Captain Cornelissen is the CEO of Sea Shepherd Global and is responsible for all the movements of the vessels in Sea Shepherd’s Global fleet. He has served as a member of the Sea Shepherd crew for over 14 years on several ships, working his way up from chief cook to the bridge to eventually become the First Officer under Captain Paul Watson and appointed Captain in 2006. Captain Cornelissen gives presentations around the world to highlight the important work of the Sea Shepherd movement and to inspire others to join the fight. 

David Brandes is the Co-Founder and CEO of Planetary, a Swiss based biomass and precision fermentation platform looking to roll-out a global network of industrial scale production facilities. After a career at McKinsey, a leading food retailer, and a successful first exit, David is following his mission to "do well by doing good", by scaling the  biotech-enabled new food evolution.

Ido has over 25 years of experience in developing and leading breakthrough technologies for the hitech and biotech industries in Israel and around the world, forming technological infrastructures addressing core challenges for transitioning to an industrialized, technology based and sustainable world. Over the last 5 years, Ido has led SuperMeat’s growth from concept to production-scale cultivated meat manufacturing and commercialization, establishing the world’s first B2B cultivated meat solution to support the food industry’s ambition for a more sustainable and conscious system 

Gilad is an experienced AgriTech entrepreneur and investor, who is deeply passionate about utilizing cutting-edge technologies in solving real world challenges. He is a former Navy Ship Commander in the Israel Defense Forces (Ret. Lieutenant Colonel) and holds a Bs.C. in Industrial Engineering from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Daphna Nissenbaum is the CEO and Co-Founder of TIPA®, a leading developer and manufacturer of compostable packaging founded in Israel in 2012. Before launching TIPA®, Daphna was CEO of the Caesarea Center for Capital Markets and Risk Management at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya. Previously, she held various management positions at SPL World Group Ltd, a provider of revenue and operations management software, prior to which she held the position of project manager at Whelty Lager Ltd., located in Boston MA, USA. Daphna holds an MBA specializing in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from IDC Herzliya (graduated with honors) and a BA in Economics and Software Engineering from Bar Ilan University. She graduated the elite Israel Defense Forces software engineering program (Mamram) and served in the Israeli Navy software unit as an officer (ranked Captain). Today, Daphna is leading the TIPA® team in the movement to revolutionize packaging systems and rid the world of plastic pollution. TIPA® fully compostable flexible packaging replaces conventional plastic, turning waste into resource, a crisis into an opportunity.

Ryan Bethencourt is the CEO of Wild Earth, the leading healthy plant based and cell based pet food company in the US. Prior to founding Wild Earth, Ryan co-founded IndieBio, the leading biotech accelerator in the US and has backed over 170 future of food, biotech and tech companies over the last decade.

Mike Leonard brings nearly two decades of experience in senior industrial science and technology roles in the specialty food ingredient and fast-moving consumer goods industries. Before becoming CEO of Motif, he served as their CTO from 2019 to 2022. Prior to joining Motif, Mike served as VP of White Space Innovation and Springboard R&D at Kraft Heinz, VP of Process Technology for Global Snacks R&D at PepsiCo, in addition to serving in leadership roles at DuPont Nutrition & Health and International Flavors & Fragrances in process and protein ingredient research, business development and strategy. He holds a PhD in Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BS in Chemistry from Roanoke College.

Björn Witte is a Managing Partner and CEO of Blue Horizon. Björn is assessing opportunities and developing the pure-play impact investment strategy of Blue Horizon. He is Blue Horizon's strategic thinker and deal maker with a strong background in transforming the food industries as an entrepreneur in international markets. Björn has a track record in building and developing companies, from analyzing and spotting opportunities to setting priorities and getting things done.

Przemek Obloj is responsible for Blue Horizon’s investment activities. He brings more than 15 years of investing experience from leading global organisations including CVC Capital Partners and EQT Partners. Prior to joining Blue Horizon, Przemek was the Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at PSP Investments, a C$200 billion Canadian pension investment manager. He started his career at McKinsey & Company and holds an MSc in Finance from Warsaw School of Economics and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau and Singapore.

Sedef Koktenturk is a Managing Partner and the Impact Partner in the Blue Horizon investment teams, leading on firmwide impact management and ESG integration. Sedef has 20 years of capital markets experience from leading global investment firms including Generation Investment Management and Goldman Sachs. She started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in financial advisory and holds an MBA from the Columbia Business School in New York. Sedef is also an Olympian; she represented Turkey in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in windsurfing.

