2021 Agenda
The Business Booster is your opportunity to meet some of the most influential people and companies behind the energy transition, among whom the first female president of Ireland and UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, a Nobel peace prize winner, the CEO of Schneider Electric France, the creators behind the 150+ cutting edge technologies that are driving the energy transition, and more.
TBB.2021 Programme
The Business Booster is the world’s leading event in sustainable energy innovation. You will hear from expert speakers, witness live panel debates, join in interactive sessions, and discover over 150 cutting edge sustainable energy technologies.
08:00 - 09:15
Welcome Desk open
09:30 - 09:45
Welcome
TBB Plenary Room
, CEO, EIT InnoEnergy
09:45 - 10:00
Opening address
TBB Plenary Room
, Innovation Director, EIT InnoEnergy
10:00 - 10:15
Keynote message
TBB Plenary Room
, Vice President, European Commission
10:15 - 10:30
Keynote address
TBB Plenary Room
, Head of Group M&A, Investment Advisory and Partnerships at Volkswagen AG
10:30 - 11:30
Networking coffee break
Exhibition Area
11:30 - 13:00
Pitching sessions
Breakout Room 1
Breakout Room 2
13:00 - 14:30
Networking lunch
Exhibition Area
13:30 - 14:30
Pitching sessions
Breakout Room 1
Breakout Room 2
14:30 - 15:00
Keynote addresses: Building a sustainable battery value chain
TBB Plenary Room
, Industrial Strategy Executive, EIT InnoEnergy
, Advisory Board for the US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm
15:00 - 16:00
TBB Plenary Room
, Global Head of Sustainable Capital Markets at Banco Santander
, Head of Climate and Environmental Impact at European Investment Fund (EIF)
, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Clean Energy Ventures
, Managing Partner at Klima Energy Transition Fund
, Head of Equity Listing at Euronext
16:00 - 17:00
Networking coffee break
Exhibition Area
16:15 - 17:00
Breakout Room 2
17:00 - 18:00
Pitching sessions
Breakout Room 1
17:00 - 18:00
Breakout Room 3
, Co-Founder & Partner, Assembly Ventures
, CEO at Acton
, CEO, Avocargo
, CEO and Co-founder of DUCKT, DUCKT
, CEO and Co-founder of ONOMOTION, ONO
, Thematic Field Leader Energy for Transport and Mobility, EIT InnoEnergy
08:00 - 09:15
Welcome Desk open
09:30 - 09:40
Keynote address
TBB Plenary Room
, Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
09:40 - 09:45
Keynote message
TBB Plenary Room
, European Commissioner for Energy
09:45 - 10:30
TBB Plenary Room
, Chief Operating Officer Hydrogen of RWE Generation SE, RWE Generation SE
, Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Industry, IKEA Industry
, Industrial Strategy Executive, EIT InnoEnergy
10:30 - 10:45
Keynote address
TBB Plenary Room
, Chief Operating Officer Hydrogen of RWE Generation SE, RWE Generation SE
10:45 - 11:30
Networking coffee break
Exhibition Area
11:30 - 13:30
Pitching sessions
Breakout Room 1
Breakout Room 2
12:15 - 13:15
Breakout Room 3
, Technical Director at Synkero
, CEO EIT InnoEnergy Benelux
, Senior Policy Manager at Transport & Environment Germany
, SVP Strategy & Operations Programs, Deutsche Post DHL Group
, Senior Investment Associate - Repsol Corporate Venturing
, Global Head of Strategic Business Development & Sales at Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG
, Founding Partner at Flightlevel500
, Commercial Director, European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center
, Technical Director at European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center
Session sponsored by Repsol
13:15 - 14:45
Networking lunch
Exhibition Area
13:45 - 14:45
Breakout Room 3
, Co-Founder and Board Advisor, Vulcan Energy Resources
, Managing Director CZ Euro Manganese
, Policy manager, EIT InnoEnergy and European Battery Alliance
, CEO, Savannah Resources PLC
, Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
, Managing Director of Mining, Metals and Industries Finance, Regional Head EMEA & CIS, Société Générale
, Manager for Raw Material Procurement and Strategic Market Development, Mercedes-Benz AG
13:30 - 14:45
Breakout Room 1
14:45 - 15:15
Pitching finals
TBB Plenary Room
15:15 - 15:30
Keynote addres
TBB Plenary Room
, Group Vice President Research & Innovation at ENGIE
15:30 - 15:35
EIT InnoEnergy photo contest grand finale
TBB Plenary Room
15:35 - 15:50
Pitching awards
TBB Plenary Room
15:50 - 16:00
Closing
TBB Plenary Room
, CEO, EIT InnoEnergy
Diego Pavía
CEO, EIT InnoEnergy
Diego Pavía is a serial entrepreneur, having created seven companies in his lifetime. His main endeavour is to innovate, create – and implement operationally – all with the objective of creating value.
He is an electrical engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, with a major in electronics and automation. In 1988, he was as co-founder and CEO of a start-up, Knowledge Engineering, dealing with industrial controls systems using artificial intelligence and neural networks. Three years later he joined Sema Group, and started a long career with private companies. In SchlumbergerSema, Diego headed multicultural working groups all over the world in the field of energy, with revenues of $650M. Between 2002 and 2010, Diego was the CEO of Atos Origin, a leading international IT service provider, where he was responsible for Spain and South America, about 9,000 employees, and an annual turnover of €450 million.
Since 2010 and under Diego’s leadership, EIT InnoEnergy has become the largest global organisation supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable energy, having directly deployed €650M to nearly 500 innovative products and services.
Elena Bou
Innovation Director, EIT InnoEnergy
Besides her academic career in the fields of knowledge management, collaborative innovation and entrepreneurship, Elena Bou developed her professional career in the field of management consulting in both private and public companies. In 2010 she co-founded EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
She contributed to create InnoEnergy’s trusted innovation ecosystem which operates in more than 26 countries. In Elena’s Innovation Director role, she led the development of major efforts in creating and accelerating new start-ups and scale-ups in the energy field, including the investment process in such ventures. As a result, the company has now supported nearly 500 start-ups, including two unicorns.
Maroš Šefčovič
Vice President, European Commission
Maroš Šefčovič is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving as the Vice-President of the European Commission for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight, coordinating the Energy Union (EU Battery Alliance). From 2010 to 2014, he was the European Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, and for Energy from 2014 to 2019. He stood for office in the 2019 Slovak presidential election.
His area of responsibility includes leading the Energy Union, establishing a European Energy Union by connecting infrastructures, enforcing legislation and increasing competition to help drive down costs for citizens and businesses and boost growth, working to prevent energy shortages, diversifying sources of energy imports and ensuring a united European voice in negotiations to improve our energy security, helping to mobilise additional investment in power grids, renewable energy installations and other energy infrastructure, improving energy efficiency, and coordinating the Commission’s efforts to ensure the EU reaches its climate and energy targets for 2020 and 2030.
Jens Wiese
Head of Group M&A, Investment Advisory and Partnerships at Volkswagen AG
Jens Wiese is the Head of Group M&A, Investment Advisory and Partnerships at Volkswagen AG. He has held multiple roles during his tenure at VW, including as Head of Group Battery Strategy.
He is a member of the Supervisory Board of QuantumScape Corp. Prior to joining VW, he served as a management consultant and held senior roles at AlixPartners and Roland Berger, focusing on the automotive and other industrial sectors.
He holds an MBA from Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich.
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Solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, ocean power
Breakout Room 1
EasySolar
ecoligo
ENER-PACTE
EzzingSolar
Peafowl Solar Power
PVComplete
Qualifying Photovoltaics
Feedgy
ROSI
Solean
SteadySun
Sunroof
ACT Blade Limited
Aerones
Nabrawind
Vertequip
WTS – Wind-Tuning-Systems
Fibersail
Technology from Ideas
X1 Wind
CorPower Ocean
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Energy storage and batteries raw materials
Breakout Room 2
Sylfen
VoltStorage
Ecovat
instagrid
Altris
Elestor
Rivus
Silbat
Volterion
BeePlanet Factory
Graphenix
MECAWARE
The Batteries
WATTALPS
Euromanganese
Savannah Resources
Vulcan Energy
AC Biode
NAWATechnologies
Skeleton Technologies
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Transport & mobility
Breakout Room 1
Acton
ATAWEY
AVO Mobility
CaCharge
DroidDrive
DUCKT
E-bility
Elaphe Propulsion Technologies
Gleam
Hardt Hyperloop
HYGEN
Mob-Energy
Navlandis
ONOMOTION
Pamyra
Scoobic
SmartMonkey
THE ECLOUD COMPANY
Volytica diagnostics
Zeleros
ZEPHYRE
ZPARQ
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Power DSO & TSO, district heating grid, off-grid
Breakout Room 2
Bamboo Energy
Hepta Airborne
Ringhel
STEMY ENERGY
Tokwise
ENERGIOT DEVICES
Enline Digital Twin
SCiBreak
Spottitt
ConnectPoint
DC Brain
AMPnet
BENOO ENERGIES
Blubik
MPower Ventures
SolarWorX
SOLshare
Bo Normark
Industrial Strategy Executive, EIT InnoEnergy
Bo Normark is a pivotal figure in the field of energy storage. Having served in the electrical engineering industry working for ABB for nearly 40 years, Normark became Thematic Leader for smart grids and storage at EIT InnoEnergy, before settling into his current role as Industrial Strategy Executive, and being the mind behind the EBA, the European Battery Alliance.
As a member of numerous leadership boards and advisory roles, both in his native Sweden and abroad, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences to the Renewable Energy Institute of Japan, Bo looks to not only inspire innovation, but actually transform the industry and achieve a sustainable energy future for Europe, and turn ideas into reality.
