Startup Iceland 2014 is less than a week away! I am so excited about meeting all the entrepreneurs and the great speakers who are coming to Iceland and to hear the stories of Icelandic entrepreneurs. Startup Iceland as an event will not be possible without you all buying tickets and participating and the generous support of all our sponsors, volunteers, vendors and key service providers. When I started on this journey, I had no clue how to get an event organized but with each and every years, our wonderful sponsors take a chance on us and make this possible.
Icelandair Group – Icelandair Group has been an anchor sponsor for Startup Iceland. Bogi Neil Bogasson the CFO of Icelandair Group and Addy Olafsdottir the Marketing Manager have been great supporters of us getting this event on the map. They understood right away in 2012, what I wanted to create, an Iceland Airwaves like event for Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders. Thank you again for your continued support and encouragement.
Nysköpunarsjödur – Helga Valfells one of our speakers this year has been a big supporter of Startup Iceland. I think Nysköpunarsjödur is an important investor in startups in Iceland and they have played another anchor role in the development of a Startup Community in Iceland. Helga thank you for your continued leadership.
Eyrir Invest – I respect and admire Thordur Magnusson, who has been a sponsor and supporter of Startup Iceland since the beginning. He has played a key role in the development of the startup community in Iceland and I know they will continue to participate and invest in the development of Iceland as a startup place.
Frumtak – Eggert has been a supporter of building a startup community in Iceland and this is the second year that they have sponsored the event. Thank you team Frumtak.
Nasdaq OMX – Kristin and Pall have been big supporters of our initiative to build companies from the grassroot level. They see the potential and opportunities these young companies show and I think a fully functioning capital market is an important piece in the puzzle of building a startup community. Most of the investors who invest in Startups and Entrepreneurs need to see a liquidity event and having a fully functioning capital market is a great value. We thank them for their support of Startup Iceland.
VÍB – Our new sponsors of Startup Iceland is VÍB, the Asset Management and Private Banking service of Islandsbanki. I used to work at Islandsbanki and the team there has always been supportive and I really happy to see them participate and contribute and really add value to the Entrepreneurs and Startups. Thank you Kjartan, Haraldur, Haukur, Bjorn and the test of the team at Islandsbanki.
The US Embassy in Iceland – Paul O’Friel the Deputy Chief of Mission, Paul Cunnigham, Brad Stillwell, Helga Magnusdottir and everyone in the embassy have been so generous and gracious about supporting this initiative that I am humbled by this. I am looking forward to the new Ambassador to take office and build more bridges for Entrepreneurs to the US.
Icora Partners – Gunnar Tryggvasson who is a speaker in the event has been successful in raising capital for Meniga one of the startups that came out the financial crisis in Iceland. Meniga has become a big company now in Icelandic standards. It would be interesting to hear how Gunnar was able to get this done for a Startup.
WEDO – GRE or Gudmundur Einarsson has been supporting and helping all our initiatives, through the design, development and maintenance of the StartupIceland.com website. GRE and his team are key members of Startup Iceland. We would not have been able to launch the conference without a platform like the website that was created by WEDO.
Reykjavik University – Ari and Kristinne have been instrumental in getting the whole Reykjavik University behind the entrepreneurial development efforts. They have given us the premises and hosted the hackathons, provided the infrastructure to facilitate creating an environment that fosters startup community building. Thank you again.
Deloitte – The leadership at deloitte have been very positive towards what we have been doing with Startup Iceland and they provide all kinds of help, for once they allow Agusta my wife who works for Deloitte to take time to help me with this crazy endeavor. They provide us with Administrative and Secretarial help during the event. Provide mentoring for entrepreneurs as it relates to the services they provide. I am very thankful for their support.
Practical – Helga, Marin and everyone in Team Practical were instrumental in coordinating all the speakers’s itineraries and schedule. They were such a pleasure to work with and they have the can do attitude to get anything done. I am very thankful for their service and effort.
Ölgerdin – All the caffine drinks and water during the hackathons are provided as sponsorship by Ölgerdin, Andri their CEO has been always receptive and wants to really help in the effort. Thank you Andri.
TeqHire – Stefan and Kristjan are key core team members who have been preaching the Startup Iceland gospel. I am really excited to see that they have found a business model that enables them to serve startups and companies all over with find talented IT team members. There is a big gap in the market on how to find these people and I believe Stefan and Kristjan are onto something here.
Paula Gould – Paula is tireless in helping put the event together, curating speakers, managing public relation and media, coordinating things and just being awesome and getting things done. She is a leader and a valuable team member in any team. Thank you Paula.
Last but not least my wife Agusta, she is basically brings balance to the force. I am really lucky to have married such a smart person. She bring sanity to our household when I go do crazy things like host a conference in Iceland, she makes it happen with her organizing, discipline, courage and love. Thank you Agusta mein. I don’t know how I will pull this together without you.
There are a number of people who continue to support, help and be cheerleaders to this initiative, Toti and Helga with Mobilitus, Alex Richter with Think GeoEnergy, Haukur Gudjonson with Bungalo, The team at Klak Innovit. If I have left out someone please bear with me just been a whirlwind of activities that my brain in swimming. I thank each and every entrepreneur for being who you are, you are my tribe and I am at your service. Please reach out to me if there is anything that I can do to help.
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