Every year, we see people in our ecosystem whose work quietly sets higher standards — not through loud claims, but through what they actually do. Today, we want to highlight that kind of contribution: the people whose decisions, behaviour and commitment pushed their teams forward, strengthened the ecosystem around them, and created momentum others could build on.
These symbolic recognitions span four areas — pioneering vision, strategic leadership, ecosystem-shaping impact, and the ability to turn connections into real opportunity. In other words: the people whose stories shape other stories.
🏆 Pioneer of the Year — Oana Andreea Jinga, Dexory
Oana helped turn early robotics experiments in Romania into Dexory’s autonomous robots and digital-twin platform — technology built around real warehouse problems, not theory. In 2025, Dexory raised €143M to scale globally. She sits at the intersection of robotics, AI, product and commercial execution, and shares the lessons of scaling deep tech with Romania’s founder community so others can widen their ambition.
🌟 Leader of the Year — Slavena Tisheva, Wiser Technology
Slavena stood out through clarity of thought, stability under pressure, strong strategic planning and long-range vision. In a post-merger environment of seven unified companies, she took responsibility for building a functioning marketing organisation almost from zero — setting structure, direction and execution rhythm. Building a global B2B tech brand for one of the fastest-growing IT services companies in the region, she leads with high standards, combining long-term thinking with day-to-day action.
🔍 Groundbreaker of the Year — Konstantin Bezuhanov, Evrotrust
Evrotrust is an EU-notified high-assurance eID scheme supporting over 2M users from 61 nationalities and more than 200 enterprises across 11 countries. This year, Konstantin secured €6.6M from TCEE Fund IV, advised by 3TS Capital Partners, to accelerate expansion across DACH and CEE. His work combines regulatory depth, technological ambition and consistent ecosystem support for founders navigating trust-tech and identity.
🌍 Networker of the Year — Jaroslav Ton, Malcom Finance
Jaroslav spent 2025 turning conferences across Europe into real access — new networks, partners and opportunities. This helped Malcom Finance finish 9th in Deloitte FAST50 with 1940% growth, analyse 88,000+ debtors, finance 265,000+ invoices and deliver more than €300M in liquidity to logistics SMEs. His presence and intent played a clear role in expanding the company’s reach across markets.
