Advisors
We have a large international network of innovative, technical, business and legal expertise. We closely work with startups and established companies to create an environment in which the value of innovation and Intellectual Property can produce optimal returns and growth; can become investable and grow exponentially toward their exit.
Lana Akopyan
is an Intellectual Property attorney registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Lana has a Computer Science degree and, having spent over 4 years as an engineer in the software industry, she brings a wide variety of technical knowledge and experience to her IP work. Lana’s experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications spans a wide variety of technologies including computer hardware and software, bioinformatics, e-commerce, telecommunications, electronics, medical devices and wireless communications. Lana counsels clients regarding patent infringement and validity, including providing high-stakes freedom-to-operate opinions and helps clients manage large global patent portfolios. Lana also counsels clients on trademark and copyright issues.
Brian Barnier
at ValueBridge Advisors is specialized in strategy, product management and business-IT management. He led teams to nine patents while at Lucent and Ameritech. Brian analyzes economics of exponential technology and mentors at Singularity University. He is Founding editor of Feddashboard.com. He is the author of The Operational Risk Handbook (Harriman House, Great Britain) and over 100 articles. He has been interviewed and writes for NYSE, NASDAQ MarketSite, The Street, WSJ and FT publications, CNBC, Bloomberg Brief and more.
Anna Bennett
20+ years experience in management consulting for small businesses, program management, implementation in SAP and ERP projects, and sales experience in large US companies, such as Panasonic North America, EY (Ernst & Young), and New York Life Insurance. She focuses on developing and executing change management plans and business process modeling. Anna was one of the co-founders of Orion Worldwide Innovations in 2017. She has Master Degree in Electronics from Armenia Engineering University, JD from Armenia State University, and Executive Master Degree in Advance Finance and Management from Columbia University.
James Good
is specializing in advising companies seeking to enter the US market on all aspects of Sales and Business Development to include developing a marketing message, sales/elevator pitches and importantly, actual client acquisition. Plus, Jim advises executives who are very ‘early stage’ companies facing “Wall Street” with a capital event or, other needs around ‘messaging’. His background includes many years of Business Development and Sales most recently as Director of Sales with McAlinden Associates, a NY executive communications firm and Chairman U.S. for the Kingstree Group, a leading UK based communications strategy firm, responsible for new business development and day to day operations of the U.S. business. Prior to these most recent assignments he was Principal at Opera solutions, a NY based market innovating ‘big data analytics’ firm where he was responsible for new business development primarily in the Banking and Insurance sectors. These assignments follow a 30+ year career in Commercial banking with a number of world class global banks including JPMChase (Chemical) and National Westminster Bank USA. Jim rose to Executive Management levels in both National and International fields with extensive global involvement and living assignments in both Europe and Latin America.Jim’s schooling includes the University of Vermont, Columbia School of Business, Harvard’s Advanced Management Program as well as Series 7 & 63. Currently he is active with the Wings Club of New York, British American Business, The French American Chamber of Commerce, Baltic American Chamber of Commerce, and the BAJ Accelerator.
Ankur Gupta
is a dynamic leader with over 18 years of diverse experience in Enterprise Software Pre-Sales, Big Data Consulting & Cybersecurity Solutions Advisory. As the Head of Solution Engineering for APAC/ME region, he is driving Big Data/Cybersecurity Strategy for customers across various verticals. He regularly presents at various big data events and is actively involved in the big data community. He is a published author, an avid technologist, an enthusiastic cook, a yearning photographer and an adventurous traveler.
Mr. Gupta is the Director of Garage - Oxford University Entrepreneurs.
Dr. Karen Karapetyan
holds PhD degree in Technical Sciences, and he is a Board Member at the Technology Transfer Association of Armenia. Dr. Karapetyan works as Coordinator at the Group for Investment Projects Initiatives NGO. He brings deep experience of 30+ years in various research, marketing and implementation projects, including HealthCare (e.g. DDxAssist product author and design), Smart Cities, AI and other High-Tech solutions, Agriculture, Tourism, Rural Development, and Social Services.
Inga Klimašauskienė
is the Principal at Baltic American Chamber of Commerce (BACC) and Associate Partner, at Glimstedt law firm. BACC organization is incorporated in New York, USA and assists bridge the gap between the innovators around the world and the endless opportunities available to them in the USA and the Baltic States, the most advanced tech ecosystems in the world. Distinguished Attorney with over fifteen years’ experience in consulting in commercial law within a private international law firm. Recognized lawyer by The Legal 500 in 2018 and 2019.
Sophie Lechner
is Founder & CEO of Global Commerce Education, Inc (GCE) with 25+ years of experience in global strategy on multicultural teams. Ms. Lechner created the G2 Experience program to accelerate companies’ global expansion, provide business leaders with a roadmap to enter the US market, including strategic guidance on the choice of market entry channel, cultural and communication training, and targeted networking to meet experts, vetted service providers and potential customers. Prior to GCE she served as legal counsel for Bouygues and British Petroleum in France. After completing her MBA she joined Pfizer in New York where she led teams and projects across many countries, managed professional education for several billion-dollar global brands and pioneered the role of Alliance Manager. She later joined Bayer where she led multinational conferences and workshops for physicians and researchers. As a certified cross-cultural trainer, an online educator and a US market entry specialist, Ms. Lechner speaks in the US and abroad at workshops, conferences and webinars in collaboration with companies, universities and national development agencies.
Sophie has a Bachelor’s of Law from King’s College in London, a Maîtrise de Droit and a DESS from Université de Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne, and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University in New York.
