Advisory Board

EURUS Advisory Board provides guidance on the forum’s overall direction and strategy. Members of the Advisory Board help us identify opportunities to build our platform, establish strategic partnerships, and extend our stakeholder networks.

MONTSERRAT COROMINAS
Switzerland

Managing Partner - Intergroup Partners AG

Montserrat has been leading international advisory firm Intergroup Partners AG, which she founded in 2010. To date, Intergroup Partners AG has advised more than 50 customers, most of them blue chip and leading vertical tech leading growth companies and venture capital investments in the areas of innovation scouting and go to market execution.Montserrat grew professionally in the IT Telco wireless solution system industry and has been working in high tech areas such as Energy, Transportation, Health and Automotive infrastructure, corporates. In 2008, she set the course of entrepreneurship creating Intergroup and invested in 2 other companies in Switzerland and Spain in the areas of retail and health. Prior, she got her professional technology strategic vision, M&A and experienced solution sales at Siemens & Nokia Networks as well as analytic methods at Bain & Co.Montserrat is on the Advisory board for Enerbrain SRL, the Regional board for CEO Collaborative Forum. She is a frequent columnist on the Inc.com Magazine on the topics of entrepreneurship, start ups, Inc 5000 Europe and This Way Up.

CHRIS HOUGHTALING
Austria

Founder & Managing Director - VisioneersPartner

Chris Houghtaling is a business development and commercialization expert and lecturer at three universities. He has experience working in high-tech, pharmaceutical, and service corporations and as a consultant, coach and trainer for sales organizations. Currently, Chris is working throughout the innovation Eco-system – from startups to investors to consulting the innovation consultant.

Chris is the founder of VisioneersPartner, Associate Partner for Investors & Startup Relations and Business Development at Venionaire Capital. Additionally, he is a member of the following organizations: Advisory Board for the EURUS Forum; Steering Committee for the European Super Angles Club, and on the Entrepreneur Committee - International Alumni Board of the University of Vienna Economics and Business.

JENS-PETER SCHULZ 
Germany (Head of Real Estate) 

CEO - Dresdner Invest & Advisory; President - ReTechDACH.org

Peter oversees Dresdner Invest & Advisory’s business with national and international clients such as funds, banks and insurance companies, looking to invest in and/or sell Real Estate assets in Central and East Germany. Dresdner Invest specialises in developing distressed real estate portfolios, mainly commercial and residential real estate, by directly investing in the properties or on behalf of clients. The in-house asset and property management division manages both the proprietary portfolio as well as those mandated by clients. Peter brings over 25 years’ experience working with international clients, and over 10 working in leading real estate functions. The company is always looking for new development opportunities. Peter is also President of ReTechDACH, a leading association for PropTech, ConTech, SmartBuilding and Innovation in Real Estate for the D-A-CH Region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

ANNA HEJKA
Poland

Founder & Managing Partner - HCM Group, Angel Investor, Entrepreneur

PE/VC Fund Manager & Business Angel plus Serial Entrepreneur, Executive & Supervisory Board Member, Investment & Commercial Banker, Lecturer & Analyst.

Strategic thinker with rigorous attention to execution & broad industry experience conducting business across cultures (North America, Europe, Asia, Africa) & economic cycles recognized by the World Economic Forum in Davos as Global Leader for Tomorrow and nominated by the European Business Angel Association as a Business Angel of the Year 2009. Dynamic, innovative, results-oriented leader turning challenges into opportunities. Effectively structures transactions using financial products tailored to changing micro requirements & macro conditions. Enables organizations to drive growth, improve business processes & increase corporate flexibility. With contacts, knowledge, exceptional cross-cultural empathy & superior negotiating skills provides clients with comprehensive support in accessing & leveraging emerging trends. Interested in psychology in social/negotiating context with special emphasis on message diffusion, emotional intelligence & brain capabilities, macroeconomics & political economy.

Frequent speaker at conferences, including World Economic Forum, Institute for International Research, Shell Global Solutions, Euromoney, Unquote” & MarcusEvans. Wrote articles for publications such as International Economy, National Review & Wprost. Lectured at University of Gdańsk & Łódź, Polish Accounting Academy, Lewiatan & Human Genetics Institute. Organized annual entrepreneurship training at Harvard Business School for Polish professors. Member of boards in distribution, financial services, construction, technology, entertainment, & FMCG sectors. Member of US-Europe-Poland Action Commission Privatization Action Team sponsored by Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington DC & Advisory Board of State Foreign Investment Agency.

