Gabriel Vasques - Andreessen Horowitz is a Venezuela native who emigrated to the US and joined a16z. He has been an investment partner there since 2020 and is focused on both South America and Europe, in addition to being based in New York.

Sebastian Mejia - Rappi is one of the founders of Colombia's first Unicorn - Rappi. He started the last-mile everything app in 2015 and it has been downloaded more than 150 million times since. Studied at Stanford and in Madrid, and now lives in Florida. A serial entrepreneur and active angel investor as well.

Anna Adlarson - Kinnevik is one of few Nordic investors who can do both early and late stage investments. Kinnevik is a legendary investor headquartered out of Stockholm and Anna is responsible for investments in the Nordics. Congratulate her on her new house which she left her man to fix, so that she could join us for skiing and adventure!

Tommy Ahlers - Look Up Ventures is a bit of a renaissance man. He is known as a high level startup founder, executive, board member, active angel investor and VC in the startup world, but he is also an adjunct professor and has served as the Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science.

Geeta Schmidt - Seed Capital is the former CEO and co-founder of Humio which was acquired by CrowdStrike in 2021 for 400M$. Geeta joined Seed last year as a General Partner and as an american living in Denmark, she understands both the Nordic and American ways. Some call her the new queen of Aarhus!

Jimmy Fusing Nielsen - Heartcore is the CEO and managing partner of Heartcore. The firm is one of the most established VCs in the Nordics, founded in 2007. They have grown from a Copenhagen based fund to a pan Nordic fund with offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin and Paris. Jimmy is one of the godfathers of the Danish startup scene!

Thomas Adams - Brandbassador is a serial entrepreneur who founded several successful consumer-oriented companies before going on to build Brandbassador - a marketing platform that connects brands with loyal customers, influencers and micro-influencers. A high-energy person with great stories and the Kardashians, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift on speed dial. 

Filip Mark - Creandum is the brand new addition to the Creandum team. He is Swedish, but grew up in SF and emigrated back. He has a varied background and his experience as a ski guide in the alps and a sailing coach might prove to be valuable in Nusfjord. Comes from a mix of the startup, venture and corporate world, and is now all in on the VC side.

Payton Dobbs - Hoxton Ventures held various leadership positions in Google before joining Hoxton Ventures as a partner in 2023. He is a versatile man with a degree in engineering and mathematics, plus he studied architecture at Harvard and took an MBA in London. Originally from Florida, now in Britain.

Agate Freimane - Norrsken VC is a General Partner and co-founder of Norrsken VC, Europe’s largest early-stage impact fund backing tech companies that positively impact people and the planet while delivering top-tier returns. When she’s not chasing the next impact unicorn, you’ll find her outdoors, chasing adventure — she's especially excited for the cold-water surfing on this trip!

Aleksander Larsen - Sky Mavis is one of the most successful crypto founders out of the Nordics. He is the man behind Sky Mavis, the creators of the wildly popular blockchain based pay-to-earn game Axie Infinity and the Ronin Network. He has been building out of Asia and is looking to engage deeper with the Nordic startup ecosystem going forward.

Luke Pappas - NEA is another California emigrant who has not fully realised that the Nordics is the right place to settle in Europe. He is one of NEAs London based partners but we bet we will see him settle down in one of the Nordic capitals as soon as he fully realises the full potential, the beauty and the authenticity of the region ;)

Aaron Gershenberg - Pinegrove is a legend in international venture capital having started Silicon Valley Bank Capital, and now through Pingerove. Probably the person in Nusfjord with the deepest and broadest knowledge of venture capital. He has been key in shaping the asset class as it has grown to prominence internationally.

Jon Dishotsky - Giant Ventures is a SF founder gone investor. He started Startcity in 2016, and raised 50M$ before selling it to Common in 2021. He has since emigrated to the Nordics with his family and gone over to the dark side and is now a partner at Giant Ventures.

