Who they are and what they do
The Advisory Board of XnTREE exists to aid planning and implementing business strategies to improve technological and operational management of the company. The board members display a wide range of expertise in the smart city industry including legal consulting, blockchain, sustainable energy solutions, and more.
XnTREE Advisors

Bas van Beers
CEO, FRINGE
Co-Founder and Partner of FRINGE.
- Smart City Innovation Mission to Seoul, Busan, Sejong, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Barcelona
- Business Coach, e-Village
- Leadership & Business Strategist, Quadraam

Tran Tho Dat
Chairman, NEU
- Former Rector of National Economics University
- Senior Economic Advisor of Prime Minister of Vietnam
- Head of the Coordination Committee for Higher Education Project, Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam

Jerry M. Hultin
Chairman, Global Futures Group
- 15th President of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and President Emeritus
- Global advisor of Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona
- Advisor of the US Secretary of the Navy under President Bill Clinton

Jeremy Lustman
Partner, DLA Piper
- 17 yrs at DLA Piper
- Head of Israel Country Group at DLA Piper US LLP
- Specialized in corporate, real estate and hospitality law
- Experienced in M&A, investment funds, Joint ventures

Jimmy Rhee
Special Secretary, Maryland State Government
- 5 yrs at The Governor’s Office of Small, Minority and Women Business Affairs of Maryland as a Special Secretary
- Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Trade at The Commonwealth of Virginia

Elliot Chun
Partner, Weild’s & Co
20 years across Capital Markets in the United States.
12 years with early stage companies in New York.
2 years in emergent tech

Dinis Guarda
Chairman, CitiesABC
20+ years of experience in international business and digital transformation
Lecturer and Speaker in international business schools: Cambridge, Copenhagen Business School, INSEEC, Monaco University, and others
Writer/author with over 20 books/ebooks/magazines published in various languages
Strategist, curator, programmer, producer, advisor, and have been working with organisations such as UN, UNESCO, Governments, Central banks, Financial authorities, think tanks, Greenpeace, Tate Modern/UK, Centre George Pompidou/Paris, ARS ELECTRONICA/Austria, ITAU/Brasil, and TV programmes

Tammy Ahn
Magaging Partner, Jenga
Policy advisor of Busan Metropolitan City – strategy to develop a healthy blockchain ecosystem
Experienced consultant and accelerator with a demonstrated history of working in the financial industry as well as blockchain advisory firm
Skilled in Portfolio Management, Business Development, Strategy, Investments, and Financial Analysis
Certified business development professional with a MBA focused in Finance and Investment management from The Wharton School.

Dong Sung Cho
President, Incheon National University
President of Incheon National University, South Korea
Emeritus Professor at Seoul National University
Honorary Doctor at University of Helsinki
Chairman of The Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (IPS)

Othmane Zrikem
A/O Proptech
Chief Data Officer and co-founder of A/O PropTech, where he designs and executes innovative investment strategies combining data-driven methodologies and financial engineering
Helping the founders he backs, scale their business throughout Europe as well as shape and execute their Operation and Analytics roadmap

Alessandro Martello
Professor, Universita’ Cattolica Milan
Adjunct Professor & Board Member at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore IPMCC – Milan, Italy
Member of the Investment Team in IREN UP – Corporate Venture Capital in CleanTech – 2018 to present
Screening committee team leader of Edison Pulse (EDF group) – open innovation programme in CleanTech – 2014-2017
- Former Global Marketing Director at Henkel KGAA Duesseldorf -Germany Business Angel

Faris Oweis
Chief Instigator, Instigation Protocol
Business builder and natural connector of ideas, people and places
Chief Instigator at Instigation Protocol where he enables blockchain organisations to commercialise with enterprise, weaving storytelling and business development together to create sustainable partnerships
Has secured multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects in the Middle East, city contracts globally to encourage local economic development, and has championed blockchain in emerging markets in partnership with the United Nations

Gianluca Galletto
Magaging Director, Global Futures Group (GFG)
Principal and Managing Director at Global Futures Group (GFG), which provides advisory to nonprofits and governments on “smart cities” strategies and innovation ecosystem building, and to businesses on international expansion
Principal at Smart Cities New York, the leading conference in North America on Smart and Sustainable Cities, and has previously advised former prime ministers in Europe
- Advisor to the New York City’s Mayor’s Office on foreign direct investments (FDI) in tech and inclusive innovation
Advisor to Croatia’s Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, the World Bank, the Partnership for NYC, and the Metropolitan City of Barcelona
- Former Director of International Business at the New York City Economic Development Corporation
Previosuly worked at Muzinich & Co., a leading global asset management firm based in New York
MA in International Economics from Yale University and an MA in Economics, Business and Law from Bocconi University in Milan

