Hearing from both sides of the table, this session looks at how both corporates and startups can gain the most from the relationship and what pitfalls can potentially be avoided along the way.

Soren Nielsen is a fintech entrepreneur, who has led several teams, funding rounds, and collaborations between fintechs and corporates. Amongst others with Subaio and Ernit. Many of his insights can be found in his book Death by Innovation Theater – 10 Corporate Innovation Lessons Learned by a Startup. Artem Khlebnikov is Strategic Partnerships Director at Danone Nutricia Research. In his role, he works closely with internal and external investment funds, public & private partners and Danone colleagues to help drive science-based opportunities that activate Danone’s alimentation strategy and enable significant and sustainable growth opportunities aligned with Danone’s #OneHealth.OnePlanet approach. Artem holds an MS degree in Chemical Engineering from the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Moscow Russia, has completed his PhD in Biotechnology at the Swiss Federal institute of Technology in Lausanne, and received Post-Doctoral training in Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Simon Boonen works as Fintech Partnership lead for ING Neo. In this role, Simon explores Fintech partnership opportunities for ING in the areas of Open Banking, Payments, Banking as a Service, and Transaction Services. Prior to joining ING, he has worked in start- and scale-ups and in management consultancy, fulfilling roles in Strategy, Transformation and Innovation.” Neil Soni has built, grown, and created new ventures – both within the world’s largest brands and as an independent entrepreneur. Neil is co-founder of Extovate, which provides customized external innovation research service. He also runs a growth and innovation consulting practice, which helps startups and Fortune 500 companies partner and invest in technology and commercial opportunities. Neil is the author of The Startup Gold Mine: How to Tap the Hidden Innovation Agendas of Large Companies to Fund and Grow Your Business.