Science-to-business program mentors

Andres Kuusik is the professor of marketing in the University of Tartu and the founder of neuro-marketing lab. He is the originator and initiator of the sTARTUp Day business festival and the Delta Economic Conference.

Triin is an intellectual property and data protection lawyer who has advised companies and public sector institutions both in the area of creative industries, ICT as well as in commercialisation of scientific results and knowledge transfer. Between 2007-2017 she worked as an attorney at the Tallinn office of GLIMSTEDT, one of the leading international law firms in the Baltics. In 2016, Triin practiced as an inhouse lawyer at the technology transfer office of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany. She joined Cybernetica AS in 2017 first as the General Counsel and later continued as the Privacy Engineering Consultant.

In addition to legal consulting, Triin is also an active lecturer and researcher. She is interested in protection of fundamental rights in mass processing of data and intellectual property rights as a means to accelerate economic development in the context of open innovation paradigm. In 2014-2015, Triin received a Fulbright Student scholarship to conduct studies in the USA and has been a frequent visiting researcher at universities in Denmark and Germany.

Veiko Valkiainen has over 20 years of experience in leadership development, focusing on enhancing team performance through changing the thought and behavior patterns of leaders and their team members. Among other things, he also hosts the leadership podcast "Leadership Quality is a Competitive Advantage," where he seeks to answer the question: what does it mean to be a successful leader? His conversation partners include CEOs, leadership trainers, consultants, and top athletes.

Veiko has a university degree in psychology and has further developed himself through gestalt therapy studies at the Gestalt Institute of Scandinavia in Denmark, as well as completing coaching training with Erickson Coaching International in New York. He is currently working on PhD thesis in Tatu University, researching self-managing teams and organizations. Over the years, he has conducted numerous leadership training sessions, seminars, and presentations, involving hundreds of leaders. He possesses diverse work experience from various companies, including Eesti Energia AS, the Ministry of Finance, Elion Ettevõtted AS (now Telia), Eesti Pank, BCS Itera AS, Olympic Entertainment Group AS, and MYJAR IT OÜ.

Maret Ahonen is the Manager of the University of Tartu Startup Lab. Maret has long-term experience in organizing entrepreneurship workshops and trainings.  She has supervised many students’elevator speech courses and conducted presentation skills workshops for doctoral students. She is often called to judge pitches for early stage start-up entrepreneurs.

Kati Pino provides legal assistance for start-ups on all corporate and contractual issues, including terms sheets, investment agreements, convertible instruments, shareholder agreements, stock options, CAP tables, cross-border expansions, group restructurings, flips to different jurisdictions, etc.

She also advises entrepreneurs in various intellectual property matters, from trademarks to social media assets, and ensures that the client’s intellectual property portfolio is well managed.

Andrus has more than 25+ years of experience in business and sales development and management in the corporate and startup world.

Alex is a junior lawyer specializing in IT law, data protection, and intellectual property. His daily responsibilities involve assisting attorneys with cases at the intersection of these areas, focusing on the sale, licensing, and development of software and hardware-based products and services. Additionally, Alex assists attorneys in M&A matters such as fundraising, shareholders' relationships, and day-to-day business activities.

Markko Karu is a designer with 25 years of experience working to help businesses to innovate and improve. He has co-founded two design companies, several start-ups, provided numerous training and consultancy services to over 200 companies in Estonia and worldwide.