Carsten Franke
Fintech Entrepreneur
Carsten Franke is a serial entrepreneur from Hamburg, Germany. As a contributing Member of the Choas Computer Club (CCC) since 1986 he has a steady insight in Cryptography, Computer and Network Vulnerabilities and exploits. He did his MBA in San Diego, CA and has been working professionally in the Internet since 1993. As head of the Online Department of several Multimedia Agencies he wrote concepts for several Startups and worked in Internet Projects for several Fortune 500 Companies specialising in Oracle Databases. After the Millenium Internet crash he startet his own Multimedia Production Company and worked as a Consultant for several Startup Initiatives in Hamburg, Berlin and now in Malta. He specialises in Guerilla Marketing, for example he used Bitcoin Payment as a Marketing Tool for an Online Pizza Delivery Service 2001. In Malta he trades with 70/80s Movie rights and digitizes Archives of out of business Movie Production Companies for that.
Peter Grech
CEO, BRND WGN
Brand strategist, mentor and CEO Peter-Jan Grech is the founder of BRND WGN, a strategy-led design & tech agency based in Malta and National Champions 2015/2016 for the European Business Awards.
Across his career, Peter-Jan has helped countless organisations in transition cut through the noise and focus on the step changes that really effect their brand’s success including the likes of SPF Private Clients (UK), Sherpa InsurTech and BNF Bank (Malta). Peter is a challenge junkie at a corporate, charity and endurance sports level ideally merging the three in one, whenever possible.
Dr. Abdalla Kablan
Entrepreneur and Fintech Expert
Dr. Abdalla Kablan is a serial entrepreneur, and award winning fintech expert. He specialises in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the design of complex financial systems. Throughout his career he founded a number of startups and companies specializing in deep learning, professional match making, and Fintech. Furthermore, Dr Kablan is an Alumni of Microsoft Ventures, UK and worked on projects, which were featured at the World Economic Forum 2017 in Davos. Dr. Kablan is also an academic at the University of Malta where he lectures and researches topics related to computational intelligence, financial engineering, and financial data science. During his PhD studies between 2007-2011 Dr Kablan researched the cryptographic block algorithms behind bitcoin (now known as blockchain), and is a renowned expert in the field of distributed ledgers. Furthermore Dr Kablan advices governments on matters related to strategic development and utilisation of technology, Fintech, and Blockchain/DLT technologies.
Elisa Krantz
Director and Co-Founder, Baton&Baton
Ellie is Managing Director and Co-Founder of baton&baton, an international boutique advisory firm specialising in helping businesses improve performance by developing leaders and teams. She has 17 years’ experience of working with global leading FTSE100 companies across a range of industries, including financial services, consulting, telecoms, energy, entertainment and leisure. She began her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers Malta in 2000 within HR Consultancy. In 2003 she moved to London and worked with Merrill Lynch before joining a leading global business psychology firm, YSC, in 2006. After leading a number of regional assignments in Hong Kong, Ellie moved to Mumbai to found YSC's India business in 2009 where she grew and headed the business for 2 years. Upon returning to Europe in 2011, she led YSC’s business expansion in Europe, Turkey and the Middle East. She left YSC to set up baton&baton in 2014. Ellie enjoys partnering with clients ranging from multinational corporates to entrepreneurial start-ups and lfamily businesses. Her passion lies in working with individuals and teams to help them develop their potential and harness their distinctiveness and their competitive edge.
After completing a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at the University of Malta, she was awarded the Chevening scholarship and obtained an MSc in Occupational Psychology at University of London. She grew up in Switzerland and Malta, and is a mum to two young children, Lily Rose and Sam. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband and kids, reading, travelling and has a big love of Maltese cultural heritage.
Elaine Mulcahy
Entrepreneur and Investor
Chair, 100WF Malta Committee
Formerly an M&A investment banker with JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, working in capital raising, M&A and equity sales. In 2003 Elaine joined FinTech start up, Mergermarket. She built the buy-side products globally and was actively involved in the sale of the business from two venture capital funds to a FTSE 100 listed entity.
She was Co-Chair of EuroIRP, a representative body of independent research providers (IRPs) across Europe from 2006 until 2014 and remains an active board member. Elaine is now actively engaged in providing consulting services to start-ups, FinTech and financial services companies (IRPs) through Polaris Ventures, which is also an active investor in companies. In 2016 Elaine took the initiative to raise the capital to launch the Maltese location of 100 Women in Finance (100WF) whose inaugural event was held in November 2016 and officially opened by Her Excellency, the President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. Elaine is currently pursuing two separate programs at IE Business school in Madrid – Start up to Scale up and Owner’s Scale-Up as part of their Exponential learning centre.
Kevin Valenzia
Kevin Valenzia recently stepped down as managing partner of PwC in Malta, after having served for eight years in that role. He had been a partner at PwC since 1987, and had been instrumental in helping to develop Malta’s financial services industry. Amongst a number of other appointments, he is a past President of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, past Chairman of the Financial Services Consultative Council, and one of the first Governors of Finance Malta. He has also been used by successive Governments for advice on the continued development of Malta’s financial services sector, and continues to sit on the Financial Services Working Group, chaired by the Minister for Finance.
