About the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE

Magdalena is a professional with over 16 years of experience in business consulting. She spent more than a decade advising companies (Deloitte, PwC) in cost optimization, obtaining public funding, organizing R&D&I processes, and open innovation models. She engages as a judge and mentor in startup events and acceleration programs.
Her mission is to provide CEE startups with a productive, well-connected ecosystem, empowering innovation-driven entrepreneurs, and enabling their exponential growth. Her goal is also to build bridges between Startups and corporations for the benefit of both.

Serial entrepreneur, advisor, mentor, and expert in commercialization of new technologies. Alumnus of Economics studies at the Warsaw University and postgraduate studies – Advanced Management Program at IESE Business School. Expert and Adviser experienced within the field of startups creation and acceleration. Chairman of MIT Enterprise Forum Poland and coordinator of Acceleration Program for technological projects realized by this organization. Previously, i.a. Innovation Advisory Director at PwC, co-founder of Coalition For Polish Innovations.

Investment banker, corporate finance specialist, VC fund manager. Passionate about helping technology startups grow. Deep relationships in the tech community of US, Switzerland, and Poland. Experience gained from working in international corporates: Exxon Research & Engineering, Exxon Chemical, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – London, UBS AG – Zurich, Fincoord Ltd – Zurich. Founder and CEO of Capital Solutions, founder of Nomad Fund. Assists companies in capital raisings, especially from the capital market, and in the business model and strategy development.

Chris is an active investor in early stage companies and a member of Business Angels networks in Poland and US. His portfolio companies ranged from ICT, Bioscience to Chemical Processing and Photonics. During his career he has provided substantial returns on his exits some of which took place in the United States. A lawyer by education. Mentor and coach for startups.

Łukasz is Head of Growth at MIT Enterprise Forum CEE. In this role, he oversees the marketing & communication strategy, business development and new areas of support for start-ups and corporations, including relationships with current corporate partners. One of Łukasz’s most exciting projects currently is the development of new products and educational and business programs for startups from CEE, organized in Boston – which will effectively plug-in start-ups into the US market. He is a graduate of Kozminski University in the field of Strategy Management and has participated in numerous competency courses and training related to the development of technological startups. He is an experienced juror in international startup competitions. In his private time, Łukasz is a huge fan of extreme sports and good food.

Tessa oversees the MIT EF CEE Alumni Club – a prestigious group of over 150 CEE startups (and growing annually) who have successfully completed the Acceleration programme and are on their way to scaling their innovative businesses. The club provides an interactive ecosystem for further growth, knowledge sharing and creating partnerships – with the alumni, mentors and corporate partners. 

Tessa has a background in Business Development and Event Management, gained at prestigious international companies and has also worked with numerous startups/scaleups. She holds an Executive MBA from the Warsaw University of Technology Business School, as well as degrees from the Jagiellonian University, Kraków and the University of Bristol. 

Agnieszka is a researcher in the field of technology and knowledge transfer, experienced in business-science cooperation, entrepreneurship and creation of innovation policies. She managed international research projects, conducted lectures and workshops, authored numerous articles in the field. She graduated from University of Wroclaw (Poland), Albert-Ludwigs Universität (Germany), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (U.S.), in the fields of international relations, economics, business administration.

PhD, has technical background is in optoelectronics, medical devices and IT. He was trained at Stanford University, Synchrotron Desy, Salamanca University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and many other places. Krzysztof has more than 13 years of experience in R&D and management. His commercial experience covers also consulting in tech-transfer and building technological companies.

Expert in the field of financial instruments and public state aid in MIT Enterprise Forum CEE. Grzegorz conducts consultancy activities in the area of building an investment strategy for VC funds, raising capital by innovative startups and structuring transactions.

She has several years of experience in working for Polish and international companies, including an energy company or one of the biggest petroleum companies. Being part of start-ups world for more than 2 years now, she believes, that she can share her wide experience and utilize it in start-ups ecosystem and learn a lot about innovations world at the same time. She particularly believes in all innovations, which improve people’s relations.

A graduate in Tourism and Management. She gained professional experience running her own business, in which she cooperated with other business entities.
She is responsible for the proper functioning of the office, contacts and constant coordination of activities with external companies. She deals with the settlement and reporting of our projects.

As a Community Builder in MIT EF CEE she explores the startup ecosystem in the CEE region and develops the operational plan for the Community of MIT EF CEE. Additionally, she supports the operations of the accelerator and organizes events.

Prior to the accelerator involvement, she co-created a startup, through which she learned the mechanics of the startup environment and acquired the knowledge on how to survive in the market. She graduated from the University of Warsaw, Koźmiński University (Poland), Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics (Portugal) and Hogeschool Gent (Belgium) in the fields of strategy and innovation management. She is fascinated by new technologies.