Catalina Valentino 🔥

ELIXR

ELIXR is a Global Smart City Group, transforming the way we live, work, and connect, via Planning, Energy, Data, Health, Education.

Under its Planet2030 vision, it delivers Smart City solutions, which together with its partners such as AECOM, Pinsent Masons and alongside Local Governments collaborate to improve National Infrastructure.

Elixr and its 30 Towns Framework is working with Government members to enable smarter regeneration nationally, including energy, planning and construction, retrofit and health. 

Elixr's mission is simple: improve existing cities — via technology, finance and data.
 
📍 UK | Middle East | US

Group CEO (& Co-Founder)

Una Terra Venture Capital Fund

Una Terra is a $200M early-growth venture capital fund scaling circular economy solutions with deep industry expertise, a powerful partner ecosystem, and a vision for systemic change. We invest in market-ready innovations that can drive measurable climate impact (2Gtons CO₂ reduction & 1Mtons plastic waste prevented by 2030) while delivering superior returns (25%+ IRR). By leveraging our network and experience, we accelerate growth, unlock capital, and create real, lasting change beyond financial gains.

Member of the Board of Advisors

Clean Energy Business Council MENA

The Clean Energy Business Council MENA is a non-profit, non-governmental membership organization that comprises leading local, regional, and international organizations committed to accelerating the development and deployment of clean energy in the MENA region.

Founded in 2012, the Council serves as a comprehensive clean energy platform aiming to foster a more coordinated, inclusive, and clean energy sector, encouraging collective approaches, and facilitating the development of forward-looking policies that reflect the needs and perspectives of the private sector and industry.

MetaConnex

Executive Board Member

Transforming how local councils urban plan, design and build developments through Digital Twins and Data.

An ELIXR technology.

Experience the future of urban planning with MetaConnex, where collaboration meets innovation, and sustainability to redefine what's possible in city development. MetaConnex is a groundbreaking technology platform that facilitates collaboration between public sector organisations and private industries in the field of sustainable urban planning and development. 

It offers a user friendly 3D model interface that integrates land and asset data, sustainability metrics, and construction industry standards to accelerate decision-making while adhering to national planning guidelines and environmental protection.

ArcLive

ArcLive is the world’s first data driven marketplace that uses real time energy data to underwrite products for assets across insurance, mortgages, carbon and energy.

Currently, ArcLive kits are being deployed across the UK, New York and the Middle East, in collaboration with major property owners, financial institutions, and regulators, including the NHS, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Lloyds Bank, Barclays Bank, NYCHA (New York State Housing Authority) and many more.

ArcLive's mission is to bring growth to the clean energy sector through its real time data solutions.

Chief Sustainability Officer

Live Data Trust

The Live Data Trust is a Non-Profit Organisation, changing the way we share and use data by enabling real-time integration for performance and technology benchmarking.

The Live Data Trust is a Non-Profit Organisation, changing the way we share and use data by enabling real-time integration for performance and technology benchmarking. 

By connecting private and public sector data, it helps unlock valuable insights and improvements. 

Using advanced data security and storage methods, developed by NASA and MIT, it ensures that information is safe and well-organised. 

This is the first framework to integrate live data with a focus on ethics, AI, and crucial sectors like the built environment, energy, and infrastructure. 

Aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 17, this approach supports the development of smart cities, making our urban spaces more efficient and sustainable through global partnerships and collaboration.

COO & Founding Team

STEPS

STEPS is a smart city investment fund which provides municipalities and local regions with finance for regeneration and sustainable infrastructure projects. 

Its unique data-led blended finance approach includes green bonds, equity investments, and loans, to enable tailored solutions for local development with its primary goal to strengthen local economies and benefit entire communities and regions.

Founder

Generationally Yours

The #1 ESG Podcast focused on sustainability, real estate and tech across generations.

Guests Include: Sir Robert McAlpine, Lloyds Bank, Barratt Homes, OakNorth Bank, WGBCSD, NHS, Flight Story, UKRI, Channel 4 Project Home and more.

