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TICKETS KAUFEN

SPEAKER 2026

The Speaker lineup is a curated selection of thought leaders, innovators, and change-makers from across industries. These influential voices took the stage to share their insights, bold ideas, and transformative stories, inspiring our community to think bigger and act smarter. The stage was filled with global pioneers, startup disruptors, corporate leaders, and industry experts who are defining what’s next. Stay tuned as we unveil the speakers who will make 2027 a year to remember at the next Hinterland!

HALL OF FAME
TICKETS KAUFEN

THOMAS
RABE

CEO
BERTELSMANN
Thomas Rabe is CEO of Bertelsmann and RTL Group and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adidas. He transformed Bertelsmann into a diversified group spanning media, services, education, and worldwide investments in startups and new businesses. In 2025, Bertelsmann generated €19B in revenue and EBITDA of €3B.

CARSTEN
MASCHMEYER

CEO
MASCHMEYER GROUP
Carsten Maschmeyer is an active investor with stakes in more than 150 startups through his various funds. Since 2016, he’s also been part of the hit TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen” – Germany’s version of Shark Tank – which regularly tops the ratings. His motto says it all: “I invest in founders, not in business plans.”

RENÉ
OBERMANN

CHAIRMAN OF EUROPE
WARBURG PINCUS
René Obermann serves as Chairman of Warburg Pincus, Europe and is based in Berlin. In April 2020, René was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors at Airbus SE. He previously served as non-executive Director of Inmarsat and on various company boards including E.On, Spotify, and Telenor. From 2006-2013 he was CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG.

DARIA
SAHAROVA

GP
WORLD FUND
Daria is a Founding Partner at World Fund, Europe’s leading climate tech VC. Since over 20 years, she serves on the board of pioneers like Space Forge, Vaeridion, ecoworks and Planet A Foods. Daria is a member of the extended board of the German Startup Association, on the board of trustees of the Max Planck Institute, and is a cofounder of the think tank 1E9.

DR. ANNIKA
VON MUTIUS

CO-CEO AND CO-FOUNDER
EMPION GMBH
Dr. Annika von Mutius is co-founder and CEO of the HR tech startup Empion and a member of the board of the German Federal Association for Artificial Intelligence. With a doctor in mathematics, Additionally, she is part of the advisory board of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization.

MATTHIAS
LEHNA

VICE PRESIDENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
QUANTUM SYSTEMS
Matthias Lehna is the Director of Business Development & Government Relations at Quantum Systems. With NATO and UN mission experience, he specializes in unmanned systems in high-pressure environments. He supports operations in Ukraine, testing products in real combat scenarios, and drives European tech sovereignty.

CÉLINE FLORES
WILLERS

CEO & FOUNDER
THE PEOPLE BRANDING COMPANY GMBH
Céline is an entrepreneur, LinkedIn top voice and Founder of The People Branding Company. Her company is known as the leading LinkedIn consultancy, serving clients such as SAP, Beiersdorf or LANXESS. Her team especially advises organizations and C-level executives on how to generate leads or acquire talents with LinkedIn.

AGATE
FREIMANE

GENERAL PARTNER
NORRSKEN VC
Agate Freimane is a Founding Partner at Norrsken VC, Europe’s leading early-stage impact investment fund. The fund invests in over 50 technology startups that tackle global challenges while creating profitable businesses. Agate kickstarted her finance and startup operations career at Morgan Stanley in London and New York before joining BrickVest.

BENJAMIN
ERHART

GENERAL PARTNER
UVC PARTNERS
Benjamin Erhart is General Partner at UVC Partners. Since 2017, he has led early-stage investments in some of Europe’s most promising technology ventures, including Tacto, Proxima Fusion, planqc, TWAICE, and FAZUA. With a background from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, he combines a deep technical understanding with strong investment expertise.

DR. BRIGITTE
MOHN

CHAIRPERSON OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
BERTELSMANN STIFTUNG
Brigitte Mohn serves as a Board Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and Chair of the German Stroke Foundation's Board of Trustees. Her professional background includes roles at Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, McKinsey, and Pixelpark.

MATTHIAS
AUF DER MAUER

FOUNDER
JUNA.AI GMBH
Matthias is founder of juna.ai, building AI agents to optimize production processes and reduce energy consumption in heavy industries. Before he founded AiSight, a leading AI startup in manufacturing that built a predictive maintenance solution, and was acquired by a Swiss sensor company. Additionally, he developed AI and IoT applications at Porsche Digital Lab.

