Pitch Royale: Mastering the Investor Pitch with Lel Smits

Lineup

• More details about Lel Smits

  Lel Smits

  Lel Smits is an award-winning entrepreneur, director and leader with a significant track record advising more than 500 ASX-listed management teams and Boards and serving as a Director on Australian Shareholders’ Association from 2021 to 2026. Lel was awarded Director of the Year by Women in Finance in 2024 and 2022 and Communications and Marketing Professional of the Year by Women in Wealth in 2025 and currently serves as Managing Director of investor media platform, The Stock Network. Commencing her career as a journalist, Lel gained extensive global financial markets experience through producing thousands of finance reports and CEO interviews as a broadcast finance journalist in Australia and contributor for the Australian Financial Review, reporting from Wall Street, U.S.A. With extensive experience advising ASX-listed companies and foundations in finance and communications, Lel supports executives and companies to deliver best practice governance, strategy and risk oversight alongside marketing, brand, communications and corporate affairs. Lel is a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors’ (AICD) Company Directors Course, has secured a Diploma of Investor Relations from Australasian Investor Relations Association (AIRA), a Master of Arts in Journalism from University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) a Bachelor of Media and a Bachelor of Arts (University of Adelaide).

• More details about Imche Veiga

  Imche Veiga

  Imche began her career in the laboratory, researching neurodegenerative diseases, before following her curiosity toward the harder problem of how good science actually becomes real-world impact. That journey took her from biotech consulting to founding Outset Ventures - Aotearoa New Zealand's largest deep tech hub - where she supported dozens of science and engineering startups through the messy, non-linear path from idea to investable venture, enabling more than $70M in early-stage capital along the way. She has since advised government on innovation policy, served on public grant funding committees, and now leads the Sydney Knowledge Hub, the startup incubator at the University of Sydney, where she works every day with researchers and new ventures navigating the path to commercial confidence.

• More details about Adam Wardell

  Adam Wardell

  Adam Wardell has over 25 years of experience in innovation, health, medical science and deep-tech. With experience as a CEO, board member and corporate advisor, Adam can contribute to a company at any stage of its evolution. His advisory work has helped over 350 business leaders understand market dynamics, business model innovation, voice-of-customer and strategic positioning to achieve commercial success. Adam has a background as a clinical pharmacist (B.Pharm) and further training in business (MBA) and governance (AICD).

• More details about Hashan De Silva

  Hashan De Silva

  Hashan is the Founder and Managing Partner at KP Rx, an ANZ biotech/medtech VC. Prior to founding KP Rx, Hashan was the Head of Healthcare at Karst Peak Capital leading the firm's investments in healthcare, the Lead Healthcare Analyst at CLSA Australia and the Associate Healthcare Analyst at Macquarie Bank, covering ASX-listed healthcare companies. Preceding his entry into finance, he gained industry experience while working at Eli Lilly. He was also a Lieutenant in the Australian Army Reserves, serving from 2006 to 2014. Hashan holds a Bachelors degree in Medicine, a Masters degree in Finance from UNSW and is a CFA Charterholder.