It gives me great pleasure to share the news that some of the Startup Founders from Iceland who started their companies after the Financial Collapse of 2008 and have successfully transformed themselves and their startups into impactful companies will participate in a panel discussion in Startup Iceland this year. The founders are

  1. Hilmar Gunnarsson

    Hilmar Gunnarsson

    Helga Waage – Founder of Mobilitus and Promogogo

  2. Hjalmar Gislason – Founder of DataMarket (acquired by Qlik)
  3. George Ludviksson – Founder and CEO of Meniga
  4. Pratik Kumar – Founder and CEO of AppDynamic
  5. Thorsteinn B. Fridriksson – Founder and CEO of QuizUp
  6. Hilmar Gunnarsson – Founder and CEO of Modio (acquired by AutoDesk)

I have confirmed the participation of all the 6. Hilmar Gunnarsson the Founder of Modio, should be a fascinating story given it was recently acquired by Autodesk. I wrote about Modio last year just before Startup Iceland 2014 and I really happy to see the fastest exit in Iceland for a Startup. Watch the video as captured in Startup Chronicle last year.

I am looking forward to listening to the Founders share their story and experience of taking an idea, bringing it to life and capturing value along the way. All these founders have made meaningful impact to the Startup Community in Iceland and I am excited to see what this foundation does to inspire the next generation of Founders and Startups from Iceland.

I wrote about Doubling Down on Iceland, it is because of the transformation that I have seen right in front of my eyes and how positively the ecosystem has evolved and the number of success stories that we are hearing about. I don’t believe that this is accidental, I think every founder made a deliberate attempt at creating a tangible value and had a definite view of the future as it relates to the company they formed. No one knows the exact path to success, but most people who start out and build things of value usually end up capturing some of the value and transform their lives and the lives around them for the better. This has always been the theme for me and I continue to believe there are a number of valuable companies that we are yet to build out of Iceland.

We will also be showcasing some of the newcomers to the scene from Iceland during Startup Iceland. Watch this space for more information and background about those startups that are starting to accelerate in their growth path. Iceland is a great place to start a startup, as I have always written before the Product/Founder Market fit is so much more easier to validate here than any other place. If you want to see a curated list of Founders who are making an impact and the next generation that is one the verge of making an impact you need to participate in Startup Iceland. We still have some Founder Discount tickets available write to me to take advantage of that.