0100 Emerging Europe 2025

Managing Partner of the leading €165mn PE fund in the Baltics INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund managed by the leading asset management group in the Baltics – Invalda INVL, active since 1991. Currently serves as deputy chairperson of the largest environmental management group’s AS Eco Baltia supervisory board and chairperson of supervisory board of its subsidiary AS PET Baltija. Before joining INVL was one of the leading M&A experts in Lithuania with extensive experience in transaction structuring and negotiations, who advised local and international clients on deals with the combined value of almost €2 billion. Deimante enjoys travelling, reading and doing sports (kitesurfing, snowboarding and running) in her free time.

Maja Tomanic Vidovic has a broad range of experience in finance and investment, both in the public and the private sector, on national and international level. Since 2007 she is the executive director the Slovene Enterprise Fund in Slovenia, which manages a portfolio of cca. EUR 900 million of debt, equity and grants mandates financed by the national budget and European structural funds. The active portfolio presents more than 16.000 active projects, in which SEF invested the financial support. During this time she was responsible for the cooperation with many commercial banks in Slovenia; with many international development banks; for the establishment, fund manager selection and oversight of five VC funds in Slovenia and for the cooperation with national and European business angel associations in the area of SME, micro finance and venture capital. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of CEFOF, the Central East European fund of funds for venture capital, which is managed by the European Investment Fund, and aims to mobilise more than €600 million in investments in SMEs in CEE by 2029. She is also the member of EIF-NPI Equity Platform, which is a collaborative initiative launched by the EIF in 2016. It promotes knowledge sharing and best practices between the EIF and national promotional institutions (NPIs) across EU Member States and includes the European Commission. Its goal is to enhance access to funding for relevant projects, SMEs, and midcaps, support the defragmentation of equity markets, and match national, EU, and private sources of funding. She was the member of board of directors and still is the member of assemble of European Association for guarantee institutions (AECM) with 40 similar EU development banks and funds in 20 EU countries. In 20 years of professional carrier, she gained international experience in finance and in the European institutions. She cooperated in the field of investment banking and equity investments in the European Commission in Brussels, in EU economic surveillance and state aid, on key reforms in the entrepreneur sector in Slovenia and Balkan region. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Finance and Banking from University of Maribor Slovenia.

Markus is a Managing Director on the Business Development team. Prior to joining Capital Dynamics, he worked in business development at Golding Capital Partners, a German private equity asset manager. Earlier in his career, Markus was a management consultant and project manager at the Monitor Company, where he advised international clients on corporate strategy, and also worked for Siemens on corporate strategy and M&A. Markus holds a Bachelor’s degree from Brown University, a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and an MBA from INSEAD.

Andrzej Pietrzak joined Innova in 2013. Previously he worked as an Analyst for Advent International Global Private Equity. Prior to this he did internships with Advent International and UniCredit CAIB. Andrzej graduated from Warsaw School of Economics with a master’s degree in Finance and Accounting and bachelor’s degrees in Finance and Accounting and Management. He has passed all three levels of CFA exams.

Edgar joined Abris in 2014 as Partner and has over 15 years of professional work experience. At Abris, he has worked on multiple transactions in the technology and digital, business services, industrial, and consumer retail. Additionally, Edgar’s focus areas include talent management, the implementation of ESG standards at the portfolio companies, and the Baltics. Prior to joining Abris, Edgar worked as a management consultant for over seven years, consulting for leading global companies including ten Fortune 500 companies across various sectors on a wide range of strategic, operational, and organizational issues. He has gained additional experience through roles at Highlander Partners, ING Investment Management, the National Bank of Poland, and the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania. Edgar holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD and has completed executive education courses in corporate governance and leadership (i.e. IESE, Harvard Business School). He has a CEMS Master’s degree in International Management, a Master’s in Finance and Banking and a Bachelor’s in International Relations from Warsaw School of Economics. Edgar speaks four European languages fluently. He is also an active founding member of PSIK Next Gen Committee through organizing events (i.e. Leadership Series) to inspire new generation of investment professionals by sharing experiences.

Sille Pettai is the Fund Manager and Member of the Management Board of SmartCap. SmartCap, a state-owned fund manager, oversees close to €300 million assets, focused on early-stage VC funds. In her role, Sille leads Venture Capital Fund, aiming to contribute to the development of the local capital market, and the Green Fund, dedicated to green transition and backing greentech companies. Sille also serves as a board member of the Estonian Venture Capital Association. With more than 15 years of experience in asset management as an investment executive, she was a fund manager at Swedbank Investment Funds, where she was responsible for the management of alternative investments portfolio with private equity, venture capital and real estate focus in pension funds.

Maciej Ćwikiewicz has over 15 years of experience in private equity and strategic advisory. Between 2009 and 2014 he was an Investment Director at ARX Equity Partners (a private equity fund investing in medium-sized enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe), where he focused on industrial and service sectors in Poland. In the strategic advisory, Maciej Ćwikiewicz worked, among others, for McKinsey & Co, Kolaja & Partners (now Alvarez & Marsal) or PwC. He advised primarily private equity funds during commercial due diligence or the performance improvement programs. He advised also entrepreneurs-owners of Polish manufacturing companies such as Kross, POCH, or Dr Irena Eris. On selected projects he acted as an interim manager, such as Chief Restructuring Officer for RUCH, Kross, or Sanitec Budfarfor. Maciej Ćwikiewicz gained international experience in the United States, where in 2000-2001 he worked as an Analyst in Aviation Research at Portland International Airport, and also in Indonesia where he worked at Elnusa in 2002. Maciej Ćwikiewicz graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics, Finance and Banking in 2000 and obtained his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2009. Completed the Venture Capital program at the University of California at Berkeley.