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. 

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.

Adam is an experienced VC and Angel investor, mentor, entrepreneur and new technologies competition judge with 20 years of sector experience in clean energy & water & ocean technology companies. Currently, as an Angel Investor, Adam is a Partner in the Clean Energy Venture Group, a member of Launchpad Ventures, and MIT Angels and the Blue Angels (ocean technology). Adam Mentors & Judges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Techstars, Northeastern University, CleanTech Open, & MassChallenge. Adam is on the Commercial Advisory Board of the International Nanotechnology Laboratory, the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE accelerator in Warsaw Poland and the University of Wollongong (Australia) iAccelerate program.

Aleksander is a co-founder and managing partner of Resource Partners, the first and only consumer focused private equity fund in CEE. Aleksander has been an investor in CEE for almost 20 years and also sat at the Investment Committee for Media 3.0 Innovation Incubator. Before Resource Partners, Aleksander was Director at The Carlyle Group, Investment Director with Enterprise Investors and consultant at McKinsey &Co.
Aleksander obtained PhD in Computer Technology and also holds an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as Master degrees from University of Minnesota and Warsaw School of Economics.
He is currently Chairman of the University Council for Wrocław Medical University.

Mateusz has gained professional experience in major financial and cultural centers across four continents. He earned a bachelor’s degree at New York University studying in Shanghai, New York, and Buenos Aires and then continued his studies during the Tsinghua-MIT Global MBA program between Tsinghua SEM in China, MIT Sloan in the United States. His experience was built working in management consulting, technology, public sector and financial service industries.