Greentech Festival Speakers 2024

Michele Soavi leverages technology and finance to create a positive impact on people and the planet. He is the COO/Chief Sustainability Officer at ImpactScope which helps organizations deploy AI and web3 tools to measure, verify and amplify their sustainability achievements. Michele started his career in the financial reporting sector between PwC and EY. Eventually, he focused on helping companies understand, monitor and improve also their environmental and social performance. He holds an MBA in Sustainable Business and a PhD in Computer Science.

Elissa Brunato is the CEO of Radiant Matter. Previously, she worked in the design and production of textiles and garments. While overseeing international production sites, she noticed significant amounts of unnecessary waste at multiple stages of manufacture, harming the environment and exposing workers to hazardous materials. Realizing that the industry lacked sustainable options for embellishment components and surface finishes, Elissa founded Radiant Matter, a material technology start-up that develops sustainable, brilliantly colored, bio-inspired material solutions from cellulose. Their growing platform technology helps reduce microplastic pollution, shift dependence on petroleum, and is less resource-intensive, promoting a circular economy.

Alastair graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in Medicine before training in academic surgery in London. He exited his first medical technology venture in 2017 having developed a novel orthopaedic robotics platform. In 2018, Alastair was invited to undertake a PhD in Bioengineering at Imperial College London. Alastair founded a further two medical device startups, both in the critical care and anaesthesia space and exited one of the businesses in May 2022 to a major anaesthetic device manufacturer. Passionate about cycling, Alastair invented the Skarper Disk Drive™ concept in 2020 and co-founded the company soon after.

Uri brings over 20 years’ of experience as a military helicopter pilot and as a commercial leader in technology companies.He commanded Black Hawk helicopters, achieving the rank of Major (reserve) before moving to the London Business School to obtain his MBA. Uri held leadership positions in multiple start-up companies, raising over $30M in financing and building global operations.Alongside his career, Uri enjoys playing beach volleyball and volunteering with organisations supporting veterans with PTSD.Uri specialises in marketing, business development and operations management and has experience in launching eCommerce brands.

Klaus is a director, producer, and the founder of Plant Based News. He was script editor on groundbreaking Netflix documentary Seaspiracy; and is a public speaker – including at Meta and COP28 – focusing on the environmental impact of our food system.

Anja will hold a keynote on investing in biodiversity conservation using smart technology and the transformative power of capital. As CCO at InvestConservation, Anja Rundquist works with companies to make an outsized impact on climate change and halting biodiversity loss. InvestConservation focuses on high-quality projects in biodiversity hotspots in Tropical Forests and leverages smart technology, including satellites, camera traps, AI analysis of soundscapes, and NFT tokens.Anja has global FinTech and sustainability experience in information services. For the past 15+ years, she has served in multiple countries and corporate roles for leading Fortune 500 companies and pioneers in sustainability innovation.

Green industrialist Dale Vince OBE went from ‘enemy of the state’ to ‘green energy tycoon’, dedicating his life to challenging conventional wisdom in pursuit of a better way of life, using business as a tool for environmentalism. Dale kickstarted the global green energy movement by launching the world’s first green energy company, Ecotricity(1996), leads FGR FC, dubbed the world’s greenest football team by FIFA; creates diamonds out of atmospheric carbon – Skydiamonds; builds windmills for export around the world – Britwind; has launched a range of plant-based school dinners and earlier this year launched the world’s first electric airline Ecojet.

Dr. Apolline Roger has 20 years of experience working on how society needs to change for people and planet to thrive. After being a lecturer, a researcher and a lawyer activist, she now leads the ClientEarth’s Innovation Lab, supporting staff and partners in the co-creation of the deep legal codes and legal scaffolding able to bring resilient and joyful societies to life.

Stanley leads sustainable investing across Europe for KKR, a global investment firm that invests across various sectors. He focuses on developing environmental, social and governance strategies and supporting companies to improve performance on sustainability. Prior to KKR, he led ESG and impact for Aviva’s Private Markets business and worked as a climate specialist in the UK Government/Parliament, advising policymakers on legislation in the lead up to the Paris Climate Agreement. Stanley also contributes papers on the intersection of democratic representation and climate change for the UK Constitution Society.

Larry is an Insect Farming and Technology enthusiast and serial entrepreneur. He’s been looking at Organic Waste Management since university, both in Europe and his native Africa. Today he’s trying to bring insect farming mainstream by developing turnkey insect farming technology and plug and play insect logistics for existing food businesses and waste managers. Meeting the need for safe, sustainable proteins and reducing the harms and inefficiencies caused by organic waste drive him to get up and wade through insects every day.

Noëlla is a Congolese/Cypriot philanthropist, an international model, and Founder & CEO of Malaika. Founded in 2007, Malaika is a grassroots nonprofit that empowers girls and their communities in her home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a school, a community center, and a clean water program. Noëlla has shared her insight at a number of world-class forums spanning the World Economic Forum to the university halls of Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard. She is an Ambassador for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and an Advisory Board Member of the Segal Family Foundation.

