Sven Lingjaerde
EUROPEAN TECH TOUR ASSOCIATION
President
41, Swiss
www.techtour.com
Lingjaerde likes to have his feet in two places. A Swiss national with Norwegian roots, he started making transatlantic deals about 15 years ago as a general manager of GeneVest, a Swiss venture capital firm.
In 1997, he cofounded Vision Capital, with offices in Menlo Park, California and in Geneva. The company specializes in helping emerging European companies enter the U.S. market.
Trying to match European tech firms with American investors gave him the idea for the European Tech Tour Association, a not-for-profit organization based in Geneva and Rotterdam.
Among tour participants: venture capitalists, investment bankers and scouts for Cisco, Intel and Sun.
The Vision Thing: "The European Tech Tour connects the international business and investor community with the best European technology opportunities."
Forward Spin: If European tech companies are to succeed, they will need knowledgable investors to help them expand globally.