KEVIN
BERGHOFF

CEO
QuantumDiamonds GmbH
Kevin Berghoff is CEO and Co-Founder of QuantumDiamonds, a semiconductor scale-up pioneering quantum sensing for advanced chip testing. As a deep-tech venture expert, he drives QD’s strategy and global partnerships, positioning QD as a next-generation metrology leader for 3D semiconductors and hardware security applications.

JULIUS
GÖLLNER

CO-FOUNDER
ARRTIST
Julius Göllner is a serial entrepreneur by heart with 16 founded companies. He is empowering the SaaS ecosystem in DACH by building the ARRtist Platform. Additionally, he is an active Angel Investor focusing on helping ventures to reach PMF and build a scalable Sales Motion in the early stages.

ULRICH
PREDIGER

FOUNDER
JOBRAD HOLDING SE
Uli Prediger invented the company bike leasing model, paving the way for an entirely new industry. Today, his JobRad Group is one of Germany’s rare unicorns and a leading provider of sustainable mobility services. Uli Prediger continues to pursue his vision of transforming mobility – and the world – for the better, as a founder and investor.

DR. GESA
MICZAIKA

GENERAL PARTNER
AUXXO FEMALE CATALYST FUND
Gesa is one of the founders of the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, a venture capital firm investing into startups with at least one female founder in Europe. She is also the former Deputy President of the German Startups Association. Beside that, Gesa co-founded the Evangelistas, a network of female business angels with more than 450 members in Europe.

DOMINIK
GROSS

CEO
FOUNDERS FOUNDATION GGMBH
Dominik Gross is CEO of Founders Foundation gGmbH, established in 2016 with the Bertelsmann Stiftung. He believes: "entrepreneurship skills are the key to a successful digital transformation". The Founders Foundation educates the next generation of entrepreneurs in the heart of the German Mittelstand and develops a sustainable B2B startup ecosystem.

DANIEL
DRABO

CRO
PEEC AI
Daniel is Co-Founder and CRO of Peec AI, founded in 2025 to help brands track and grow their visibility across AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. He scaled the company from $0 to $8M ARR, making Peec the go-to platform for enterprises navigating the shift from traditional search to AI-driven discovery. Based in Berlin.

ANTONIA
NÖRTHEMANN

INVESTMENT MANAGER
NRW.BANK
Antonia has been working as an investment manager specializing in the digital economy and technology at NRW Bank's venture capital arm since 2025. Prior to this, she was responsible for the largest business angel network in the DACH region, with over 400 private investors in the asset class directly investing in startups.

ANDRÉ
CHRIST

GENERAL MANAGER & CO-FOUNDER
SAP LEANIX
André Christ is Co-Founder and General Manager of SAP LeanIX. The Software-as-a-Service is trusted by leading brands around the globe. SAP LeanIX is a market leader for Enterprise Architecture Management, helping organizations to navigate their transformation with a data-driven and automated approach enhanced with AI.

SOLVEIG
RATHENOW

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
BUSINESS INSIDER GERMANY
Solveig Rathenow is Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider Germany. Together with her team, she covers key trends in technology, careers, and finance. She oversees a broad editorial portfolio spanning newsletters, podcasts, and video, driving innovative storytelling and multi-platform journalism across digital formats.

DR. MARKUS
GICK

MANAGING PARTNER
XDECK
Markus Gick is a Partner at xdeck, a German accelerator and venture capital fund focused on early-stage B2B and deep-tech startups. He works closely with founders on fundraising, go-to-market, and scaling, with a strong focus on industrial AI, SaaS, and digital transformation across Europe’s startup ecosystem.

THORSTEN
GIERSCH

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MARKT UND MITTELSTAND
Thorsten Giersch is passionate about future-oriented topics, especially related to work. He did extensive research on this subject, through studies and interviews. In his view, the integration of AI into the working world is the main issue of the coming years. That is why he is also the host of the AI-Illegality initiative, which champions a new kind of collegiality.

MAXIMILIAN
OLIGSCHLÄGER

Chief commercial officer
erc system
Max Oligschläger is the strategist and visionary behind ERC’s commercial execution. A Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur and former aerospace engineer, he founded the software startup Workride before ERC and closed five DAX enterprises within seven months of incorporation.

JULIAN
KAPPUS

CO-CEO
HELIAD
Julian Kappus is a structured finance specialist turned venture investor. He is Partner at the German multi-stage evergreen fund Heliad and founder of Berlin-based angel syndicate Collective Ventures. Julian is focused on backing ambitious founders and helping them strategically navigate and leverage capital markets from day one.

