Meet the Speaker

Lenard Horgos

Partner at Absolvo Consulting

Lenard is the founding partner of Absolvo Consulting, having 20+ years of expertise in private equity deals, growth financing of scaleups and M&A advisory. Besides effectively closing transactions, he gained extensive experience in creating and executing growth strategies and business plans.

Before establishing Absolvo, Lenard gained hands-on experience at an IT company as sales manager, later on introduced a new product and business line for the Hungarian market and served as director of that.

Active publisher in several core business medias, a frequent presenter of corporate finance classes at Hungarian and other international business and technical universities. Mentor and trainer at several regional VC/PE programmes.

Lenard served as a Board Member of the Hungarian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HVCA) between 2015 and 2018.

He graduated at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences then followed his business studies with M&A, strategy, corporate finance and marketing specializations at MIT, Columbia Business School and Wharton Business School.

Engagements

Mergers, Acquisitions: when CEE champions do the roll-up game. Two stories with the lessons learned

2025

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Scale Stage

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Talk

1 hour

Big fish eats small fish. Or many thinks that. Why should M&A be the privilege of large enterprises? We showcase 2 great CEE teams with different background, how they merged / acquired other players regionally, so they are the ones consolidating the market and becoming the CEE champion, not their competitors. Munch co-founder tells their story of acquiring / merging with a Czech and Romanian peer, what was their intention, when would they recommend this route to others and personal implications of the deal. WHC Group's CEO will tell you their story how they started as a small team being now present in multiple countries with 35 offices and 600+ people, partially via JVs and acquisitions. First-hand lessons learned.

Duration: 1 hour

Aquarium

Hype or Horizon? Stories and Motivations Behind AI Funding

2025

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Scale Stage

45 minutes

AI is everywhere—but is it investable? In this high-stakes panel, top investors and AI founders unpack the reality behind the hype. From OpenAI’s business model to the flood of VC money chasing the next breakthrough, we’ll explore:

What makes an AI startup fundable
Why some models scale—and others stall
How regulation, geopolitics, and infrastructure shape the future of AI investing

Whether you're building in AI or betting on it, this session will challenge your assumptions and sharpen your strategy.

Duration: 45 minutes

Aquarium