The Honourable Anita Anand was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Oakville in 2019. She has previously served as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, as President of the Treasury Board, as Minister of National Defence, and as Minister of Public Services and Procurement. As a Minister of National Defence, she brought in reforms to address sexual misconduct in the military and to ensure culture change in the Canadian Armed Forces for the benefit of all who serve. During this time, she also led Canada’s efforts to provide comprehensive military aid and personnel to train Ukrainian soldiers following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. As Minister responsible for Innovation, Science and Industry, she focused on strengthening Canada’s tech leadership, industrial competitiveness, and economic resilience, while also overseeing the country’s science and innovation agenda.
Erkki Keldo serves as the Minister of Economy and Industry, focusing on entrepreneurship, export growth, and economic innovation. Previously, he was a Member of Estonian Parliament (2019-2024) and Secretary General of the Estonian Reform Party (2018-2022). A Tallinn University Political Science graduate (2013), Keldo was recently recognized as a Young Global Leader 2025 by the World Economic Forum - an elite community that includes heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, and Fortune 500 CEOs. Outside of politics, he enjoys football and participating in quizzes.
Takeshi is a serial Fintech entrepreneur, and Co-founder & CEO of GFTN Japan, actively spearheading ecosystem building and international collaborations. He sits on the committee for the Government of Japan's Regulatory Sandbox and is a member of the experts group, jointly organized by the Digital Agency and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry focusing on international data governance. Before starting his own startup in the Fintech industry, Takeshi worked as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, gaining expertise in capital markets. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he worked at Boston Consulting Group. He formerly served as Vice-chair at Fintech Association of Japan, where he played a pivotal role in navigating international collaborations for 6 years.
Sigrid Rajalo, PhD, is the Deputy Secretary General for Economy and Innovation at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. She is a seasoned innovation strategist who works at the intersection of research and economic policy. Sigrid is a key architect in transforming Estonia into a science-based economy, promoting R&D strategies and frameworks that empower businesses to test and scale breakthrough innovations in a real-world environment.
Ben is an ecosystem specialist with broad and deep experience in defence, cybersecurity and fintech innovation. He runs Amitypath, an international accelerator known for its Walkabout programme and active in Europe, Africa and North America. Amitypath clients include the UK Ministry of Defence and Accelerate Estonia. Ben led Level39, Europe's largest fintech and cybersecurity accelerator from 2016 to 2020. Before joining Level39 he was Chief Operating Officer of the UK Government's venture capital unit. Before joining UKTI, Ben founded, built and sold a fintech business that processed payments in the UK and internationally. He led the business from inception through several tech and market transitions, including the adoption of cloud infrastructure, PSD compliance and trade sale exit. He began his career as a Royal Marine Commando.
Leo Ringer is a founding partner at Form Ventures, a VC fund investing in startups taking on complex, regulated markets. Form is unique in leveraging its extensive regulatory expertise and network to help portfolio companies navigate policy, regulatory and government-related risks and opportunities. Prior to founding Form, Leo spent a decade at the intersection of business and politics, including as an adviser to the Secretary of State for Business in the British government. He speaks and writes regularly about the regulation of disruptive, venture-backed innovation, including at formventures.substack.com.
Irina is leading teams across the Baltics and Finland. With experience spanning global companies such as Booking.com and fast-paced startup environments, Irina has built her career around scaling businesses, leading high-performing teams, and driving growth across international markets. Known for her hands-on leadership style, Irina values strong relationships, practical execution, and a mindset focused on finding solutions and making things happen.
Julian Glaab is CEO and co-founder of Bliq, a Berlin-based AI company building driverless cars for private and business use. Bliq began with software for ride-hailing drivers and a consumer app that compares ride options across platforms, and is now expanding into driverless vehicle deployment in Europe, starting in Estonia and Germany. Before Bliq, Julian co-founded AIPARK, a parking technology startup. He holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from TU Braunschweig and began his career in production engineering at Volkswagen AG.
Triin joined Bolt in 2025. She leads strategy and operations for Bolt Food in Estonia, bringing structure and alignment to strategic initiatives across the market. Known for her data-driven approach, she works cross-functionally to turn market insights into execution, ensuring teams move in the same direction and hit their targets.
With over 25 years in aviation and unmanned systems, he has led major UAV development and flight test programs at Israel Aerospace Industries, Aeronautics, and Amazon’s Prime Air and Cargo UAV teams. A former chief flight test pilot and systems designer, Doron has pioneered innovations bridging autonomy, aerodynamics, and operations — combining deep technical expertise with visionary thinking.
Tarmo Virki is an entrepreneur, communications leader, and co-founder of the startup media platform Fomo.Observer. A former veteran technology correspondent for Reuters, Tarmo has spent two decades at the intersection of disruptive tech and global policy. Today, as Head of Communications for PowerUP Energy Technologies, he navigates the complex regulatory landscapes of the hydrogen economy and greentech. Known for his "no-BS" approach to innovation, Tarmo was a finalist in the Edukas Eesti competition for his visionary proposal on ""AI Residency."" He specializes in articulating the societal impact of pioneering ventures, making him a central node in the Baltic ecosystem for founders who move faster than the law.
Having previously founded various start-ups in Europe and Asia, Olari has now moved into the public sector and is the CEO of Accelerate Estonia. Having worked for years in both the private and public sectors, Olari knows what it takes to make real innovation happen. Accelerate Estonia is the innovation arm of the Estonian government, connecting public policy, regulation and startup ecosystems to accelerate high-impact ventures. Essentially, Olari is the bridge between the public and private sectors, so that innovation can flow in both directions.
Sandor Liive is co-founder of Gridio, the EU's leading electric vehicle smart charging platform offering cloud-to-cloud charging orchestration in partnership with BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, VW Group and others, and Fermi Energia, which is deploying Estonia's first small modular reactor. He brings entrepreneurial experience from both ends of the spectrum — building new companies from scratch and driving entrepreneurial transformation inside large organisations. As CEO of Eesti Energia (2005–2014), he turned a hated state monopoly into one of Estonia's most admired employers, while executing a €2.7B investment programme. He also serves on the Supervisory Boards of Rail Baltica, Nordecon, and Conexus Baltic Grid.
Tõnis Tänav brings a practical and research-based perspective to innovation in government. He is Deputy Secretary General for Innovation and Strategy at Estonia’s Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, with previous experience in innovation policy, applied research, and data-driven public administration. Overseeing both public sector innovation projects and innovation policy in agriculture, he has built his career at the intersection of public policy, goverment institutions and incentives to private companies.
Rannar Park has always focused on bringing communities closer together and facilitating relationships to ensure no opportunity ever goes unexplored or unused. Thanks to his background in education and organisational management he is a strong proponent of the digitalisation of services for the sake of upskilling the population and un-cluttering people's lives. As e-Estonia Briefing Centre's Head of Business Management, Rannar aims to connect entrepreneurs and state entities to foster cross-borders innovation, international business relations and make sure the gospel of e-Estonia is heard in every corner of the world. e-Estonia Briefing Centre is a governmental body created in 2009 for the development and promotion of e-Estonia brand. Estonia is the world leader in the digitalisation of government services.
Mikk Vahtrus is the Research & Innovation Manager at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, where he shapes policy to drive private sector research and innovation. A physicist by training, Mikk holds a PhD in nanotechnologies from the University of Tartu. His career spans hands-on scientific research, funding management at the Estonian Research Council, and strategic governmental advisory roles.
