Will Cardwell

Will Cardwell is chairman and co-founder of xEdu, Finland’s leading education technology accelerator, and as such has been part of the evolution of the Finnish education strategy towards phenomenon-based learning.

In addition, Will is partner in venture capital and advisory firms Courage Ventures (Finland) and Open Circle Capital (Lithuania), and is Professor of the Practice of Finance and Entrepreneurship at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, USA. As a venture capitalist and angel, he has been part of more than 50 seed and early stage investments, with primary sectors of interest in digital education, health and environment, and has taken a special interest in Impact Investing recently. He has been involved as an investor or advisor with startups in more than 15 countries across US, Europe and Africa.

Will received a BS from Davidson College, an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics (now Aalto University), and did 4 years of Phd. studies at Kenan Flagler Business School focused on Finance.

Education

• UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School - AllButDissertation, Financial Economics 1992 - 1996
• Teknillinen korkeakoulu-Tekniska högskolan - PostGraduate Studies, Venture Capital 2004 - 2005
• Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulu - MBA, Finance, Strategy 1991 - 1992
• Davidson College - Bachelor's Degree, Mathematics 1981 - 1985