Philip Giudice
Advisory Board for the US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm
Phil Giudice has over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry as a geologist, consultant, entrepreneur, executive, CEO, board director and State energy official.
Most recently Phil served as Special Assistant to the President for Climate policy during the start-up of the Biden Administration, focused principally on the power sector. Previously he was CEO of Ambri, and senior executive at EnerNOC (now EnelX), as well as Massachusetts Undersecretary of Energy and was founding Treasurer and Vice Chair for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Currently, Phil is Board Chair for FirstLight Power, a leading clean power producer and energy storage company in New England, with a portfolio that includes nearly 1.4 GW of pumped-hydro storage, battery storage, hydroelectric generation, and solar generation. FirstLight aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the electric grid by owning, operating, and integrating large-scale renewable energy and storage assets to meet the region’s growing clean energy needs and to deliver an electric system that is clean, reliable, affordable, and equitable.
Victoria Land
Global Head of Sustainable Capital Markets at Banco Santander
Victoria joins Santander CIB as Global Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, bringing with her over 8+ years of experience in sustainable banking and finance, having previously worked at CA-CIB, HSBC and Fidelity in the ESG / Sustainability area.
Prior to joining SCIB, Victoria was Head of Sustainable Banking, APAC + Middle East for CA-CIB, based in Hong Kong. There she was involved across all Corporate, FIG and SSA clients funding needs in Green /Social /Transition and Sustainability-linked format with recent focus on developing the APAC Green and Sustainability Linked markets business, structuring APACs first Green Swap and Green Guarantee.
Prior to this, Victoria established and built up the HSBC Sustainable Bonds team from early 2015 – end 2018, where she was based in London. With primary responsibility for EMEA clients, she supported the build out of US and APAC satellite teams. Here she was involved in the structuring of several inaugural frameworks across Corporate, FIG and SSA and Sovereign clients in Green, Social and Sustainability, Transition and Sustainability Linked format.
In both prior banking roles Victoria was an active contributor to the ICMA Green Bond Principles Executive Committee, also holding cp-chair roles in a couple of the historic Working Groups.
Before this, Victoria was an ESG investment analyst at Fidelity Worldwide Investments, based in London, but speaking to the global equity and fixed income portfolio manager and analyst teams.
Adelaide Cracco
Head of Climate and Environmental Impact at European Investment Fund (EIF)
Adelaide Cracco currently leads the department for Climate and Environmental Impact at EIF. She holds an MBA from the University of Navarre (Spain) and a Master’s in Economics and International Relations from the University of Louvain (Belgium).
EIF was founded in 1994 to support Europe’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by enhancing their access to finance. EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this sense, the EIF has played a significant role in the growth of a venture capital market in Europe.
Above all, EIF sees the venture capital industry strongly supporting innovative European entrepreneurs that are at the forefront of global disruption, primarily in technology (ICT) and life sciences, but also across various other sectors.
Daniel Goldman
Co-Founder & Managing Director, Clean Energy Ventures
Daniel Goldman covers over 25 years of energy industry experience in strategy, corporate and project finance, and project development, as well as private equity/asset investment and early-stage venture investing.
Beside holding a wide range of advisor and board roles worldwide, Dan has been investing at the project and venture stages for most of his career with over $4 billion in transactions completed. He has also focused on policy advocacy work to bring investors, policy makers and technology developers together to address issues of finance, scale-up and commercialization, among other key issues.
Clean Energy Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage climate tech companies commercializing disruptive advanced energy technologies that can grow to scale and address global climate disruption. Clean energy innovations are poised to disrupt markets and achieve extraordinary growth in the coming decade.
Bastien Gambini
Managing Partner at Klima Energy Transition Fund
Using his years of experience in Venture, Private Equity and Project Finance, and a strong background in financial analysis, Bastien Gambini has been investing across Europe and North America in both Venture and Private Equity. He holds specific knowledge of Environment and Energy industries (including renewable energy, waste and water treatment, energy efficiency, smart grid).
Former Managing Director for Europe at Equinor Ventures, he previously led the Spanish team at Demeter Partners as Partner and worked for Société Générale and Caisse des Dépôts. He has led deals in the renewable, power-grid, waste-management, artificial-intelligence and energy industries. Bastien has been a board member to more than 12 companies and holds two post-graduate degrees in Finance from Paris University Panthéon-Assas, and an MBA from INSEAD.
Aurélien Narminio
Head of Equity Listing at Euronext
Aurélien Narminio is Head of Equity Listing at Euronext. Prior to joining Euronext in 2019, initially as Chief of Staff to the Group CEO, Aurélien worked in foreign exchange sales within the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities division of Goldman Sachs in London, and then as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Paris. Aurélien holds a Master in Business Administration from INSEAD, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics.
15:00 - 16:00
Roundtable: Green money and sustainable investing
TBB Plenary Room
Green money and sustainable investing
In the last years we have seen that sustainable portfolios are positively correlated with financial performance. “Doing money, making good” is not an oxymoron anymore. Therefore, the need for sustainable investments has grown dramatically in recent years, and so has the pressure on investors to integrate sustainability factors in their investments.
In this parallel session we will discuss the situation of green finance, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria and the behaviour of green portfolios from different perspectives, including public and private investors. Considering that this is still a new field, are investors equipped to measure the impact of their portfolios? How will they do it? Is it a legitimate willingness to contribute to a more sustainable world or is it just the latest trend? Is the investment industry running the risk of greenwashing or exaggerated valuations?
16:15 - 17:00
Reverse pitching session
Breakout Room 2
Time | Topic | Presenter | |
16:15 | Engie | Help us build the Energy Transition!
If you have technologies and solutions to make our gas infrastructures greener, our renewable assets more competitive, our energy services smarter, let’s talk! ENGIE has ambitious plans for building and co-creating the low carbon solutions of the future. |
Csilla Kohalmi-Monfils
Innovation Ecosystems Director, ENGIE Fab at ENGIE |
16:30 | Repsol | Introducing Repsol Corporate Venturing | Roberto Ruiz, Senior Investment Associate, Repsol Corporate Venturing |
16:45 | BWCon | Green and Digital Cooperation with Industry in Baden-Württemberg | Marc König, Head of Business Development / Member of the bwcon Management Board / Managing Director bwcon research gGmbH
Moritz Stahl, Consultant Business Development |
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Bioenergy & waste to energy, hydrogen, renewable gas & biofuels
Breakout Room 1
C-Green Technology
Meva Energy
NAODEN
Phoenix BioPower
ATHENA
Celcibus
Hymeth
HySiLabs
Mebius
AROL ENERGY
Deltalys
Enosis
INEX CIRCULAR
Jessica Robinson
Co-Founder & Partner, Assembly Ventures
Jessica Robinson is a mobility investor, entrepreneur, educator, and champion of Detroit.
As Co-Founder and Partner of Assembly Ventures, she invests in and strategically supports
the entrepreneurs and mobility companies moving the Western world. She joined Assembly
Ventures from her prior role establishing the Michigan Mobility Institute, an organization she
co-founded to accelerate the development of talent for the mobility industry.
Jessica previously led the development of next-generation mobility efforts at Ford Smart
Mobility where she was the Director of City Solutions, a team which supported go-to-market
strategies for the company’s entire mobility portfolio. As an early leader in the new mobility
industry, she was a key field leader at Zipcar, the world’s largest car sharing organization,
where she held roles in growth, operations, and marketing across North America.
Her background in technology and innovation includes prior work at Techstars launching
corporate startup accelerators with industry-leading partners like Target and Virgin Media.
She is an active startup mentor, advisor to the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund at the
University of Michigan, serves on the advisory board for the MS Robotics program at Wayne
State University, and is a micro lender who invests in women entrepreneurs and business
owners in Detroit.
This summer, Jessica served as a 2021 Detroit delegate to the Harvard Business School
Young American Leaders Program, an initiative that brings together cross-sector leaders to
drive new strategies for shared American prosperity. In recognition of her public-private
work she has also been named a Next City Vanguard, a competitive distinction for top young
urban innovators working to make change in global cities. Jessica previously served as
advisory board chair for PlanetM, an initiative of the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation, to connect startups to resources, testing, and pilot opportunities in the state. In
2020, she was appointed to the State of Michigan’s Workforce Development Board to
represent mobility businesses.
Jessica graduated with highest honors from the University of Massachusetts with a BA in
anthropology and brings an unexpected perspective to the challenges that fall at the
intersection of mobility and technology.
Janelle Wang
CEO at Acton
Janelle Wang is an Industrial Designer turned Entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in Strategic Product Development, Brand Building and New Category Creation & Design for Fortune 500s to Start Ups, bringing breakthrough Innovation and Sustainability to reality. She co-founded ACTON 7 years ago.
Designing the future of Intelligent Micromobility. ACTON is a Bay-Area based, Mobility As A Service (MaaS) solution provider, passionate about moving people and goods. Today, they are offering a platform to empower 100+ local businesses and cities globally to build greener and more efficient cities – starting with micromobility.
Janelle was selected as one of Remarkable Women in Transport 2020; SVIEF Top 30 Innovation Award 2019; one of 19 Influential Women In Mobility in 2019; awarded Female CEO of the Year in 2016; featured in WSJ, FastCompany, CNN, VOGUE, BBC etc. She is a regular keynote speaker and panelist in mobility events. She also holds over 30 utility & design patents.
Matti Schurr
CEO, Avocargo
Matti Schurr is the co-founder of Avocargo, launched in March 2021. His professional record in the mobility industry includes positions at SHARE NOW, Free2Move (formerly Carjump), and Porsche. After starting out in the marketing field, he now mainly focuses on product management. Matti holds a Master’s in Automotive Management from HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen.
