Taryn Andersen She is President and co-founder of Impulse4Women, an international non-profit organization connecting Female -led tech startups with investors, corporates, public – private institutions. 

She is the Investor Relations Director of Telegraph Hill Venture Capital. They are investing early stages since 2013. Now they are closing Fund V.

Jury Member @EIC SME Acceleration Program Funding Instrument at the European Commission at the Health vertical. 

Mentor at the Scaling Club for the Cardiology vertical and also at the Women EUTech program.

Previously, a professional background in Private Banking for 13 years. She founded Pluribus United Foundations composed of 15 different private foundations.

Taryn Andersen has a PLD master graduation from IESE Business School. 

Taryn Andersen She is President and co-founder of Impulse4Women, an international non-profit organization connecting Female -led tech startups with investors, corporates, public – private institutions. 

She is the Investor Relations Director of Telegraph Hill Venture Capital. They are investing early stages since 2013. Now they are closing Fund V.

Jury Member @EIC SME Acceleration Program Funding Instrument at the European Commission at the Health vertical. 

Mentor at the Scaling Club for the Cardiology vertical and also at the Women EUTech program.

Previously, a professional background in Private Banking for 13 years. She founded Pluribus United Foundations composed of 15 different private foundations.

Taryn Andersen has a PLD master graduation from IESE Business School. 

Daniela Terracciano is Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology at the School of Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, where she also serves as Chief of the Cancer Diagnostic Laboratory. Her research focuses on the discovery and clinical validation of non-invasive biomarkers, contributing to advancements in precision medicine and early cancer detection.

She has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications, with an H-index of 41 and more than 4000 citations. She holds scientific leadership roles in international and national research projects. She is the founder of two startups: Robosan, which specializes in automation for laboratory medicine, and Elicadea, dedicated to development of innovative devices for cancer diagnostics.

Professor Terracciano has received several prestigious awards in startup competitions, including the BioInItaly Best Presentation Award and First Prize at StartCup Campania. In July 2022, she was selected to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) – Women and Entrepreneurship, the most prestigious professional exchange program with the United States. She launched in 2024 the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, a U.S. State Department initiative, in Italy.

Gerda Achzet is an innovation and sustainability expert in the life science and healthcare sector and founder of art2innovate consulting. With over 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she has held leadership roles in marketing, sales, medical affairs, business development, and strategic healthcare innovation.

Her scientific background in cancer research, toxicology, combined with postdoctoral training in pharmaceutical medicine, marketing & sales and ESG topics allows her to bridge science and commercialization. She was involved in various global innovation projects (Startups meet Pharma, EU-Grant projects), coaching and mentoring health startups and co-founded the Austrian hub of EIT health.

Haffsa brings a professional history as a management consultant and executive education manager, along with substantial experience in business and legal affairs gained in Canada. She is presently a PhD researcher in Leadership, Organization, and Behavior at Henley Business School, University of Reading in the UK. Haffsa is also a member and advisor of the Henley Center for Leadership. Haffsa most recently worked at the Allbright Foundation, where she managed learning and development projects for global clients. Haffsa has extensive expertise and experience in leadership and management. Haffsa has held board positions at Kvinnojourenin Sigtunaand is a Global Ambassador for The Citizens Foundation, advocating for children’s education. Haffsa can speak and advise in Norwegian, Swedish, English, Urdu and Punjabi.

Eva Tarasova, the Investor Director at Wharton Asset Management, a London-based single-family office, has over a decade of experience in the family office sector focusing on start ups. Her responsibilities include managing various aspects of venture capital transactions, such as sourcing deals, conducting due diligence, and overseeing portfolio management. Her investment interests span biotechnology, life sciences, and consumer sectors, where she leads cross-sector origination, analysis, and development of investment opportunities. At Wharton, she actively sources and executes investments ranging from £500,000 to £20 million, aims to enhance revenue on existing investments, and collaborates with private equity firms, venture capitalists, and other family offices to identify deal flow, raise capital, and develop co-investment opportunities.

In addition to her role at Wharton Asset Management, Eva is an active angel investor, particularly interested in FemTech and related areas with a theme of “below the waste, above the knee,” which spans across biotechnology, technology, and consumer products. This interest complements her focus in her primary employment. She is also a member of Alma Angels, a community dedicated to supporting female founders and raising the next generation of female investors.

Beyond her investment activities, Eva serves as a mentor at several accelerators and incubators and is part of start-up selection committees for several of them. She also collaborates closely with the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, where she is involved in the fellowship program application selection process, mentoring, and general fundraising workshops.

Monika Ślęzak has 10 years of research experience using molecular and cellular biology approaches in a drug development environment with the focus on preclinical toxicity. She has obtained a PhD in 2009 at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow (Poland), defending the thesis focused on the genotoxic effects of acute CO poisoning in human subjects. Since then, her scientific path has been tightly connected to the Discovery and Preclinical Research, including mice and zebrafish animal models. 

She has worked as a senior scientist and a  project leader at Selvita SA, one of the largest biotech companies in Central Europe, headquatered in Krakow (Poland), and at the Molecular Biodicovery Lab at KU Leuven in Belgium.   In  2018 she switched her career path from the  research  to the management at non- profit organization European Vaccine Initiative in Heidelberg.   She has been involved in project management of EU-funded projects for over 15 years. 

In 2022 she joined Lukasiewicz Research Network PORT- Polish Center for Technology Development in Wrocław, where she is responsible for the coordination of Industry Contact Point MedTech and Health, supporting polish entities in initiation international consortia for the EU-funded projects.

Kari has trained and coached professionals/students globally for 16 years and she designs and delivers workshops and courses that focus on Leadership, High-Performing Teams and Managing Change.  She is now based in London, after 6 years in Silicon Valley, and 10 prior years in Asia. Her career began in Global Finance and Tech where she spent 15 years as a senior manager in the UK.

She has worked as an adjunct lecturer for Villanova University, USA and Tsinghua University, China amongst other private and public universities.  She was a research associate based in India for London Business School.  Employers/clients include  Stanford Medicine, Facebook, US Space Force, HSBC Bank, Hitachi, Dell, Agilent, Exxon, LVMH and The Financial Times newspaper.   She holds an MBA, BBA and is a trained mediator, mentor and counsellor (PGCE - Counselling Skills - University of Cambridge, UK).  She continues to research leadership, conflict and resilience.