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LSE SU Polish Economic Forum

The Worrying Twenties

WHEN

9TH MARCH

2019

Starting at 9:00

WHERE

LONDON, UK

The Light at Friends House

173-177 Euston Road NW1 2BJ

You can download file HERE

Krzysztof Krawczyk
Krzysztof Krawczyk is a Head of Warsaw office and a Partner at CVC Capital Partners, one of the world’s leading private equity and investment advisory firms. He is also a board member of CVC’s two Polish portfolio companies, PKP Energetyka and Zabka.

Krzysztof has over 20 years of successful track record in European private equity and he served on the boards of numerous private and publicly-listed companies in telecom, media, manufacturing, logistics and healthcare sectors throughout CEE region.

Prior to joining CVC, Krzysztof was Managing Partner at Innova Capital, a leading mid market private equity firm in Central Europe. Krzysztof also worked at Pioneer Investment, a Poland-based private equity fund, and Daiwa Institute of Research, an advisory arm of Japanese investment bank Daiwa.

He is a Vice President and Treasurer of Polish Private Equity Association and co-founded and co-chaired its LBO Committee in the past.

Krzysztof holds a degree (with Honors) in Finance & Banking from the Warsaw School of Economics. He is also an alumnus of Executive Program at Harvard Business School. Krzysztof has been awarded a PE Person of the Year for 2014 by members of Polish Private Equity Association.

Krzysztof Krawczyk

Wojciech Fedorowicz
Wojciech Fedorowicz – managing partner of TDJ Pitango Ventures, and connected to TDJ Venture since 2015, he is a graduate of the Master of Business Administration programme at Stanford University in the USA, where he headed the High Tech Club from 2009-2010, an organization strongly associated with the environment of technology companies in Silicon Valley. He has a profound knowledge of the construction and development of technology startups, gained thanks to his personal establishment of several companies, his investments as an angel investor, but also his work as mentor for young entrepreneurs.

Wojciech Fedorowicz

Adam Zamoyski
Adam Zamoyski is an independent historian and author of a dozen books on various aspects of European History, including “The Polish Way”, the only history of Poland to have entered the best-seller lists. His books adopt a many-sided approach to complex questions such as the birth of nationalism in Europe, the early history of terrorism and, in his ground-breaking study of the Congress of Vienna, “Rites of Peace”, diplomatic power-politics. His latest book, “Napoleon. The Man behind the Myth”, provides an entirely original insight into the phenomenon of the man’s rise and fall.

Adam Zamoyski

Tomasz Czechowicz
Tomasz Czechowicz – entrepreneur since 1985. For the past 20 years, Venture Capital/Private Equity investor, founder and Group Managing Partner @ MCI Capital – one of the leading European private equity groups with focus on technology and digitalization. In 1990-1998 Co-founder and CEO of JTT Computer SA – leading CE computer manufacturer with USD 100M+ revenue.

Selected as one of Top-20 best Polish managers in 2015 by Bloomberg Business Week. Guest speaker at many PE/VC conferences, including NOAH, Websummit. Supervisory board member and advisory board member of many of MCI funds’ portfolio companies across Europe. In 2001 the World Economic Forum awarded Tomasz Czechowicz with the title of Global Leader for Tomorrow for his exceptional feeling for the market, professionalism, vision and business efficacy. In 2000 one of the TOP-10 most influential people in the European Internet by Business Week.

Tomasz Czechowicz

Marta Krupińska
Marta Krupinska is a tech entrepreneur, proud migrant and diversity advocate. Recognised by Forbes in 30Under30 in 2016, by Evening Standard in London’s Most Influential People both in 2017 and 2018 and by Forbes as top 60 Female Tech Executives globally in 2018.

Currently working on a new profit for purpose fintech startup FreeUp and fostering opportunities in GovTech. Previously co-founder of Azimo, a global FinTech leader, which offers low cost money transfers to millions of migrants in 26 countries around the world.