Avocargo is Germany’s first free-floating e-cargo bike sharer. It allows end-users and businesses flexible access shared electric cargo bikes via the Avocargo app. Their aim is to enable urban life without owning cars – to transport larger items, children, pets and more.
Cagri Selcuklu
CEO and Co-founder of DUCKT
Cagri Selcuklu is the CEO and Co-founder of DUCKT, a smart micromobility infrastructure solutions company, that develops and operates docking, locking and charging infrastructure solutions for micro-mobility in urban environment.
A cosmopolitan, born in Turkey, he graduated with a masters in transportation in Italy and married in Norway, Cagri has worked in the automotive & mobility industries for over 15 years. He is a true believer that micromobility will become an indispensable part of our future in urban environments.
DUCKT was started with two co-founders, in 2019, with the objective to create the “USB standard” for the micromobility infrastructure, solve ecosystem issues, and create efficient and sustainable mobility services for all. Since then, DUCKT has become compatible with all major vehicle manufacturers & software providers globally, and has delivered 1000s of its charging stations across three continents and more than 20 countries. DUCKT is now an award-wining company holding several international recognitions around the globe.
Beres Seelbach
CEO and Co-founder of ONOMOTION
Beres Seelbach has been a leader and entrepreneur in e-mobility solutions for over 10 years. At 24, in 2009, he founded the e-mobility solutions company Lautlos, distributing electric vehicles, as well as providing electric fleet management and maintenance services. Lautlos pioneered in providing e-vehicles throughout Germany.
In 2016, Beres, along with co-founders Murat Günak (former head of design for Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen) and Philipp Kahle (light electric vehicles expert), founded Tretbox GmbH,now known as ONO, to rethink and reshape modern urban transportation.
ONO is introducing a new category of emissions-free vehicle: The ONO Pedal Assisted Transporter (PAT) to improve city-life quality by reducing road congestion and road pollution. After a successful launch of the ONO PAT in November 2018, ONO is currently conducting pilot projects with large European and global companies in the CEP, food and urban logistics markets to gear up for mass production and commercialization of the vehicles.
Jennifer Dungs
Thematic Field Leader Energy for Transport and Mobility, EIT InnoEnergy
Jennifer Dungs has spent nearly 20 years in the automotive industry, including Ford Motor Company (Detroit), BMW (Munich) and Porsche (Stuttgart). She has in-depth knowledge from the industry on topics related to sustainability (CO2 strategy, air quality), alternative powertrain technologies (energy storage, heat management), technologies and services (autonomous driving, sharing, mobility as a service, last mile mobility) and business models for digital products and services for mobility and Smart Cities.
Jennifer also was the Director at Fraunhofer, responsible for Mobility and Smart Cities and established a joint lab with MIT called Ambient Mobility focused on using big data to understand mobility patterns and create mobility solutions to help revolutionize our cities. She holds both a M.S. Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. Chemistry.
Jennifer is responsible for the strategic investments in Energy for Transport and Mobility at InnoEnergy.
17:00 - 18:00
Parallel session: Micromobility
Breakout Room 3
How micromobility can help to make the “15-minute city” a reality
Admittedly, it sounds a bit like Lala-land. Living in a city without the hassle of long, daily commutes, being exposed to air pollution and constant noise. Making this a reality is exactly what the “15-minute city” is all about: by creating neighbourhoods, in which all locations and amenities for people’s essential daily needs are only a 15-minute walk or bike ride away, including workplaces, schools, shops and restaurants, clinics, cultural institutions and parks. This incredible reimagination of our urban areas also calls for a fundamental change in how we move people and goods.
Micro-mobility set out with the aspiration to play a leading role in that transformation. However, the hasty and unsustainable manner, in which the first fleets were introduced to the market, has so far prevented it from living up to that promise. Short vehicle lifespans, insufficient coverage of use cases by the existing vehicle types or a lack of infrastructure are only some of the challenges that need to be addressed quickly. Thankfully, this is happening as we speak with some of our portfolio companies being at the forefront of making micro-mobility an indispensable part of our future urban transport system.
Join us as we talk with ONOMOTION, DUCKT and Avocargo about how they are contributing to creating a new urban mobility experience. One that is emission-free, convenient, efficient and – just like water from the tap – available when and where it’s needed.
Benoit Lemaignan
Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
Benoit Lemaignan is the co-founder and CEO of Verkor, a venture launched to accelerate the production capacity of low-carbon batteries in southern Europe, in collaboration with EIT InnoEnergy, Schneider Electric and the Groupe IDEC. Prior to the launch, EIT InnoEnergy brought Benoit on board to build synergies with the European Battery Alliance.
An aerospace engineer by training, Benoit is a serial entrepreneur. He previously founded and financed Waga Energy in 2015 and Aniah in 2019. He was also Managing Director of OSER ENR from 2015 to 2019 – a public-private partnership supporting the development of renewable projects. Earlier in his career, Benoit was a strategic advisor at Carbone 4 where his passion for energy and climate-related initiatives took root. From his time at Airbus, Benoit retains a strong drive for innovation and team work.
Kadri Simson
European Commissioner for Energy
Kadri Simson is the European commissioner for energy, a position she has held since December 2019. She previously held the position of minister of economics affairs and infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia from 2016 to 2019. During the Estonian presidency of the council of the EU (from July to December 2017), Simson chaired both the meetings of the energy ministers and transport ministers in the transport, telecommunications and energy (TTE) council as well as the meeting of economy ministers in the EU competitiveness council. From 2007 to 2016, she was a member of the Estonian Parliament (“Riigikogu”) and was re-elected in 2019. Simson has a degree in history at the University of Tartu and holds a master’s degree in political science from the University College London.
Dr. Sopna Sury
Chief Operating Officer Hydrogen of RWE Generation SE
Sopna joined the board of RWE Generation SE in February 2021, responsible for coordinating RWE’s hydrogen activities and driving strategy development, regulatory affairs and integration management.
At the start of her career in management consultancy with McKinsey & Company, Sopra mostly served clients in the financial services sector, and worked on transformation topics. She later joined the energy industry and held various positions at E.ON such as Director Energy Solutions, Director Business Development & Business Affairs for the renewables business and member of the inhouse consulting management team. At Uniper she was leading the area Energy Services & Infrastructure.
RWE all energy and resources are put towards making a sustainable life possible. Investing massively in expanding renewables and staying involved in innovative hydrogen projects, RWE is consistently reducing carbon emissions to become carbon neutral by 2040.
Benoit Lemaignan
Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
Benoit Lemaignan is the co-founder and CEO of Verkor, a venture launched to accelerate the production capacity of low-carbon batteries in southern Europe, in collaboration with EIT InnoEnergy, Schneider Electric and the Groupe IDEC. Prior to the launch, EIT InnoEnergy brought Benoit on board to build synergies with the European Battery Alliance.
An aerospace engineer by training, Benoit is a serial entrepreneur. He previously founded and financed Waga Energy in 2015 and Aniah in 2019. He was also Managing Director of OSER ENR from 2015 to 2019 – a public-private partnership supporting the development of renewable projects. Earlier in his career, Benoit was a strategic advisor at Carbone 4 where his passion for energy and climate-related initiatives took root. From his time at Airbus, Benoit retains a strong drive for innovation and team work.
Andreas Carlsson
Sustainability Manager, IKEA Industry
Andreas Carlsson is Sustainability Manager at IKEA Industry and a member of the Inter IKEA Supply Sustainability Management. He is responsible for leading an ambitious agenda on health & safety, forestry, environment, and supplier code of conduct, with a specific engagement and focus on the energy and climate transformation and the IKEA Climate Positive initiative.
IKEA Industry, part of the Inter IKEA Group, is the world’s largest producer of wooden furniture and an integrated part of the IKEA value chain. The company strives towards 100% renewable energy use in 2025 and a constant reduction of energy use, with the target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2025 from the baseline year 2016.
Bo Normark
Industrial Strategy Executive, EIT InnoEnergy
Bo Normark is a pivotal figure in the field of energy storage. Having served in the electrical engineering industry working for ABB for nearly 40 years, Normark became Thematic Leader for smart grids and storage at EIT InnoEnergy, before settling into his current role as Industrial Strategy Executive, and being the mind behind the EBA, the European Battery Alliance.
As a member of numerous leadership boards and advisory roles, both in his native Sweden and abroad, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences to the Renewable Energy Institute of Japan, Bo looks to not only inspire innovation, but actually transform the industry and achieve a sustainable energy future for Europe, and turn ideas into reality.
Agenda
09:45 - 10:30
Roundtable: Energy decarbonisation - facing a new industrial revolution
TBB Plenary Room
Energy Decarbonisation: Facing a new Industrial Revolution
History shows that the discovery of new technologies can constitute disruptive innovations with decisive effects on the economic development of a region, country, or an entire society. This Such was the case with the steam engine. Its introduction cemented British prosperity, and on it depended not only the economic growth of that country, but that of an entire society. Even then, it was understood that the energy issue had economic and social consequences.
For the last 250 years, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humankind has made tremendous progress using a fossil– fuel –driven economic –growth engine. Unfortunately, tremendous industrial progress has did not come without consequences for the environment, and today, the world relies heavily on the use of carbon-emitting processes in everyday life.
However, the transition to a low-carbon economy is finally accelerating, and we believe we are entering a decade of transformational change. Much of it will be driven by the convergence of three powerful trends: digitalisation, electrification and decarbonisation.
How are traditional industries facing this new industrial revolution? Is the new industrial revolution affecting their management? How are energy-intensive companies approaching these challenges? Is decarbonisation a myth or a reality? These and other questions will be tackled by relevant speakers coming from the industry leaders, industrial world and where the perspectives of newcomers and incumbents will offer a colourful conversation.
