Our Team
An accelerator program designed exclusively for foreign-born entrepreneurs and a team of industry veterans to guide your journey.

Founder & CEO
Angelos
Angelou
Prior to founding the International Accelerator (IA) in 2014, Angelos spent nearly 12 years with the Austin Chamber of Commerce as Vice President of Economic Development and Chief Economist. During his time at the Chamber, Angelos handled the recruitment of 800 technology companies and some 70,000 employees, including IBM, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, AMD, Cypress Semiconductor, Applied Materials, and Tokyo Electron. His record of achievements includes the attraction of $26 billion in capital investments and the creation of over 285,000 direct and indirect jobs in the City of Austin and the State of Texas.
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A highly visible leader in the field of entrepreneurism and innovation, Angelos is widely regarded as an expert on Technology, AI, Life Sciences, Ecommerce, Education, Fintech, and SaaS, etc. startups, public policy, investment attraction, and marketing. The national and international media regularly seek his comments and insights in the startup sector and on economic development issues. He is widely regarded as the chief architect in the establishment of Austin as a nationally recognized high-tech center.
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Angelos recently received a Proclamation from the Texas Governor and Mayor of Austin in recognition for his 30-year leadership and contribution to economic development in the State of Texas and the City of Austin. Angelos was awarded the US Economic Development of the Year award by Site Selection Magazine.
Angelos is also President of Schoox and President of Gridmates, portfolio companies of the International Accelerator. Past appointments include board and advisory posts at the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Social Sciences Department at St. Edwards University, and the World Information Technology Conference. Angelos is also a board member (Texas Governor Appointee) of the oversight committee of CPRIT (Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas), a $3B program spanning over ten years that grants over $250 million per year in tech initiatives for the prevention and cure of cancer.
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Angelos is an angel investor and world-renowned economic development speaker.​
Professional Affiliations:
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The College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, Advisory Board Member
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Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (CPRIT), Board of Directors (Texas Governor Appointee)
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Site Selectors Guild, Founding Member
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George Bush US-China Foundation, Advisory Board Member
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US China Innovation Alliance, Board Member
Education
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Ph.D., Coursework in Economics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
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M.A., Economics and Management, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas - Summa Cum Laude
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B.A., Economics and Political Science, University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas

Chief Operations Officer
Parke
Benjamin

Chief Marketing Officer
Mohammad
Rahman

Director of Business Development
Jack
Whelan

General Manager
Esther
Angelou
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Director of International Business Development
Andrei
Buzatu

Mentors
Mentors help develop objectives and plans throughout the duration of the program, and maintain longer-term relationships to further the success of the company after the program ends.
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Dr. Nicholas Peppas
Cockrell Family Regents Chair at UT Austin
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Andres Carvallo
Co-Director, CIEDAR Consortium, Fellow, Materials Applications Research Center
Professor of Innovation, Texas State University
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Andrew Drach
Entrepreneur, Scientist,Tech Enthusiast
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Antonio Lopes
COO & Director at Kinematix
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Arie Brish
Investor, Advisor, Board of Directors
CEO, Best Seller Author
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Arun Prakesh
Managing Director at Carbon Arrow
Investor in Space Angels Network
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Ben Eynon
CTO of Strap Technologies
Sr Director, R&D at SUSS MicroTec
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Brett Butler
Founder at ClearGem.com
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Kevin Przybocki
Advisor, Mentor, Investor
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David Smith
CEO at Strategic Pathways
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Julio Ferreira
Founder of Brazil USA Business Connect - Green Tech Trade Association
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Raj Adhav
Founder of Designial
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Joe Napolitano
Sr. Director, Global Account Management,
Tokyo Electron America
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John Stibal​
Managing Director, StaticLabs​
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George Giagtzis
Founder at AxeaGroup
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Ken Platt
Founder & Managing Director at Clark Addison Group
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Luca Carducci
Founder and CEO of Skaffolder
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Martin Tyson
Founder at High Five Inspirations
CRO at Global Agility Solutions
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Nikos Iatropoulos
COO at Kairos Ventures
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Omar Zaki
Venture Partner at TechRanch
Venture Partner at AmberShore Group
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Ying McGuire
VP International Operations at Technology Industry Group
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Jim Denholm
CEO at Iron Bridge Private Wealth
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Ruben Arias
Cofounder and CEO of Beereaders
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Subbu Rama
Founder, Accio Ventures
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Yuen Yung
CEO of Casoro Group, Executive Committee, Austin-Asian Chamber of Commerce
Premier Advisor to Investopedia
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Chris Milam
President & CEO at IDM
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Nikolaos Michalakis
SVP at Toyota Group
Country Advisors
Country advisors are global points of contact who actively help identify startups in the entrepreneurial ecosystems of their respective regions.
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Israel
Arie Brish
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Croatia
Augustin Jarak
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Germany
Kyrill Zlobenko, Christian Boas
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Peru
Diego Echecopar
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Italy
Giacomo Ghiraldo, Emil Abirascid
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Spain
Farley Duvall
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Colombia
Ludwig David Zuluaga Botero, Jake Le
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Mexico
Josue Delgado
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Ukraine
Kyrill Zlobenko
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Egypt
Mostafa Shahat
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Russia
Liubov Ermolaeva
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India
Omkar Kulkarni
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Sweden
Peter Karlsen
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United States
Phil Trench
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United Kingdom
Philip Robertshaw
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Luxembourg
Steve Glange
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Argentina
Tomas Denecken
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Chile
Tomas Denecken
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Vietnam
Tommy Hodinh
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Pakistan
Zeeshan Shahid
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Brazil
Julio Ferreira
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Uzbekistan
Amalia Ergasheva
Partners
Strategic partners are accelerators, incubators, government agencies, or any other organization which identifies and sources startups in their respective countries.
Mentors, country advisors and IA partners can receive up to 1% of equity in startups they referred and got accepted into our program.
Interested in becoming a mentor, country advisor or partner?
Use the contact form below. We'll be happy to answer your questions.