Marta Krupińska

Sławomir S Sikora
Mr. Sławomir S. Sikora was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Bank Handlowy in Warsaw S.A. in 2003. In 2005-2008 he was Member of Citigroup Management Committee in New York. In the years 2001-2003 he was President of the Management Board of American Bank in Poland. From 1994 to 2001 he was Corporate and Investment Banking Head at PBK Bank in Warsaw. Between 1989-1994 he held senior positions at the Ministry of Finance in Poland (including Head of the Banking and Financial Institutions).

Sławomir S Sikora

Michał H. Mrożek
Michał Hubert Mrożek was appointed President of the Management Board of HSBC Bank Polska SA on 1 January 2015.

He has 25-year broad-based experience covering corporate and commercial banking, capital markets, risk management, strategic planning, business integration and regulatory affairs.

He joined HSBC from Citibank where he held a number of senior roles, most recently the roles of Managing Director – Strategy & International in New York (2011-2014) and Deputy CEO of the Management Board of Citibank Handlowy (2004-2011) in Warsaw, where he was responsible for institutional customers segment. He previously worked at Price Waterhouse (now PwC), where he was engaged in privatization projects.

He graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, with an honors degree in International Trade & Finance. He has been awarded by the Polish government “Bene Merito” award and “Bronze Cross of Merit” for his contribution in promoting Poland internationally and in the development of Polish bank sector respectively.

Michał H. Mrożek

Rafał Milczarski
Rafał Milczarski is a CEO & President of the LOT Management Board.

A manager with extensive international experience in the transport industry. Supervisory Board of the company has decided to entrust him the position of LOT’s CEO effective January 28th.

He graduated in Economics from the University of Cambridge. During his studies, he has been a trainee, among others at UBS Bank in Zurich and JP Morgan in London. After graduation he worked in the maritime and railway logistics department at Foster Yeoman Limited in Great Britain.

He co-founded the Baltic Rail, one of the first private railway carriers of goods in Poland. In 2005, together with an industry investor Freightliner Group in the UK, he founded Freightliner PL – a freight rail carrier. As a president and co-owner he led the company from a start-up to the achievement of a few per cent share of the freight market in Poland. He is also the founder and former CEO of Freightliner DE – a German subsidiary Freightliner PL and the Association of Independent Railway.

Rafał Milczarski

Małgorzata Kołakowska
Małgorzata Kołakowska is currently the CEO of ING UK and Middle East.

Previously, Małgorzata was the CEO of ING in Poland, responsible for both Retail and Wholesale Banking. During this time, she modernised and grew the business, winning ‘Best Bank’ awards from publications like The Banker and Euromoney. She had been the Global Head of the WB Network since April 2016 based in Amsterdam, where as a member of the WB executive team had significantly contributed to the growth of the business globally. Before taking a role at ING she was Country Head for Poland and Baltic states at the EBRD.

Named as both ‘Banker of the Year’ by Forbes and Poland’s ‘Best Manager’ by Bloomberg Businessweek Polska, Małgorzata Kołakowska graduated from Warsaw School of Economics and Harvard Business School.

Małgorzata Kołakowska

Michał Krupiński
Michal Krupiński has run Pekao S.A. since June 2017.Before that, he held the management position in leading financial institutions. From January 2016 to March 2017 he was a president of the board of PZU Capital Group, the largest insurance company in middle-eastern Europe. During this period, the PZU Group increased its market shares and expanded its operations in the banking sector.

Earlier, from 2011, Michał Krupiński was the President of the Management Board of Merrill Lynch Polska and the head of investment banking for Central and Eastern Europe at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He was responsible for supervising and conducting mergers and acquisition projects, financing financing in the private and public markets and consultancy in the field of asset management, investment policy and capital structure in banking and insurance sector.

Beside that, Michal Krupiński has experience in management within the public sector. In the period between 2008-2011 he served as Alternate Executive Director in World Bank, Washington. Before that, he was a vice Secretary of State in the Ministry of Treasury.