Sara Rywe - byFounders is a well known figure in the nordics, with a strong presence in both Sweden and Denmark. She has worked her way up to become a key figure in byFounders and you can see her on stage at most of the region's big startup events, or meet her on the legendary byFounders voyage.

Viktor Nord - Adway is an impressive serial entrepreneur within talent acquisition and the HR space. He is also an active angel investor and LP in several VCs. Viktor is mostly known for Adway, and he is probably Gothenburg's most connected founder. A Swedish West Coast patriot with a goal of elevating the Gothenburg startup scene.

Arne Halleraker - FJ Labs is a partner with the New York based early stage fund FJ Labs. They pride themselves in being one of the most active early stage investors in the world with over 1000 investments and a special focus on market places. Arne does not know how to surf but together with Truls from Db-Journey and Anders from Mesh, he is your arctic surf host.

Fridtjof Berge - Antler is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Antler. Since its launch in 2018, the global early-stage investor has made over 1,500 investments. With investment teams in 25 countries across six continents, Antler has become one of the world’s most active VC investors, including a strong presence across the Nordics.

Finn Persson - Spintop Ventures is a veteran VC and advanced skier who runs mountains faster than most professional athletes. He makes no fuss about it and is the kindest, most helpful ski-buddy you will ever meet… as long as you're not slow. Probably how he thinks about investments as well!

Trygve Karper - Databutton is the founder of one of Norway's most interesting AI startups, Databutton. He is opinionated about a wide range of topics and most VCs confess to feeling a bit dumb after various AI discussions with him. A deep thinker yet someone who is not afraid to give you his take things.

Jørn Lyseggen - Meltwater & Shack15 is one of few people to bootstrap an Unicorn. A curious, energetic, and intelligent serial entrepreneur most known for Meltwater but also founded Shack15 in SF and several new ventures. He is an active angel, LP investor, food lover (and investor) and into anything that sparks his curiosity. 

Henrik Hatlebrekke - Sondo was part of making StartupLab what is before going on to start Sondo - one of the rising star funds of the Nordics. Both Henrik and his partner and co-founder Kjetil are from Bergen, and though Henrik might come across as somewhat cocky (a bit like the Swedes), they are both super nice and goofy!

Antti Pasila - Cyans is a Finnish serial entrepreneur and investor. Known for founding companies like Kiosked, Skyfora and GraghoGame. A true creator and venture builder who has raised more than 100M$ in venture capital and he has been a central part of the latest entrepreneurial generation out of Finland.

David Frykman - Norrsken VC is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and creator who has been part of building great companies out of the Nordics for the last 25 years. Now, he is a general partner at Norrsken VC. The most focused and ambitious 500M$ impact fund in Europe. David is also the author of the Financial Times “Guide to Corporate Valuations.”

Tom Even Mortensen - Sandwater is the managing partner of Sandwater VC. He is a seasoned executive and investor with many business roles. One worth highlighting is easy though; he sits on the board of The Norwegian Adventure Company, so if anyone needs adventure tips, Tom Even is your man!

Cecilie Skjong - Skyfall is representing Skyfall Ventures and southern Norway together with Jon Kåre in the deep sea Fishing competition against team Snö. She is the person who lands all Skyfall projects, with her great energy yet calm and focused executor mode.

Fredrik Thomassen - Superside is a unicorn-level founder who makes scaling companies look easy. He has taken Superside to almost 1000 employees with offices around the world and keeps on expanding and innovating with ease. A smart, kind, and truly inspiring founder - a true original.

Louise Hagen - Luminar is a partner in Stockholm based Luminar Ventures. She is a seasoned executive and has spent time in both the Nordics and US. She is hosting the kayaking session, and we are all looking forward to her teaching us how to do the eskimo roll in the freezing arctic ocean ;)

Magne Uppman - Snö feels right at home in Nusfjord. Both Magne and Teodor, the founding partners of Snö, grew up in Northern Norway, and were raised on a diet of cod and reindeer. It was obvious that they would be hosting one of the deep sea fishing boats. If they lose to the Oslo based Skyfall team however, we should all be watching out for some harakiri moves.

