Efforce Summit

Jacopo is a pioneer in energy efficiency markets. After years of experience as a quantitative analyst, he founded AitherCO2, a leading company in the energy efficiency market. He is a visiting professor in several universities worldwide, regularly participates as a speaker at energy saving events and has consulted on environmental market mechanisms to Fortune 500 Companies and to the California State Senate. Jacopo graduated in Finance from the Cattolica University of Milan and in Macroeconomics from Harvard University.

Kenneth Hardesty is an international technology manufacturing CEO/COO with a dynamic professional career in both private and public companies. At various times in his career, he has lived and worked in the US, Asia, India or Europe with local governments, accessing capital markets, and building shareholder/stakeholder confidence. As CEO, he has directly established sales and a global audience, establishing global manufacturing operations from start-up, to over seven thousand employees. As Cofounder and active Member of the Board of EFFORCE, Mr. Hardesty, provides guidance for strategic partnering opportunities, as well as contract manufacturing and licensing partners in Asia, India and worldwide.

A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for the past three decades, Steve Wozniak helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products the Apple I and II and influenced the popular Macintosh. In 1976, Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. with Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. The following year, he introduced his Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive.

Andrea spent a large portion of the past decade building bridges between incumbents and the digital emerging markets. With his quantitative background, he created a boutique venture builder which helps entrepreneurs worldwide achieve their growth goals. By blending abstract thinking and people skills Andrea launched ventures across different sectors and invested growing resources to support outstanding individuals along their journey. As an early bitcoin believer he has been actively supporting the growth of the cryptocurrencies ecosystem by becoming a crucial link for various institutions. At EFFORCE , Andrea manages the investors and public relations to boost the ecosystem growth rate and mass market education about Energy Efficiency and its importance for the fight against climate change. In 2021, Andrea was also listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 for industry and manufacturing.

Entrepreneur, global leader and avid crypto-investor. Stefan Rust is a multilingual mover and shaker turning cutting-edge technology into commercial success. Navigating regulations competing against the national telecom operator, Stefan helped change the mobile landscape in China. He then moved on to Sun Microsystems where he worked to create an ecosystem that brought content and apps to mobile with Java. He has also advised tech giants like Qualcomm, Red Hat, Sony, Siemens, Limelight Studios, and many others. Stefan has held several executive positions, most notably he is an ex-CEO of bitcoin.com. Having bought his first bitcoin at $5 back in April 2012 he has now expanded his investment and advisory portfolio across the blockchain industry. Shortly after buying his first bitcoin and using it to pay developers directly, he realised the enormous potential of this global decentralized currency. This, combined with his knack for entrepreneurship, further fueled his passion to launch 8+ companies by building strategies, raising funds and creating business development partnerships as a foundation for successful ecosystems and business growth. He is Chairman Emeritus and founder of the Asia Pacific Chapter of the Mobile Ecosystem Forum as well as a Fellow of the Blockchain Climate Initiative. Stefan is a father of 4 children and a top 10 global competitive swimmer. He is based in Hong Kong but enjoys frequently travelling around the world (when one still could) to evaluate new technologies and investment opportunities.

David Shin is an Entrepreneur and an ex-Banker who has been involved in several startups around the world. He is also an active community builder who has helped set up non profit organisations in Asia to ensure proper engagement with local/regional entities and officials as it relates to crypto currencies and blockchain technology. As a Banker, David most recently worked for TD Bank as their Asia Head of Global Equity Derivatives and Repo Sales. David was the key crypto expert at TD, working with senior management to develop the bank’s strategy on digital assets. David also wrote the draft response to the Canadian Regulators on behalf of TD Bank as to how crypto currencies should be regulated in Canada. In 2020, as an Advisor to the Tezos Foundation, he decided to join full time as the Asia Head of TZ APAC, an adoption entity supported by the Tezos Foundation. He recently left Tezos to head the Klaytn global adoption efforts at Kakao. His focus will be to build adoption and utility of the Klaytn blockchain across developer, retail and enterprise groups. David is a go to guy for a lot of the financial institutions that seek advice and consultation on crypto and blockchain related projects. He has provided guidance to some of the global central banks on the benefits of digital currencies. David is considered to be an early adopter of digital currencies which has led him to appear on regional and global media outlets like CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, NY Times, Swiss TV and the Economist.

Nicholas Merten is the founder of DataDash, the largest cryptocurrency YouTube channel with over 330,000 subscribers, as well as Digifox, a leading crypto wallet bringing millions of people the ability to get paid in crypto. Being an international speaker, thought-leader, and crypto analyst in the space, he’s utilized his over ten years of experience in traditional markets to understand the potential of cryptocurrencies.

Alphan oversees operations in Russia, Turkey and Ukraine for Huobi Global, where he is responsible for the region’s growth and business development. His career spans nearly two decades with deep expertise in crypto, finance and auditing across two continents A much sought-after media spokesperson, Alphan leads a region which has some of the fastest-growing markets in cryptocurrencies. His mandate is to grow Huobi Global’s presence locally to position it as the leading cryptocurrency service, leveraging the company’s world-class exchange platform which emphasizes user safety and protection. Before joining Huobi Global, Alphan held senior leadership roles at BTCTurk, which was established in July 2013 as Turkey’s first local cryptocurrency exchange. Alphan also served as the CFO and COO of BTCTrader, a software development company that offers white-label crypto-exchange solutions for crypto-entrepreneurs. Alphan started his career in auditing, and worked as a financial auditor for over a decade at Deloitte in Turkey as well as Canada. A graduate of Bilkent University with a B.A. in Economics, Alphan also holds several licenses in the areas of capital markets, auditing and corporate governance.

Dr. Abdalla Kablan is a serial tech entrepreneur, investor, and award winning technology expert. He specialises in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the design of complex financial systems.

Dan Simerman is an investor and technical product manager well versed in consumer psychology, digital assets and open source software development. Dan has a history of building software for Fortune 50 financial institutions, multinational media companies and strategic consulting firms. As Head Of Financial Relations at the IOTA Foundation, Dan's goal is to support the technology for a new type of digital infrastructure, one where IOT devices and humans can seamlessly exchange value and data in a safe, secure, and decentralized economy.

Selected amongst the most influential under 30 in Italy by Forbes, Nikolaus is the young founder and CEO of Inewa, one of the fastest growing ESCO in Italy. In its first year of activity, Inewa reached over € 50 million in revenue.