Dr. Sopna Sury
Chief Operating Officer Hydrogen of RWE Generation SE
Sopna joined the board of RWE Generation SE in February 2021, responsible for coordinating RWE’s hydrogen activities and driving strategy development, regulatory affairs and integration management.
At the start of her career in management consultancy with McKinsey & Company, Sopra mostly served clients in the financial services sector, and worked on transformation topics. She later joined the energy industry and held various positions at E.ON such as Director Energy Solutions, Director Business Development & Business Affairs for the renewables business and member of the inhouse consulting management team. At Uniper she was leading the area Energy Services & Infrastructure.
RWE all energy and resources are put towards making a sustainable life possible. Investing massively in expanding renewables and staying involved in innovative hydrogen projects, RWE is consistently reducing carbon emissions to become carbon neutral by 2040.
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Residential & non-residential buildings, municipalities
Breakout Room 1
ABORA ENERGY
Busto
Dom’innov
Duschkraft
Ferroamp Elektronik
HPS Home Power Solutions
Klugit Energy
OGGA
Pionierkraft
Samster
Supersola
Verv
Watch-E
Woon Duurzaam
Bine Sp.
Cloud Energy Optimizer
Ecotropy
Energy Floors
MODIO
vilisto
Wind my Roof
Agronergy
Glowee
OmegaLambdaTec
SEEDiA
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Solutions for the industry
Breakout Room 2
AEInnova
Alent Dynamic
ALPINOV X
BBKW
Cascade Drives
ECO-TECH CERAM
EcoBean
Energiency
Energysquare
FineCell Sweden
FlexiDAO
foreseeti
Graphmatech
Heat Power
HeatVentors
HELIAC
Infinite Foundry
iPoint-systems
KOENA tec
MAQAB
NitroCapt
Nordluft
OneWatt
Percy Roc
POLY TO POLY
Sensorfact
Simplex Motion
Stockholm Water Technology
SurfCleaner
Astrid Schilderman
Technical Director at Synkero
Astrid Schilderman is Technology Director at Synkero, a start-up developing PtL Sustainable Aviation Fuel production capacity, with a first facility in the Port of Amsterdam. Astrid has over 10 years international experience in the Oil & Gas industry at Shell, where she worked in engineering, operations, commissioning and start-up, and project management. In 2017 she moved to the renewable energy industry, focusing on wind project development. She holds a M.Sc. in chemical engineering from Delft University of Technology.
Astrid joined Synkero in 2020. Together with partners Municipality of Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam, Royal Schiphol Group, SkyNRG and KLM, Synkero will focus on realizing a first commercial SAF factory in the Port of Amsterdam. The project will seek to connect with sustainable initiatives in the North Sea Canal area, such as the Hermes project.
Jacob Ruiter
CEO EIT InnoEnergy Benelux
Jacob Ruiter has held various positions in a wide variety of companies all related to energy. In his previous role he was the Director, Country Manager Energy Advisory of Benelux at DNV GL, where he was responsible for energy and renewables advisory activities in the Benelux, Africa and Middle East.
Previous to that, he worked for Dutch Utilities company, Essent, where he had a number of roles including Managing Director for metering data, Managing Director for local energy solutions and Managing Director for B2B.
Jacob began his career with oilfield service company, Schlumberger, as a wire-line field engineer. It was from there that he moved onto more commercial roles, starting with the position of Regional Manager Europe for drill pipe manufacturer Grant Prideco.
Jacob holds an M.Sc. in Mining Engineering from the Delft University of Technology and an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management.
Jekaterina Boening
Senior Policy Manager at Transport & Environment Germany
Jekaterina Boening is committed to finding sustainable solutions for the decarbonisation of the transport sector: electrification of road transport and conversion of air and sea transport to green e-fuels. She is a pragmatic climate protector who works solution-oriented and evidence-based.
Transport & Environment (T&E) is Europe’s leading NGO campaigning for cleaner transport. Jekaterina strongly believes in innovation, but not to rely on it, and considers ensuring a future that is worth living in for the next generation the most important goal of her work.
Dr. Andreas Mündel
SVP Strategy & Operations Programs, Deutsche Post DHL Group
Dr. Andreas Mündel has been in various strategic roles in the consulting and logistics industry for the past 20 years. After studying physics, he initially worked for management consultancy company McKinsey. He later transferred to Deutsche Post DHL in 2004 as Head of DHL Express Europe.
He is now SVP of Group Strategy and responsible for strategic projects in the production area, including Clean OPS teams, lead of the Sustainable Fuel project, Center of Excellence Automation of Operations, and Group OHS team and Patent Management. In addition, Dr. Mündel coordinates the agenda of the Operations Board, which includes the divisional board members for Operations in addition to the CEO.
Sandra Blázquez Borrás
Senior Investment Associate - Repsol Corporate Venturing
Sandra Bláguez Borrás holds a degree in Chemical Engineering with 17 years of experience in Repsol. Her extended experience comprises the R&D area and the field of Health, Safety and Environment for industrial assets.
In 2019, Sandra joined the Repsol Corporate Venturing team where she manages a technological fund, seeking to invest in start-ups with disruptive technologies that can help Repsol achieve its strategic objectives. One of the fields she is focusing on is investments in hydrogen technologies to meet the relevant challenges the industry is facing. Repsol is committed to achieving to be a Zero Net Emissions Company by 2050.
Karsten Rick Radtke
Global Head of Strategic Business Development & Sales at Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG
Karsten Rick Radtke is the Global Head of Business Development at Thyssenkrupp, an international group of companies comprising largely of independent industrial and technology businesses. He repatriated to Germany after 6 years in the USA where he took on P&L responsibility and developed a history of working in the global and North American marketplace for technology-driven engineering and EPC industry.
Karsten is a strong process-technology related sales and business development professional, skilled in Chemical, Gas, Petroleum, Fertilizer, Hydrogen, Advanced Power Solutions, Hydrocarbon Conversion (oil, natural/shale gas, coal, biomass, waste), Syngas, Synfuels, e-Fuels, Biofuel, Gasification, Steam Reforming, Propane Dehydrogenation, Green Chemicals, Green Hydrogen, Green Ammonia, Green Methanol, Chlor-Alkali Electrolysis, Water Electrolysis, Petrochemicals and Plastics, Polyolefins, Oleochemicals, etc.
Nico Buchholz
Founding Partner at Flightlevel500
Nico Buchholz is an accomplished global Executive with 30 years unique international experience covering all continents, mostly in the Aerospace (OEM & Airline) industry and Rail and Leasing (GOAL, Malta). Culturally astute to interact globally, he has a strategic view based on sound market knowledge and focus on sustainable business. Nico is one of the founding partners at FlightLevel500, a management firm specialized in Transport and Mobility.
Carina Krastel
Commercial Director, European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center
Carina Krastel works at EIT InnoEnergy, a European public-private partnership, as the Commercial Director of the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center (EGHAC) – an initiative supported by Breakthrough Energy.
The EGHAC will focus on supporting and accelerating large scale industrial green hydrogen projects to reduce CO2 emissions in value chains like steel making, fertilizer production, synthetic fuel production, shipping etc.
Carina Krastel is a sustainable energy engineer with experience in engineering, business and innovation. Since 2009, she has worked in the construction and the industrial gas industry on sustainable energy, air quality and innovation topics. Prior to joining InnoEnergy, Carina worked as the Director for New Offers for the Energy Transition for the Large Industry Business of Air Liquide, a French industrial gas company, focusing on offers for green hydrogen and carbon capture solutions.
Camel Makhloufi
Technical Director at European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center
Camel Makhloufi has held several positions in the energy sector mostly dedicated to the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries. In his previous role; he was co-managing, within the french utility company ENGIE, a group key program dedicated to electrofuels and e-molecules (e.g green ammonia, methanol, aviation fuel and so on). He has also been working in the last 5 years within ENGIE R&D hydrogen team as a key-expert ; leading the R&D pillar related to power-to-X, hydrogen transport and storage. He acted as one of ENGIE representatives within hydrogen Europe and IEA tasks and has been acting as coordinator of european and national projects.
Camel holds a PhD in process engineering from the University of Lorraine related to CO2 capture from thermal power plants.
12:15 - 13:15
Parallel session: Hydrogen for sustainable aviation fuels industry: understanding challenges to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the aviation industry
Breakout Room 3
Hydrogen for sustainable aviation fuels industry: understanding challenges to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the aviation industry
During the panel, we will explore how a value chain approach can enable the implementation of large-scale green hydrogen projects to decarbonize aviation fuels, as well as the policy and regulatory environment required to decarbonize this sector. The value chain approach integrates all relevant actors of a value chain (especially end off-takers) needed to produce a decarbonized end-product. Taking this approach enables risk-sharing, joint strategic alignment, and agile implementation which helps overcome common barriers of green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects.
Dr. Horst Kreuter
Co-Founder and Board Advisor, Vulcan Energy Resources
Dr. Horst Kreuter is a geologist and civil engineer who graduated at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. He founded the first geothermal development company in Germany in 1999 and has since then been an expert in geothermal energy working worldwide. In 2018 he co-founded Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd, a company registered on the Australian Stock Exchange with the goal to produce a Zero Carbon LithiumTM product for the battery industry in Europe.
Jan Votava
Managing Director CZ Euro Manganese
Jan Votava is a highly skilled and respected Czech engineer and executive leader, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering. For 17 years, he held various managerial roles at LafargeHolcim, the world’s largest construction-materials company, including Head of Transformation Team for Europe, Technical Director for Central Europe, Executive Chairman and Managing Director for the Czech Republic. He also played a leadership role with the team that developed, constructed and optimized a €250 million cement plant in Hungary for Lafarge. He is currently responsible for leading Mangan Chvaletice s.r.o., Euro Manganese’s subsidiary in the Czech Republic including the company’s organizational and reputational development, as well as project permitting and development.
