Jury

The shortlist and eventual winners for each Awards category - as well as the Special Mention - are selected by an independent jury, set up by the European Commission, and composed of a cross-section of European experts.

 

DETLEF FECHTNER

Deputy Editor in Chief of Börsen-Zeitung, Detlef Fechtner studied politics, economics and history in Frankfurt and Brussels. He worked for the Center for North American Studies in Frankfurt and undertook research stays in South Africa, Ukraine and the United States (Cornell, Harvard). After completing his studies, he worked as an editor and later as a financial correspondent for the news agency vwd (now Dow Jones Germany). He then moved into the business section of the Frankfurter Rundschau, where he worked as deputy head of department.

In 2005, Fechtner became the FR correspondent in Brussels, moved a year later to the Brussels office of the WAZ Group and reported for four years for 19 German regional newspapers from the capital of Europe. Since 2010 he has been the Europe correspondent for the Börsen-Zeitung.

 

EGLĖ FREDRIKSSON

Eglė Fredriksson is Portfolio Manager at East Capital. Fredriksson is a Lithuanian national and studied finance and economics at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and Stockholm. She works with investment management focusing on the Eastern European fund products and mandates as well as ESG engagements with portfolio companies in Central Europe and Baltics. At East Capital since 2004, in the industry since 2003; based in Stockholm. East Capital is an independent asset manager specialising in investments in emerging and frontier markets, established in 1997. To enhance returns, East Capital focuses on an active and responsible management style, achieved through strong ESG integration including engagements with portfolio companies, driven by proprietary ESG scorecards.

 

EKATERINA GIANELLI

Ekaterina Gianelli is a Partner at Nordic venture fund, Inventure. An operator turned VC, she works closely with founders, investing in seed and early-stage across a broad range of sectors, especially consumer businesses, digital health, femtech, future of food and circular / conscious consumption.

Prior to joining Inventure, Gianelli was part of the team scaling Fjord from a small consultancy into a leading design & innovation firm globally (Fjord was later acquired by Accenture Interactive in 2013). She also worked on product and sales at advertising technology startup Kiosked.

 

MARTIN HOCK 

Finance Editor for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) in Frankfurt, Martin Hock studied economics in Mainz and worked there later as a research  assistant. In 1997, he finished his doctoral thesis on the politics of the long-running transformation of Hungary’s socialist economy from 1968 till 1996. The same  year, he started working as a member of the editorial staff for the finance TV programme “3satBörse”. Hock then moved on to the magazines “DIE TELEBÖRSE” and “DM”, which later became “Euro”, as deputy head of the online edition. In 2005, he joined the finance section of FAZ.NET. He is specialised in reporting on investing in small and medium-sized companies.

 

PHAEDON TAMVAKAKIS

Phaedon-Theodore D. Tamvakakis is the Co-Founder (est. 1987) and currently serves as Chairman of Alpha Trust Mutual Fund and Alternative Investment Fund Management S.A. He started his career in 1985 at Unilever Greece as a Product Manager, and has also, among other roles, been Managing Director at Hambros Hellenic Mutual Fund S.A., Orion International Investment Trust S.A.

Tamvakakis is a member of the Board of the Hellenic Authors' Society, as well as occupying various non-executive positions in corporations and charities. He holds a BA in Economics and English from the American College of Greece, and an MA in Investment and Finance from the University of Exeter.