Stefan has 10+ years of experience as a founder and in venture capital investing, strategy consulting, and international M&A.

Before Samira, he has been involved with dozens of deals with an Austrian venture capital fund and as a CIO for a leading club deal platform. Before that, he co-founded a successful travel tech company.

Stefan holds a Master’s Degree in Strategy and Finance from ISCTE Business School and is an associated Researcher at the Herriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He published several papers in peer-reviewed journals and is a frequently invited speaker at several universities in Europe.

With nearly 20 years of experience in international M&A and venture capital investing, Paul has had the privilege of collaborating with exceptional teams from dozens of tech companies, many of which have achieved significant success.

Throughout the years, Paul has held leading roles in those companies, supporting them from initial investment to successful exit. Those exits include cross-border transactions to major strategic players in the US, Israel, France, Germany, Switzerland, and others.

Beyond his M&A and investment activities, Paul co-founded the Bulgarian venture capital firm Vitosha Venture Partners in 2020.

Paul is a guest lecturer at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the WU Executive Academy (MBA Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation).

Always up for thought-provoking and interesting talks, Stefano personally loves to have conversations with individuals about their journey: be it how they founded their business, or what drives them forward in their everyday life.

Being raised in a multilingual environment, with mixed roots from different countries, enables him to connect with entrepreneurs and investors from diverse backgrounds.

At Samira, Stefano works closely with visionary founders and experienced investors to create value and facilitate knowledge transfer. Through his past experience in VC, he is in the perfect place to unleash his full potential and make a real impact in the world of M&A for all parties involved in the transaction.

Julia completed her studies in computer science and finance in Vienna, including an exchange program at the Booth School of Business in Chicago, providing a strong foundation for exploring the intersection of these fields. Driven by her passion, Julia collaborated with a consultancy on research focused on applying machine learning in banking and finance.

This practical experience gave her valuable insights into leveraging cutting-edge technologies for optimizing financial processes and decision-making. Julia’s sense of social responsibility led her to dedicate her time to a non-profit consultancy, where she contributed valuable insights and strategies to support social businesses, nonprofits, and NGOs.

Emely is a person who is characterised by her willingness to learn and her enthusiasm about any topic relevant to her academic and professional career.

She has over three years of experience within the Startup & Tech Ecosystem, and she is still fascinated by its fast-paced and transformative character. Her experience includes working for a Startup Accelerator, aiming to get Early-Stage Tech Startups investment-ready, which led to her gaining a lot of insights about the fundraising process from the company side. She also spent time working at a SaaS Startup, gaining a deeper understanding of how technology is built and delivered to clients.

As a part of her Bachelor’s degree at WU Vienna, she specialises in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

As one of Europes most acknowledged experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Clemens is the CEO of EnliteAI and the Vice President of the ADR-Association.

He is also the founder of the Applied AI Conference and the Austrian National AI Association (AAIC), where he currently serves as chairman.

Prior to these roles, Clemens was a Partner and Chief Representative to the Asian market for a European business consultancy.

As the head of the economics think tank EcoAustria, Monika is one of the leading economist in Europe with a strong commitment to driving innovation in the region’s technological capital market.

Holding a Master’s and PhD in Economics from Vienna University, Monika has also been awarded the Wicksell prize and the Young Economist Award by the Austrian Economic Association.

In addition to being a sought-after speaker across Europe, she also teaches at various universities.

With more than a decade of experience as a consultant in the European power and natural gas wholesale markets, Helmut is an expert in energy and CO2 certificate trading with a special focus on information technology.

He is the founder and CEO of PowerBot, a web service for algorithmic trading at short-term power markets, as well as partner at INERCOMP, a leading energy market consulting company.

As an accomplished investor and financial industry expert, Patrick also co-founded Scalable Capital, a leading European FinTech unicorn which aims to bring people and technology-based investments together.

Before that, he gained valuable experience in M&A through several years at Goldman Sachs and embarked on a journey as private investor in a number of tech-companies, including Tomorrow, Shopstory, Corplife and iDwell.

Given his vast expertise and network, Patrick is considered a highly regarded source of insights and knowledge in the FinTech field and beyond.

Andrea was the Co-Founder and CEO of 42matters.com, a cutting-edge platform that empowers businesses worldwide with top-notch App Intelligence data.

42matters is now part of the Similarweb family.As an engineer at heart with a solid background in computer science, Andrea is deeply passionate about mobile and web technologies.

He is a highly skilled professional with extensive cross-functional experience in a variety of areas, including Startups, Mobile Apps, Development, App Store Optimization, Online Advertising/Marketing, and Project Management.

Hugo Oliveira, founder of Indie Campers, is a leading entrepreneur in Europe’s travel industry.

With a passion for innovation, he established Indie Campers, revolutionizing camper van rentals.Under his leadership, the company’s high-quality vans and innovative approach have gained widespread recognition, making Hugo a prominent figure in the field.

Martin is a serial entrepreneur, XR expert and strategic advisor to multiple successful companies. For more than a decade, Martin has been the CEO of Wikitude, a leading platform for the creation of AR applications and drove the company through an acquisition by Qualcomm Inc. 

Following the acquisition, Martin led Qualcomm’s global XR ecosystem and partnership strategy and acts now as strategic advisor to leading companies in the space, in particular Hololight and Viewpointsystem.

Prior to joining Wikitude, Martin has successfully built-up and sold fatfoogoo, a leading provider of payment systems for online games, to Digital River (DRIV) and held strategic management positions in Europe and the US with Qpass Inc., UCP, and T‑Mobile.