Ilka von Dalwigk
Policy manager, EIT InnoEnergy and European Battery Alliance
Ilka von Dalwigk is a senior technology and policy expert, keen on shaping and operationalizing policy visions into concrete actions and recommendations.
Ilka has more than ten years of experience in the energy transition in commercial, public, private, and policy environments with in-depth knowledge of major research and policy issues covering the battery value chain from the supply of raw materials to applications.
Notably, Ilka is the Policy Manager for Smart Grid and Storage working with the industrial development programme of the European Battery Alliance – EBA250 – with a strong focus on sustainability and supply chain topics. She has been instrumental in building up and managing the vast and complex network of the stakeholders in this initiative, as well as developing the set of recommendations that contributed to the design and content of the 43 actions that have been identified as necessary by the European Battery Alliance, to make the EU a key player in the global battery market.
David Archer
CEO, Savannah Resources PLC
David is a non-practising Barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, holds a B.Ec and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He has had wide experience in the mining industry for over 30 years, with specific expertise in the development and operation of copper/gold projects. David has held executive and non-executive roles in a number of listed companies and has been actively involved in the international resources industry. He was the Senior Independent Director of Anglo Pacific Group Plc from 2014 to 2019. He is the former Managing Director and Deputy Chairman of Savage Resources Limited, Managing Director of Hillgrove Resources Limited, Executive Chairman of PowerTel Limited and Chairman of Hostworks Group Limited. He was a director of Eastern Star Gas Limited from 2006 to 2009.
Benoit Lemaignan
Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
Benoit Lemaignan is the co-founder and CEO of Verkor, a venture launched to accelerate the production capacity of low-carbon batteries in southern Europe, in collaboration with EIT InnoEnergy, Schneider Electric and the Groupe IDEC. Prior to the launch, EIT InnoEnergy brought Benoit on board to build synergies with the European Battery Alliance.
An aerospace engineer by training, Benoit is a serial entrepreneur. He previously founded and financed Waga Energy in 2015 and Aniah in 2019. He was also Managing Director of OSER ENR from 2015 to 2019 – a public-private partnership supporting the development of renewable projects. Earlier in his career, Benoit was a strategic advisor at Carbone 4 where his passion for energy and climate-related initiatives took root. From his time at Airbus, Benoit retains a strong drive for innovation and team work.
Christophe Roux
Managing Director of Mining, Metals and Industries Finance, Regional Head EMEA & CIS, Société Générale
Managing Director of Mining, Metals and Industries Finance, Regional Head EMEA & CIS, Société Générale
Christophe Roux has more than 20 years experience in natural resources financing and advisory, of which 20 years in extractive industries. As a Regional Head, Christophe supervises the execution of arranging and advisory mandates in Middle East, Africa, Europe, Russia and Central Asia across the different minerals value chains
Between 2006 and 2017, in charge of SG’s upstream oil&gas finance activity in the same region, he and his team led the execution of approx. 70 arranging and advisory mandates. Previously Christophe has been heading origination of structured commodity transactions in Paris and Singapore. He graduated at the University of Cologne and started his career in Frankfurt.
Tobias Abt
Manager for Raw Material Procurement and Strategic Market Development, Mercedes-Benz AG
Tobias Abt is Manager for Global Raw Material Procurement and Strategic Market Development at Mercedes-Benz AG. Tobias has been working for the company for about seven years and has occupied different functions within the Mercedes-Benz procurement and strategy departments in Germany, China and the US. In his current role, he leads the global raw material strategy, especially for future oriented raw materials within the field of electro mobility and international market observation for direct material sourcing.
Tobias has an engineering background from the University of Applied Science Ravensburg, Germany, with a specialization in international management and manufacturing engineering. Furthermore, he holds a master’s degree in Management of Innovation and Business Development from Halmstad University, Sweden and studied in Bangkok, Shanghai and Tokyo in the field of business model innovation and automotive.
13:45 - 14:45
Parallel session: Powering the clean energy transition with sustainable batteries
Breakout Room 3
Powering the clean energy transition with sustainable batteries
The European Battery Alliance has in just a few years turned Europe into a hotspot for investments along the entire battery value chain; rapidly closing the investment gap with its major Asian competitors. Driven by the latest targets set by the “Fit for 55 package”, the shift towards electrification of the transport sector will further accelerate, thus increasing tremendously the demand for battery materials. Forecasts show a 80% market share for EVs in Europe by 2030. But the EU is yet dependent on importing more than 80% of the necessary battery materials.
Access to sustainable raw materials is therefore not only an important cornerstone in building a European battery value chain, it is also a strategic security question for Europe’s ambition to deliver the Green Deal. However, European projects are often still perceived as high-risk investment projects, due to low public acceptance and a lack of understanding on how in fact can contribute to achieve Europe’s climate goals. Highlighted since the launch of the European Battery Alliance, this is now a prioritised area for actions in the Strategic Action Plan on Batteries.
With a focus on the need for the development of a sustainable supply chain for the battery industry in Europe, executives from the industry and financial sectors will share their visions of the future, and discuss what is in the making and what requires further developments. A wonderful opportunity to engage and contribute to this recently focused thematic area.
13:30 - 14:45
Reverse pitching session
Breakout Room 1
Topic | Presenter | ||
13:30 | EDF | How the CVC of EDF works with startups to build a low carbon future?
The venture capital investment strategy of EDF is driven by one goal: make carbon neutrality possible thanks to innovative products and services. |
Guillaume Lesueur
Corporate Venture Capital fund of EDF |
13:45 | LIFEproETV project | Presentation of LIFEproET project that promotes and builds skills and capacities for the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) scheme. The ETV is a voluntary EU environmental scheme, which provides a consistent approach to independent verification of performance and environmental impact of new cleantech solutions, with the aim of promoting trust and making benefits clear to users. The scheme can work as a marketing booster for SMEs and start-ups offering cleantech innovations, and as a de-risking tool for buyers and investors. | Izabela Ratman-Kłosińska
Manager, ETV |
14:00 | Repsol | Presentation of Repsol Foundation’s opportunities for entrepreneurs. | Homayoun Bagheri, Manager, Entrepreneurs Fund, Repsol Foundation |
14:15 | Berlin Partner for Business and Technology | Berlin’s Startup Ecosystem – Opportunities for International Innovators | Janis Gummersbach
Senior Manager Energy Technologies, Berlin Partner |
14:30 | Schneider | Presentation of Edge programme and SE Corporate Venturing. The Edge programme invests in new ideas, emerging technologies and business models that both challenge and complement the Schneider Electric of today. SE Ventures is a venture capital fund created in partnership with Schneider Electric and provides capital for big ideas and bold entrepreneurs, who can benefit from Schneider Electric’s deep domain expertise, R&D assets and global customer base, with a focus on energy management, electric mobility, cybersecurity, Al, and Industry 4.0. | Mariette Oudin,
EMEA Business Incubation Leader, Innovation@edge, SE Ventures |
Olivier Sala
Group Vice President Research & Innovation at ENGIE
Olivier Sala was appointed the Group Vice President of Research & Innovation at ENGIE in July 2021. Passionate about energy & carbon transition challenges and how technologies can contribute, Olivier is an experienced VP with a demonstrated history of working in the Energy and Services industry.
In 1993, Olivier Sala graduated from the University of Technology in Compiègne with a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, and in 1996 from ESSEC. He began his career at Air Liquide before moving into consulting at A.T. Kearney, followed by the Boston Consulting Group.
ENGIE is a leading world group that provides low-carbon energy, and aims to meet the challenges of climate change by achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2045. Guided by its objective statement, ENGIE reconciles economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet, using its expertise in four core businesses: renewable energy, energy solutions, networks, thermal generation and energy supply.
Diego Pavía
CEO, EIT InnoEnergy
Diego Pavía is a serial entrepreneur, having created seven companies in his lifetime. His main endeavour is to innovate, create – and implement operationally – all with the objective of creating value.
He is an electrical engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, with a major in electronics and automation. In 1988, he was as co-founder and CEO of a start-up, Knowledge Engineering, dealing with industrial controls systems using artificial intelligence and neural networks. Three years later he joined Sema Group, and started a long career with private companies. In SchlumbergerSema, Diego headed multicultural working groups all over the world in the field of energy, with revenues of $650M. Between 2002 and 2010, Diego was the CEO of Atos Origin, a leading international IT service provider, where he was responsible for Spain and South America, about 9,000 employees, and an annual turnover of €450 million.
Since 2010 and under Diego’s leadership, EIT InnoEnergy has become the largest global organisation supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable energy, having directly deployed €650M to nearly 500 innovative products and services.

2021 Keynote speakers
Maroš Šefčovič
Vice President, European Commission
Maroš Šefčovič is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving as the Vice-President of the European Commission for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight, coordinating the Energy Union (EU Battery Alliance). From 2010 to 2014, he was the European Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, and for Energy from 2014 to 2019. He stood for office in the 2019 Slovak presidential election.
His area of responsibility includes leading the Energy Union, establishing a European Energy Union by connecting infrastructures, enforcing legislation and increasing competition to help drive down costs for citizens and businesses and boost growth, working to prevent energy shortages, diversifying sources of energy imports and ensuring a united European voice in negotiations to improve our energy security, helping to mobilise additional investment in power grids, renewable energy installations and other energy infrastructure, improving energy efficiency, and coordinating the Commission’s efforts to ensure the EU reaches its climate and energy targets for 2020 and 2030.