Co-Host

Waxelene

Waxelene is a sustainable natural skincare brand, which has received unsolicited endorsements from A-list celebrities like Hilaria Baldwin, Halle Berry, Zooey Deschanel, Victoria's Secret Angel Lily Aldridge, and Gigi Hadid.

And 1000s of 5-star reviews, 100 million social media impressions. 

It has a patented aeration process has been scientifically proven to be highly effective in addressing eczema and catering to the needs of sensitive skin. 

Approximately >$2M units sold & approx $5M sales to date.

Lead Investor

World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)

The Smart Cities Board of the WBAF focuses on developing intelligent urban environments. It leverages advanced technologies and innovative financial solutions to enhance city efficiency, sustainability, and liveability. By collaborating with public, private, and academic sectors, the board aims to address urban challenges and promote interconnected systems for improved quality of life and economic growth.

Smart Cities Board

Senator For United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

CEO of ELIXR | MSc | Global Top 100 Women in Tech | Senator @ WBAF | Ft. Business Insider, Forbes etc. 🦄

Catalina Valentino (MSc) is the Group CEO of ELIXR, a global smart city group transforming cities through technology, finance, and data. She is also a Member of the Advisory Board for the €200m Climate Tech Fund Una Terra and the Clean Energy Business Council MENA.

ELIXR works with partners like the NHS, Lloyds Bank, UK & Saudi Governments and NYCHA to drive data-driven regeneration, unlocking £1bn in development value in the UK. 
Its ecosystem has also enabled the first-ever live data-linked loan and is building the world’s first fully digitised carbon credit market—redefining how cities grow, finance, and decarbonise.

Her journey began at 11, when she earned her first A* GCSE, then started a BA at 16, and an MSc at 19—launching her corporate career along the way. She later founded “Pivot”, her first company; securing a six-figure investment, scaling to <20 team members, and winning several industry awards.

Since, she has been awarded Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 and Global Top 100 Women in Tech 2023 for her work with ELIXR. And is a globally recognised speaker for Forbes, the United Nations, LEAP, the World Economic Forum, and more. 🎤

CEO & Co-Founder

Building unicorns 🦄. 
Next-Gen Sustainable Tech Incubator/ VC.

Alex Life Coach 

Did you know I was conceived in a threesome? 

But not in the way that you might think.... 

I was conceived in a threesome of cultures. 

I’m half English, half Danish, born and raised in France. 

Growing up I was always fairly street smart, good in social situations and solving real life problems.

But as a result of being bottom of the class in an elitist French system and getting bad grades throughout most of my teenage years, I developed insecurities around my intellectual capabilities.

I began to believe I was intellectually inferior to others. 

That I was not enough. Sound familiar? 

As a result, when I started my career:

I would identify with the companies that I worked for. 

Every company became a huge part of my identity and gave me a sense of being good enough.

Because I was surrounded by so many top performers, on the inside I often felt like an imposter...

I suffered from self-doubt, stress, anxiety...

But as long as I was working for a big corporate company, on the outside I thought people would think more highly of me. 

Well turns out that was a terrible strategy…

And it was one of the things that led to me burning out.

Since then though, I’ve completely changed the relationship I have with myself.

I no longer believe I’m not good enough or intellectually inferior to others.

I’m no longer crippled by stress, anxiety and self-doubt. 

And I’d love to help you to do the same. 

I'd love for you to finally find some inner peace and fulfilment in what you do. 

Are you ready to make that change? 

👉Send me a DM with the word "Thriving" to find out more about my Coaching program
👉 Or watch the video: www.alexlifecoach.com for more info. 

Wishing you a lovely day and if you've read this far, I appreciate you for spending time on my profile. 

Much love, 
Alex

Life Coach

Striving 2 Thriving

Community of likeminded Sensitive High-Achiever looking to live a more fulfilling life and keep growing... but without burning out.

Eat Pray Love

What do I have in common with Julia Roberts? 

