Animal AgTech Innovation Summit Amsterdam 2026

Giulia Stellari is Director at Fall Line Capital, leading impact initiatives in farmland and venture portfolios. Previously at Unilever, she managed global sustainable procurement programs, advancing digital agriculture, transparency, and greenhouse gas reduction programs. She co-founded AgSquared, a cloud-based farm data platform, and holds a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from Cornell and an A.B. from Harvard. Giulia is also a non-executive director at SIPEF, Chair of Cool Farm Alliance, a member of the SBTi Technical Advisory Group, and an expert on the EU Expert Group on Carbon Removals.

Maarten is a Founding Partner of Anterra Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in companies that are leveraging technology to build a safe, sustainable, and resilient food system. Anterra manages over $450 million for several blue-chip investors from their offices in Amsterdam and Boston. Prior to founding Anterra, Maarten started his career at Rabobank, the world's leading financial services provider for the Food & Agri sector, where he worked for the M&A, corporate banking, and private equity departments in Amsterdam and London. Maarten holds a MSc from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and has studied Entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics.

Aidan Connolly is a unique leader. With over 30 years of experience in the agribusiness sector, his full-circle career includes working on a farm all the way to managerial and executive challenges. He has direct experience with greenfield startups, high-growth environments, turnaround issues, and challenging economic environments in a wide range of global political and economic systems. Connolly’s leadership experience ranges from strategy to operations to production, as well as developing sales programs and cohesive teams that deliver strong results. While born in Ireland, Connolly has worked in over 100 countries, lived in six, and spoken five languages. He is well-placed to understand the complexities of virtually any environment. He has worked in political associations with state and national governments in the US, China, Europe, and Brazil, and international organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations. Connolly has appeared as a radio and television commentator, often recognized for his knowledge of agribusiness and animal feed industry innovation. He holds positions as an adjunct professor of marketing at the Smurfit Graduate Business School University College Dublin (Ireland), China Agricultural University in Beijing (China), and North Carolina State University (USA). He has published over 30 academic articles and is a regular contributor to social media, where he is particularly active on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

Stephen leads the Animal Health Ventures team at Merck Animal Health. Merck partner with companies and invest in bringing new solutions to address unmet customer needs, including advanced digital technologies. We are innovators, and we lead by bringing together capabilities across veterinarians, start-ups, inventors, entrepreneurs, customers, and investment partners. Merck Animal Health Ventures is based in Madison, New Jersey and is actively seeking partnerships and technology investment opportunities.

Maarten is an Investment Manager at Nutreco.

Oliver has a successful track record creating and managing start-ups and executing strategic transactions at Board level on both the buy-side and sell-side of the life science business-to-business (B2B) market within the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries. He also has significant experience in fund-raising, both dilutive and non-dilutive. He has held senior commercial and business roles in a succession of biotech companies after having gained executive level experience for seven years as a director of business development at GSK. Before joining industry, Oliver was a patent attorney in London, Montreal and Paris. He received an MA in genetics and molecular biology from Cambridge University and earned an MBA from INSEAD Business School. Oliver joined Zoetis in 2017.

Justin is the Founder of AgriWebb, the leading grazing beef and sustainability data platform, used by 20,000 farmers to manage 23 million cattle across 190 million acres in 21 countries. A serial entrepreneur, he has founded, scaled and sold three companies, including two AI-driven hedge funds and a $4B wealth firm, before serving as a Director & Division Head at BlackRock. Educated at Harvard (B.A., Economics & Applied Mathematics) and Oxford (M.B.A.), Justin, who also rowed for Australia, now serves on several international boards and advises investment groups.

Neamat ElTazi is the COO of PoultrySync, an end-to-end SaaS solution powered by artificial intelligence, transforming poultry production through data-driven insights. With a background in computer science and a passion for sustainable agtech, Neamat leads innovation at the intersection of AI, food security, and digital transformation. She has spoken at global industry events and serves on advisory boards shaping the future of agriculture. Neamat is committed to empowering producers with technology that drives efficiency, profitability, and long-term impact.

Sanne is Director of Farm Sustainability at the Dutch Dairy Cooperative FrieslandCampina, responsible for the farm programs and goals on climate and nature. Within FrieslandCampina she has held several managerial roles. In addition, she has a strong scientific background with a PhD in Nutrition from the Wageningen University NL.