Johan Brand - Kahoot! & We Are Human is mostly known for having started and CEOed Kahoot but is now one of the most active angel and LP investors out of Oslo, through We Are Human. He is more than a little bit obsessed with the ocean and everything that has to do with it. Most comfortable on a sailboat or in visionary far ranging discussions. 

Andrew Berman - Zapier is a serial founder and active angel investor, across stages. He is the founder of Nanit, and his latest venture - Vowel - was acquired på Zapier in 2024. He has been building AI companies for the last 10 years. Before that he worked within finance and venture capital.

Trond Riiber Knudsen - Superangel is the king of angel investing in Norway. He has made more than 150 investments and when he is not investing, he is on a stage or in the newspaper advocating for more risk capital, a stronger startup scene and innovation.

Mats Andre Kristiansen - Take Take Take is one of the ODA founders, now dubbed the ODA mafia, who has gone on to start Take Take Take together with chess player Magnus Carlsen. He supposedly played a remis (in team with Vegard Vik and Karl Munthe Kaas) against Carlsen, so if you’re into that, you know who to challenge.

Kathrine Mellis - Sandwater grew up in SF, and went to Berkeley to study bio-engineering. From there she went to London for an MBA and ended up in investment banking at Goldman. But her love for nature and sports (plus a Norwegian man) made her move to Oslo where she joined Sandwater as an investor. She is an avid skier, so Lofoten should fit her perfectly!

Mads Emil Dalsgaard - Klimate started and runs the fastest growing climate startup in Europe, Klimate.co. He is a serial entrepreneur, a college drop-out (having finished his first arts degree) and an avid climber. Nusfjord and Mats Emil sound like they are made for each other. We expect him to chase northern lights from the top of the surrounding mountains!

Truls Brataas - Db_journey is the founder of the most advanced and modern travel gear brand to come out of the Nordics. Europe's largest company LVMH just invested and they believe it can be the next international brand from the region. The company was started after the co-founders met surfing, in a place similar to Lofoten, and Truls is an experienced adventurer.

Kasper Trolle Borup - Ubiq Aerospace is the co-founder and CTO of Ubiq Aerospace. He has a phd with the theoretical focus on nonlinear observer theory and fault tolerance, and a background as a visiting researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab. Sounds pretty cool!

Lina Andersson - Once Upon founded Once Upon after realizing that the memories and narratives we built our lives upon can get lost in the digital realm. Her app has been downloaded 7,5 million times and books full of memories have been printed in 143 countries around the globe. 

Teodor Bjerrang - Snö feels right at home in Nusfjord - both Magne and Teodor, the founding partners of Snö, grew up in Northern Norway, and were raised on a diet of cod and reindeer. It was obvious that they would be hosting one of the deep sea fishing boats. If they lose to the Oslo based Skyfall team however, we should all be watching out for some harakiri moves.

Dan McCormick - Greens is the founding partner of Greens, where he invests in Nordic pre-seed startups with founders who are alumni of Nordic Unicorns. More than 50 Spotify alumni, and other high level operators across the field, are pooled together and go in early through Greens.

Vegard Vik - Oda the former CFO and co-founder of ODA, recognised as one of the two main mafia bosses in the ODA mafia. He is also the co-founder of Hjemmelegene, an angel investor and rumoured to be working on something new and exciting.

Lærke Hansen - Heartcore is an investor at Heartcore Ventures. The fund started out in Copenhagen but is now a full fledged European fund. She joined a year ago and has a strong background from finance.

Jesper Theil Thomsen - Soundsboks is a politically engaged Thiel Fellow, a youth leadership advocate and YC Alumni. He is the founder and CEO of Soundboks which he started in his teens and has grown to become a global brand and leading outdoor loudspeaker company. 

Marco Mascorro - a16z is a a16z partner focused on AI, infrastructure, open source software and automation. He is an AI Research Engineer and Roboticist. Prior to a16z he founded and lead Fellow AI. He even has a a short career as a Professor in Monterey and a researcher in Japan, and he still builds robots in the weekends.