CHARLOTTE
ROTHERT

CEO
DOINSTRUCT
Charlotte Rothert is CEO and Co Founder of doinstruct, an AI driven Workplace OS that embeds training, compliance and process guidance directly into frontline work. So operations teams onboard faster, stay audit ready and execute safely and consistently across sites and languages.

DENNIS
CUTRARO

FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER
UNFUTURE
Dennis Cutraro is Managing Partner at Unfuture, where he advises industry leaders on global AI rollouts and builds AI-native solutions that scale. With a background in mathematics and entrepreneurship, he has co-launched two AI products and enabled thousands of professionals to integrate AI into their daily work.

ANNETTE
WEISBACH

BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT
Annette Weisbach covers the latest developments and trends in the country's economy and politics as a business and politics correspondent . She has worked as a reporter, editor, and moderator for various outlets, including Bloomberg. As a media training expert, Annette also helps professionals enhance their communication and presentation skills.

ALEXANDRA
HARTUNG

VICE PRESIDENT MEDIUM ENTERPRISE GERMANY
WORKDAY GMBH
As VP Medium Enterprise at Workday, Alexandra Hartung helps organizations with the AI-driven future through people-centric transformation. With 15+ years of IT leadership, including her time at IBM, she leads innovative value-based SaaS strategies. An ESB Reutlingen alumna, she advocates for female leadership and building resilient business cultures.

LUCA
CARACCIOLO

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
T3N
Luca Caracciolo is Editor-In-Chief of t3n and the german edition of the MIT Technology Review. His expertise lies in particular in the field of artificial intelligence and digital transformation. He has been a tech journalist for over 15 years.

HENRIC
MEINHARDT

CO-FOUNDER
COMSTRUCT ICT GMBH
Henric first faced the challenges of construction procurement, working for Heidelberg Materials at 18. While at the University of St. Gallen and UC Berkeley, he co-founded comstruct. Today, comstruct digitizes the entire material procurement process for contractors — serving customers like Hochtief and Vinci, two of the world’s ten largest construction groups.

MIKKO
PREUSS

CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
TERRALAYR
Mikko is terralayr's Chief Commercial Officer and responsible for the company's unique energy flexibility service business. After roles at Siemens Wind Power and Boston Consulting Group, he has for the last three years built up terralayr to what is now one of the leading and best capitalized energy flexibility companies in Germany and beyond.

PIA
ALBERS

CTIO
ELA CONTAINER GMBH
Pia Albers is CTIO at ELA Container, a family-owned company specialized in creating rooms and buildings from containers. Together with her brother Fabio, she represents the third generation at ELA Container.

TOBIAS
KEMKES

CO-FOUNDER
LANGDOCK
Tobias Kemkes is Co-Founder and CPO of Langdock, the AI platform built to help large companies adopt AI. Since founding the company, Langdock has helped 6,000+ businesses roll out AI successfully - from startups to enterprises like Merck, where 33,000+ employees use the platform monthly. In two and a half years, Langdock grew to $22M+ ARR.

DR. CHRISTOPH
KLINK

GENERAL PARTNER
ANTLER
Christoph Klink is a General Partner at Antler. Antler is a leading inception-stage investor and one of Europe’s most active early-stage VCs. Christoph leads investments across Continental Europe. Since 2021, Antler has made 100+ investments across AI, resilience, and deep tech.

FLORIAN
HEINEMANN

FOUNDING PARTNER
PROJECT A
Florian is a Founding Partner at Project A. As an entrepreneur and investor, he is widely regarded as one of Germany’s leading experts in digital growth, marketing, and data strategies. He helps traditional companies navigate the challenges of digital transformation and build bridges to the startup ecosystem as a trusted advisor to the German Mittelstand.

MAXIMILIAN
DEKORSY

CO-FOUNDER & CO-CEO
ECOPLANET
Maximilian Dekorsy is co-founder and co-CEO of ecoplanet. Raised in the German Mittelstand, he's passionate about helping industrial companies reduce energy costs – a strategic lever he sees as critical for securing Germany as a business location. He built ecoplanet with a deep belief in ownership, both in business and culture.

DR. OLIVER
MERKEL

FOUNDER
BLOCKS
Oliver is the founder of Blocks, an AI company focused on transforming cloud infrastructure. He previously founded Flink, Europe’s leading quick commerce player. Before that, he was a Partner at BCG and Bain. Oliver has invested in over 60 startups and enjoys engaging with founders on new ideas and opportunities.

