The Técnico alumna Cristina Fonseca is the first Portuguese woman to join the new list of Young Global Leaders (YGLs) named by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The entrepreneur and investor was selected as one of 112 young global leaders, under the age of 40, by the WEF, based in Switzerland.

“It is a great honour to be recognised by a prestigious organisation such as the World Economic Forum. I am fully aligned with the Forum’s mission: committed to improving the state of the world. This is an excellent opportunity to be part of this diverse group of inspiring leaders. I hope to accelerate the impact of my work and promote a more inclusive, ethical and sustainable future”, said the Técnico alumna.

Each year, the WEF goes through a rigorous selection process to identify and select the world’s most promising leaders under the age of 40 – people driving innovation for positive change across civil society, arts, culture, government and business. Emmanuel Macron, Jacinda Ardern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Ma and Mark Zuckerberg, are some of the leaders named in previous years, among other global political, social and business leaders.

Three other Portuguese were named YGLs: Stephan Morais (Cristina Fonseca’s partner at Indico Capital Partners) joined the list in 2010, António Simões and Rodrigo Granito in 2004.

For the second consecutive year, Cristina Fonseca is among the Top 50: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space. The EU-Startups released the list this Monday, March 8, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2021.

Cristina Fonseca is co-founder of Talkdesk, the third Portuguese unicorn, and she is currently a partner at Indico Capital Partners, the first institutional independent venture capital fund in Portugal investing in global and sustainable technology companies. She is non-executive member of the Board of Directors of the Sustainability Committee – Galp, since 2019, and co-founder of Cleverly.ai, the AI powered platform for efficient customer service.