Friederike is the scientific Director on the Blue Horizon Growth team. She brings experience in biotechnology and strategy consulting: Friederike holds a PhD in Plant Biotechnology from the University of Oxford. With that, she joined the Boston Consulting Group, working across biopharma, biotech, energy and private equity for 3.5 years. Friederike maintains a strong network in the scientific community, and is excited about safeguarding humanity’s long-term future. To this end, she co-authored work that informed the research agenda of Oxford's Global Priorities Institute, and is an active member of the effective altruism community.

Benjamin M. Theurer is a Managing Director and Head of LatAm Equity Research. He covers multiple sectors across the Americas, including Americas Agribusiness, Latin America Consumer, and Latin America Multi-Industry. Prior to joining Barclays in 2011, Benjamin worked at DWS Investments, the Frankfurt-based asset management branch of Deutsche Bank, as a buy-side analyst and deputy fund manager for Latin American equities. He holds a master's degree in International Economics (Mag.rer.soc.oec) from a joint program at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain).

Roger Lienhard is the Founder of Blue Horizon. Roger is a pioneer in the financial community investing in sustainable social entrepreneurship and development projects related to plant-/cell-based food and related topics around the globe. He has a deeply rooted mission: to take animals out of the food chain and support companies to create a brighter, more sustainable future. To accelerate his mission, he also founded the Blue Horizon International Foundation.

Business leader, campaigner, co-author of “Net Positive: how courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take”, a Financial Times Business Book of the Year.

Paul Polman works to accelerate action by business to tackle climate change and inequality.

As CEO of Unilever (2009-2019), Paul demonstrated that business can profit through purpose, marrying a long-term, multi-stakeholder model with excellent financial performance. During Paul’s tenure, shareholders saw their returns increase by 290% while the company consistently ranked 1st in the world for sustainability.  

Today Paul works across a range of organisations to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which he helped develop. This includes his work to drive systems change with Systemiq and bold new industry coalitions, including in fashion and food. He leads the UN Global Compact, is an Ambassador for the Race to Zero, and works to develop our next generation of leaders, through the Oxford University Saïd Business School, INSEAD, One Young World and others.  Paul’s actively campaigns on a range of human rights issues, including promoting disability inclusion through the Valuable 500 and the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, which he set up with his wife Kim.

Peter McGuinness is the CEO of Impossible Foods, a tech-enabled food company that makes delicious meat from plants, with a fraction of the environmental impact compared to animal meat. Peter joined Impossible in April 2022 to lead its next phase of global growth and help shape the food habits of people around the world.

Peter brings more than 30 years of consumer expertise to the position, most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer of Chobani, where he scaled operations, expanded the business into new categories including oat milk, and helped build the company into an iconic brand. In his nine years at Chobani, he also served as Chief Marketing and Brand Officer and Chief Commercial Officer, where he created a demand department and led all global marketing, corporate communication, advertising, innovation and sales efforts for the brand.

Caio Justo is a Vice President at Restaurant Brands International, leading the International Procurement Team responsible for all 4 brands (TIM HORTONS®, BURGER KING®, POPEYES® and FIREHOUSE SUBS®) across LAC, EMEA and APAC markets. His team leads all Direct Food Categories, as well as projects related to Risk Management and Sustainability execution. With +15 year of experience, Caio started his career at Danone Leadership Development program in Brazil and has been living in Europe for the past 9 years.

Ben Morach is a core member of the Principal Investors & Private Equity (PIPE) practice at Boston Consulting Group. He is an expert in large-scale change, and supports financial investors along the entire investment lifecycle, including transaction services, due diligence, portfolio acceleration, and full potential plans. Ben specializes in integrated due diligences—including commercial; digital; operational; environmental, social, and governance (ESG); and IT—as well as portfolio acceleration work including full potential programs; transformation; and strategy. He works primarily with clients in the industrial goods, infrastructure, and health care industries Prior to joining the firm, Ben had over eight years of experience in consulting at Bain & Company.

Andres is an accomplished industry leader with more than 25 years of experience in strategic business transformations for the domestic and international supply chain. Andres is the Executive Vice President and General Manager, International for Benson Hill. He is responsible for expanding Benson Hill’s customer base and introducing Benson Hill’s proprietary, non-GMO soybean portfolio to markets outside the United States. Andres brings over 25 years of experience in supply chain operations and agribusiness management to Benson Hill. Most recently, he served as President of Bunge North America and as Head of Grains and Oilseeds at Bunge, where he was responsible for leading $15 billion in sales and managed more than 4,500 employees. Andres holds an MBA in Finance and International Trade from Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Sao Paulo, Brazil, an MBA from Escuela Superior de Administracion y Direccion de Empresas (ESADE), Barcelona, Spain, a BBA in Economics from ESADE, Barcelona, Spain and a Master’s in food chain management Executive Program (ADECA) from the Instituto San Telmo, Seville, Spain.

