Jeff Douglas is the Managing Director of Douglas Pharmaceuticals, New Zealand’s largest privately owned pharmaceutical company. Douglas Pharmaceuticals’ focus is on innovation, development and manufacturing and sells 70% of its production offshore.  

Natalia’s career started off in the heavily regulated automotive industry as a systems engineer. This complemented her shift into the life science and medical device industry 10 years ago. She has worked with multiple medical device spinouts to develop their quality systems and to ensure regulatory compliant product development. She now focuses on market entry strategy for the Kitea System.

Kate de Ridder trained and worked as an Aerospace Engineer, leading large teams on airborne defence force missions for the first half of her career. With a BEng E&E (Hons), MSc Science in Aerospace Vehicle Design, and a PG Bus studies, she transitioned to the world of venture capital. She has helped Bridgewest Ventures New Zealand (BVNZ) build the investment team and a portfolio of deep tech investments including two medtech investments.

Ehsan is Cofounder and CEO of Toku Eyes. He is also an Associate Professor at Auckland University, with a PhD in biomedical engineering. Ehsan has published more than 45 peer reviewed articles, received USD8m in research grants and has so far raised USD12m in VC funding.

Aisling is a Special Counsel at Buddle Findlay and a health technology specialist. She has worked in and around the health sector for the majority of her career, including being in-house at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, and on long term secondment to Te Whatu Ora – Health NZ. Aisling has specific expertise in the provision of digital health services, the adoption and implementation of AI tools in clinical settings, the commercialisation of medical technology, and the regulation of therapeutic products.