He is a graduate of Warsaw School of Economics, Catholic University in Louvain and MBA studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He also studied at Harvard University. In 2012 he was awarded a title of Young Global Leader by Davos World Economic Forum.

Michał Krupiński

Jarosław Królewski
Jaroslaw Krolewski is the CEO of Synerise S.A., one of the fastest growing technology companies in the world in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. He is the winner of numerous prestigious awards, including 2017 and 2018 Microsoft Partner of the Year, one of the 30 most promising technological entrepreneurs in the world according to EY, winner of the New Europe plebiscite for the most innovative companies in Europe, organized by Google, Res Publica and Financial Times and the recipient of a special prize in the competition of 2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year for skillfully combining academic work with entrepreneurship. For eight years he has been a lecturer and researcher at the AGH University of Science and Technology (two faculties) in Krakow, where he co-created award-winning courses of his own authorship, like Social Informatics, E-Economy (the most innovative field of study in Poland in 2012 according to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education) and Digital Marketing. He is an ambassador of the AGH brand and a Mentor of the Polish Development Fund network. He graduated from two fields of study (Computer Science and Sociology) and is currently pursuing an interdisciplinary PhD. He is a participant in many conferences and a guest lecturer at Polish and foreign universities as well as an author of numerous publications, including bestsellers, published as part of the PWN Scientific Publishers.

Jarosław Królewski

Roch Baranowski
Roch Baranowski is a partner based in Bain & Company’s Warsaw office. He is an expert in the firm’s Advanced Manufacturing & Services and Energy & Natural Resources practices. Throughout his career, Roch has advised clients across Poland, Germany and the Middle East on a wide range of topics, including industrial goods & services, power generation, oil & gas and aviation. His core capabilities include strategy, corporate innovation and trans-border operating models. Roch holds a master’s degree from Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Chicago.

Roch Baranowski

Jacek Poświata
Jacek Poświata – As the managing partner of the Poland and CEE offices of Bain & Company, Jacek draws on his 25 years of consulting experience from across Europe, Canada and the United States. Jacek leverages Bain’s global resources in digital projects such as automation, machine learning and advanced analytics to help companies in the region apply lessons from markets around the globe. He is passionate about helping CEE clients unlock the profound competitive advantages that flow from the right combination of people, tools, data and strategic focus. Jacek also delivers strategic advice to clients including private equity funds and family offices. His experience stretches from banking, through energy and utilities, to retail and consumer products, and he is an expert on topics including value creation plans, customer strategy & marketing and performance improvement. Jacek graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Jacek Poświata

Arkady Rzegocki
Arkady Józef Rzegocki (born 22 August, 1971) – is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Court of St. James’s. Arkady Rzegocki is a political scientist and professor of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. His research interest centers Polish and English political thought, the concept of national interest (raison d’État), as well as the issue of soft power. Educated at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, he also taught and conducted research in Dublin, Ireland, Denver, USA Oxford, Cambridge, London and Florence. He was a member of academic and civic organisations: EpsNet, Polish Association of Political Science, Polish Association of Political Thought, The Jagiellonian Club, The Center for Political Thought. Since 2009 he has been a member of the Historical Preservation Committee in Krakow (SKOZK). He is the founder of “Pressje” journal and was its editor-in-chief from 2002 to 2011.

He speaks English and Russian. His wife Jolanta Rzegocka (PhD) is an English philologist and theatre historian; the couple have three daughters.

Arkady Rzegocki

Kinga Piecuch
Kinga Piecuch, the CEO of SAP Polska.

As the CEO of SAP Polska she fuels digital transformation in the ever-dynamic Polish economy since 2014. She uses her expertise to help Polish companies achieve even more in the world of global digital revolution. Her main goal is to drive customers’ profitable growth by providing them world class enterprise application software – innovative and best-in-class mobile, cloud, social, IoT and Big Data tools – as well as giving them the ability to access crucial information live and in the moment.

