Startup-Grande-Dame
Selma Prodanovic
Social Futurist
Keynote Speaker & Board-Level Advisor
Europe's most influential women in startups & VC
2022 - 2026
FEATURED IN 40+ COUNTRIES
30
30 years of creating the future
& changing the system
2000
Over 2000 times on stage as keynote speaker
1000
Senior Advisor to 1000+ top CEOs, investors, and policy makers
Keynote Speaker
The future isn't something that happens to us.
We create it.
A powerful keynote experience connecting personal empowerment with systemic change.
Every keynote starts with the audience and the ever faster changes they are facing. The context may be technological transformation and AI, entrepreneurship, investment, leadership, women's wealth, or societal change.
But the core message is the same. You have the choice: 1) you sit in the corner and cry, or 2) you do something about it.
What will you do with your power to shape what comes next?
You create (y)our future. Today.
Board-Level Advisor
Perspective before consequential decisions.
I work with founders, CEOs and boards navigating growth, transformation and pivotal decisions. I ask the questions others don't ask, challenge assumptions before they become decisions, and recognize opportunities others may not yet see.
Sometimes the greatest value is having the right person in the room before the decision is made.
Selma Prodanovic
Selma Prodanovic is a Social Futurist, entrepreneur, and investor known as the “Startup-Grande-Dame".
For 30+ years, she has actively shaped the future of entrepreneurship, investment and society.
She co-created startup and angel investing ecosystems across Europe and beyond, founded a dozen ventures, launched global SDG and gender investing initiatives, invested across Europe, served on global boards, advised 1.000+ entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers, and spoke on 2.000+ stages worldwide.
Selma's impact goes beyond boardroom decisions, ecosystem leadership, and policy initiatives. Today, she works selectively as a keynote speaker and board-level advisor, while focusing on one central question:
What kind of future do we want, and how do we create it?
Because in a world changing faster than ever, we have a choice: 1) sit in the corner and cry or 2) do something about it.
Selma's choice is clear. ;)
For her innovative approach to business and commitment to entrepreneurship and social change, she received numerous awards as the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award, EBAN Best Pioneering Investment Initiative, and EBAN Ecosystem Changemaker.
An Austrian born in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Selma was raised in several countries in Europe and North Africa and was formally educated in 4 different languages. She studied at the University of Sarajevo, Saint Louis University in Madrid, and Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Above all, Selma is happily married to her first & and only love and the proud mother of two fantastic Gen Z young adults.