Optimistic about solving social and climate problems through technology. Founder, ex-CEO of Magic Breakfast www.magicbreakfast.com. “No child too hungry to learn” Delivers breakfast to 550,000 vulnerable school age children every day, through Magic Breakfast and Family ActionAwarded an MBE 2016 New Years Honours Honorary Doctorate (Open University) for education accessBarclays Woman of the Year (Campaigner) 2018 UK Government food advisor 2007-2018Bestselling author of Pearson title Change Activist (3rd edition May 2022) Keynote speaker, Tedx (London, Exeter) Technology and change MBA City Univ, London) AI for Good speaker, COP28 Dubai, 2023Writer, media commentator on social impact, sustainability

Richard is an Emeritus Professor at Imperial. For the past 15 years he has focussed on supporting the development of innovations that address the challenges and opportunities of climate change. The businesses Undaunted has supported will have avoided 29Mt of CO2 emission, 76Mt of waste and 7.6Mt of water consumption by the end of the decade. These businesses operate in over 30 countries. In addition, Richard has advised successive Mayors of London on sustainable development, with a focus on London’s development as a global focus for climate innovation. In 2023, he received an OBE for this work.

A dynamic professional with a strong background in digital advertising, marketing, and finance. I have successfully raised over £82m for startups and infrastructure projects throughout my career. As a marketing manager, chief marketing officer, and corporate finance director, I have excelled in overseeing marketing departments and managing fundraising projects for early-stage sustainable businesses, renewable energy projects, and property developments. Sustainable Times focuses on raising capital for sustainable startups, with a community of over 24,000 conscious investors to support innovative solutions that foster eco-friendly practices to preserve our planet for future generations.

The first woman elected as President of Ireland, Mary Robinson has been credited with transforming the role with a presidency of inclusiveness, equality and peace building. As a barrister advocating for human rights and women’s equality, an academic and as a member of the Irish Senate, Mary Robinson’s work played a pivotal role in shaping modern Ireland. She later served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and is a founding member and current Chair of The Elders, a group of global leaders who use their independence, collective experience and influence for peace, justice and human rights worldwide.

Andini is a Filipina-Polish 26 year old inventor, writer, host, speaker and budding director. She is best known for her invention of the Hollow Flashlight, a flashlight that runs off the heat of the human hand, as well as the eDrink, a coffee mug that harvests the excess heat of your hot drink and converts it into electricity to charge a phone. She is one of Times Magazine’s 30 Under 30, Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30, and Popular Science’s Young Inventor of the Year. Andini is currently midst editing her book manuscript ‘The Inventing Mindset’, set to be published by Knopf Canada in early 2025. Andini gave her directorial debut this fall with the music video ‘Daydreaming’ for Anoushka Shankar. She currently resides in London.

Books: Forecasting government budgets and Megadeals (2020) Investor in 15 companies, lead investor in 8 of them (scale-ups in cleantech and SaaS) Founder of Mine storage, Retain24, Taxisystem, Vendemore, and Megadeals. Prosales Chief Commercial Officer of the year 2018. Climeon order intake 3-90 MUSD in two years. Mission, Expertise & Accomplishments: Help companies, their great innovations and most important people (Rainmakers) go to market and scale faster with less resources than traditionally tactics. Today Christopher supports and builds sustainability companies (mainly scale ups) with great innovations. His more than 20 years of experience of supporting Fortune 500 companies and several hundred scale ups in orchestrating their deal management in combination with extended research support his mission well.

Nico Rosberg is well-known as the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion. Since leaving the racing series, he is passionately committed to the issue of sustainability. As an entrepreneur and investor in green technologies and mobility startups, he represents visionary innovations that make the world a little better. In numerous projects around the world, he also contributes to the topic of environmental protection, health, equality and justice. In 2019, he co-founded the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, a global platform for pioneering sustainable ideas that takes place annually in Berlin. Since 2021, he has been competing with Rosberg X Racing in Extreme E, a racing series that aims to draw attention to the consequences of global climate change.

Tony Burdon is the founding CEO of Make My Money Matter, which from 2020 has campaigned for UK pensions and banks to invest sustainably, to align our money with our values. He has worked in international development for over fifteen years, including in Africa and Asia. He was on the board of the successful international debt relief campaign, Jubilee 2000, and then worked in the UK Treasury and the Department for International Development. As a senior civil servant he led economic and private sector departments, with a focus on the climate emergency, impact investment, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

As an electric vehicle advocate and super connector, Roger regularly shares insights and stories on LinkedIn where he has more than 300,000 followers – recognised as a Top Voice for EV on the platform for his engaging posts over many years. As well as hosting clean-tech related events around the world, he also provides strategic advisory services to companies that are driving innovation and impact across EV ecosystem. He is both an Advisory Board Member and investor to several start-up companies including ZeroAvia, Urbix, & HEVO.

Pierre Paslier is a London-based Innovation Design Engineer who explores the intersection of design and technology. He began as a Packaging Engineer for L’Oréal and pursued 3D printing in his free time. This led him to study design at the Royal College of Art, co-designing an early consumer delta 3D printer. Pierre co-founded Gravity Sketch, for 3D designs in virtual reality, and Notpla, which develops sustainable packaging. Currently, as Co-CEO of Notpla, he focuses on solutions to the global plastic crisis, creating packaging from seaweed. Notpla won Prince William’s £1,000,000 Earthshot Prize in 2022.

Sally leads Forum for the Future’s mission to create a just and regenerative future, in which both people and the planet thrive. This involves a laser focus on transforming how the world thinks about, produces, consumes and values food and energy, and on reimagining the purpose of business in our society and economy. Sally is actively involved in sector-wide collaborations and in one-to-one work with leading organisations around the world. In December 2017, she received an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to sustainability in business.