She has a degree in economics and extensive management experience in the IT industry. Prior to assuming the management of SAP Poland, for 6 years, she was a member of the board of Xerox Poland, then CEO of the company. She had also worked in senior positions in the Polish branch of IBM (such as Sales Director for SMEs). In her career she was responsible, among others, for creating and implementing sales and marketing strategies, the development of partner networks and new sales channels. Her main areas of expertise include: B2B sales, lead generation, relationship building and team management.

Kinga Piecuch

Konrad Szymański
Konrad Szymański, Secretary of State for European Affairs, was born on 6 December 1969 in Kalisz. In 1995 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. In 1993-1997, he was an expert of the Committee on Local Government of the Poznan Municipal Council, and from 1997 an adviser to Marcin Libicki, chairman of the Polish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In 1997-1998 he worked for the Chancellery of the Sejm; in 1999-2000 he advised Deputy Speaker of the Sejm and was a member of the political cabinet of Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz (the chief of Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek’s political cabinet). In 2000-2002, Szymański was TV Puls’ programme editor, and in 2002-2009, editor-in-chief of the bimonthly Międzynarodowy Przegląd Polityczny. In 2004-2014, Konrad Szymański was a member of the European Parliament from the Law and Justice Party (PiS). He sat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), where he dealt with Eastern affairs, the EU’s relations with the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU’s energy security. In 2013 and 2014, Polityka and Rzeczpospolita respectively voted him one of the best Polish members of the European Parliament.

Konrad Szymański

Marek Matraszek
Marek Matraszek is Chairman of CEC Government Relations, which he co-established in the early 1990s and is now the largest independent political consultancy in Central Europe. CEC provides strategic political intelligence, analysis, and advocacy services for major US, UK and European multinationals operating in the region.

Marek Matraszek was born in the UK and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1984. Following a year in Poland teaching at the Catholic University of Lublin, he returned to Magdalen to obtain a Master’s degree in Russian and East European Studies in 1987. He then continued his studies at Oxford, reading for a doctoral dissertation.

Marek moved to Poland in 1990 as a freelance political consultant, and worked closely with both the British Conservative Party and the US Republican Party in assisting their activities in Central Europe. In 1992 he was appointed to represent the Margaret Thatcher Foundation in the region, and continued to be active in political journalism and think-tank work in Central Europe.

Marek specialises in designing and implementing strategic communications and lobbying campaigns for major US, UK and European multinationals in Poland, and advising on their political strategy in the Central European region as a whole. Although his experience stretches across most industrial sectors, he has a special expertise in defence, aviation and energy, and currently advises leading Western defence companies on their strategic campaigns in Poland and the region.

Marek Matraszek

Przemysław Biskup
Przemysław Biskup is a Senior Analyst in the European Union Programme, The Polish Institute of Foreign Affairs (PISM). His research focuses on Brexit and broader UK-EU relations, the EU’s role in British domestic politics and on comparative Euroscepticism. Przemyslaw holds Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Warsaw (2006). His background is both in Political Science (MA, Warsaw, 2000) and Law (MA, 2001, Warsaw). In 2002 Przemysław held the Marie Curie Fellowship at the Sussex European Institute. In 2006 he completed a research internship at the European People’s Party Group in the European Parliament. Prior to joining the PISM analytical team in September 2017, Przemyslaw was conducting research and teaching at the University of Warsaw’s Institutes of Political Science and of European Studies (2006-2017). He was a Visiting Professor at the Institut d’études politiques de Lyon (Sciences Po Lyon) (2016, 2018). Since October 2018 he holds senior lectureship at the Warsaw School of Economics.

