Silje Vallestad is an entrepreneur, innovation leader and ecosystem builder with nearly three decades of experience turning ambitious ideas into companies, communities, programmes and institutions.

Her career spans entrepreneurship, technology, venture building, investment, government and social innovation across Europe, Silicon Valley and the Middle East. She has founded and scaled technology companies, advised governments and global companies on innovation, built investment and entrepreneurship platforms, and today works at the intersection of innovation, social impact and institution-building in Riyadh.

A consistent thread throughout Silje's work is her belief that "magic happens when the right people meet." For more than 20 years, she has built and curated communities that deliberately cross sectors, generations and geographies—bringing together emerging talent with entrepreneurs, investors, academics, CEOs, heads of state, Nobel laureates, royals, artists and other changemakers. Her focus is not simply on convening people, but on creating the conditions for relationships to become collaborations, new ventures and lasting impact.

Silje is particularly passionate about building ecosystems from the ground up: identifying the right people and partners, creating a shared purpose, designing the structures and programmes that enable them to thrive, and accelerating ideas from concept into execution.