I took an “Eat, Pray Love” year off and went travelling around Asia with the ultimate goal of “Finding myself” (not sure I could be any more Julia Roberts even if I tried) 💅.

It turns out, however, that travelling is not as relaxing as you might think. Always on the move, always looking for the next place to stay.

I was also hoping to come back as some kind of zen buddhist monk but as Corona hit and I had to fly back, I realised that I hadn't meditated a single time during the trip 😓.

Refusing to give up on my goal, I spent the next 5 months by myself on the Isle of Wight. My very own silent retreat, where I immersed myself in Personal Development books, courses and challenges. 

And then, like pretty much anyone having an existential crisis at that time: 

I had the epiphany that I wanted to be a “Life Coach". 

With my newly found life purpose, I went all in. 

Now that I finally had a meaningful career, I thought all my problems would disappear and that life would all be smooth sailing.

But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Within months I started realising how many others had had the same “epiphany” as me, I started to compare myself, feeling overwhelmed and getting anxiety attacks.

All the things I had been running away from came back to hit me and they hit me hard. 

The fear of rejection, the fear of failure, the fear of other people’s judgement. The constant feeling of never being good enough and being an imposter. 

Which led to me burning out… again. 

But this time I was working with a coach so I had the support system to work through it. 

I discovered tools, learnt about new concepts and had genuine insights that completely changed how I saw life. 

Since then, I’ve successfully grown my coaching business, reached new heights I never believed were possible and feel excited about the future.

Life still isn’t smooth sailing, it never will be, but now I know how to navigate the waters.

Sabbatical 

eBay

Was I getting rich by selling used tights and pokemon cards? 


Unfortunately not 😢

This was the first job I took after Burning out at Uber. 

It was a freelance position and therefore a breath of fresh air because I didn’t have to deal with:

-Office politics
-Promotions 
-Long working hours 

It was the first time that I began to detach myself from the corporate world ☝ 

It opened up so much time for me to take on new hobbies like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Yoga and Reading 🥋  🧘‍♂️  📚.  

I started to experience growth outside of work, feeling the benefits of living a healthier lifestyle and connecting with my body 🌱

I became less consumed by corporate gossip and politics, which led to me drastically improving relationships with my family but also my friends outside of work 💙

It’s like I finally left this bubble and realised that there were so many growth opportunities out there. 

I also realised how little I actually hear about these companies in the news, compared to when I worked there and it felt like they were the centre of the world 🌎.

But after about a year, despite all of this, I still felt unhappy. 

I still had this nagging feeling that I wasn’t where I should/could be. 

I had all the things I could possibly want, but still something was missing. 

And the only thing that I knew to blame was: my job. 

If only I could find a meaningful career, then I would finally be happy. 

So I decided to quit everything and go travelling.

I embraced my inner Julia Roberts and took an “Eat, Pray, Love” year off.

Recruitment (Freelance)

Uber

Did I have a 5 star rating as an Uber driver? 


Unfortunately I never got to drive for Uber but was lucky enough to join the company at its early stages. 

Not early enough for me to be mega rich and I also missed the Las Vegas Beyonce party by a couple of weeks… but I still got to experience Travis and all his eccentricity.

Working for a big name like Uber also temporarily covered up my belief of not being good enough. 

This felt great for a while but after some time I started to feel like I was drinking the Koolaid and that deep down I was just another cog in the machine.

I knew there was more to life than dedicating yourself to a company that says she loves you and that you are the one, but deep down you know that she could replace you in a heartbeat 💔.

Instead of listening to my intuition and afraid of showing weakness in a high performing environment, I started working harder, going after promotions faster, which was the perfect opportunity for them to squeeze as much out of me as possible.  

I took on way too many projects and continued to play the corporate political game. Although everyone around me was happy with my work, I knew I wasn’t doing my best as I was stretched too thin 😓. Even worse, this made me feel like an imposter because everyone around me was producing high quality work with seemingly no effort. 