Przemysław Biskup

Tomasz Blicharski
Tomasz Blicharski, Vice President of the Management Board of Żabka Polska, Chief Financial & Development Officer Since 2011 with Żabka Polska. He gained extensive experience in investment banking and finance, among others in ABN Amro, BNP Paribas and Procter & Gamble. From 2007, he held the position of director in the Mid Europa Partners fund, where he was responsible for investments in CEE (including Norican Group, Polskie Koleje Gorskie and Żabka Polska). A graduate of Warsaw School of Economics

Tomasz Blicharski

Andrzej Kensbok
Andrzej Kensbok graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin and MBA studies at the INSEAD school in France. He has been involved in business since the very beginning of his professional career. He has experience in international corporations and manufacturing and consulting companies as well as running his own business ventures He also has many years’ experience in management. He has been in charge of recruitment, restructuring, company mergers and team building, as well as manufacturing reorganisation and sales development projects, implemented in Poland and abroad. He prepares analyses, reports and articles about economics, entrepreneurship, management and regulations. He is the Chairman of the Programme Board of the Polish Commerce Association, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Polish State Railways, Inc (Polskie Koleje Państwowe S.A.).

Andrzej Kensbok

Jarosław Kuźniar
My name is Jarosław Kuźniar, I’m a multi-instrumentalist. Having had years of experience in radio, press and television I switched to working online, as the future of media is in the Internet. I have been working since I was fifteen. Polish Radio ‘Trójka’, Radio ZET, TVN, TVN 24, Onet. Those names speak for themselves. I changed them a lot, in a search for new – knowledge and work. On my way, I met the masters of the profession, who took their time to teach me what journalism is about: Kaczkowski, Niedźwiedzki, Kydryński, Mann, Miszczak. Today, I want to focus on standing behind the camera, creating my own, modern, personal brand, expanding and developing my social media channels. Beside that I train – people and firms – things that I have learnt throughout these years. I turned my other passion, travelling, into a job. I explore the world on my own as well as with clients, to whom journeys don’t always mean holidays. We prepare the excursions tailored for individual people and business bodies. We strive not for fun, but knowledge.

Jarosław Kuźniar

Bogusław Winid
Bogusław Winid was appointed as Adviser to the President of the Republic of Poland as of April the 16th, 2018. He graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw and began working as an assistant and afterwards as an assistant professor at the Center for American Studies at the University of Warsaw. In 1991 he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw on the subject of Polish-American relations in the interwar period. He attended scholarships at Indiana University, Bloomington and the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. The diplomatic service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began in 1991 in the Department of North and South America. In the following years he worked as the first secretary, counselor, and council minister at the Polish Embassy in Washington. He also managed this institution as Charge d’affaires of Poland in the USA. Before taking up the post of the Advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland, he was the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Defense, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to NATO and Poland’s ambassador to the United Nations. In this last role, he coordinated in New York an election campaign for the election of Poland as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Bogusław Winid is the author of three books: “In the shadow of the Capitol. Polish diplomacy towards the United States of America, 1919-1939” (1991), “Santiago 1898” (1995), “NATO enlargement in the United States Congress, 1993-1998” (1999) and several scientific articles published in Poland, the USA and Great Britain. His passion is also the search for and retrieval of works of art and militaries lost by Poland during the Second World War. He was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011) and the Estonian Order of the Cross of the Marian Class II Earth (2014) as well as the Golden Medal for services to the National Defense (2014) and the Badge of Merit for the Jagiellonian University (2008).

Bogusław Winid

Paweł Zielewski
Paweł Zielewski is the editor-in-chief and journalist of the Polish edition of Forbes, associated with the magazine for 10 years. Formerly editor-in-chief and managing editor of the monthly Pierwszy Milion. Previously worked i.a. for Puls Biznesu as managing editor of the daily and head of the stock exchange and finance desk, and for Gazeta Wyborcza and Życie Gospodarcze.

Paweł Zielewski

ł.pitch /ɛw/

Motivated by last year’s success of the LSE Polish Business Society Start-up Challenge, we decided to further develop the initiative. This year’s edition, ł.pitch /ɛw/, aims to select, reward and help the best data-driven Polish startups to grow their businesses.

As a pioneer of the oil industry and the inventor of the kerosene lamp, Ignacy Łukasiewicz significantly contributed to the development of entrepreneurship in Poland. He was also an important social activist. His figure has inspired us to name our competition ł.pitch /ɛw/ in order to show that its mission is to promote entrepreneurship in Poland and abroad. Thus, we would like startups to exhibit not only innovative, but also, if possible, prosocial characteristics.

