Code, Creativity, and Capital: Is Gen Art the Next Big Tech Frontier?
As generative art captures the imagination of collectors and technologists alike, a new asset class is emerging at the crossroads of culture and capital. This panel brings together venture capitalists, platform founders, and pioneering collectors&creators to explore the financial dynamics of generative art. How are investors valuing algorithmically produced works? What role do smart contracts, provenance, and rarity play in shaping market behavior? And is this a passing trend or the beginning of a durable digital art economy? Join us for a candid conversation about the opportunities in backing code as culture.
Guests:
Charlie Fink: Charlie Fink is a former Disney executive. He was vice president for creative affairs for six years and is credited with pitching the story "Bambi in Africa," which later became The Lion King (1994).
Panelists：
Joshua Liss is the co‑founder and CEO of DreamFlare AI, an innovative startup transforming how generative‑AI content is created, experienced, and monetized . Formerly a senior leader at Google—where he led go‑to‑market strategies for consumer platforms with audiences in the hundreds of millions—and with venture experience at West Coast Venture Partners, Josh brings deep expertise in scaling digital businesses globally.
Terry R. Schussler works in the Devices team at Deutsche Telekom, serving all global business units and natcos with strategy, partner management, technology, and trend scouting, technical research, and developer engagement. He focuses on emerging technology topics: spatial computing (XR), AI, 5G, and edge computing.
Paula Vivas (moderator) is the Head of US Marketing at Freepik, leading brand strategy, partnerships, and events across the creative and AI space. Based in San Francisco, she’s focused on positioning Freepik as an AI-powered platform for creative teams. Paula blends global insight with a passion for creativity, storytelling, and innovation, with more than 15 years of experience.
Dustin Podell is a San Francisco–based AI researcher and generative-model engineer at Black Forest Labs, where he focuses on diffusion and flow-matching methods for next-generation creative systems. Previously at Stability AI, he contributed to the development and alignment of both SDXL and SD3, helping shape their high-resolution capabilities and expressive range. With a foundation in computer graphics and rendering, Dustin brings a creative lens to cutting-edge model design and human-aligned AI research.
Fiona Zhou is a partner from JAD Capital. Her investment scope includes emerging technologies, and while specific investments are not publicly detailed, JAD has been known to back startups in the AI-generated content space, such as Creati. Her previous experience also includes serving as an advisor to Varsal LLC, expanding her expertise in operational and strategic execution.
Lei Du: Partner and cofounder at Sancus Venture, a team of former founders and builders who invest in software's core building blocks.
Agenda:
5:30 - 6:15 pm: Registration and Networking with Drinks!
6:15 - 6:20 pm: Partner Introductions
6:20 - 6:45 pm: Presentation
6:45 - 7:10 pm: Fireside chat
7:10 - 7:15 pm: Announcements
7:15 - 8:00 pm: Networking
Hosts:
Freepik is a tech company that provides an easy-to-use AI suite to generate and edit any type of audiovisual content with unbeatable results. With 100M+ users, almost 1M subscribers, and offices in Málaga and San Francisco, Freepik is leading the audiovisual genAI world race thanks to its combination of AI technology, stock image background and content, and agile adaptation to new tech and design trends.
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