Robin Visvanathar - Ionlace is building the next generation of biotech tools to advance human health and solve proteomics at scale. We don’t know exactly what that means but the promise of understanding circulating proteins in our bodies to be able to accelerate our path to preventative healthcare sounds big, important, and worth the full founder journey.

Mats Herding Solberg - reMarkable is the Jony Ives of the Norwegian startup scene. He is an industrial designer by education and trade, with a keen interest for the mix of hardware and software. reMarkable have sold millions of their paper tablets and became a mythical creature a couple of years ago.

Jeanette Dyhre Kvisvik - Villoid is the founder and CEO of Villoid. Her background spans from McKinsey to television. She effortlessly transitions from fashion and culture, to business and scaling. Don’t let her easygoing way fool you, Jeanette is a hardcore founder with great stories and scars to prove it!

Steffen Lie Pringle - DNB is responsible for Startup & Growth in DNB. With a background from the army he could be a valuable person to keep close for adventures and we expect him to be one of the toughest ice bathers and mountaineers.

Lars Erik Fagernæs - Aviant just landed a deal to start supplying the greater Stockholm region with drone delivered food. We can’t wait to try it! Lars Erik is a serial entrepreneur who is getting recognition in both Europe and US for their drone delivery service and the first commercial contracts are going live soon. 

Niko Karstikko - BOB W is a Finnish serial entrepreneur with several investments, board positions and ventures under his belt. He is now on a mission to reinvent hospitality throughout Europe with BOB W. Check them out if you are staying a night or two in Oslo.

Christian Tang-Jespersen - ACME is a seasoned top level executive and investor. He is a partner in the SF based VC, ACME, and has spent a lot of time in the US, China, Singapore and Switzerland throughout his career. He now resides in Copenhagen and also helps bridge the gap between the US and Denmark by serving on the board of DenmarkBridge.

Lise Fulland - StartupLab is one of the key partners at StartupLab. The fund is recognised for introducing the accelerator model in Norway, and StartupLab has grown to become the key inception stage investor here. Lise is involved in the music and cultural scene in addition to being a key person in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. 

Maria Portoles - Vsquared Ventures is a European deep tech investor. Started out in the Family Office world and made her way to venture. She is now a partner in Vsquared where she invests in the kind of companies you dream of building as a young entrepreneur. 

Aya Fabricius - Mesh is one of the main reasons why we are here at Nusfjord. The community focused serial entrepreneur and creative is the Head of Network at Mesh, which makes her responsible for the development of Mesh Collective, our top level startup network. 

George Radford - Frontline was a part of Travis Kalanick's family office in LA, before joining Frontline in London to help take scaling startups from Europe to the US. He is in Nusfjord to connect with the Nordics and find great founders but also to learn about how to run experienced based boutique hotels like Nusfjord - a personal interest of his. 

Alicia Garabedian - Left Lane is a London-based VC with a global perspective, having lived in Chicago, Silicon Valley, Singapore, and New York. She recently moved from Left Lane’s New York office to help lead the firm’s European efforts, including coverage of the Nordics. She focuses on partnering with exceptional founders across AI, vertical SaaS, and consumer, and we’re excited to give her the full Nordic experience with arctic surfing and ice bathing. Welcome to the North!

Maximilian Serfling - Peak studied and worked across 5 different countries early on in his career. Got into venture through to early stage funds in Berlin before settling down with Peak. Originally from Germany, and now residing in Stockholm. An active guy who is passionate about team sports. We bet he signed up for the deep sea fishing competition.

Øystein Skiri - Futurum is another great founder turned investor. He started Boost Communications and went on to become a close partner with the Witzøe family. Together they have started Wiski Capital and now Futurum, both funds he started and manages.

Anniken Hofgaard - Ferd went to both Harvard and NTNU, and spent some time with McKinsey. A data scientist role in Spacemaker got her into the startup scene and 3-4 years ago she joined Ferd and became an investor. She is working on the LP strategy for Ferd and has been traveling all over the world to find the best funds to invest in. 

