Gunter Festel, born in 1966 with German and Swiss nationality, is founder and CEO of the investment firm FESTEL CAPITAL (www.festel-capital.com), which specialises in the commercialisation of technologies in the areas of energy, environment, health, materials and nutrition.

Previously, he was a member of the management team and head of the consulting business for the chemical and healthcare industry with Arthur D. Little in Zurich and a consultant with McKinsey. He started his career with Bayer, where he held various management positions in R&D and marketing.

He holds several degrees in natural and social sciences: a MA and PhD in chemistry, a BA in business administration, a MA in economics, a PhD in management & economics and an Executive Master of Corporate Finance. He is Professor for High-tech Entrepreneurship at the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin/Berlin Institute of Technology and Research Fellow at the University of Basel.

He is founder and chairman of the Umbrella Kids Foundation (www.umbrella-kids.ch) with the aim to improve access to education for young people from low-income background, especially from developing countries.

Gunter Festel lives with his British wife Karen in Central Switzerland at the famous Buergenstock mountain, located on a peninsula in the middle of Lake Lucerne. His passion is travelling and, meanwhile, he has visited more than 90 countries on all continents of the world.