Our Speakers 2024

Sven is a tech enthusiast who loves connecting things and people. As a Tech Strategist at SAP Customer Experience in Munich, Germany, he's always experimenting with new technologies and encouraging the use of SAP's products. Sven enjoys a fun, hands-on approach to researching and is passionate about sharing his insights. Currently, he's intrigued by the possibilities of Web3 for customer engagement and is actively dropping a lot of NFTs with potential customers. 

Outside of work, Sven founded Munich Tech Sauna (techsauna.dev) and spends his free time cycling, running, and exploring saunas in Munich. You can reach him best on Mastodon via @hansamann@mastodon.social or on Farcaster @hansamann.eth.

Mikhail Shcheglov is a product leader with over 10 years of experience at companies like Bolt, OLX, Yandex, and various startups. Leveraging his PhD and extensive industry knowledge, he currently works at Bolt as a Group Product Manager. 

Alexander Savy is an accomplished entrepreneur and executive with extensive experience in fintech and digital asset management. He is the co-founder of LIBERNETIX. He has a proven track record in creating innovative financial solutions, developing payment infrastructures, and leading digital asset exchanges. Alexander's skills include strategic business development, forming partnerships, and managing complex financial operations, establishing him as an influential fintech and blockchain technology leader.

Una has over 20 years of relevant experience as a professional lawyer. In the recent years Una's focus area is wide spectre of Compliance topics and overall managing of KPMG Law Firm in Latvia. In her professional career path she gained solid expertise in M&A field, restructurings and liquidations of credit institutions.

 Kelly is a qualified Lawyer, He has graduated with a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Malta. He is a member of the Malta Chamber of Advocates and was admitted to the Bar in Malta in 2011. In addition to his legal education, Kelly holds a Masters in the Science of Finance (CFA Programme Partner) from Trinity College, University of Dublin. He is ranked in the Chambers and Partners Malta Fintech Legal Guide for 2024. Kelly specializes in distributed ledger technology, financial services, fintech and capital markets with a special focus on investment, VFA and payment services, anti-money laundering and securities. He has assisted clients apply for financial/VFA services licences and advising multiple companies on various regulatory matters to ensure they remain compliant with EU legislation and MFSA and FIAU requirements.

Eugeni is deeply passionate about leveraging data to optimize personalized communication with customers. With a strong background in consulting and technology companies to enhance their digital business strategies, he has spent the past years demonstrating the transformative potential of SAP in delivering superior customer experiences. His innovative approaches have consistently exceeded expectations, leaving clients amazed at the results.

Founder of organic skincare brand and producer MADARA Cosmetics, co-founder of pension fund Vairo.Lv, co-owner Selfnamed.com, investor

Martins is a seasoned entrepreneur and product leader in the software technology space. Over the past decade, he has been leading the product team at Sonarworks, developing industry-leading software solutions for both music creators and listeners. Sonarworks’ creator products are now used in over 200,000 studios worldwide and have earned multiple tech awards for their innovation. Additionally, its consumer-facing technology has been integrated with leading consumer audio products, further expanding the company’s global reach. With the rise of AI, Sonarworks is excited to explore possibilities that unlock new potentials for music creators, positioning the company at the forefront of music tech innovation.

Banking professional with 30+ years of experience. Formerly Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Agricole and Raiffeisen International. AI enthusiast and Digital Transformation expert.

Fintech professional and startup founder. Formerly CEO of UK fintech.  20 years of experience with Citi and Raiffeisen International.

Niks Evalds joined Printful in 2017 as one of company’s first IT Project Managers. Since then, his role has expanded from managing development projects hands-on to now leading a team of 50 IT professionals. Printful’s Product teams are focused on customer-facing, growth-oriented software initiatives, ranging from ecommerce platform integrations to mobile apps. As part of the Printful leadership team, Niks is responsible for defining and executing a software product strategy that drives growth across all customer segments.

Justus Klüver-Schlotfeldt began his career training in sales at Karstadt Warenhaus AG and worked in various roles in Scandinavia and customs before moving into international logistics with Charles Kendall Group in 2012. He later joined CGATE Group in international business development and network management. In 2019, he co-founded the FBA platform ship2prime. By 2021, he was at DIVIS focusing on international growth and leading a European sales team. Recently, Justus was recruited as CEO of NeX Limited to launch the Nex Network, a strategic partnership of logistics providers aimed at enhancing omni-channel fulfilment and supply chain management.

Jason Li is the Global Head of Sales & Business at NeX Network, with over a decade of experience in e-commerce gateway logistics solutions. At CCL, he managed multimillion-pound contracts and developed a strong reputation for exceeding client expectations. Jason is known for his customer-centric approach and effective communication, particularly in cross-cultural settings, which has expanded the company's global reach. He holds an MBA from Loughborough University and is passionate about fitness and wellbeing. As a leader at NeX, he is committed to driving innovation and fostering strategic partnerships.

 Agneta is a Senior Associate with Sorainen Finance & Insurance practice group in Latvia. Agneta’s primary areas of expertise and interest are fintech and crypto, as well as finance disputes. Agneta also leads the Startups Sector Group for Sorainen Latvia.

Agneta combines transactional work with participation in dispute resolution. This covers a wide spectrum of legal matters including:

• regulatory issues (fintech and other financial institution licensing and assistance in the relationship with the regulator);
• finance transactions (credit and security agreements);
• legislative initiatives & cooperation within the ecosystem such as Fintech Latvia Association and Latvian Blockchain Association;
• dispute resolution cases involving finance and insurance-related issues;
• ESG and sustainable finance.

Kristaps, co-founder of Ervy, is passionate about the transformative power of Generative AI. He is dedicated to exploring how AI can redefine corporate learning and enhance workplace efficiency, applying this vision at Ervy to improve how organizations learn and retrieve information.

