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Íslandsdóttir

  • Meet the Experts

    We are an international team of professionals dedicated to simplifying every stage of the the path to public funding. 


    With deep expertise in grant writing, project planning and management, and grant compliance, we combine strategic thinking with hands-on experience to deliver results. 


    Get to know the people behind Islandsdottir!

Emiliya Ivanova-Nikolova 

- CEO and Co-founder, Grant & Legal Expert

Emily is a legal and funding expert with more than 25 years of professional experience across the public sector, private practice, and international funding. Her background includes work as a Legal Adviser at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Bulgaria, Chief Legal Officer at Sofia Municipality, and in independent legal practice, before building her career further in grant strategy, funding advisory and support for businesses and organizations with strong ideas and real ambition.

She holds a Master’s degree in Law with a specialization in International Law and Relations from Sofia University, and a Master’s degree in International Business and Management from the Academy of Economics in Bulgaria. She has also completed additional studies and training in entrepreneurship, nonprofit development, and social entrepreneurship, including specialization courses at Copenhagen Business School.

Since moving to Iceland, Emiliya has worked closely with enrepreneurs, helping them turn promising ideas into clear funding cases. At Íslandsdóttir, she supports startups, growth companies, and ambitious founders in securing public funding and structuring strong applications for Icelandic, Nordic, and European funding programs. Her work blends strategic thinking, legal precision, and deep understanding of how fund evaluators assess projects. She has experience both in writing grant applications and in evaluating them, which gives her a practical understanding of what makes a proposal clear, credible, and fundable.

        She   is   also   a  board   member  of  the  Innovation  Committee  of  Association  of  Businesswomen  in  Iceland 
       (FKA),  and  serves  as a mentor in both the Academy  for Women  Entrepreneurs  (AWE)  of University  of  Iceland
       and the mentoring program of FKA.
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Eileen Venna Sarte

- Project Manager, Executive Assistant

Eileen has over 15 years of experience in the Business Process Outsourcing industry, with core expertise in Workforce Management. Her background includes operations, quality management, and process improvement, with a strong focus on operational efficiency and client service delivery.


She has led high-performing teams, supported multi-site operations, and managed client relationships, contributing to business growth and improved performance through structured and data-driven approaches.


In her current role, Eileen provides centralized coordination for client engagements, ensuring visibility, accountability, and timely progression of activities across the organization.

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Thorunn Jonsdottir 

- Co-founder & Chair

Thorunn has been embedded in the Icelandic startup ecosystem for 15 years, working as a co-founder, consultant, coach, and mentor. Her work spans two complementary tracks: helping companies secure funding, and helping them build the operational foundations to use it well.

On the operations side, she works with founders on business strategy, process design, and organizational structure. Her funding track record includes over 300 grant applications with a 31% success rate at the Icelandic Technology Development Fund.

Thorunn has taught entrepreneurship and innovation at the Technical College, Bifrost University, and the Iceland University of the Arts. She has designed and delivered entrepreneurship programs for the Icelandic Directorate of Labour, with a second program commissioned for 2026.

Thorunn is an alumni of the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative (YTILI) Fellowship, a U.S. State Department initiative for emerging European entrepreneurs, through which she maintains an active network across Europe and the US.

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