Simo Ellilä is the CEO & co-founder of Enifer. He is a biorefining specialist with over ten years of experience at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland developing biofuels and biochemical processes. He is also an expert in using the latest biotechnological methods to add value to renewable raw materials. During his time at VTT, Simo led industry projects in Europe and Latin America, developing processes for the by-products of the sugar cane industry. Simo has previously given keynotes at events such as Shift Business Festival, Slush, and Talk Helsinki. He has also delivered winning pitches at Tesco Agri T-Jam 2022, Tech Tour Europe Food & Agritech 2022, and Nutreco Feed Tech Challenge 2020. He likes to discuss topics such as the availability of capital for scaling industrial processes in 2024, the current alternative protein winter, and the looming world of protein shortage. Simo speaks five languages fluently and can get by in another two languages if needed.