Chris Scheuermann leads the relationship management with the German member banks and supports them to on their way to launch wero.

With over 20 years of experience in the payment and banking industry, Chris Scheuermann is supporting the German banks and their acquirerers with the successful launch of the new European digital wallet solution wero. Prior to joining EPI, he lead the DACH and Dutch markets for the british open banking provider Yapily. Before that, he was heading the sales and account management teams on a pan-european level at figo and finleap connect (today Qwist). His time at PayPal provided him experience in Payments and eCommerce. The beginning of his carrer in the banking and payment industry was with Star Finanz, a software provider for online banking solutions that is part of the German savings banks organisarion.

Piotr is New Markets Lead at the European Payment Initiative (EPI), following developments in potential new markets, as well as establishing and maintaining relations with key players at both the European and local level. He also leads regular updates of EPI’s Market Expansion Strategy. 

In managing key expansion projects and coordinating proposals for new markets to join EPI, he conducts bilateral meetings with banks, acquirers, banking associations, and central banks, while supporting the negotiation and validation of new market onboarding plans. 

Before joining EPI, Piotr worked across the financial sector in insurance (Achmea), banking (ING), software development (Opera), and payments (BLIK). He was involved in the development and launch of web and app-based products around the world, from London to Manila. 

Piotr completed the executive program at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2022, holds a postgraduate degree from University of Tartu (MA 2012) and undergraduate degree from Warsaw University of Technology (BA 2010).

He is actively involved in mentoring young professionals as EPI works to help build the first truly pan-European payment scheme. 

Wealth of management experience, having worked at well-known companies such as Amazon and Caterpillar. In 2017, he joined the blockchain industry and has since focused on product development, strategy, and implementation. Recognized as one of the leading thought leaders in Latvia, raising awareness about blockchain technology and its potential through webinars and other educational events. 

Currently, working as the Web3 Project Lead at airBaltic, where he is implementing new blockchain solutions as for example Planies NFT for the aviation industry to enhance the customer experience.

Mustafa is a seasoned expert in financial services particularly through fintech, capital markets, digital finance, and web2/3 programs. 

He is a Co-Founder of PrimeX (Latvia co), a digital asset SaaS provider for financial services companies; Co-Founder of  KOOP Ventures (Turkish co), a community enabler and startup accelerator of financial innovation and technology programs in Turkey and around. He is also the Chairman of FintechPark (Estonian co), an advisory boutique for financial innovation and M&A services in EMEA. He is one of the two founders of Istanbul Fintech Week, a global gathering of technology, innovation, and startup practitioners in banking, payments, insurance, and capital markets. He is currently a board member to Embafinans Credit Union and Cuzdan QSC Payment Company (Azerbaijan). He has spoken at a large number of events and conferences around the world on startups, fintech and innovation. The most recent ones are Latvia Fintech Forum and Baku Fintech Forum. He is an ambassador to Global Blockchain Business Council (NYC). 

Pavels has over 12 years of experience in digital commerce and CX, working across diverse industries such as Retail, Wholesale, Pharma, and Telco. He has been taking various roles, including advisory and architecture for large companies in Baltics and Nordics.

Gabriel combines deep listening with a mission to bring value to the Fintech sector. With a solid background in economics from the University of Economy in Bratislava and specialized studies in Corporate Finance and Business in Riga, he brings a wealth of knowledge to his role. Over the last nine years based in the Baltics, Gabriel has been instrumental in guiding fintech companies through innovation, leveraging the latest technological standards. His partnership with DECTA underscores a shared commitment to advancing the fintech industry according to the latest technological standards.
 

PPC is everything I do 24/7. Google, Meta and Amazon Ads are my chosen channels. 
My career in PPC spans over a decade; I started working in PPC in 2013. Although I am Italian, I started my career in the UK, where I moved straight after my university studies, then moved to Spain where I started working remotely with 94N.

I’ve been in PPC for over a decade, with a mixed focus on both lead generation and ecommerce. I currently run 94n Digital, a core team of 23+ talented individuals and we specialise in paid marketing, conversion tracking and data analysis.

We work primarily with ecommerce stores and financial institutions across the US, EU and UK and manage over $8m+ in ad spend annually across these markets.
 

I live in Riga and spend time doing adrenaline fueled activities in my spare time!

Marine Krasovska is banking and fintech professional with wide experience in financial sector working on leading positions in top Baltic banks: SEB, DNB, Luminor, related to lending and product and business strategy development. Ex-cofounder of Fintech startup. From 2020, Marine Krasovska worked as director of “Financial innovation department“ in Financial and Capital Market Commission and following the integration from 1 January 2023, she became head of “FinTech supervision department” in the Bank of Latvia with focus on: PI/EMI, crowdfunding and other FinTech companies’ supervision; development of Fintech environment; ICT risks’ supervision among financial sector, and implementation of SupTech and RegTech solutions, to make supervision process more modern and digital. Marine Krasovska holds a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Latvia, professional diploma in management from the Open University Business School (UK).

The Latvian Blockchain Association is setup to facilitate collaboration between all market participants and stakeholders in the Blockchain ecosystem.

It is designed to be an effective platform for members to engage with multiple stakeholders to find solutions to issues and to promote best practices in a collaborative, open, and transparent manner. It will represent the blockchain industry, uphold the integrity of its members, and support the building of relationships within the blockchain community, and collaborate with regional and as well as international blockchain organizations. 

During 7+ years in the payments industry, he has learned a lot about clients desires fulfilling roles in support, compliance, business analysis and now product ownership.  
Norberts spends his life delivering modern payment solutions to everyone starting from small e-commerce merchants to large financial institutions.