Founder & Managing Director of Heyka Capital Markets Group, merchant bank focusing on CEE & NASD registered broker/dealer as well as financial companies in US & Poland. Created, privatized, managed, restructured, financed, bought, monitored, sold, & advised companies in tens of deals across many sectors totaling over USD 800 mln. In 1995 Warsaw Business Journal ranked it 2nd in terms of capital invested in Poland & 4th in terms of assets under management. Originated, negotiated & executed cooperation with Banque Nationale de Paris, Dresdner Bank, Citibank, American Appraisal, J&J Group, & Lewiatan. Vice President – Institutional Equity Sales of Security Pacific in US. Rebuilt client relationships after disruption of business due to Security Pacific’s acquisition of Burns Fry Hoare Govett & expanded their research & trading capabilities into Continental Europe establishing close cooperation with local brokers. Introduced 1st large US institutions (Scudder, PaineWebber) to CEE. Registered Representative of Citigroup. Advised largest US institutions such as Fidelity or CREF. Participated in geographic & sector asset allocation, & followed investment cycles to benefit from market fluctuations. Expanded research & trading capabilities into Spain, Germany, Italy & Switzerland.

Executive Board Member of ABC Data Holding SA (3 ICT distribution companies with 300 employees & sales over €900mln) responsible for strategy, financing, M&A, IPO & IR. Induced changes in corporate culture. Introduced innovation, process control & financial engineering. Executed €88mln working capital financing (T/N+0.5% vs. prior 1W+1.1%) & first factoring (over €30mln). Accomplished MBO via co-investment (PLN22mln PIK mandatory convertible notes) & option plan (first peer index performance based in Poland) for key executives supporting them with attractive financing programs. Implemented operational due diligence with emphasis on value drivers, which led to increase of top line (17% YoY) & margins (EBITDA 44% YoY). Cut cash conversion cycle from 46 to 28 days & executed strategies leading to higher efficiency of scalable IT/web based business model. Prepared IPO on WSE. Negotiated with potential targets in CEE & global acquirers. Founder, CEO & Chairman of Central European Foods, Inc. Originated & secured with Allied Domecq largest exclusive territory (Poland, Czech Republic & Slovakia) for Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins in their 50-year history. Supplied CEF with seed capital & raised USD 30 mln from accredited investors in US, Asia & Europe after Warburg, one of largest British merchant banks, failed to finance competitor. Built up committed team of 300 people in 3 countries. Made CEF largest & fastest growing franchisee in Europe rewarded by franchisor with trophy for excellence. Increased store profit 11 times & sales 4 times.

Founder & Managing Director of Poland Growth Funds. Raised over USD50mln from investors in US, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong & Europe, & organized offshore & domestic funds & participating entities in US, British Virgin Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Malaysia, Poland, & Cyprus. Executed investments & exits by sales to multinationals (Roma International/Unilever), Polish corporations (Dromex/Budimex), other funds (CEF/Emerging Markets Fund), & IPOs on WSE (Bank Komunalny/Nordea). Adjusted portfolio structure with changing cycles & closed funds before global technology bust. Partner & Executive Board Member of MCI. Originated & managed over 50% of MCI portfolio. Won competitive bidding process with Ingram Micro & TechData, among others, due to attractive structuring of transaction & negotiating skills, not price. Performed due diligence, negotiated & signed €58 mln LBO of 6 Actebis firms in Denmark, Poland, Norway, Czech Republic, Sweden, & Slovakia with revenues of €1.8bn & CAGR of 25%. Raised €300mln acquisition (senior debt, bullet bonds with warrants & PIK mandatory convertible notes with call & put options) & working capital financing, including factoring, from institutions in Poland & Denmark during sub-prime & LBO crisis. Took over 100% of Advanced Telecom Services (Czech & Slovak leader in mobile solutions, content & marketing) to support CEE expansion of One-2-One.

Banking Officer of JP Morgan Chase responsible for corporate finance for largest Spanish corporations, corporate loan portfolio management in Spain & Portugal plus country & industry studies. Supervised credit analysis & trained credit analysts. Financial analyst in Economic Studies Department of Cargill in Spain responsible for feasibility studies, market research & consolidated budgeting, as well as presentations to board of directors.

Bilingual MBA from IESE in Spain (ranked number one in world by the Economist Intelligence Unit) – joint program with Harvard Business School + pursued MA in International Economics & was recognized with honors by the University of Gdańsk.