Kadri Simson
European Commissioner for Energy
Kadri Simson is the European commissioner for energy, a position she has held since December 2019. She previously held the position of minister of economics affairs and infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia from 2016 to 2019. During the Estonian presidency of the council of the EU (from July to December 2017), Simson chaired both the meetings of the energy ministers and transport ministers in the transport, telecommunications and energy (TTE) council as well as the meeting of economy ministers in the EU competitiveness council. From 2007 to 2016, she was a member of the Estonian Parliament (“Riigikogu”) and was re-elected in 2019. Simson has a degree in history at the University of Tartu and holds a master’s degree in political science from the University College London.
Adelaide Cracco
Head of Climate and Environmental Impact at European Investment Fund (EIF)
Adelaide Cracco currently leads the department for Climate and Environmental Impact at EIF. She holds an MBA from the University of Navarre (Spain) and a Master’s in Economics and International Relations from the University of Louvain (Belgium).
EIF was founded in 1994 to support Europe’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by enhancing their access to finance. EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this sense, the EIF has played a significant role in the growth of a venture capital market in Europe.
Above all, EIF sees the venture capital industry strongly supporting innovative European entrepreneurs that are at the forefront of global disruption, primarily in technology (ICT) and life sciences, but also across various other sectors.
Philip Giudice
Advisory Board for the US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm
Phil Giudice has over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry as a geologist, consultant, entrepreneur, executive, CEO, board director and State energy official.
Most recently Phil served as Special Assistant to the President for Climate policy during the start-up of the Biden Administration, focused principally on the power sector. Previously he was CEO of Ambri, and senior executive at EnerNOC (now EnelX), as well as Massachusetts Undersecretary of Energy and was founding Treasurer and Vice Chair for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Currently, Phil is Board Chair for FirstLight Power, a leading clean power producer and energy storage company in New England, with a portfolio that includes nearly 1.4 GW of pumped-hydro storage, battery storage, hydroelectric generation, and solar generation. FirstLight aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the electric grid by owning, operating, and integrating large-scale renewable energy and storage assets to meet the region’s growing clean energy needs and to deliver an electric system that is clean, reliable, affordable, and equitable.
Jens Wiese
Head of Group M&A, Investment Advisory and Partnerships at Volkswagen AG
Jens Wiese is the Head of Group M&A, Investment Advisory and Partnerships at Volkswagen AG. He has held multiple roles during his tenure at VW, including as Head of Group Battery Strategy.
He is a member of the Supervisory Board of QuantumScape Corp. Prior to joining VW, he served as a management consultant and held senior roles at AlixPartners and Roland Berger, focusing on the automotive and other industrial sectors.
He holds an MBA from Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich.
Benoit Lemaignan
Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
Benoit Lemaignan is the co-founder and CEO of Verkor, a venture launched to accelerate the production capacity of low-carbon batteries in southern Europe, in collaboration with EIT InnoEnergy, Schneider Electric and the Groupe IDEC. Prior to the launch, EIT InnoEnergy brought Benoit on board to build synergies with the European Battery Alliance.
An aerospace engineer by training, Benoit is a serial entrepreneur. He previously founded and financed Waga Energy in 2015 and Aniah in 2019. He was also Managing Director of OSER ENR from 2015 to 2019 – a public-private partnership supporting the development of renewable projects. Earlier in his career, Benoit was a strategic advisor at Carbone 4 where his passion for energy and climate-related initiatives took root. From his time at Airbus, Benoit retains a strong drive for innovation and team work.
Victoria Land
Global Head of Sustainable Capital Markets at Banco Santander
Victoria joins Santander CIB as Global Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, bringing with her over 8+ years of experience in sustainable banking and finance, having previously worked at CA-CIB, HSBC and Fidelity in the ESG / Sustainability area.
Prior to joining SCIB, Victoria was Head of Sustainable Banking, APAC + Middle East for CA-CIB, based in Hong Kong. There she was involved across all Corporate, FIG and SSA clients funding needs in Green /Social /Transition and Sustainability-linked format with recent focus on developing the APAC Green and Sustainability Linked markets business, structuring APACs first Green Swap and Green Guarantee.
Prior to this, Victoria established and built up the HSBC Sustainable Bonds team from early 2015 – end 2018, where she was based in London. With primary responsibility for EMEA clients, she supported the build out of US and APAC satellite teams. Here she was involved in the structuring of several inaugural frameworks across Corporate, FIG and SSA and Sovereign clients in Green, Social and Sustainability, Transition and Sustainability Linked format.
In both prior banking roles Victoria was an active contributor to the ICMA Green Bond Principles Executive Committee, also holding cp-chair roles in a couple of the historic Working Groups.
Before this, Victoria was an ESG investment analyst at Fidelity Worldwide Investments, based in London, but speaking to the global equity and fixed income portfolio manager and analyst teams.
Olivier Sala
Group Vice President Research & Innovation at ENGIE
Olivier Sala was appointed the Group Vice President of Research & Innovation at ENGIE in July 2021. Passionate about energy & carbon transition challenges and how technologies can contribute, Olivier is an experienced VP with a demonstrated history of working in the Energy and Services industry.
In 1993, Olivier Sala graduated from the University of Technology in Compiègne with a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, and in 1996 from ESSEC. He began his career at Air Liquide before moving into consulting at A.T. Kearney, followed by the Boston Consulting Group.
ENGIE is a leading world group that provides low-carbon energy, and aims to meet the challenges of climate change by achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2045. Guided by its objective statement, ENGIE reconciles economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet, using its expertise in four core businesses: renewable energy, energy solutions, networks, thermal generation and energy supply.
Dr. Sopna Sury
Chief Operating Officer Hydrogen of RWE Generation SE
Sopna joined the board of RWE Generation SE in February 2021, responsible for coordinating RWE’s hydrogen activities and driving strategy development, regulatory affairs and integration management.
At the start of her career in management consultancy with McKinsey & Company, Sopra mostly served clients in the financial services sector, and worked on transformation topics. She later joined the energy industry and held various positions at E.ON such as Director Energy Solutions, Director Business Development & Business Affairs for the renewables business and member of the inhouse consulting management team. At Uniper she was leading the area Energy Services & Infrastructure.
RWE all energy and resources are put towards making a sustainable life possible. Investing massively in expanding renewables and staying involved in innovative hydrogen projects, RWE is consistently reducing carbon emissions to become carbon neutral by 2040.
Bastien Gambini
Managing Partner at Klima Energy Transition Fund
Using his years of experience in Venture, Private Equity and Project Finance, and a strong background in financial analysis, Bastien Gambini has been investing across Europe and North America in both Venture and Private Equity. He holds specific knowledge of Environment and Energy industries (including renewable energy, waste and water treatment, energy efficiency, smart grid).
Former Managing Director for Europe at Equinor Ventures, he previously led the Spanish team at Demeter Partners as Partner and worked for Société Générale and Caisse des Dépôts. He has led deals in the renewable, power-grid, waste-management, artificial-intelligence and energy industries. Bastien has been a board member to more than 12 companies and holds two post-graduate degrees in Finance from Paris University Panthéon-Assas, and an MBA from INSEAD.
Aurélien Narminio
Head of Equity Listing at Euronext
Aurélien Narminio is Head of Equity Listing at Euronext. Prior to joining Euronext in 2019, initially as Chief of Staff to the Group CEO, Aurélien worked in foreign exchange sales within the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities division of Goldman Sachs in London, and then as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Paris. Aurélien holds a Master in Business Administration from INSEAD, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Daniel Goldman
Co-Founder & Managing Director, Clean Energy Ventures
Daniel Goldman covers over 25 years of energy industry experience in strategy, corporate and project finance, and project development, as well as private equity/asset investment and early-stage venture investing.
Beside holding a wide range of advisor and board roles worldwide, Dan has been investing at the project and venture stages for most of his career with over $4 billion in transactions completed. He has also focused on policy advocacy work to bring investors, policy makers and technology developers together to address issues of finance, scale-up and commercialization, among other key issues.
Clean Energy Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage climate tech companies commercializing disruptive advanced energy technologies that can grow to scale and address global climate disruption. Clean energy innovations are poised to disrupt markets and achieve extraordinary growth in the coming decade.
Andreas Carlsson
Sustainability Manager, IKEA Industry
Andreas Carlsson is Sustainability Manager at IKEA Industry and a member of the Inter IKEA Supply Sustainability Management. He is responsible for leading an ambitious agenda on health & safety, forestry, environment, and supplier code of conduct, with a specific engagement and focus on the energy and climate transformation and the IKEA Climate Positive initiative.
IKEA Industry, part of the Inter IKEA Group, is the world’s largest producer of wooden furniture and an integrated part of the IKEA value chain. The company strives towards 100% renewable energy use in 2025 and a constant reduction of energy use, with the target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2025 from the baseline year 2016.
Chris Burns
TBB moderator
Chris Burns is a Franco-American journalist and media expert with more than 30 years’ reporting
experience in Europe, the U.S., Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. He’s covered armed conflicts,
election battles, financial crises, natural and human disasters as well as film festivals. For Euronews he’s
been globetrotting to shoot magazine shows and was host of the hard talk show “The Network”. He was
a Bloomberg TV reporter based in Brussels and Berlin, and a CNN correspondent based in Germany and
the White House. He reported for the Associated Press from Paris, New York and Nashville. He’s also a
media consultant, media trainer and video producer, and has moderated panels including for the World
Economic Forum, OECD, OSCE, United Nations, World Bank and EU institutions. He graduated in political
economy at the University of California, Berkeley, and did post-grad studies in Europe. Chris speaks five
languages and has dual US-French nationality.