Javier heads Tesco’s Dairy & Plant Based Dairy categories. As part of his role he leads Tesco’s Sustainable Dairy group, a programme where farmers are paid a fair price in exchange for a series of standards and improvements on animal welfare, biodiversity and carbon emissions. He is passionate about sustainable food systems, conscious consumerism and the role of food in health.

Scott Uknes is co-CEO of AgBiome, a company using the worlds microbes for unique natural products in many industries including biologicals and traits in agriculture. Our vision is to feed the world responsibly by partnering with the microbial world. Previously, Scott was with Bayer Cropscience, Athenix, a founder of both Cropsolution, and Paradigm Genetics where he was member of the team presented the IPO on NASDAQ. Before starting Paradigm Genetics, Inc., he led research teams at Novartis (now Syngenta) after getting his Ph. D. from Washington University and his B.S. the University of Illinois.

Christoph Jenny is one of four founders of Planted and a member of the Executive Board - driven by the desire to create better meat than animals. Christoph has a masters degree in Finance and started his career at Credit Suisse’s Asset Management team. Before founding Planted, Christoph worked at Jacobs Holding as well as Consumer Investment Partners. Planted, with its pioneering biostructuring approach of combining protein structuring and biotech, is currently the fastest growing start-up in the alternative protein space in Europe. Chris leads the circles for Finance, HR, Brand & Marketing as well as Corporate Communications at Planted.

Chuka Umunna is an investment banker who has spent two decades in law, public policy, and finance. He is a Managing Director and Head of EMEA ESG for JP Morgan. In this role, he co-leads the firm's global ESG investment banking team, which advises corporate clients across all major industry verticals on how to improve their sustainability credentials, optimize value and mitigate risk through effective ESG integration, and on how to access ESG-focused capital. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa he co-ordinates JP Morgan’s investment banking coverage of clients in emerging green sectors, and he also oversees the franchise’s own efforts to integrate ESG into its operations and business activities in the region. Before joining JP Morgan Chase & Co.'s Corporate & Investment Bank in April 2021, he was Global Co-Head of ESG at Edelman, the world’s biggest strategy and communications advisory firm. In addition, from 2020 until 2021 he served as a non-executive director for leading private equity firms BC Partners and Vista Equity Partners on the board of their portfolio company, Advanced, the UK’s third largest software company. He was a Member of the UK Parliament from 2010 to 2019, during which time he served in a number of senior roles in the UK parliament including as the UK's Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Originally a lawyer by profession, prior to his election to the UK Parliament he worked as a corporate employment law solicitor for international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills LLP for several years.

Philipp P. Prechtl is Managing Director of Koehler Invest as a part of the Koehler Group. The family-run company was founded in 1807 and has around 2,500 employees globally, covering two major business pillars, paper and renewable energy. Koehler Invest focusses on direct and indirect investments as well as collaborations with startups close to Koehler core businesses. Prior to joining Koehler, Philipp took different responsibilities in management consulting, business transformation and senior business management roles. Philipp holds a diploma in Business Administration at the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich.

Carolin Roth is a financial journalist and moderator. She completed her Masters in Banking and Finance at the University of Zurich in 2009. During her studies, she also completed several internships in the financial industry. Between 2007 and 2020 she worked at CNBC International in various positions - producer, reporter and from 2013 as a permanent anchor with her own daily markets focused show on CNBC International, based in London. Since 2020, Carolin has been working as a freelance moderator and journalist with a focus on finance, business, economics, energy and impact investment. She is the moderator of the annual NZZ Impact Finance Forum as well as ImpactGstaad. Carolin is a member of the UNICEF International Council. She has three kids and lives outside of Zurich with her family.

Steve is a former chef of Copenhagen’s Noma, which has been ranked the world’s number one restaurant. He then attended UC Davis where he researched food chemistry and completed his MBA. Starting off in venture capital focused AgTech, Steve switched his focus to helping companies build their commercial innovation capabilities in business development, business strategy, and product development. Most recently he was Head of Innovation at Arcadia Biosciences.

Nicole Atchison leads the ag-tech and food tech businesses within PURIS’ portfolio of companies. PURIS is a leader in the sustainable food and ag movement, driving innovation across seed genetics, ingredient processing, and plant-based food development, all from U.S.-based organic and non-GMO sources.

Dan Griffis is an Investment Director for ADM Ventures, the corporate VC arm of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM), where he invests in startups commercializing food, agriculture, and climate technologies.  Prior to ADM Ventures, Dan was a founding Associate at iSelect Fund, a VC firm investing in early-stage food & agriculture technology startups.  Previously, Dan held investing and strategy roles at Cultivian Sandbox Ventures and Zymergen.  Dan began his career as an investment banking analyst at Progress Partners, an M&A advisor to media and technology companies.  Dan holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago (Booth) and a B.A. from Bucknell University.

