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Dr. Kris Naudts    

Founder & Former CEO Culture Trip; Former Academic Psychiatrist at Institute of Psychiatry

Award-Winning Tech Entrepreneur and Academic Psychiatrist, with a PhD in Neuroscience. Dr Naudts raised more than $130 million in investment for his tech start-up, Culture Trip, which he founded and scaled into one of the most successful new travel and media brands in the world, with offices in US, China, Israel and UK, and 100s of staff and contributors all over the world. At their peak, they attracted nearly 20 million monthly visitors to the site and saw app downloads grow to nearly 3 million. Their social media following grew to 8 million, with their videos having been viewed ca. 2 billion times pre-Covid. During Kris's time at the helm of CT, they won almost 50 (!) awards, including App of the Day in US and UK by Apple, and 2 prestigious Webby Awards.

Before Culture Trip, Dr Naudts was a highly successful, academic psychiatrist at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), with specific expertise in neuroscience, genetics, schizophrenia and forensic psychiatry. The IoP is ranked 2nd in the world for psychiatry, behind only Harvard University

Speech Topics

"Culture Trip"

When a psychiatrist changed career and raised $130 million in venture capital for his start-up.

Dr Naudts left a high-flying career in academic forensic psychiatry, to found and build his own start-up into one of the most successful new travel and media brands in the world, with offices in US, China, Israel and UK, and 100s of staff and contributors all over the world. At its peak, the site attracted nearly 20 million monthly visitors to our site and saw app downloads grow to nearly 3 million. Its social media following grew to 8 million, with their videos having been viewed ca. 2 billion times pre-Covid. During Dr Naudts's time at the helm of CT, they won almost 50 (!) awards, including App of the Day in US and UK by Apple, and 2 prestigious Webby Awards. This is the story of how he did it, the highs, the lows, against the backdrop of a decade of huge geopolitical, technological and personal changes.

"Becoming China-Literate".

To thrive in the 21st century, the most important skill a parent can teach their child today. It's not coding - it's knowledge about Chinese culture and history.

Dr Naudts has been an avid China watcher for several years, and keenly reads or listens to almost all China-related news and history he comes across in the major broadsheets, magazines, or podcasts. In the past 2 years alone, he read about 50 books of Chinese fiction and works on Chinese politics, history, language, art, tech and business. He recently also completed a Masters of Chinese Painting at SOAS in London. His passion for China goes back to his sinophile late mother and great-uncle, who lived in China from the 1930s to the early 1950s, 4 of which in a Japanese POW camp during WWII , and 1 of which in solitary confinement after the Communist Party came to power. Dr Naudts is also currently working on a novel, large parts of which are situated in Shanghai and Chongqing. This talks charts his personal and intellectual journey towards China literacy.

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