Peter KRISTOF PhD

A multiple award-winning space professional, innovation expert, exited startup founder, corporate executive, and strategic consultant in digitalization, venture capital, as well as technology and economic development. He is a sought-after speaker at domestic and international conferences on these topics.

As the founding partner of BTS Space, he is responsible for the company's international business development, supplier value chain development, innovation strategy, and fundraising (including venture capital and grants). He draws on his extensive multinational and multisectoral experience and extensive network to leverage opportunities in all segments of the space domain. His primary professional interests include the space economy, global collaborations, new space startups, and space sustainability.

In parallel, he serves on the advisory board of Stradamus Inc., dealing with equity financing, creation of venture capital funds, and transaction advisory. Very recently, he joined KickSky Space Tec h Accelerator and NATO DIANA as senior mentor. Besides, he co-founded the Space Lab at Obuda University, a cross-disciplinary unit fostering space research, engineering and student innovation. He supports the entity’s activities as the rector’s envoy for space affairs.

In his social-professional roles, he works on strengthening the regional innovation culture as the vice president and space and defense working group lead of the Hungarian Association for Innovation and invited lecturer at University of Pécs and John von Neumann University. As the member of the advisory board of the Infotér Association, he organizes Central and Eastern Europe’s largest Space&Defense Conference.

He completed his studies in economics and informatics at the University of Pécs, Jönköping International Business School, University of Hagen, and Gábor Dénes University, obtained his PhD in innovation management from Corvinus University of Budapest. He pursued postgraduate studies at world-leading institutions: Harvard Business School (disruptive strategy), INSEAD (leadership), and EPFL (new space economy and space mission design and operations). Recently, he was awarded a distinguished scholarship by the European Space Agency and spent the summer of 2024 at Rice University and NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, organized by the International Space University, having conducted executive studies in space technology, space economy, and space sustainability.