Dr. Samvel A. Mkhitaryan
is the Chief Engineer & Head of Department of Commercialization of Scientific & Production Innovations at Scientific Institute of Applied Problems of Physics at the NAS of Armenia. Dr. Mkhitaryan has 30+ years of intensive experience & proven record as CEO, Strategic Adviser, member of multiple scientific & technical councils, Chief Engineer, Research Director, innovator, designer, ACOP, DCOP, Project Manager & trainer/lecturer. He successfully operated locally & internationally at EuroAsian & American in various leading R&D, production, consulting, educational & capacity building organizations, governmental institutions, NGOs & programs in R&D, engineering, scientific devices, financial markets, Investments, Innovations, MSME, professional development.
Anush Mnatsakanyan
is the Co-Founder and CEO of Burnwe, a video marketing strategy agency, working with various international IT companies from the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Ms. Mnatsakanyan has a background in business management and 7+ years of experience in sales and marketing. Prior Burnwe she has worked for one of the global hotel brands: Hilton Worldwide as the Pre-opening Director of Sales and Marketing of a luxury boutique hotel in the center of Yerevan. With Burnwe team, Ms. Mnatsakanyan has a mission to develop high-quality video marketing service for the global market and help their partners, customers stand out among competitors. Her drive is to build a strong network of video marketing enthusiasts to spread awareness about the relatively new trend of video marketing and help people think big.
Tiran Parsamyan
is a Business Lawyer, specialized in Contract Law, Corporate Law (registration, re-organization, liquidation of juridical entities with any business form, paper issue etc.), Tax Law, Patent Right, Incorporeal Right, Labor Law, Family Law, International Investment Law, Maintenance of Foreign Economic Deals.
Polina Parusis
is specialized in the U.S. and international tax services. U.S. attorney admitted to practice in States of New York and New Jersey.
Dr. Davit Sahakyan
is an esteemed leader, management consultant, innovator, entrepreneur, and professor. He has 25+ years of experience in Business Strategy and Business Development, Financial Management, Business Modeling and innovation development, data science & math modeling, Product & Project Management, and Business Process Management (BPM). He is specialized in Banking, Payment Systems and Emerging Technologies and held executive positions at Converse Bank, Inecobank, VTB-Armenia, Haypost, and TeamViewer. He also ran his consulting services company specialized in BPM and Business Strategy, as well as startups’ business development for more than 10 years.
Dr. Sahakyan serves as an Associate Professor and Head of Mathematical Methods and Information Technologies in Economics and Business Department at Russian-Armenian University (RAU). He earned his PhD (Doctor of Mathematics) degree from National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Sahakyan also studied at Katz Business School of University of Pittsburgh and Executive education program at Kennedy School of Governance of Harvard University.
Arsen Sargsyan
is a UK Certified (Essential) and CBA Licensed Management Consultant and entrepreneur with 26+ years of experience, specialized in strategic vision and leadership driving Operational Excellence, Revenue and Profitability, Banking Advisory, Foreign Investment Procurement, and Human Capital Management. For more than 10 years he was engaged in Startup Ecosystem for Businesses Management, Fundraising, Business Establishment and Structuring.
Mr. Sargsyan has gained deep international experience and expertise when living in Eastern and Western European countries for more than 15 years.
He served as Managing Partner and Senior Expert in ARLIAN Consulting & Training in Armenia, Counselor (acting COO) at Free Economic Zone (FEZ) “Alliance” and brought into Armenia 17 FEZ resident companies with more than $30M direct investments. He served as a Director of Business & Technologies Development at Armenian-Russian University and later, in 2019 June, was invited to take Deputy Head of City Development & Investment Projects Dept. in Yerevan City Municipality. Mr. Sargsyan was honored at the FiNext Awards and Conference award ceremony at Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre in 'Excellence in Finance - Leaders' award for 2020 . He was elected as a Member of International Academy of Science & Technology (2019) in Hong-Kong. Mr. Sargsyan earned a Master’s Degree in Cybernetics from Yerevan State Engineering University. He is Fluent in English, Armenian and Russian.
Dr. Aleksandr Shaghikyan
is a Founder and Managing Partner at AMF Consulting, a management advisory firm. He has more than 12 years of intensive experience in corporate finance and strategy across different sectors in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries. Aleksandr is dedicated to empowering organizations to find their true sources of competitiveness and growth and is passionate about shaping and redefining organizational strategy and culture, optimizing operations, and supporting better decision making around M&A and corporate finance practices. He holds an MBA from Said Business School, University of Oxford, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Armenian State University of Economics.
Dr. Ara Tarumyan
is Systems Engineer and his career is credentialed with top international technology companies like National Instruments and Synopsys. In his roles as engineer group manager and R&D group manager Dr. Tarumyan has led innovation and emerging technologies related programs. Dr. Tarumyan is a Doctor of Philosophy from National Academy of Science of Armenia and also holds Master of Electrical Engineering degree from the State Engineering University of Armenia.
Ted Tourian
is the Senior Legal Advisor for the New York City Department of Finance’s Tax Audit and Enforcement Division, where he provides legal support to audit staff on substantive issues concerning apportionment and other tax matters. He started his career at the California Franchise Tax Board’s Multistate Tax Law Bureau. At FTB, Ted practiced before the Board of Equalization and authored many important rulings. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He is licensed in both New York and California.
orion worldwide innovations
Our Network
Emma Arakelyan
Armen Kherlopian
Karl Douglas
Patrick M. Sarkissian
Lana Akopyan
Brian Barnier
Anna Bennett
James Good
Ankur Gupta
Dr. Karen Karapetyan
Inga Klimašauskienė
Sophie Lechner
Dr. Samvel A. Mkhitaryan
Anush Mnatsakanyan
Tiran Parsamyan
Polina Parusis
Dr. Davit Sahakyan
Arsen Sargsyan
Dr. Aleksandr Shaghikyan
Dr. Ara Tarumyan
Ted Tourian