The first edition received vast support from the investors and aroused tremendous interest among startups, with over 75 applications from which 5 finalists were chosen to present their ideas at the LSE Polish Economic Forum (PEF) in front of investors and other professionals. Then, the jury, which included such renowned industry leaders as Sebastian Kulczyk, Krzysztof Krawczyk, Tytus Cytowski, Marcin Kowalik, Wojciech Szaniawski, Karol Górnowicz and Jan Habermann, questioned and assessed the finalists’ ideas in a Dragons’ Den formula, and awarded prizes including dedicated support from an experienced consultant from Bain & Company and a place in the finals of the CVC Young Innovator Awards competition. The competition attracted extensive publicity, with numerous articles covering the initiative and its winner appearing in leading media outlets such as Forbes and Business Insider.

For the second edition, we have prepared some exciting improvements:

  • This year’s competition will focus on “data-driven” startups. Data-drivenness is about building tools, abilities, and a culture that acts on data. Employing data-driven approach means using vast amounts of data to improve products and make strategic decisions based on insights from its analysis.
  • This year the prizes are both more numerous and impressive than last year – there’s a lot worth fighting for! The winners will receive i.a. cash prize, help with business development from Microsoft, legal care package from Kondracki Celej legal office, a place in the final of the Space3ac Poland Prize program with the possibility of winning a prize of 45,000 euro (equity-free) and one week stay in luxurious apartment in Egypt with wakeboarding course at Sliders Cable Park.

 

ł.pitch /ɛw/ is a unique opportunity to present your company to investors from top Polish venture capital funds as well as an excellent chance to promote your project in media and to the wider public. If you believe that your startup has what it takes, be sure to apply!

The deadline for sending applications is 13th February 2019.

About us

The LSE SU Polish Economic Forum is the central initiative of the LSE SU Polish Business Society. It remains the largest student-led conference in London and year on year, it succeeds in attracting the most famous names in the Polish Business scene. The forum brings together influential businessmen as well as intellectually curious students to create a discussion about the most pressing, contemporary issues.  This year, under the theme “The Worrying Twenties”, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities our country and Europe will face entering the new decade. 

Marcin Kowalik
Marcin is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Black Pearls VC, an early-stage venture capital firm. He specialises in DeepTech and Enterprise Software, in particular intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and EdTech. Marcin has established three investment funds in his career. Two have been focused on investments in Life Quality Technologies, which address the most pressing social changes, particularly within the scope of demographics, labour and business.

Marcin actively supports the development of Polish innovations through participation in the Committee of Stakeholders of the National Centre for Research and Development, the board of Interizon, the Polish ICT Cluster, and the Coalition for Polish Innovations. He earned his Master of Economics degree at Łazarski University in Warsaw and also took engineering courses (computer science) at the Warsaw School of Information Technology under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Later, Marcin received a postgraduate diploma (Controlling and Management of Enterprises) from the University of Gdańsk, where he is also currently working on his PhD; his thesis focuses on business models, startups, and innovation. Currently, Marcin is pursuing Kauffman Fellows Program as Class 22 member. Marcin is also a devoted family man: a proud husband and father of three.

Marcin KowalikBlack Pearls VC

Tytus Cytowski
Tytus Cytowski is a technology lawyer and the founder of Cytowski & Partners. Tytus has developed a successful startup law practice focusing on European startups scaling and fundraising in Silicon Valley. His clients are companies from YC, 500 Startups and Techstars. He is considered as one of the most experienced VC lawyers for CEE startups. He started his adventure as an entrepreneur by opening his own law firm in the middle of the financial crisis in New York City. Prior to founding his own firm, Tytus worked for a venture capital fund and as a financial service lawyer in a leading international law firm in New York City. He holds his law degree from Harvard Law School (LLM 05) and Warsaw University (LLB 03). Tytus is admitted as an attorney in New York and Poland. He is a mentor at several incubators/accelerators in the USA and advises governments and large corporations on innovation.