BASTIAN
FREITAG

HEAD OF FIXED INCOME GERMANY
ROTHSCHILD & CO
Bastian Freitag is Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income at Rothschild & Co Vermögensverwaltung GmbH, where he leads within the German portfolio management team. He has been active in the private wealth management industry since 2007. Before joining Rothschild & Co, he worked at various private banks in Germany.

ANTONIA
GÖTSCH

PODCASTER
WEGEN GUTER FÜHRUNG
I consult, write, speak, and moderate on leadership and decision-making, drawing on research and experience and committed to speaking plainly.

JOHANN
NORDHUS
WESTARP

FOUNDING PARTNER
LUCID CAPITAL
Johann is Co-Founder and General Partner at Lucid Capital, a Berlin-based VC fund focused on European AI software companies. He backs technical founders building in industrial AI, manufacturing, infrastructure, and vertical AI applications. Before Lucid, Johann spent four years at Rocket Internet's Flash Ventures building and investing in early-stage companies.

PAUL FREDERIK
ZÖLLER

STATE SECRETARY OF OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, INDUSTRY, CLIMATE PROTECTION AND ENERGY FOR NRW
Paul Frederik Höller has served as State Secretary of of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate protection and energy for North Rhine-Westphalia.

JANNA
ENSTHALER

FOUNDING PARTNER
GGF
Janna Ensthaler is an entrepreneur & investor. After a decade as a founder, she has spent the past five years investing in startups in Europe and the US via her early-stage fund and SPVs. Her focus: energy tech, AI, hardware/robotics, defense, and space. She founded Event Inc and Glossybox and is an investor on Die Höhle der Löwen.

DR.-ING. ALEXANDER
PÖHLER

CEO
ASSEMBLEAN
Alexander Pöhler is the co-founder of assemblean, a German deep-tech startup transforming manufacturing through digital platforms and automation. With a background in engineering and supply chain innovation, he focuses on simplifying production via “Production-as-a-Service,” enabling companies to bring products to market faster and more efficiently.

OLIVER
MANOJLOVIC

CRO
DASH0
Oliver Manojlovic is CRO at Dash0, where he leads global revenue for one of the fastest-growing companies in observability and autonomous AI. With a career built scaling GTM motions for technically complex products in competitive markets, Oliver has helped prior Dash0 as VP Sales to scale Personio to over 300M€ in ARR.

CHRISTIAN
MIELE

GENERAL PARTNER
HEADLINE
Christian Miele is a General Partner at Headline, a venture capital firm that invests in technology startups worldwide. His investment portfolio includes the generative AI company Mistral AI, as well as startups in the fields of Industry 4.0, healthcare, and hospitality, including Sparetech, RobCo, PlanRadar, kenbi, and Numa.

EDUARD
RICHARD
DÖRRENBERG

CEO
DR. WOLFF GROUP
Eduard R. Dörrenberg is CEO & Managing Partner of Dr. Wolff Group – a fourth-generation family business behind iconic brands like Alpecin, Plantur, Linola and Vagisan. With roots at ETH Zurich, A.T. Kearney, INSEAD and Harvard Business School, he has led the company through 25+ years of consistent growth, global expansion and digital transformation.

LUKAS
LEITNER

FOUNDING PARTNER
DRUMBEAT CAPITAL
Lukas is a deep-tech investor and entrepreneur focused on turning breakthrough technologies into real-world businesses. He started at BCG and BCG Digital Ventures, building new industrial ventures then led Deep Tech and Defence teams at Lakestar. Today, he is the Founder of Drumbeat Capital, backing soon-to-be global champions from scientific breakthroughs.

FLORIAN
NÖLL

GLOBAL VENTURING & EMEA STARTUPS, SCALEUPS LEADER
PWC GERMANY
Florian Nöll is a leading innovation ecosystem expert connecting startups, SMEs, and investors. As Global Venturing Leader at PwC and former founder of the German Startup Association, he enables companies to unlock growth through business model reinvention and strategic startup collaboration.

TUSHAR
AHLUWALIA

CEO
GENERALMIND
Tushar is Founder and CEO of GeneralMind, building a system of action that solves human-as-glue work outside ERP systems. Previously, he built Razor Group in Berlin into a unicorn. At Hinterland of Things, he brings a founder’s perspective on scaling companies and applying AI to automate the messy workflows businesses still run manually at scale.

