focus on the energy transition. Navid’s practical insights stem from two decades as a startup founder and angel investor, most recently co-founding companies such aseaborg Technologies, next-generation nuclear reactor developer, and its spinout Hyme Energy, grid-scale thermal energy storage.
Bryan Sivak
↪ Evidenced Capital
Bryan Sivak is co-founder and managing partner at Evidenced Capital, investing in early-stage healthcare companies. He serves on the boards of Vesta Healthcare and Osso VR and was previously SVP of Technology at Centene and a leader in Medicaid transformation at Kaiser Permanente. He served as CTO at HHS under Obama, Maryland’s Chief Innovation Officer, and DC’s CTO. Earlier, he founded InQuira, later acquired by Oracle.
Sara Lind Guðbergsdóttir
↪ Climeworks
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.
Michelle Capiod
↪ Blume Equity
Michelle Capiod is co-founding partner of Blume Equity, a specialist climate tech growth equity firm investing in European climate tech scale-ups. She has spent the last 20+ years as a VC and private equity investor. She was previously a partner at Mid Europa Partners and investment banker in the Energy & Power team at Merrill Lynch. Michelle is passionate about supporting purpose-driven entrepreneurs who are tackling the climate emergency and leveraging technology to create a more sustainable world.
Sigurlaug Guðrún Jóhannsdóttir
↪ Heima
Sigurlaug "Silla" Guðrún Jóhannsdóttir is the Co-Founder and COO of Heima, an Icelandic startup helping families and roommates manage household chores through a fun, fair app. She holds a BSc in Software Engineering from HR and an MBA from Boston University, focusing on entrepreneurship. Previously, she helped develop the Icelandair app and has extensive experience in app design, with a strong interest in AI integration and user-friendly design.
Heidi Lindvall
↪ Pale blue dot
Heidi Lindvall is a founder and General Partner of Pale blue dot, an early stage VC investing in scalable technology companies. Pale blue dot has two funds of €180M AUM investing in founders solving our largest problems in Europe and US. Prior to starting Pale blue dot, Heidi was a documentary filmmaker working with human rights issues, a tech startup founder building tech for good and in operational roles running various startup accelerators and a microfund.
Tzvete Doncheva
↪ Pt1
Tzvete is the International Investor Relations Lead at PT1, a European VC fund investing in transformative technologies. Since joining in 2021, she has helped expand PT1’s international LP base and contributed to closing Fund 1 (>€50M) and Fund 2’s first closes (>€50M). Previously a TV journalist and UK correspondent, she is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and advises The Entrepreneurs Network while serving as a non-exec at Girls in Charge.
Riaan Dreyer
↪ Íslandsbanki
Riaan Dreyer has extensive experience in business solutions and IT for financial institutions, having led software development at Arion Bank and IT at Standard Bank and Liberty Life in South Africa. He holds a Master’s in IT from the University of Pretoria, a BSc in Actuarial Science, and degrees in Economics and Business Administration from universities in South Africa, Spain, and the UK.
Charlotte Biering
↪ DEI expert
Charlotte is an award-winning diversity and inclusion leader with over 15 years of experience in consulting and industry. She excels in developing DEI strategies that align with organizational goals, creating lasting impact for both people and business. Her multidisciplinary background enables her to see strategic connections and foster synergies among diverse groups, ideas, and challenges. Having lived and worked in over a dozen countries, Charlotte thrives in multicultural environments and complex stakeholder networks.
Curious and compassionate, Charlotte is a principled leader who motivates others around a shared vision. Her expertise spans managing DEI and talent programs, advising senior management and boards, and delivering large-scale initiatives that drive meaningful cultural change.
Fabian Siegel
↪ 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.
Gummi Hafsteinsson
↪ AI
entrepreneur
Gummi has been working in the field of AI for almost two decades, and is currently working on opportunities in the field of generative AI. He's also the chairman of Icelandair. His experience include being a product management director at Google, leading product development for Google Assistant. He joined Google in 2014 through the acquisition of Emu, a chat based virtual assistant startup he founded in 2012. Prior to Emu, he was VP Product at Siri, and stayed on for the acquisition by Apple through the launch of Siri on iPhone 4S. Prior to Siri/Apple, Gummi was a senior product manager at Google, where he managed the initial launches of Google Maps for mobile and Google Voice Search.
Gummi holds an MBA degree from MIT and a B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iceland.
Theodór Ragnar Gíslason
↪ Defend Iceland
Theodor Ragnar Gíslason, a leading cybersecurity expert, specializes in offensive security and community-driven innovation. He has discovered zero-day vulnerabilities, advised major companies, and led high-impact security assessments, including for Dropbox. As co-founder of Adversary (acquired by Secure Code Warrior), he helped develop a secure coding platform. Now, he leads Defend Iceland, a nationwide bug bounty platform, and serves as CTO of Syndis, Iceland’s top cybersecurity firm, driving innovation and national security.