Tytus CytowskiFounder of Cytowski & Partners

Sebastian Kulczyk
Sebastian Kulczyk, the CEO of Kulczyk Investments, is a leader among the younger generation of Polish entrepreneurs. He is the founder of an accelerator fund designed to help rapidly expanding firms in high-tech projects.
He gained his experience working for various local and international companies, including Lazard’s London Bank and SonyBMG digital media unit in New York.
He started working in Kulczyk Investments in 2010 where he supervised the key investment projects in the strategic fields. Under his leadership, KI purchased shares in the Nigerian oil and gas fields. His responsibilities included, among others, managing research and development works in QKR Corporation – consortium dedicated to oil and gas production and exploration assets.
He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in December 2013.
He is a graduate in Management and Marketing from the Faculty of Law at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan and of The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sebastian KulczykCEO of Kulczyk Investments

Wojciech Szaniawski
Wojciech Szaniawski is a leading Polish expert on personal branding and integrated marketing. He is a creator of the business strategies for the main brands of sportswear, real estate, financial and technological market. He is a business coach who specializes in relationships building and personal branding. He works with very popular sport and entertainment stars, including Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jerzy Dudek and artists from Sony Music Poland. He is the owner of the Arskom Group – the largest sport marketing agency in Poland, implementing projects for such clients as Nike, New Balance, Tymbark, Budimex and Samsung.

Wojciech Szaniawski is also a business advisor for small and medium companies. He actively supports not only projects that have already existed on the market, but also innovative start-ups. He is the founder of a capital group investing in early-stage businesses, as well as the creator of SportUp! Contest – competition for the best sports start-ups in Poland.

He is involved in initiatives that support entrepreneurship and promote good attitudes in business. He has been cooperating with Szlachetna Paczka from many years and is a co-organizer of the charitable Congress “Mentally. Splendidly. Global”

Wojciech SzaniawskiArskom Group

Krzysztof Krawczyk
Krzysztof Krawczyk joined CVC Capital Partners in 2015 as a Senior Managing Director. Prior to joining CVC, he had been the Managing Partner of Innova Capital, one of the leading mid-market private equity firms in Central and Eastern Europe. He has 18 years of experience in private equity and a proven track record in numerous transactions throughout CEE. He is a Vice-President and Treasurer of Polish Private Equity Association and co-founded and co-chaired its LBO Committee. Mr Krawczyk holds an MA in Finance and Banking from the Warsaw School of Economics.

Krzysztof KrawczykPartner at CVC Capital Partners

Jan Habermann
Jan Habermann is a founding partner of Credo Ventures, a Central European early stage technology oriented venture capital firm based in Prague, Czech Republic. Jan is interested in early stage B2B oriented companies using internet and technologies to provide unique services to its customers globally. In particular he likes opportunities in ed-tech and media and data&analytics. Jan is a member of Kauffman Fellowship, a highly sought-after program and network dedicated to the world of innovation investing.

Jan HabermannCredo Ventures

Karol Górnowicz
Karol Górnowicz is the CEO of Skriware (a Daftcode Venture) – a 3D printing company focusing on innovative EdTech solutions – since February 2017. Prior to joining Skriware, he worked as an Associate at The Boston Consulting Group and in M&A Office of PZU.
Karol was an active student leader acting as the President of the Global CEMS Student Board and working on curriculum improvement projects and fostering cooperation between alumni and corporate partners. He studied Economics and Finance at the Warsaw School of Economics and CEMS International Management at the Rotterdam School of Management. He’s also acting as the Board Member of CEMS Alumni Association Poland.

Karol GórnowiczSkriware

The Light at Friends House

173-177 Euston Road

NW1 2BJ

The Waldorf Hilton Hotel

Aldwych

WC2B 4DD

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LSE SU Polish Business Society Students’ Union

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