SHERIN
MARUHN

CO-FOUNDER & CEO
LOOSH GMBH
Sherin is co-founder of LOOSH, a science-backed recovery supplement brand focused on performance and wellbeing. She also hosts the How to Invest podcast by Business Punk and is recognized as as one of the Top 3 role models for female investor & startup voices, known for bridging the gap between capital, company building, and operator mindset.

ROMY
SCHNELLE

MANAGING DIRECTOR
HTGF
Romy Schnelle is Managing Director of HTGF and is responsible for Industrial, Climate & Deep Tech. With over 20 years of experience, she combines expertise in entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment. She has built a strong deep-tech portfolio and continues to strategically develop HTGF.

MAXIMILIAN
SACHSE

REPORTER
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG
Maximilian Sachse is a business reporter for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He writes about start-ups, cybersecurity, AI and tech in general.

DR. ALBERT
GEIGER

CEO
ALPHAZIRKEL GMBH
Dr. Albert Geiger is CEO of AlphaZirkel. He connects family entrepreneurs with the founders, investors, and technologies building what comes next in sectors such as defense, AI, deep tech, succession.

DEEPA
GAUTAM-NIGGE

VP CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENTS
SAP
Deepa Gautam-Nigge is VP Corporate Development & Investments at SAP, board member at multiple companies (such as SE Schmitz Cargobull AG and Aleph Alpha) and chairperson of the board of RWTH Aachen University Foundation. She also served on the German Federal Ministry’s Expert Commission on “AI and Competition.”

DR. MAURICE
ESCHWEILER

CHIEF REPRESENTATIVE
DMG MORI
For nearly 20 years in management at DMG MORI AG, a global leading manufacturer of machine tools - many of those years as a Board Member for Industrial Services. Additionally, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Arminia Bielefeld and active Business Angel - e.g. within the Teuto Seed Club.

KEVIN
JOSTMEYER-ZELLES

DIRECTOR NEW PROJECTS
BÖLLHOFF GROUP
Kevin Jostmeyer-Zelles is the Director of New Projects at the Böllhoff Group and CEO of GetSpecialFasteners.com, an AI-native startup. With an MBA and engineering background, he specializes in digital transformation, venture building, corporate innovation and on integrating AI into traditional industries.

STEFAN
KLEBERT

CEO
GEA GROUP AG
Stefan Klebert is CEO of GEA since 2019. With over 18,000 employees and over five billion euros in revenue, the DAX-listed company is one of the world's largest systems suppliers for the food, beverage and pharma sectors. Before joining GEA, he led Schuler AG as CEO for eight years, with prior leadership roles at Schindler, Thyssenkrupp and Festo.

RAINER
BERAK

CEO
A11
Rainer Berak is CEO at A11. He is an optimistic value creator in all things digital, working with companies who have the right ambition level. His motto: What would your worst competitor do — and why aren't you doing it first? Disrupt yourself!

ENRICO
MELLIS

FOUNDER
ANIMAL SYNDICATION COMPANY
Enrico Mellis is founder of Animal, building angel syndicates around founders instead of fund managers. Formerly Partner at Lakestar and Project A, he has backed startups including Trade Republic, Dexory, Holy Energy, and ARX Robotics.

FRANZ
FAERBER

CO-FOUNDER & CEO
EVEREST
Franz Faerber is Co-Founder of Everest Systems. He was involved as a lead architect in the development of SAP HANA and is now building a new AI-native ERP system with Everest Systems.

PETRA
GESSNER

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
F.A.Z. BUSINESS MEDIA /
WIR-MAGAZIN
Petra is editor-in-chief of the magazine “wir – Das Magazin für Unternehmerfamilien” published by F.A.Z. Her academic journey in economics took her from Freiburg to the U.S. and Chile. Petra’s career is characterized by her extensive experience on succession in German family businesses and her passion for economic topics.

SINA
THOMAS

MANAGING DIRECTOR
KLETTI GMBH
Sina is a managing director of Kletti GmbH, an industrial heating solution company. With a background in economics and organizational consulting, she combines strategic thinking with entrepreneurial leadership. Her focus is sustainable growth, innovation, and international expansion across industrial markets.

JOHANNA
TJADEN-SCHULTE

MEMBER OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD
NRW.BANK
Johanna Tjaden-Schulte serves on the Management Board of NRW.BANK, responsible for Sales and Promotional Strategy. She supports the transformation of SMEs and helps young companies achieve sustainable growth in North Rhine-Westphalia. Previously, she served as Managing Director Corporate Banking at Commerzbank.