Angel Garcia
Pounding Partner, Lanta Digital Ventures
Has extensive experience investing in early-stage Technology ventures being currently invested in more than 40 companies in Europe and the US, in sectors such as, but not limited to Artificial Intelligence, Data Tech, Software Enterprise, SaaS, Data Analytics, etc
Founding Partner of Lanta Digital Ventures and Startupbootcamp IoT & Data (SBC)
- Executive at Fractus, a sucessful European Technology start-up. Fractus was an early pioneer in developing internal antennas for smartphones, tablets and other wireless Internet of Things devices and holds an intellectual property rights portfolio of more than 40 inventions, protected by over 120 patented applications worldwide. Its intellectual property and patent portfolio is widely recognised within the industry – licensees include Samsung, LG, HTC, Blackberry, Motorola, Sanyo and Sharp
Economics and Business Administration Degree and an Executive Program from Stanford University, USA

Inbal Arieli
Founder, Synthesis
Author of Chutzpah: Why Israel is a Hub of innovation and Entrepreneurship; Featured as one of the 100 Most Influential people in Israeli hi-tech; one of the 100-tech-business-women-speakers in the world; and one of the most influential Israelis of 2019
- Founder at Synthesis, a leadership assessment company, supporting companies in reaching peak performance at the leadership level
- For the past 20 years Arieli took a leading role in the flourishing Israeli Hi-Tech sector, starting in her military service, as Lieutenant in the IDF elite 8200 unit; continuing in her professional career as General Counsel and executive member to several start-ups and leading Israeli hi-tech companies. Arieli also founded a series of programs for innovators, including Israel’s first start-up accelerator; and serves on the advisory board of the leading Israeli programs for entrepreneurship

Guinam Choi
Senior Consultant Smart City ICT Architect,
Dell Technologies Koea
ICT Convergence Smart Business Development in the area of IoT/Smart City/Smart Factory in Dell Technologies Korea
- Award from Minister of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as a member of Smart city Innovation Forum
- Ex-chair member of Global IoT Public Private Community run by Ministry of Science & ICT/ KISA(Korea Internet Security Agency)
- Incheon Songdo Smart City Project Engagement
- Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center IOT Lead
- Addvisor member of Smart City Council of Seoungnam City

Max Gurvits
Managing Partner, Vitosha Venture Partners
US/European entrepreneur and investor
Launched a new EUR 27m seed-stage venture capital fund for CEE; Vitosha Venture Partners based in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Active in Europe and the Middle East as startup advisor and angel investor, Max organizes the TRACTION Camp and Startup AddVenture series of events, connecting founders to skills and capital
- Cross Border Angels as Director for CEE and MENA, syndicating 1-2 monthly investments with over 70+ angels and investment firms (2016)
Graduated as a lawyer, Max founded an online legal services company in Amsterdam in 2008. In 2011, he sold the business and moved to Bulgaria, where he was on the founding team of one of the biggest regional tech acceleration programs and funds (Eleven Startup Accelerator and EUR 12m seed fund)
- He also runs a number of ecosystem and networking initiatives, including Summit Summit (http://summitsummit.io) and Entrepreneur-In-Residence (http://eirtribe.com)

Asad Sultan
CEO, Deutsche Malayan Ventures
25-year veteran in the investment banking industry (15 years in Asia)
- Former Managing Director and Country Head in India for US the investment bank, Cantor Fitzgerald
- Former Equity Research Analyst at Citibank in New York, Tokyo and London
- Previously worked at Daiwa Bank in Hong Kong, and served as the Division Director and Head of Asian Equities for Australia’s Macquarie Bank; he launched NYSE-listed institutional brokerage Investment Technology Group in Asia as the regional Chief Executive Officer

Robinson Hernandez
Executive Director, Urban Tech Hub
Executive Director, The Urban Tech Hub
- Senior Vice President, iDEKOgov
- Deputy Commissioner, City of New York, Department of Small Business Services
Executive Director, New Business Accerleration Team, New York City Office of Mayor
- Special Advisor to the Commissioner, New York City Department of Buildings

Celine Chi Hae Wong
Philanthropy Ambassador, Smiling Gecko
Philanthropy Ambassador – Smiling Gecko
- Wealth Management Digital Strategy & Business Transformation /Ommichannel Management
- Chief Operation Officer of Life.SREDA (Singapore)
- Law School at Harvard University
- MBA at University of Liverpool

Amir Guttman
Managing Partner, Aviv Venture Capital
Founder and Managing Partner of Aviv Venture Capital
Lecturer in MBA programs at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya (IDC)
- Formerly Investment Manager, Discount Investment Corporation (TASE: DIC)
- Ph.D. Accounting – UC Berkeley, California
- Amir Brings industry level perspective combined with investment experience in private technology companies

Mun-goo Park
Head of CS CoE (Center of Excellence), KPMG
Head of KPMG CS Digital Transformation CoE
- Smart X Economic Policy Advisory on Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) for Digital Innovation
- Manufacturing Compliance & System Specialist
- Trade Remedy and Trade Disputes Advisory on Antidumping, Countervailing Duty, Safeguard (with Monitoring System)