• IdeaFest Judges 2025

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Dr. Iulian Bobe, MBA

Chief Strategist, Sun Metalon, Inc.; Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Circ

Dr. Iulian Bobe is a distinguished entrepreneur and technologist with a rich and diverse career that spans across continents. His journey commenced in Tokyo, Japan, where he played a pivotal role in the biotechnology sector, contributing significantly to the successful public listing of NanoCarrier on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Following his career in Japan, Dr. Bobe made a strategic move to the United States, embarking on the entrepreneurial path. Initially venturing into the realm of biofuels under Tyton Biosciences, he later orchestrated a pivot into textile recycling.

This transformative journey led to the establishment of CIRC Inc., a highly successful technology company headquartered in Danville, VA. CIRC specializes in the recycling of poly-cotton blends sourced from various channels, including factory clippings, unsold inventory, and post-consumer waste. Dr. Bobe's innovative technology at CIRC has positioned the company at the forefront of climate action initiatives. The groundbreaking work has garnered attention and investment from prominent entities and its contributions were recognized with a nomination and win at the Earth Shot Award.

Most recently, Dr. Bobe has been assisting Sun Metalon Inc. as Chief Strategist with new market entry. Headquartered in Chicago with a subsidiary in Japan, Sun Metalon provides solutions for metal decarbonization, collaborating with companies such as Toyota, Komatsu, or US and Japanese steel mills to upcycle steel and aluminum, reintegrating them into production. This work enhances supply chain security and supports the circular economy.

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Jan Davis

Retired CEO, ShopperTrak RCT Corporation; Investor, RTP Angel Fund; Professor of the Practice; Member, The Launch Place Board

Jan Davis is a retired CEO and active board member for companies in software, analytics, database and digital marketing and information. These enterprises sell products and services to a broad range of industries, including healthcare, retail, real estate, financial services and insurance as well as on-line to consumers. She presently serves on the board of directors of Couplet Care and on the boards of advisors of multiple companies and is a Professor of the Practice at UNC Kenan-Flagler. She is co-founder of the RTP Angel Fund and has been a leader of Triangle Angel Partners for over a decade. 

Davis served as CEO of ShopperTrak RCT Corporation, the global leader in pedestrian traffic counting, from 2004 to 2008. Before joining ShopperTrak, she was an executive vice president and business unit president at TransUnion LLC, the international credit reporting giant. Previously, Davis was a marketing consultant in Boston, MA and in Warsaw, Poland, working with a US database marketing agency, multi-nationals and a Polish enterprise. She co-founded SmartNames, a venture-backed database marketing information, analysis and services company. 

Davis holds a BA and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

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Marty Kaszubowski 

Technology Venture Consultant; Member, The Launch Place Seed Fund Advisory Board

Marty is an aerospace engineer and spent his early career working on the Space Shuttle, Space Station, and planetary mission planning programs. He served as a Senior Program Director at the National Academy of Sciences’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, founded the Hampton Roads Technology Incubator in late-1998, and has been involved ever since in supporting the local, national, and global innovation and entrepreneurial community as a consultant, advisor, investor, mentor, and therapist. 

Over the last decade, Marty has helped develop a variety of new community and university-based programs to support entrepreneurs and has often been tapped by NATO, the US State Department, and related Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to advocate for innovation-led economic development, help assess and develop innovation ecosystems, provide entrepreneurship training and mentoring, and judge startup competitions in several former Soviet states and around the world. 

Marty is currently a Technology Venture Consultant and serves on numerous non-profit Boards including The Launch Place Seed Fund Advisory Board and The Investment Advisory Board of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation. 

Marty holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Science Degree in Technology Management from the George Washington University.

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Paul Nolde

Managing Director, 757 Collab; Executive Director, 757 Angels; Member, The Launch Place Board

Paul Nolde has over two decades of experience in the banking, finance, and venture capital sectors, serving in multiple business development and management roles. As the Managing Director of 757 Collab and the Executive Director of 757 Angels powered by VentureSouth, Paul sets the strategic vision for both organizations and oversees day-to-day operations in accelerating and funding venture capital-appropriate startups from idea to seed stage. 757 Collab includes 757 Startup Studios (the “front door” incubator to Hampton Roads’ entrepreneurial ecosystem), 757 Accelerate (a nationally recognized venture accelerator), 757 Angels (one of the nation’s most active angel investment groups), and 757 Innovation Partnerships (innovation programming for organizations and companies). Prior to this he served as the Executive Managing Director of Lighthouse Labs, another nationally recognized venture accelerator based in Richmond, VA, and before that he was the Fund Manager and Managing Director of Riverflow Growth Fund, a seed stage, healthcare-focused venture capital fund. Prior to Riverflow he served as a director at NRV, also an early-stage venture capital firm, having previously managed the angel investment portfolio of a family office. Earlier in his career he held various sales and strategy positions at multiple national and community banks.

He is an active participant in, and advocate for, Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, serving on the boards of several local and regional organizations, including the Activation Council, CAV Angels (immediate past president), Innovate Hampton Roads, the Norfolk Innovation Corridor, Hampton Roads’ Regional Organization Presidents’ Council, and The Launch Place Seed Fund (former chair). Additionally, Paul sits on various advisory and governing boards at the University of Virginia, where he also serves as an adjunct professor of impact investing in its Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

Paul graduated from UVA with a B.A. in Foreign Affairs, complemented by post-grad business studies through the McIntire School of Commerce Business Institute.

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Autumn Visser

Co-Chair of the Corporate & Business Transactions Practice Group at Woods Rogers; The Launch Place’s legal counsel

Autumn is the co-chair of the Corporate & Business Transactions Practice Group at Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black (WRVB). She also served as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors from 2020-2024.

She concentrates on venture and seed capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and contract drafting and negotiation. Autumn also works on real estate and licensing.

Prior to Woods Rogers, Autumn spent five years in-house as Corporate Counsel for a global consumer products manufacturing company headquartered in the United States with offices in Australia, Canada, France, and South Africa. In this role, Autumn managed the legal functions for seven diverse business lines and was the key contact for all outside counsel. 

Autumn is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Public Relations and a minor in journalism. She earned her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, Calif., where she worked on the Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judges and was a founding member of the Legal Waves. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Women Attorneys Association and the National LGBT Bar Association. Autumn has been recognized as a Legal Elite attorney and received a 2023 Women in Leadership Award from Virginia Business magazine.