2024 Speakers

Albert-Jan de Croes is the Investment Specialist of Novel-T, the KTO of the University of Twente. Here, he advises spin-off and startup companies on their fundraising strategies. In addition to this role, Albert-Jan manages LP positions in various DeepTech VC funds for the university holding.

With a Master’s degree in Finance from the Rotterdam School of Management, Albert-Jan transitioned from corporate finance consultancy to the university spin-off landscape. Over the past years, he has focused on early-stage investments, particularly within the hardware MedTech domain. His expertise includes guiding spin-offs specializing in robotics and Organ-on-Chip technologies, steering them towards successful fundraising and development.

Arezki Yaïche is since 2014 a financial journalist specialised in M&A and EU competition law. As a Senior France Correspondent and Paris Bureau Chief for the global M&A newswire Mergermarket (owned by ION Group), he writes on all types of transactions from competition issues, early stage fundraises, and private deals to takeovers of listed companies and IPOs.

Arezki was previously Senior Correspondent Antitrust for regulatory newswire MLex in Brussels between 2019 and 2021. Before that he worked four years as M&A reporter and Paris Bureau Chief for Mergermarket. Arezki also has a six-year experience as Communication consultant specialised in Finance and EU regulation. He worked for financial and public institutions including Dexia Asset Management in Brussels, Credit Agricole Assurances in France, the French embassy in Stockholm, the European Parliament, and the French Ministry for Agriculture

Carole Absil is a consultant, coach and trainer for HealthTech companies. She worked for 15 years at Agoria, the Belgian technology industry association, helping companies with their advocacy and international business development. In 2020, when the pandemic started, she played a major role in the vaccination strategy and campaign in Wallonia (Belgium) as deputy to the COVID-19 General Commissioner. In 2022, she started her own company providing tailored strategy services in advocacy, scaling and international business development to HealthTech companies.

Kyun Thibaut is the Founder and Managing Director of COVARTIM, an engineering company that helps manufacturers develop and certify their Medical Devices. Located in Belgium (Brussels, Liège) and France (La Rochelle), COVARTIM supports its clients from all around the world at every step of the development of their solutions (R&D, prototyping, manufacturing, V&V, QA, RA, APEX QMS ®).

Kyun has more than 15 years of experience in the MedTech industry. In addition to leading COVARTIM, he regularly teaches at the university and other training programs.

Lynn Coorevits is a Health Innovation Manager at imec, a world-leading R&D and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Lynn has over 15 years of experience in the cross domain of (deep)tech, innovation and health. By involving key stakeholders she accelerates and optimizes innovations. In every step of the innovation process she translates  human requirements into technological ones. From patients to buyers to policy makers, every voice counts. With and for them she identifies needs, barriers, potential value and market entry strategies for these novel technologies.

She is passionate about disruptive health tech and  aspires to transform peoples lives by making them a reality.

Lynn holds MSc degrees in Psychology and Marketing Analysis from Ghent University, Belgium.

Susie A. Ruff is the founder of RUFF & CO. Advisory and brings extensive experience in health innovation and health technology, both in Denmark and internationally. She has served in various key roles, including Director of the Healthcare Innovation Centre for the public hospitals in the Copenhagen Region, Head of Research and Innovation focusing on life sciences, and Regional Export Sales and Marketing Manager. She provides strategic and go-to-market support to industry and healthcare organizations across the Nordic region and the EU. Her work emphasizes user-driven and human-centric innovation. Additionally, she is an external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School for the M.Sc. in Health Innovation program and a member of the InnoExplorer Panel at the Innovation Fund Denmark.

Suzanne Elvidge is a freelance medical writer based in the UK. She writes about medtech, pharmaceuticals and healthcare for print and online publications and clients worldwide.

Tristan Debove has more than 30 years of experience in the digital health industry. Today Country Manager of Orion Health, he has been previously in leadership positions in major Healthcare software companies (eHealth division director of Equasens Pharmagest,, Health and Social Care Director at Inetum Software and Country manager at InterSystems). He’s also an active member of Angels Santé, a recognized business angels organization dedicated to healthcare startups.

Yves Bayon, PhD & MBA, is an employee of Medtronic – Sofradim Production as a Chief Scientist with +20 years of experience of Medical Devices development.

He has since carried out various assignments, including the establishment of the porcine collagen production line, and the development of collagen-based medical devices for the repair or regeneration of soft tissues (i.e. Parietex™ Composite mesh and its derivatives with cumulative sales of over €1 billion). Since 2015, his missions have expanded with cross-functional activities across Medtronic’s multiple divisions (eg cardiovascular, neurovascular, spine, ENT) and with activities going beyond biomaterials, in connection with the digitization of medical devices (eg. AI-based solutions, e-health application).

He is also part of the Research and Innovation committee and the Circular Economy working group of Medtech Europe, a mentor of EIT Health, member of the Gtech of the healthcare cluster Lyonbiopole and member of the investment committee of AxLR SATT.