Diego Pavía
CEO, EIT InnoEnergy
Diego Pavía is a serial entrepreneur, having created seven companies in his lifetime. His main endeavour is to innovate, create – and implement operationally – all with the objective of creating value.
He is an electrical engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, with a major in electronics and automation. In 1988, he was as co-founder and CEO of a start-up, Knowledge Engineering, dealing with industrial controls systems using artificial intelligence and neural networks. Three years later he joined Sema Group, and started a long career with private companies. In SchlumbergerSema, Diego headed multicultural working groups all over the world in the field of energy, with revenues of $650M. Between 2002 and 2010, Diego was the CEO of Atos Origin, a leading international IT service provider, where he was responsible for Spain and South America, about 9,000 employees, and an annual turnover of €450 million.
Since 2010 and under Diego’s leadership, EIT InnoEnergy has become the largest global organisation supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable energy, having directly deployed €650M to nearly 500 innovative products and services.
Elena Bou
Innovation Director, EIT InnoEnergy
Besides her academic career in the fields of knowledge management, collaborative innovation and entrepreneurship, Elena Bou developed her professional career in the field of management consulting in both private and public companies. In 2010 she co-founded EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
She contributed to create InnoEnergy’s trusted innovation ecosystem which operates in more than 26 countries. In Elena’s Innovation Director role, she led the development of major efforts in creating and accelerating new start-ups and scale-ups in the energy field, including the investment process in such ventures. As a result, the company has now supported nearly 500 start-ups, including two unicorns.
Bo Normark
Industrial Strategy Executive, EIT InnoEnergy
Bo Normark is a pivotal figure in the field of energy storage. Having served in the electrical engineering industry working for ABB for nearly 40 years, Normark became Thematic Leader for smart grids and storage at EIT InnoEnergy, before settling into his current role as Industrial Strategy Executive, and being the mind behind the EBA, the European Battery Alliance.
As a member of numerous leadership boards and advisory roles, both in his native Sweden and abroad, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences to the Renewable Energy Institute of Japan, Bo looks to not only inspire innovation, but actually transform the industry and achieve a sustainable energy future for Europe, and turn ideas into reality.
2021 Parallel session speakers
Camel Makhloufi
Technical Director at European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center
Camel Makhloufi has held several positions in the energy sector mostly dedicated to the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries. In his previous role; he was co-managing, within the french utility company ENGIE, a group key program dedicated to electrofuels and e-molecules (e.g green ammonia, methanol, aviation fuel and so on). He has also been working in the last 5 years within ENGIE R&D hydrogen team as a key-expert ; leading the R&D pillar related to power-to-X, hydrogen transport and storage. He acted as one of ENGIE representatives within hydrogen Europe and IEA tasks and has been acting as coordinator of european and national projects.
Camel holds a PhD in process engineering from the University of Lorraine related to CO2 capture from thermal power plants.
David Archer
CEO, Savannah Resources PLC
David is a non-practising Barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, holds a B.Ec and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He has had wide experience in the mining industry for over 30 years, with specific expertise in the development and operation of copper/gold projects. David has held executive and non-executive roles in a number of listed companies and has been actively involved in the international resources industry. He was the Senior Independent Director of Anglo Pacific Group Plc from 2014 to 2019. He is the former Managing Director and Deputy Chairman of Savage Resources Limited, Managing Director of Hillgrove Resources Limited, Executive Chairman of PowerTel Limited and Chairman of Hostworks Group Limited. He was a director of Eastern Star Gas Limited from 2006 to 2009.
Dr. Horst Kreuter
Co-Founder and Board Advisor, Vulcan Energy Resources
Dr. Horst Kreuter is a geologist and civil engineer who graduated at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. He founded the first geothermal development company in Germany in 1999 and has since then been an expert in geothermal energy working worldwide. In 2018 he co-founded Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd, a company registered on the Australian Stock Exchange with the goal to produce a Zero Carbon LithiumTM product for the battery industry in Europe.
Jessica Robinson
Co-Founder & Partner, Assembly Ventures
Jessica Robinson is a mobility investor, entrepreneur, educator, and champion of Detroit.
As Co-Founder and Partner of Assembly Ventures, she invests in and strategically supports
the entrepreneurs and mobility companies moving the Western world. She joined Assembly
Ventures from her prior role establishing the Michigan Mobility Institute, an organization she
co-founded to accelerate the development of talent for the mobility industry.
Jessica previously led the development of next-generation mobility efforts at Ford Smart
Mobility where she was the Director of City Solutions, a team which supported go-to-market
strategies for the company’s entire mobility portfolio. As an early leader in the new mobility
industry, she was a key field leader at Zipcar, the world’s largest car sharing organization,
where she held roles in growth, operations, and marketing across North America.
Her background in technology and innovation includes prior work at Techstars launching
corporate startup accelerators with industry-leading partners like Target and Virgin Media.
She is an active startup mentor, advisor to the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund at the
University of Michigan, serves on the advisory board for the MS Robotics program at Wayne
State University, and is a micro lender who invests in women entrepreneurs and business
owners in Detroit.
This summer, Jessica served as a 2021 Detroit delegate to the Harvard Business School
Young American Leaders Program, an initiative that brings together cross-sector leaders to
drive new strategies for shared American prosperity. In recognition of her public-private
work she has also been named a Next City Vanguard, a competitive distinction for top young
urban innovators working to make change in global cities. Jessica previously served as
advisory board chair for PlanetM, an initiative of the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation, to connect startups to resources, testing, and pilot opportunities in the state. In
2020, she was appointed to the State of Michigan’s Workforce Development Board to
represent mobility businesses.
Jessica graduated with highest honors from the University of Massachusetts with a BA in
anthropology and brings an unexpected perspective to the challenges that fall at the
intersection of mobility and technology.
Benoit Lemaignan
Co-founder & CEO at Verkor
Benoit Lemaignan is the co-founder and CEO of Verkor, a venture launched to accelerate the production capacity of low-carbon batteries in southern Europe, in collaboration with EIT InnoEnergy, Schneider Electric and the Groupe IDEC. Prior to the launch, EIT InnoEnergy brought Benoit on board to build synergies with the European Battery Alliance.
An aerospace engineer by training, Benoit is a serial entrepreneur. He previously founded and financed Waga Energy in 2015 and Aniah in 2019. He was also Managing Director of OSER ENR from 2015 to 2019 – a public-private partnership supporting the development of renewable projects. Earlier in his career, Benoit was a strategic advisor at Carbone 4 where his passion for energy and climate-related initiatives took root. From his time at Airbus, Benoit retains a strong drive for innovation and team work.
Christophe Roux
Managing Director of Mining, Metals and Industries Finance, Regional Head EMEA & CIS, Société Générale
Managing Director of Mining, Metals and Industries Finance, Regional Head EMEA & CIS, Société Générale
Christophe Roux has more than 20 years experience in natural resources financing and advisory, of which 20 years in extractive industries. As a Regional Head, Christophe supervises the execution of arranging and advisory mandates in Middle East, Africa, Europe, Russia and Central Asia across the different minerals value chains
Between 2006 and 2017, in charge of SG’s upstream oil&gas finance activity in the same region, he and his team led the execution of approx. 70 arranging and advisory mandates. Previously Christophe has been heading origination of structured commodity transactions in Paris and Singapore. He graduated at the University of Cologne and started his career in Frankfurt.
Sandra Blázquez Borrás
Senior Investment Associate - Repsol Corporate Venturing
Sandra Bláguez Borrás holds a degree in Chemical Engineering with 17 years of experience in Repsol. Her extended experience comprises the R&D area and the field of Health, Safety and Environment for industrial assets.
In 2019, Sandra joined the Repsol Corporate Venturing team where she manages a technological fund, seeking to invest in start-ups with disruptive technologies that can help Repsol achieve its strategic objectives. One of the fields she is focusing on is investments in hydrogen technologies to meet the relevant challenges the industry is facing. Repsol is committed to achieving to be a Zero Net Emissions Company by 2050.
Janelle Wang
CEO at Acton
Janelle Wang is an Industrial Designer turned Entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in Strategic Product Development, Brand Building and New Category Creation & Design for Fortune 500s to Start Ups, bringing breakthrough Innovation and Sustainability to reality. She co-founded ACTON 7 years ago.
Designing the future of Intelligent Micromobility. ACTON is a Bay-Area based, Mobility As A Service (MaaS) solution provider, passionate about moving people and goods. Today, they are offering a platform to empower 100+ local businesses and cities globally to build greener and more efficient cities – starting with micromobility.
Janelle was selected as one of Remarkable Women in Transport 2020; SVIEF Top 30 Innovation Award 2019; one of 19 Influential Women In Mobility in 2019; awarded Female CEO of the Year in 2016; featured in WSJ, FastCompany, CNN, VOGUE, BBC etc. She is a regular keynote speaker and panelist in mobility events. She also holds over 30 utility & design patents.
Nico Buchholz
Founding Partner at Flightlevel500
Nico Buchholz is an accomplished global Executive with 30 years unique international experience covering all continents, mostly in the Aerospace (OEM & Airline) industry and Rail and Leasing (GOAL, Malta). Culturally astute to interact globally, he has a strategic view based on sound market knowledge and focus on sustainable business. Nico is one of the founding partners at FlightLevel500, a management firm specialized in Transport and Mobility.
Jekaterina Boening
Senior Policy Manager at Transport & Environment Germany
Jekaterina Boening is committed to finding sustainable solutions for the decarbonisation of the transport sector: electrification of road transport and conversion of air and sea transport to green e-fuels. She is a pragmatic climate protector who works solution-oriented and evidence-based.
