Cláudia Godinho, BGI – Building Global Innovators

Head of Startup Academy at BGI - Building Global Innovators, Cláudia Godinho coordinates a portfolio of educational opportunities and capacity building programs targeted at fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in STEM researchers. Cláudia is also part of the Seedbed Incubator program, as a coach for early-stage startups with technological innovations focused in fostering net-zero food systems. PhD in Biotechnology and Biosciences from Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Cláudia's career is deeply rooted in the application of microbiology and biotechnology in Food&Energy fields. As a researcher, Cláudia has contributed significantly to the field, authoring over 15 original papers with more than 600 citations.

Conny Lund Tegtmeier, Aarhus University

Conny Lund Tegmeier is Chief Consultant in Business Development at Aarhus University, with expertise in IPR, Project Management & Coordination, and Stakeholder Engagement & Management, working close with the academy and companies, to foster technology transfer from university to industry. She is also specialized in Negotiation and Collaboration, Licensing Agreements and Quality Assurance, having also knowledge on Agrifood Science and Business, coupled with her background in Life Sciences.

Gitte Schober, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands

Gitte Schober has over 25 years of professional experience at Wageningen UR and as a consultant, being specialized in sustainable entrepreneurship and impact startups. Gitte is the coordinator of the 'Entrepreneurship @WUR' team, and she leads a group dedicated to fostering various entrepreneurial initiatives at WUR. Her job is to foster and facilitate (potential) entrepreneurship, by promoting initiatives which span a wide range of activities, including curricular courses, research projects, extracurricular workshops, and the incubation of early-stage student startups in the Starthub incubator located on Wageningen Campus, in collaboration with hands-on experts, businesses, investors and legal and financial advisors.

João Rabaça, BGI – Building Global Innovators
 
João has a MSc in Environment and Development and over 18 years of experience in the design and implementation of environment and sustainability projects and consultancy services. He has worked in over 50 international assignments in Europe and Africa for leading private clients and international funders. At BGI João is involved in the preparation and delivery of open innovation and startup support programs, as well as business venture development.

Morten Holmager, Aarhus University

Morten Holmager is Senior Business Developer at the at Aarhus University's Technology Transfer Office. His strong technical background and solid experience in business development is used for creating new business opportunities based on technology, by developing new products and services from research-based inventions. Morten is responsible for a portfolio of commercial projects across various sectors including drug discovery, diagnostics, renewable energy, and engineering. Morten also develops new spin-out companies and forms partnerships with existing international corporations and investors to foster innovation through technology out-licensing.

Soraia Caetano, BGI – Building Global Innovators
 
Soraia has a Ph.D. in Biology and a post graduation in Project Management. Soraia is an experienced researcher in biosciences, with focus on life sciences (10+ peer reviewed publications) and with more than 3 years of project management. At BGI, Soraia is involved in startup support, being coordinating the internationalisation programme in the US: Boston Global Immersion, the ERASMUS+ project AGRIFOOD4FUTURE, and the partnership with EIC (European Innovation Council)