I ended up pushing myself so hard that one day I couldn’t look at my screen anymore 😵.  

I had so much anxiety from trying to keep the boat afloat and not showing signs of struggle. If I did, it would compromise my chances of getting promoted and confirm that I wasn’t good enough. I could feel how unhealthy this was for my body so I went to the doctor and she told me I was having a burnout💥. 
 
I was really embarrassed because it was a term that I thought made me look weak and non resilient. I cared more about what other people would think of me than the fact that my body was telling me to stop 😳

Recruitment

Google

What happened when I broke my arm at Google?


I got a Chrome Cast.

Terrible Dad joke...

But when I was at Google, my whole self-worth and identity was tied to me working there.

My family even got Google swag for christmas. 

As long as I was working for Google, then on the outside I thought people would think more highly of me. 

It also made me feel safer because other companies would always want to poach me.

As a result, moving to a smaller unknown company was completely out of the question.

I called this Big Company Tunnel Vision. 

My only options were: climb the corporate ladder or go to another Big Tech company.

And these limiting options made me feel stuck and added a lot of unnecessary pressure.

Eventually when I started working on myself and gradually detaching from my corporate identity, I realised the infinite amount of options that were actually available to me (inside and outside of corporate).

It’s like a whole new world opened up.

And that world is available to anyone who is willing to invest in themselves and create it.

Have you ever had Big Company Tunnel Vision?

Novo Nordisk A/S

When I got my first internship at Novo Nordisk, I was so proud that I’d always make sure my work badge was visible while travelling on the train 😎. 

I had business cards made (as an intern with absolutely no need for them 🤦) and relished any opportunity to tell people where I was working. 

Even deep down I still didn't feel good enough, it definitely made me feel better about myself and how I thought other people saw me. 

This was the first time that I started to identify myself with the company that I worked for. I continued to do this throughout my career, every company became a huge part of my identity and gave me a sense of being good enough 😅.

Intern

Corporate Cog Energiser & Self-confidence Coach ⚙️🔋 I help you go from feeling lost, overwhelmed and never good enough → to energised, empowered and excited for more 🙏 Take Action NOW - Get your Custom Thriving Plan ⬇️

I’ve spoken to 589+ successful high achievers.

97% of them felt unfulfilled because of this:

They’ve lived their entire life conforming to other people’s expectations.

- Their parents’ expectations.
- Teachers’ expectations.
- Society’s expectations.

Because that’s how they learned to earn approval, avoid disappointment and stay connected:

By meeting expectations.
By being “the good one.”
By suppressing what they really wanted.

It worked.

They became reliable, successful and confident (on the outside).
 
But also?

Disconnected.
Close to burnt out.
And full of self-doubt (on the inside).

That’s where I come in.

I help sensitive high-achievers break free from survival mode and start living with calm clarity, powerful boundaries and deep self-trust.

I work with Millennials who are:

- Externally successful but internally overwhelmed
- Emotionally intelligent, but stuck in loops of guilt, overthinking and people-pleasing
- Tired of holding it all together while quietly falling apart

If that’s you…. you’re not broken.

You’re just disconnected from yourself after years of performing, proving and trying to be everything for everyone.

Through my Freedom Accelerator Method, I’ll guide you to:

✅ Go from overthinking to inner peace
✅ Trade self-doubt for unshakable self-trust
✅ Set boundaries without guilt or fear
✅ Reconnect with what you want…not what others expect
✅ Finally create a life that feels like yours

This isn’t mindset hacks or toxic positivity.

It’s deep, practical work that helps you stop performing and start becoming.

If you’re tired of the overthinking, the pressure, the second-guessing…
If you want to pursue success, but without sacrificing your peace, self-trust or wellbeing…

Send me a DM with the word “Thriving” and let’s explore how we can work together.

You don’t need to figure this out alone.
You just need the right space to come back to yourself.

Much love,
Alex

PS: Check out my clients Testimonials below!

taplio

The Battle

Catalina Valentino 🔥

Alex Østergaard

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