Speakers 2027

Biography

Known for her strategic mindset and hands-on approach, Mercedes is a trusted investor and coach to founders and passionate about bringing innovation to market. She is a partner at HERAN Partners, a Belgium-based fund founded by entrepreneurs and investors with a track record in scientific and technological innovation.

Biography

22 years at NRG-Pallas, the Dutch nuclear research institute, now developing a modular molten salt reactor that reduces long-lived nuclear waste.

Biography

Ten years building YFK to a successful exit, then Young Heroes: a harder journey, but personally one of her most meaningful chapters.

Biography

15 years in precision measurement, now turning quantum sensing into a microscope that shows drug developers in real time how living cells respond to stress.

Biography

Leading the adoption of clean, future-proof tech: developing repairable, long-lasting consumer electronics at Fairphone and renewable fueling station networks for truck fleets at Refuels.

Biography

Built a kitchen-table startup into a €200 million company in nine countries, then lived through burnout and bankruptcy; now helps founders grow ambitiously and sustainably.

Biography

Roel Bleumer is founder of Volta Energy, which he started in 2017 with his brother to replace polluting diesel generators with clean, mobile energy. Since pitching on Dragons’ Den in 2019, the company has grown into a team of over sixty people, and with growth financing from ING and Invest-NL it is now scaling up its fleet.