Anders Mjåset - Mesh is the co-founder and CEO of Mesh. His main goal is to modernise and push the Nordic startup scene forward, and that mission has never meant more to him than what it means today. One of the central voices in the Norwegian startup ecosystem, with a goal of taking an even bigger role in supporting founders across the Nordics in the coming years.

Andreas Moyland - Trustbridge represents the only international fund on the trip which has grown out of Asia. Andreas has lived much of his adult life in Asia and oversees Trustbridge’s investments in Europe and the Nordics. The fund is both an LP and a later stage investor globally. 

Kasper Juul - Kin is the founder and CEO of Kin - a privacy-focused personal AI companion that learns from every interaction you have with it. When he is not interacting with his emotionally intelligent AI, he also enjoys ski touring and adventure, and tutors MIT students on innovation. 

Carl-Emil Grøn - Reshape Bio states in his LinkedIn bio that he “builds robots for biotech labs and talk about life in a startup”. Straight forward yet understated. They raised a series A last year from top tier VCs and are expanding globally with a mission to help decode nature so that we can live in harmony with it.

Scott Tully - Hedosophia is a London based VC with experience from both sides of the Atlantic. Although he has spent most of his career in finance and venture, he did test the waters as a founder, yet ultimately ended back on the dark side ;)

Christine Spiten - Danske Growth is the founder of BlueEye Robotics, an underwater drone company, and an avid adventurer. She is part of the Explorers Club and after emigrating from Norway to Denmark she has found a new home in Danske Growth. 

Aksel Lund Svindal - Norselab & Athlete is Norway’s most decorated downhill skier, with tons of Olympic gold medals and world cup victories. Towards the end of his career he took an interest in the startup scene and the similarities he saw between founders and athletes. He is now an investor, both directly and through Norselab. 

Andreas Sachse - Podimo has co-founded or held C-level roles in MAIK, The Bike Crate, BASTARD, CHEF CHEF, TIMBAGO, Too Good Too Go & Podimo. A proper serial entrepreneur with the hit and misses to prove it. Hit a million paying subscribers with Podimo recently and is broadening his presence in the startup scene as an investor and board member. 

Göran Sandahl - Opper AI believes apps have the possibility to be 100x more powerful than today when fused with AI, and that software engineers combined with a stellar AI infrastructure will be key to get us there. He sold his previous company, Unomaly to Logicmonitor in 2020, and is now all in on Opper AI.

Kent Due-Fredriksen - Danske Growth is the Head of Danske Growth - Danske Banks founder and funding initiative directed towards ambitious founders. He started it and has been passionate about the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Nordics - and UK especially - for a long time. 

Therese Mannheimer - People Ventures is the founder of Grace Health, which she sold to Kenyan Panda Health in 2023. She then recently went over to the dark side and is now a VC with People Ventures. An energetic powerhouse woman with a big presence and broad network. 

Tobias Bæck - BB & Dovetail is one of the most colorful multitalents and creative minds in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. Through BB he has been a part of many of the biggest startup successes in Norway and internationally. Also the man behind the most eclectic parties and notorious events like “An Interesting Day” (please bring it back).

Nico Blier-Silverstri - Dreamcraft is a former founder and executive turned investor. He has deep insight into talent, recruitment and people and has been a part of many of our regions biggest successes like Unity, Peakon, Revolut and Trustpilot in various leadership positions. Originally French, now lives in Copenhagen. 

Andreas Grape - Nordic Angels is a central figure in the Swedish startup ecosystem, who is now branching out through the Nordics with Nordics Angels. Serial entrepreneur and angel investor with a broad network and visions for the angel community in our region!

Anders Mayntzhusen - Humani is another high level founder and CEO with a varied growth background. Passionate leader and executive with a work-hard mentality, now aiming to help us all become great and exceptional managers through Humani. 

