DealMakers: Entrepreneur | Startups | Venture Capital

In the ever-evolving world of entrepreneurship, few stories stand out quite like Manolo Atala's. A founder from Mexico with an unconventional path, Manolo has navigated industries with precision, leveraging storytelling, trust, and a deep understanding of numbers to build and scale companies. Manolo's latest venture, Fairplay, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Carlos Martin, Carlos Salinas, Nut VC, and DILA Capital.

David Young’s journey to becoming a tech entrepreneur is anything but conventional. His career path took him from studying ancient Greek at Indiana University to Wall Street, and eventually to Silicon Valley, where he founded and scaled successful technology startups, including Joyent. David's latest venture, Federated Computer has attracted funding from top-tier investor, Lightning Ventures.

Rish Gupta has had a long, winding journey filled with unexpected turns, painful challenges, and exhilarating wins. He has built and exited companies and is currently riding the incredible momentum and hype in the artificial intelligence world of AGIs. Rish's latest company, Spot AI, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Redpoint Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and StepStone Group.

Entrepreneurship is often a winding road filled with unexpected twists, failures, and ultimately, moments of triumph. Few embody this journey as well as Michael Friedrich, who invested in and led Distalmotion from its infancy. Distalmotion has attracted funding from top-tier investors, such as Revival Healthcare Capital, Venturelab, Kinled Holding, and Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund.

Building a successful company is rarely a linear journey. For Christine Spang, co-founder and CTO of Nylas, the journey has been marked by significant pivots, bold decisions, and relentless perseverance when scaling the business and raising capital. Nylas has attracted funding from top-tier investors like 8VC, Round13 Capital, Spark Capital, and Formation 8.

Entrepreneurship is often about taking big risks, and for Jonah Greenberger, that meant leaving behind a stable job at a global energy giant to venture into an entirely new country, industry, and business model.From growing up in an academically inclined household to founding Bright, one of Mexico’s leading solar energy companies, Jonah’s journey is a masterclass in bold decision-making, resilience, and strategic execution.Bright has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sierra Peterson, Ajax Strategies, and Soma Capital.

Yoseph West, founder of Relay, is an experienced entrepreneur who transitioned from law to building a digital banking platform for small businesses. He shares insights from his challenging journey as an immigrant in Canada and the pivotal moments that shaped his career. The discussion highlights Relay's innovative banking solutions that enhance financial clarity for SMBs and the significance of investor relationships in fundraising. Yoseph's perspective on embracing challenges as learning opportunities offers valuable wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs.

In the fast-paced world of startups, few entrepreneurs stand out quite like Henrik Werdelin. With roots in Copenhagen, a foundation in journalism, and a career spanning MTV, startups, and venture capital, Henrik’s story is a testament to embracing curiosity and adaptability. Henrik's latest venture, Audos is an AI-driven software platform and ecosystem designed to empower a new class of entrepreneurs—often individuals or very small teams—to rapidly build, launch, and scale profitable, million-dollar-a-year businesses.

Frederik Fahning’s entrepreneurial journey is nothing short of remarkable. His is a story interwoven with ambition, resilience, business experiences where he faced challenges like almost running out of runway and layoffs, and an unwavering commitment to values. Frederik has co-founde3d Zenjob which attracting funding from top-tier investors like Aragon Global Management, 500 Global, Acton Capital, Atlantic LabsFor, and estay Capital.

Quentin Sannié’s journey is a testament to the power of entrepreneurial vision, resilience, and the ability to adapt across vastly different industries. From his humble beginnings in Versailles to founding innovative companies like Devialet and Genesis, his story is about building dreams. Quentin's latest venture Genesis is the first Global Rating Agency for the ecological health of cultivated soils. Its researchers and engineers have built the first tool to measure the impact of agricultural practices on soils to improve their health, yield and resistance to risks. It is a tool designed and validated by the scientific community, enforceable and dynamic.