Kjartan Olafsson

Kjartan Örn Ólafsson is an Icelandic entrepreneur and early-stage investor who has spent his career "with one foot in New York and the other in Iceland." He studied philosophy and logic in Iceland and Italy and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Early in his career he served as Director of Business Development for the international media company Bertelsmann Inc. in New York, where he worked with Bertelsmann's U.S. and U.K. portfolio companies — including Sony BMG Music, Random House, and Fremantle Media — on a range of digital-media initiatives.

Today Kjartan is the founder of Volta ehf. (also referenced as Volta Labs Venture Development), a private startup studio, and the co-founder of Basno Inc., a New York–based digital certification and credentialing platform he started in 2010 with Henrik Werdelin. Through these vehicles and as an individual angel, he has been an active builder and investor across the Reykjavík and New York startup ecosystems.

In September 2020 he joined Brunnur Ventures, an Icelandic venture fund, as a Venture Partner — having already served on its board and investment committee since 2015. He has also chaired the board of UNICEF Iceland and sits on the boards of several companies and organizations in Iceland and the U.S.

His contributions to the Icelandic startup community have been formally recognized: he was named "Mentor of the Year" at Startup Reykjavik in 2013 and received the Nordic Startup Awards' "Best Business Angel 2016, Iceland."

• Invests at the seed / early stage in technology and digital-media startups, primarily across Iceland and the U.S. (New York).
• Describes himself as an "entrepreneur and angel-investor-on-occasion" — a hands-on, founder-oriented investor who typically pairs capital with board involvement and mentorship rather than passive checks.
• Backs companies as both an angel and an institutional venture partner (via Brunnur Ventures), giving him reach from individual seed checks up to fund-scale rounds.
• Values his role as a mentor and operator: "I've been a member of the board of Brunnur Ventures since day one and have worked closely with the funds' GPs."