Eduardo Fernandez

With over 25 years of experience, Ed is recognized as an accomplished business leader, Member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, a worldwide not for profit association of leaders, corporate executives, and entrepreneurs.

ED is board director, advisor, technology entrepreneur, and experienced Silicon Valley Early Stage & Startup venture capitalist, with a particular focus in machine learning and AI.

ED serves as an Independent Board Director at Arowana International, a PE, fund & assets management company (ASX:AWN) and VivoPower (NASDAQ:VVPR). He is also a Board Director and investor at BigML Inc, a ‘Machine Learning as a Service’ platform company, and an advisory board member at Alicorn, a venture fund investing in Series C to E, pre – IPO companies with $1Bn Valuations (Unicorns).

Ed founded Naiss.io, a venture capital & advisory boutique in Palo Alto, focusing on technology start-ups and early stage companies. He is also an investor & advisor in several US technology start-ups, e.g. BigML, Optimizing Mind, a Palo Alto start-up working on neuroscience-based Deep Learning for xAI (Explainable AI) and MyPark Inc, an IoT smart parking platform. Prior to Naiss.io ED worked as MD and EVP for BlackBerry overseeing South West territories in EMEA and LATAM north markets. Previously, ED spent 9 years at Nokia in different roles and Received Nokia Circle of Excellence award back in 2005.

Ed is an electrical & electronics engineer by training and has completed the GSMP (Global Senior Management Programme) post-graduate qualifications at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business & IE Business School (Madrid) as well as the ELPP (Engineering Leadership Professional Programme) from the University of California Berkeley.

He is also faculty member at Financial Times Corporate Alliance & IE Business School and a mentor & advisor at Singularity University Ventures and Berkeley’s Center for Technology & Entrepreneurship. Ed is a regular contributor to CNBC and CBinsights and author at publishing house Plataforma Editorial.