Mrs Carla Dias Wadewitz

Carla has spent the last 20 years working with numerous companies and start-ups across Europe, Australia, US and Asia, supporting their development in diverse areas such as health/nanotech, manufacturing & industry 4.0, fintech, energy, retail and tourism. She also lectured in Entrepreneurship at some of Europe’s top business schools, such as Catolica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, and is currently lecturing Innovation & Enterprise topics at Flinders University. Leveraging her passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, Carla also delivers national and international industry entrepreneurial programs to founders, start-ups and SMEs, which have contributed significantly to the ongoing development of the South Australian and Australian entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Some of the acceleration programs include Foment (Wine and Tourism Tech), the Innovative Manufacturing Accelerator (IMA), which helps Australian manufacturers skill up in Industry 4.0 tools (and connects them with Flinders Professors, Researchers, Students and Industry Experts), and the Australian Awards (funded by DFAT) helping international businesses connecting with the Australian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

She is passionate about using technology to improve people’s lives, hence her drive for areas such as Industry 4.0/5.0, and for connecting the entrepreneurial ecosystem, involving companies, academics, students and industry experts.

Carla also worked for 10 years in investment banking (Private Equity, Venture Capital, Corporate Finance & M&A) acquiring a deep knowledge of finance and entrepreneurial finance. Her global experience was further strengthened when Carla consulted with the United Nations (FAO) for international funding frameworks and with the South Australian Government with her vast knowledge of finance and strategy, advising on private equity and venture capital deals.

Carla has a MBA from the University of New South Wales (2004), a Director Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors (2006), a Python programming course with MIT (2019) and a Diploma on Machine Learning for Executives with University of Adelaide(2019).