Speaker Bio
Having concluded her long tenure with the IFC (World Bank), as Principal TMT Adviser, in the Global Telecoms, Media & Technology Investment Sector, Laureen is now the CEO of Extelcon, LLC; providing technical and commercial oversight to the Investment Banking Community, Regulators, and TMT & Satellite industry sectors as Lender’s Technical Adviser on multi-million USD telecoms & technology companies for investment. As a senior member at the IFC (World Bank’s) TMT Private Equity/Venture Capital Team, she was responsible for the technical, commercial & financial evaluation of companies ncluding; business development, due diligence, and the oversight of portfolio companies from concept through to exit in Emerging Markets. Her verticals of focus includes Mobile (2G - 5G), Towers, Broadband (Wired & Wireless), Backhaul (Sateliite & Terrestrial Fiber), Subsea Fiber, Data Centers, IoT and Fintech. Prior to joining the IFC, Laureen was with Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia), as Vice President 4G/LTE Strategy & Innovation. At ALU, she was focused on the development of revenue generating, IoT applications for 4G/LTE including; Automotive, Gaming, Security, Logistics, Smart City, eHealth and e-Commerce applications. She is a founding Director of Global Telecommunications Woman’s Network (GTWN), connecting and mentoring C level women in the TMT industry and is an Investment Committee Member of Rising Tides, a European based Angel Investment Fund, providing financing to female led IoT start-up companies. As an industry veteran with 25+ years of telecoms experience, she has held Executive and BOD roles with the world’s leading operators. Her global portfolio includes; MTC-Vodafone (now Zain) in the Middle East, Deutsche Telekom (Germany), Cable & Wireless, PLC (UK), and NYNEX USA (now Verizon). She is a founding Director of several joint venture European and Asian wireless companies; Debitel GmbH (Germany), Telestet (now Wind Hellas, Greece), and PT Satelindo (now Indosat Ooredoo) of Indonesia. Additionally, she was a Partner at KPMG Consulting in the UK and has been an NED Member of the Board at several international telcos/startups; Paktel (Pakistan), Mobikom (Bulgaria), and MTN (South Africa). Her background includes private equity/venture capital, business development, strategic planning, operational execution, regulatory, engineering and re-engineering of TMTS companies. She holds an MSc in Telecommunications Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Long Island University in New York.