Mads Fosselius - Dixa is the co-founder, first investor and former CEO of Dixa. Having followed the venture latter to a series D, Dixa serves millions of conversations annually and is trusted by many of the top international brands. Mads is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits and executive roles under his belt.

Thomas Sveum - The Hub was inspired by AngelList and took on Danske Bank in the quest to create the best recruitment platform for the Nordic startup scene. In late 2023 his company, Startupmatcher, acquired The Hub, and a series of new products and models have been launched since to help founders succeed when hiring the right people to scale their business.

Jon Kåre Steene - Skyfall is the third person on the trip who is part of the inner core of the ODA mafia. He will be the team captain of team Skyfall in the deep sea fishing competition, and together with Cecile, his main goal for the trip is to catch the biggest cod, and beat Magne and Teodor of team Snö.

Verna Vuoripuro - Illusian is a key person in the Finnish startup ecosystem and one of the leaders of the Illusion Founder Office - the joint initiative by founders of companies like Supercell, Wolt, Aiven, Zalando, and Supermetrics with the goal of pooling resources to help accelerate European tech.

Sebastian Peck - Kompas is the German founder and managing partner of Kompas, who lives in Amsterdam and invests throughout Europe. He has an entrepreneurial background and has co-founded several companies prior to becoming an investor.

Andreas Mjelde - Two built the “Amazon of Latin America” with Rocket Internet in his 20s out of Mexico City, and is now the founder and CEO of Two, one of the rising stars in the fintech sector. A serial, no bullshit, entrepreneur with direct takes and high ambitions.

Anette Fischer - DNB is the Global Head of TMT & Business Services in Norways largest bank. She has teams around the world but the main focus is on the Nordic market. She has spent 20+ years at the bank and made it to the top, so she should know everything you would want to know about DNB.

Casper Bjarnason - byFounders is the an ex photographer turned investor with surfing experience from Australia. We all expect to lean on him if we get big waves in the arctic surf session on Day 2!

Benjamin Notlev - TechBBQ ​​is responsible for everything investor at TechBBQ - the leading startup event in Denmark. The event has gone from good to great in the last 3-4 years and Benjamin is one of the key reasons for it!

Anna Sillanpää - Robes Rental is the only woman in Nusfjord representing Finland. She is the founder and CEO of the peer to peer AI-powered fashion rental platform Robes. As many great founders before her out of Finland, she has a background from AaltoES.

Bruno Wisniewski - Cherry Ventures: is an ex big tech and McKinsey alumni who took to his senses and joined Pleo and later Candy Crush & King. Now he covers Berlin and the Nordics with Cherry Ventures. He is a keen adventurer, so Nusfjord should be right up his ally:)

Anders Hallin - Alliance is another serial entrepreneur turned investor who has seen the rise of the Swedish startup scene from the inside. He has been an active angel investor and executive as well, and now serves as a partner in Alliance Venture in Stockholm.

Karl Kristian Wickstrøm - Mesh is the co-founder and COO of Mesh. Having previously experienced the struggles of starting companies in the Nordics, he intuitively matched with the idea of modernising the Nordic startup ecosystem and has been the internally focused main executive since day 1.

Ola Smeby - Investinor is one of two key people with the responsibility for fund of fund investments for the governmental investor Investinor. They have invested in 30 funds so far and are rumoured to get more funds in the coming years.

Tobias Winczer - Balderton represents Balderton and is responsible for the Nordics on their behalf. A Czech native data scientist turned investor. He lives in London and has spent the last 5 years in the VC world there. 

Sune Alstrup - super angel is a tech founder by heart, most known for The Eye Tribe, with exits to companies like Meta and Snap. He is not only a serial entrepreneur but also a big angel investor who loves taking complex tech to the market, whilst swinging for the fences.

Marco Mascorro - a16z is a a16z partner focused on AI, infrastructure, open source software and automation. He is an AI Research Engineer and Roboticist. Prior to a16z he founded and lead Fellow AI. He even had a short career as a Professor in Monterey and a researcher in Japan, and he still builds robots in the weekends.