Axel Gómez-Ortigoza grew up in awe of how life, nature, and the universe work, hence his genuine interest in life sciences and solving problems. After high school, he decided to continue the family tradition of three generations of engineers, becoming a bioengineer and experienced R&D scientist skilled in Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Cell Culture, Murine Assays, Genetic Engineering, Synthetic Biology, and Origami. At 22 years old, along with his brother Alexis, he co-founded Polybion, the New Generation Materials Company, which entitled him one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35. Today, he serves as CEO and CTO of his own company. His work and contributions have led to the construction of the First Bacterial Cellulose Biomanufacturing Facility worldwide. Axel’s efforts have set a path to accelerate the development of bioassembled products, increase sustainability and accelerate the way toward the circular economy. He believes the edge of biology and technology is the answer to the planetary health crisis and envisions a bright future for the world and man kind in which humans and nature can coincide.

Jozef Youssef is the Founder and Creative Director of Kitchen Theory, a London (UK) based design studio with an award-winning Chef’s Table. After years of working in London’s most highly acclaimed Michelin Star restaurants and hotels, Jozef has spent the last decade in collaboration with leading scientists and psychologists to research a broad range of food-related topics, from multi-sensory flavor perception and synaesthesia to the role of food in healthcare, all with the aim of improving well-being through innovations in gastronomy.

Robert is responsible for growing our (pre-)seed portfolio and several strategic initiatives. He has over 15 years of experience managing programs in large financial services firms across Europe either as management consultant (KPMG) or project manager (ABN Amro Asset Management). Most recently he built and ran UBS's Global Visionaries program identifying and supporting 50+ impact-driven entrepreneurs at the forefront of tackling some of the world's most challenging social and environmental problems. At UBS, Robert was also leading the alternative-protein movement facilitating access to plant-based investment opportunities, integrating the topic in CIO research and moderating Future of Food panels at UHNW and GFO events. He holds two master’s degrees (MSc) in business and consulting from the Rotterdam School of Management.

Rita Keskinyan joined Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. in 2017 as U.S. Head of Consumer/Retail. She has over two decades of advisory, capital raise and m&a experience focusing on food & beverage, food technology, health & wellness and emerging consumer growth segments in North America and globally. Rita previously spent over 15 years at Rabobank M&A with global and regional responsibility for dairy, beverage and bakery sectors. Before Rabobank, she was a Managing Director at BT Alex Brown and Senior VP at Bankers Trust. Rita graduated with a dual B.A. from Wellesley College and received an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Ajay Chadha is a materials expert who has spent two decades in materials research and application development. He has varied experience in product development starting from polymers to textiles & leathers with several published patents in the soft goods materials’ domain. Ajay’s work experience spans in world-class engineering companies like Edwards life science making artificial heart valves to world-class brands like Nike, where his work was focused on making performance footwear for elite athletes. At present, he is working as Director- Materials Innovation at Luxury Brand – Coach, where his work involves reimaging materials from synthetic biology lens & foster cross-industry collaborations to bring Nextgen Materials into commercial applications.

Simon Mundy is a fascinating speaker on sustainable business and finance. He is the Moral Money Editor at the Financial Times, covering the vital but troubled drive for a cleaner, fairer, more sustainable global economy. His writing on sustainable business and finance appears on the award-winning Moral Money platform and across the wider FT. He is also the author of Race for Tomorrow, an acclaimed book on the global climate struggle. In his writing and speaking, Simon draws on over a decade of on-ground global experience reporting on some of the key trends sweeping the world economy. Simon spent two years travelling through 26 countries on six continents to research Race for Tomorrow, a book on the global scramble to respond to climate change. The book features deeply reported encounters with characters ranging from Saudi royalty to Siberian mammoth tusk hunters, from Congolese cobalt miners to clean-tech billionaires in China and Silicon Valley. Published in October 2021, the book has had a hugely positive early response.

Simone Jones is Head of Food Solutions and a member of the Executive Board of Betty Bossi, a division of the Coop Cooperative. With her 30-strong team, she scouts for food trends around the world and uses them to develop new food products and ranges for all of Coop's own brands. In addition, she and her team provide Coop and other companies with various culinary services, such as development of recipes for restaurants and in-store produced products.

Michael Lee is a Managing Director at Syngenta Group Ventures and has worked in the agriculture and food sector his entire career. After receiving degrees from Durham University, Michael conducted his postdoctoral research in London and co-authored 20 papers on insect biochemistry. Previously, he held positions at Unilever in the Foods R&D and Ventures area. He holds an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University, is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and a Kauffman Fellow.