NATALYA PODSOSONNAYA
Russia

CEO - SBERINVEST Asset Management

Natalya Podsosonnay brings more than 18 years extensive experience in VC investing, fund management, deal structuring, corporate finance, M&A. She has been the CEO of “Savings and Investments” Asset management since 2004. “Savings and Investments” Asset management is one of the leading VC Manager in Russia acting since 2004. Currently the company has 7 VC funds and 1 real-estate fund under management in Russia. VC portfolio includes 36 companies on seed and start-up stages from different Russian regions and in various sectors, mainly industrial technologies – EnergyTech and CleanTech, New materials, minor in Agro-bioTech and IT. Natalya is a Board member of several tech companies. She represents the Company in Russian Venture Capital Association. Support various initiations on modifications in Russian VC/PE regulation (Law on investment partnerships, etc.). Prior her current position in Savings and Investments Natalya was a managing partner in consulting company “Corporation for technology and investment K” experienced in corporate finance with focus on M&A and capital markets. Natalya worked for a number of financial companies and investment banks, including MFK, AIG, and Lenstroy brokerage.

JACQUES PUTZEYS
France

Chairman - Inclusive Growth Forum; former CEO of NASDAQ Europe

Jacques is the founder and Chairman of the Inclusive Growth Forum, a Geneva based NGO. Jacques is a seasoned senior executive, business angel and corporate finance specialist. Since 2000, he has run a boutique corporate finance firm (Value Development) specialized in assisting companies preparing for their fund raising and possible stock market listing. He is also the co-founder of Talent4Boards Inc., a Board recruitment platform and corporate governance consulting firm. Before starting Value Development he was the co-founder and CEO of NASDAQ Europe (formerly Easdaq). He was also President of the Market Authority of Easdaq. He started with the New York Branch of ASLK CGER Bank (now BNP Paribas Fortis Belgium) and was the CEO of the New York Branch. Upon his return to Belgium he became CEO of Banque Nagelmackers Belgium. Other experiences include management functions at Fortis Bank Belgium (formerly ASLK CGER Bank) and Auditor at KPMG Belgium after graduating from the Catholic University of Leuven Belgium in applied economics.

JEAN-FRANCOIS DESJACQUES
Switzerland 

CEO - Swiss Family Office; Managing Director - subsidiary of Groupe SAE

Jean François Desjacques began his career more than 40 years ago in the real estate industry.

He was formerly appointed as Managing Director of major multinational companies involved in Public Work & Building Construction (Societe Auxiliaire d’Entreprises – now merged with Eiffage/then Groupe Bouygues). He became one of the youngest MDs in this industry in France (1976-1991).

He spent 7 years (1993-2000) in a company (now taken over by Expedia) with responsibilities in hospitality-hotel strategies and oversaw global marketing and promotion. Having worked in over 43 countries, Jean François has acquired significant international business and culture acumen. Working together with his [Russia-born] wife Anna Konchakova Desjacques, he set up representative hotel offices in Russia and the CIS introducing major luxurious hotel brands and palaces – from Western European to Eastern markets.

Jean François works and advises UHNWI Families since 2000 in their commercial real estate strategy acquisition and/or arbitration and has successfully led major deals and distresses with banks, institutions, corporations, and funds in the following domains: activity-hospitality, commerce-shops, land development, offices, residential and infrastructure.

Over the decades, Jean François has developed a solid understanding of the marketplace. He is extremely internationally well connected and often sources off market deals.

He speaks at major international conferences and events on family offices, real estate wealth management, banking and investment.

MARIKA LEVENA
Latvia/Luxembourg

European Investment Bank (EIB) 

Marika has over 15 years’ experience in strategy and senior management consulting in both the private and public sectors in the EU, CEE and Russia. After having worked for one of the big five accounting companies, she joined a European oil & gas company to shape the company`s growth strategy in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Marika identified target companies, assets and potential new country entries and lead the due diligence process. Her energy sector experience continued with senior executive responsibility for corporate strategy with focus on market and competitor analysis. Marika has also worked for the European Commission with the EIB and EBRD and has amassed a deep knowledge of financial instruments for private sector growth. For EIB in Vienna, she facilitated, inter alia, private companies in obtaining appropriate EU funding. Marika studied International Management and Economics at the University of St.Gallen in Switzerland and University of Latvia and is fluent in 6 languages.