Team

The NIÜ team comprises diverse professionals driven by a shared passion for fostering creativity and progress. With backgrounds spanning technology, business, policy, and academia, we collaborate synergistically to support and catalyze innovation nationwide. From visionary strategists to meticulous researchers and dynamic communicators, each team member contributes unique expertise to initiatives ranging from funding innovative projects to providing mentorship and resources. Together, we strive to cultivate an ecosystem where ideas thrive, entrepreneurs flourish, and society benefits from transformative innovation.

 

The management

László Bódis

CEO

László Bódis is a highly accomplished professional with a diverse background in economics, innovation and policy.  His economics background is based on a Master's degree in Finance (MSc) and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Economics (BSc) from Budapest University of Technology and Economics. 
His professional career started as a researcher at the Századvég Politics Foundation and at John von Neumann University. His strong interest in economic strategy and innovation led him to the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, where he was the Chief of Staff for the State Secretary responsible for Economic Strategy and Regulation. In 2022 László Bódis assumed the role of Deputy State Secretary for Innovation at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation. In this role, he has initiated a number of regulatory changes for creating a better climate for startups and also a numbers of changes to modernize innovation funding and calls management. In addition to this role, he has been leading the Hungarian Innovation Agency as CEO since 2023.

 

prof. Robert Somogyi

COO

Robert Somogyi was born in Lindau on Lake Constance, Bavaria, and spent most of his life there. After completing his secondary education at the Bodensee-Gymnasium in Lindau, he pursued studies in Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Augsburg, earning a degree as Diplom-Kaufmann Univ. During his studies, he founded his first start-up, laying the foundation for his successful entrepreneurial career. Throughout his career, he has initiated and led numerous start-ups to success, achieving several successful exits.
With over 25 years of experience, Robert Somogyi is a seasoned manager and consultant specializing in strategy, brand management, international sales, and digital transformation. High standards of quality, ethics, and innovation mark his professional journey. He has held C-level positions in renowned domestic and international companies and has gained extensive experience in numerous national and international projects with consulting firms.

 

Erika Jámbor

CFO

Erika Jámbor is an economist specialising in finance, an accountant and financial auditor, a chartered accountant specialising in business, and a social security specialist.
During her nearly 40-year career as a senior financial executive, she has gained experience in the public corporate sector, as well as in foreign and domestic private companies.
Her responsibilities have included the management, organisation and control of the entire back-office apparatus (finance, accounting, controlling, procurement, facilities management, legal, HR, IT, occasionally customer service).
The range of companies in which she has been involved is extremely wide, and as a result he has been involved in a number of specialised tasks (foreign trade in the food industry, film production, motor vehicle sales, exhibition construction, biodiesel fuel production, housing estate management, water and sewerage, tourism, military manufacturing, construction quality control and innovation).

 

László Korányi

CSO

László Korányi, deputy CEO of the Hungarian Innovation Agency, a government owned company, responsible for providing innovation services for startups and SMEs, helping knowledge transfer between academia and industry and promoting the values of entrepreneurship and innovation. 
He has an MSc in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Budapest University of Technology, a Master in Economics from the Karl Marx (Corvinus) University of Budapest. He is an alumnus of Ashridge Management College (UK).
He has worked as an R&D engineer for medical device development, later founder and CEO of several software companies. He served five years as a Science & Technology counselor at the Hungarian Embassy in Tel Aviv. Later, he has served in different government and university positions, all related to innovation. He shares his experiences as a devoted university lecturer and author of many articles.
He believes in the importance of constantly innovating our innovation policies and systems.

 

dr. Orsolya Tarlós

Chief of Staff

Orsolya Tarlós is a legal expert, graduated from Corvinus University of Budapest and Eötvös Loránd University. During her career of more than two decades, she has worked in various management positions in several public administrative bodies, ministries and state-owned enterprises. In the past period, she held various management positions in the field of economic strategy and innovation policy. Since January 2024, she has been coordinating the day-to-day operations of the Hungarian Innovation Agency Zrt. as Chief of Staff of the CEO.

 

Réka Barabás

Knowledge Servives Director

Réka Barabás holds a degree in economics from Corvinus University and a degree in psychology from Eötvös Loránd University. She is currently writing her PhD thesis on the analysis and evaluation of corporate relations in Hungarian higher education institutions, focusing on technology transfer processes. As the Director of Knowledge Exploitation at the Hungarian Innovation Agency, she and his colleagues support academia in the market exploitation of knowledge by translating theoretical knowledge into practice. Her work experience helps him to do this; she has managed strategic planning processes and strategy implementation in several universities, municipalities and companies. On the funding side, she has been involved in the design and implementation of R&D-related proposals, both at programme and project level.

 

Georgina Gyulasi

Communications Director

With a degree in economics and humanities, she started her career as a journalist and continued as a television reporter and editor. She left the media world behind in 2010 and has typically worked as a press officer in public administration and public services (municipalities, ministries, back offices). She also ran the conference section of Napi Gazdaság.
She joined the NIÜ team at the beginning of 2024. At her area the use classic communication methods and modern techniques and channels as well, but also makes a point of keeping up to date with current trends in event management, which makes it even more exciting to deliver information to ecosystem actors.

 

Mátyás Kutni

Education Services Director

Mátyás Kutni, director of education at the Hungarian Innovation Agency. He is responsible for the promotion of STEM disciplines, entrepreneurial mindset and business development skills among children and young adults. 
He finished his studies in the United Kingdom and then moved back to Hungary and held various leadership positions in educational management, government administration and research and innovation policy.
He believes that children and young adults are the key to a country's long-term success and considers it a great opportunity and privilege to be able to shape their path and motivate them towards rewarding careers and brighter futures.

 

István Oláh

Corporate Services Director

István Oláh Director of Corporate Services, Business Development Expert 
After graduating in Public Administration from Corvinus University, he worked as an intern at the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions. 
He started his career in regional and international spatial development and project management, and also managed a regional scale environmental management programme, where he spent 12 years.
Since 2016, he has been Director of Priority Strategic Projects and Business Development at T-Systems Hungary Zrt, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of priority projects.
In 2019, he co-founded a big data text analytics SaaS company for the US and DACH region with several founders and a venture capital fund, where he held the position of COO until the end of 2023. 
He joined the Hungarian Innovation Agency on March 1, 2024.

 

dr. Nóra Rodek

External Market Director

She graduated from the University of Pécs with a degree in English Language and Literature and a Master of Arts in Economics, then completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Pécs, where she also completed her doctoral studies - her PhD in 2018 in the field of Business and Management.
She was Head of the Department of Sustainability and Awareness Raising at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. As a university assistant professor and head of department, she has provided professional leadership in several international projects and represented Hungary in the international arena.
The Directorate for External Markets of the Hungarian Innovation Agency is responsible for supporting the entry of enterprises into international markets, establishing international cooperation with professional organisations and innovation agencies, and advising on international tenders (e.g. Horizon Europe).

 

András Surguta

Ecosystem Analysis Director

András Surguta graduated in HR Management from the Faculty of Economics of the Corvinus University of Budapest in 1996, followed by an MBA in 2002 from the University of Cork, Wageningen and the University of Debrecen. He is also a human resources consultant (certified member of the EEOTSZ).
During his career as a professional manager and consultant, he has focused on strategic planning, organisational development, HR process improvement, skills training and change management. He has been involved in the digitisation of the Hungarian health care system, in particular in the development of electronic prescription and PHR, and in the development of a comprehensive health MIS system.
At NIÜ, he is responsible for the development of the data analytics system and data analytics capability of the innovation ecosystem.