Maria JensenFounder

United States - Turku, Southwest Finland

I am a cell biologist, founder and CEO of Antler Bio, an award-winning and disruptive deep tech company with a mission to increase animal well-being and performance while reducing emission through novel ways of genomic and transcriptomic testing and big-data analysis. I am proud to be leading the team that is bringing gene expression data to dairy farms through EpiHerd, our user-friendly precision farming platform. Before establishing Antler Bio, I founded the equine genomics company Aavagen Oy and I have had, and still have the privilege to collaborate with some of the most impressive racehorse breeders in the World. Both companies are developing novel technology that is brought to the end-user and converting extremely complex biological patterns to an easy-to-understand format that the customer can use in order to de-risk their activities as breeders and farmers.

I am experienced in planning, coordinating and executing deeptech business concepts, all the way from fundraising through grants and investments to recruiting top talent, securing necessary partnerships and collaborators, overseeing budgeting and legal framework, obtaining access to data and biological samples, overseeing laboratory workflow, arranging logistics and cross-checking that the data analysis and results reporting systems appeal to the end-user before product launch.

I'm also keen on keeping an active role in promoting entrepreneurship at Universities, through lecturing, and in startup communities, through participating as a keynote speaker, judge or panelist in different events. I held the position of Vice Chairperson of the Board and Treasurer at Boost Turku entrepreneurship society between May 2015 - February 2017. This position steered me from my academic path towards becoming an entrepreneur, although I also have a strong feeling that being raised by two entrepreneurs really sealed my faith already as a child. It seems like it is something that I have in my DNA, together with genes that encode a passion for science.