Lars Rasmussen is a Danish computer scientist, technology executive, and the co-founder of Google Maps. He was the director of engineering for Facebook in London. In early 2003, Lars and his brother Jens co-founded a mapping-related startup, Where 2 Technologies, which was acquired by Google in October 2004. Rasmussen became the head of the Google Maps team and worked at Google until joining Facebook in late 2010.

In 1990, Rasmussen graduated from the University of Aarhus with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. He gained his MSc in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 1992.

Rasmussen began his PhD, working with Mark Jerrum and Alistair Sinclair in the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science at Edinburgh, then moved, with Sinclair, to Berkeley, California, USA.

He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, for his thesis “On Approximating the Permanent and Other #P-Complete Problems”.

Joined by our friends from the Angel Capital Association in the US, we will hear the latest developments happening on the other side of the Atlantic and how angels and their portfolio companies are keeping up in a rather turbulent 2023. Marcia Dawood (ACA and then add network she is from in US) and Ron Weissman (ACA and Band of Angels, Silicon Valley)  will be walking us through the facts and the figures that can help you make better angel investment decisions.

Setting up a vibrant startup and early stage investment ecosystem can differ a lot depending on where you are on the map and on what foundations you are building on. Together with ecosystem builders and shakers from all over Europe, we will dive deep into the topic and find out some of the secrets behind growing your local entrepreneurship and investment community. If you have experiences to share or learnings you want to collect, this session is just for you.

European investors and entrepreneurs looking for markets with huge growth need to look no further than MENA. During this session, we will learn more about the startup and early stage investment actors shaping the future from North Africa, Levant and the Gulf regions as well as how foreigners can invest or scale businesses in this part of the world.