Two-time Formula One champion Mika Hakkinen is to take part in the Startup Village innovations conference on June 2-3, organizers confirmed Monday.
Mika Hakkinen. Photo: Flickr
Startup Village is Eastern Europe’s biggest startup event and is aimed at encouraging innovations and turning ideas into commercially viable products. It takes place at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, the 400-hectare site to the west of Moscow that is home to more than a hundred resident companies.
Hakkinen, known as the Flying Finn during his decade in F1, during which he won 20 races and finished in the top three 51 times, is to participate in a panel session on June 3.
The session is devoted to the interaction between big corporations and small innovative businesses. Hakkinen is an investor himself, plowing funds into early-stage startups. The 46-year-old earned worldwide recognition by winning back-to-back F1 titles in 1998 and 1999.
The Startup Village discussion will be hosted by renowned entrepreneur Pekka Viljakainen, who is an advisor to Skolkovo president Victor Vekselberg.
Other participants in the panel session include Dmitry Strashnov, the general director of Russian post; Kirill Strashnov, Aeroflot’s chairman of the board and managing partner for the Altera Capital; Alcatel’s Willem Hendrickx; and Kirill Dmitriev, general director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.