Janis Bergs is one of the best-known technology entrepreneurs in Latvia, with more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry. From 2000 until 2006, he served as a board member and later as CEO of the Baltic’s largest IT company, Microlink. Microlink has started successful companies, including Delfi news portals, SAF Tehnika, and Doclogix. In 2006, Microlink was sold to TeliaSonera group for over €40 million Euros. After leaving Microlink, he (with other partners) started FMS – a company that became a leader in the Latvian ERP market with its proprietary ERP software package “Horizon.” FMS provides accounting, payroll, and HRM software to the largest public and private sector organizations.

In 2014, FMS was sold to the largest ERP software company in Nordic VISMA. After the acquisition, FMS was renamed Visma Enterprise, where Janis worked as managing director until January 2015. In March 2016, Janis served as a Member of the Board and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at SAF Tehnika, a publicly traded technology company based in Riga, Latvia. SAF Tehnika is among other world leaders in designing and manufacturing radio communication equipment sold in 130 countries. In August 2016, Janis moved to Denver, Colorado, where he serves as President of SAF North America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAF Tehnika. He also continues to invest and advise privately held companies, including Mobilly, BKA, and several other technology and internet-related startups that operate in the USA and Baltic markets.

Janis has been teaching entrepreneurship at the Riga Business School and actively supports the startup movement by mentoring young entrepreneurs. He graduated from Riga Technical University as a radio engineer and holds an MBA from Riga Business School. He is married and has two daughters and a son.

(Unfortunately, the microphone died halfway through the presentation.)