Transport & Environment (T&E) is Europe’s leading NGO campaigning for cleaner transport. Jekaterina strongly believes in innovation, but not to rely on it, and considers ensuring a future that is worth living in for the next generation the most important goal of her work.
Dr. Andreas Mündel
SVP Strategy & Operations Programs, Deutsche Post DHL Group
Dr. Andreas Mündel has been in various strategic roles in the consulting and logistics industry for the past 20 years. After studying physics, he initially worked for management consultancy company McKinsey. He later transferred to Deutsche Post DHL in 2004 as Head of DHL Express Europe.
He is now SVP of Group Strategy and responsible for strategic projects in the production area, including Clean OPS teams, lead of the Sustainable Fuel project, Center of Excellence Automation of Operations, and Group OHS team and Patent Management. In addition, Dr. Mündel coordinates the agenda of the Operations Board, which includes the divisional board members for Operations in addition to the CEO.
Karsten Rick Radtke
Global Head of Strategic Business Development & Sales at Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG
Karsten Rick Radtke is the Global Head of Business Development at Thyssenkrupp, an international group of companies comprising largely of independent industrial and technology businesses. He repatriated to Germany after 6 years in the USA where he took on P&L responsibility and developed a history of working in the global and North American marketplace for technology-driven engineering and EPC industry.
Karsten is a strong process-technology related sales and business development professional, skilled in Chemical, Gas, Petroleum, Fertilizer, Hydrogen, Advanced Power Solutions, Hydrocarbon Conversion (oil, natural/shale gas, coal, biomass, waste), Syngas, Synfuels, e-Fuels, Biofuel, Gasification, Steam Reforming, Propane Dehydrogenation, Green Chemicals, Green Hydrogen, Green Ammonia, Green Methanol, Chlor-Alkali Electrolysis, Water Electrolysis, Petrochemicals and Plastics, Polyolefins, Oleochemicals, etc.
Astrid Schilderman
Technical Director at Synkero
Astrid Schilderman is Technology Director at Synkero, a start-up developing PtL Sustainable Aviation Fuel production capacity, with a first facility in the Port of Amsterdam. Astrid has over 10 years international experience in the Oil & Gas industry at Shell, where she worked in engineering, operations, commissioning and start-up, and project management. In 2017 she moved to the renewable energy industry, focusing on wind project development. She holds a M.Sc. in chemical engineering from Delft University of Technology.
Astrid joined Synkero in 2020. Together with partners Municipality of Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam, Royal Schiphol Group, SkyNRG and KLM, Synkero will focus on realizing a first commercial SAF factory in the Port of Amsterdam. The project will seek to connect with sustainable initiatives in the North Sea Canal area, such as the Hermes project.
Ilka von Dalwigk
Policy manager, EIT InnoEnergy and European Battery Alliance
Ilka von Dalwigk is a senior technology and policy expert, keen on shaping and operationalizing policy visions into concrete actions and recommendations.
Ilka has more than ten years of experience in the energy transition in commercial, public, private, and policy environments with in-depth knowledge of major research and policy issues covering the battery value chain from the supply of raw materials to applications.
Notably, Ilka is the Policy Manager for Smart Grid and Storage working with the industrial development programme of the European Battery Alliance – EBA250 – with a strong focus on sustainability and supply chain topics. She has been instrumental in building up and managing the vast and complex network of the stakeholders in this initiative, as well as developing the set of recommendations that contributed to the design and content of the 43 actions that have been identified as necessary by the European Battery Alliance, to make the EU a key player in the global battery market.
Jan Votava
Managing Director CZ Euro Manganese
Jan Votava is a highly skilled and respected Czech engineer and executive leader, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering. For 17 years, he held various managerial roles at LafargeHolcim, the world’s largest construction-materials company, including Head of Transformation Team for Europe, Technical Director for Central Europe, Executive Chairman and Managing Director for the Czech Republic. He also played a leadership role with the team that developed, constructed and optimized a €250 million cement plant in Hungary for Lafarge. He is currently responsible for leading Mangan Chvaletice s.r.o., Euro Manganese’s subsidiary in the Czech Republic including the company’s organizational and reputational development, as well as project permitting and development.
Matti Schurr
CEO, Avocargo
Matti Schurr is the co-founder of Avocargo, launched in March 2021. His professional record in the mobility industry includes positions at SHARE NOW, Free2Move (formerly Carjump), and Porsche. After starting out in the marketing field, he now mainly focuses on product management. Matti holds a Master’s in Automotive Management from HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen.
Avocargo is Germany’s first free-floating e-cargo bike sharer. It allows end-users and businesses flexible access shared electric cargo bikes via the Avocargo app. Their aim is to enable urban life without owning cars – to transport larger items, children, pets and more.
Jennifer Dungs
Thematic Field Leader Energy for Transport and Mobility, EIT InnoEnergy
Jennifer Dungs has spent nearly 20 years in the automotive industry, including Ford Motor Company (Detroit), BMW (Munich) and Porsche (Stuttgart). She has in-depth knowledge from the industry on topics related to sustainability (CO2 strategy, air quality), alternative powertrain technologies (energy storage, heat management), technologies and services (autonomous driving, sharing, mobility as a service, last mile mobility) and business models for digital products and services for mobility and Smart Cities.
Jennifer also was the Director at Fraunhofer, responsible for Mobility and Smart Cities and established a joint lab with MIT called Ambient Mobility focused on using big data to understand mobility patterns and create mobility solutions to help revolutionize our cities. She holds both a M.S. Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. Chemistry.
Jennifer is responsible for the strategic investments in Energy for Transport and Mobility at InnoEnergy.
Beres Seelbach
CEO and Co-founder of ONOMOTION
Beres Seelbach has been a leader and entrepreneur in e-mobility solutions for over 10 years. At 24, in 2009, he founded the e-mobility solutions company Lautlos, distributing electric vehicles, as well as providing electric fleet management and maintenance services. Lautlos pioneered in providing e-vehicles throughout Germany.
In 2016, Beres, along with co-founders Murat Günak (former head of design for Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen) and Philipp Kahle (light electric vehicles expert), founded Tretbox GmbH,now known as ONO, to rethink and reshape modern urban transportation.
ONO is introducing a new category of emissions-free vehicle: The ONO Pedal Assisted Transporter (PAT) to improve city-life quality by reducing road congestion and road pollution. After a successful launch of the ONO PAT in November 2018, ONO is currently conducting pilot projects with large European and global companies in the CEP, food and urban logistics markets to gear up for mass production and commercialization of the vehicles.
Carina Krastel
Commercial Director, European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center
Carina Krastel works at EIT InnoEnergy, a European public-private partnership, as the Commercial Director of the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center (EGHAC) – an initiative supported by Breakthrough Energy.
The EGHAC will focus on supporting and accelerating large scale industrial green hydrogen projects to reduce CO2 emissions in value chains like steel making, fertilizer production, synthetic fuel production, shipping etc.
Carina Krastel is a sustainable energy engineer with experience in engineering, business and innovation. Since 2009, she has worked in the construction and the industrial gas industry on sustainable energy, air quality and innovation topics. Prior to joining InnoEnergy, Carina worked as the Director for New Offers for the Energy Transition for the Large Industry Business of Air Liquide, a French industrial gas company, focusing on offers for green hydrogen and carbon capture solutions.
Cagri Selcuklu
CEO and Co-founder of DUCKT
Cagri Selcuklu is the CEO and Co-founder of DUCKT, a smart micromobility infrastructure solutions company, that develops and operates docking, locking and charging infrastructure solutions for micro-mobility in urban environment.
A cosmopolitan, born in Turkey, he graduated with a masters in transportation in Italy and married in Norway, Cagri has worked in the automotive & mobility industries for over 15 years. He is a true believer that micromobility will become an indispensable part of our future in urban environments.
DUCKT was started with two co-founders, in 2019, with the objective to create the “USB standard” for the micromobility infrastructure, solve ecosystem issues, and create efficient and sustainable mobility services for all. Since then, DUCKT has become compatible with all major vehicle manufacturers & software providers globally, and has delivered 1000s of its charging stations across three continents and more than 20 countries. DUCKT is now an award-wining company holding several international recognitions around the globe.
Jacob Ruiter
CEO EIT InnoEnergy Benelux
Jacob Ruiter has held various positions in a wide variety of companies all related to energy. In his previous role he was the Director, Country Manager Energy Advisory of Benelux at DNV GL, where he was responsible for energy and renewables advisory activities in the Benelux, Africa and Middle East.
Previous to that, he worked for Dutch Utilities company, Essent, where he had a number of roles including Managing Director for metering data, Managing Director for local energy solutions and Managing Director for B2B.
Jacob began his career with oilfield service company, Schlumberger, as a wire-line field engineer. It was from there that he moved onto more commercial roles, starting with the position of Regional Manager Europe for drill pipe manufacturer Grant Prideco.
Jacob holds an M.Sc. in Mining Engineering from the Delft University of Technology and an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management.
Tobias Abt
Manager for Raw Material Procurement and Strategic Market Development, Mercedes-Benz AG
Tobias Abt is Manager for Global Raw Material Procurement and Strategic Market Development at Mercedes-Benz AG. Tobias has been working for the company for about seven years and has occupied different functions within the Mercedes-Benz procurement and strategy departments in Germany, China and the US. In his current role, he leads the global raw material strategy, especially for future oriented raw materials within the field of electro mobility and international market observation for direct material sourcing.
Tobias has an engineering background from the University of Applied Science Ravensburg, Germany, with a specialization in international management and manufacturing engineering. Furthermore, he holds a master’s degree in Management of Innovation and Business Development from Halmstad University, Sweden and studied in Bangkok, Shanghai and Tokyo in the field of business model innovation and automotive.