JOHANNES
VELLING

HEAD OF THE “DIGITALIZATION, STARTUPS, AND SERVICES” DEPARTMENT
MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, INDUSTRY, CLIMATE PROTECTION, AND ENERGY OF NRW
Johannes Velling oversees digital economy and startup initiatives in North Rhine-Westphalia, including digitalization and business services. Previously, he helped launch programs such as Gründerstipendium.NRW, NRW.Venture, High-Tech Gründerfonds, EXIST, INVEST, and the German Accelerator.

DAVID
BUDDE

CO-FOUNDER & CEO
TRAWA
David Budde is Co-Founder & CEO of trawa. He is working on improving the competitiveness of the European economy by reducing energy cost for SMEs.

MARCUS
BÖKER

MANAGING DIRECTOR
PHOENIX CONTACT INNOVATION VENTURES GMBH
Marcus Böker is a managing director at Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures GmbH. His goal is to connect start ups with corporates to gain most out of this relationship by understanding each other to increase sales and investments.

FRAUKE
HOLZMEIER

HEAD OF THE BUSINESS DECK NTV
NTV / RTL NEWS
Frauke Holzmeier is the Head of Business at ntv. She has been with ntv and RTL for +15 years and also regularly serves as a moderator for events and panel discussions. She frequently reports from events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos. In addition, she serves as a business expert for ntv and RTL. Frauke is the co-host of the podcast “So techt Deutschland.”

VICKTORIA
KLICH

CO-FOUNDER
W3.GROUP
Vicktoria Klich is Co-Founder of w3.group. She builds at the intersection of business, technology and the next generation of talent — and brings a sharp, on-the-ground perspective on what Germany's young founders actually need from education, policy and the Mittelstand. She shares that perspective with a growing community of founders and operators on LinkedIn.

DR. SIGRID
NIKUTTA

MANAGER AND MEMBER OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD
Dr. Sigrid Nikutta has served as a Executive Board Member for Freight Transport at Deutsche Bahn AG and as CEO of DB Cargo AG for 5 years. She spent nearly 10 years as CEO of Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, leading it to first-time profitability, and held management roles at DB AG from 1996 to 2010. Since 2009, she holds a psychology doctorate from LMU Munich.

NICOLE
LOESER

CO-FOUNDER AND PARTNER THE FUTURING ALLIANCE
Nicole Loeser is a systems innovator and impact strategist for regenerative futures. Through The Futuring Alliance and IFAI Berlin, she builds cross-sector alliances that combine foresight, design, science, and social innovation to drive systemic transformation, collective intelligence, and youth-led futures.

DR. FRIEDERIKE
HOFFMANN

PARTNER
B2VENTURE
Dr. Friederike Hoffmann is Partner at b2venture, strengthening the firm’s Direct Investments activities with deep commercial, operational, and governance experience from large-scale, technology-driven business-to-business organizations.

CLARISSA
CLAVEY

MANAGING DIRECTOR
CLAVEY
Clavey keeps production environments running- smoothly, reliably, without disruption since 1984. I'm second-generation managing director. Over 600 specialists, one contact, full value chain. No chaos, no interfaces, no information loss. And with FORMHAND, we've added a physical product: gripper pads that adapt to almost any shape, so one gripper handles them all.

ANJA
MÜLLER

CORRESPONDENT FAMILY BUSINESS
HANDELSBLATT
As a journalist Anja wants to know: Who will manage to reinvent themselves and shape the future? Who are the people who see it this way, and what can we learn from them? Her motto - Every beginning holds a certain magic, and every crisis an opportunity!

NIKLAS
JANSEN

FOUNDING PARTNER
INTERFACE CAPITAL
Niklas Jansen is a founding partner at Interface Capital. Before that, Niklas co-founded Blinkist and helped to build it from an idea into a global learning platform. At Interface, he invests in and supports product-driven founders from the first idea toward building iconic technology companies, with a particular interest in AI, energy, and frontier technology.

SOPHIA
TRAN

FOUNDER & CEO
SPOTLIGHT!
Sophia Tran is Founder & CEO of Spotlight! and a Tech Influencer focused on startups and emerging technologies. As NRW State Spokesperson for the German Startup Association and advisory board member of Young Digital Economy NRW, she is deeply embedded in Germany's startup ecosystem. She is passionate about supporting founders, fostering innovation, and advancing diversity in tech.

MARC-JULIAN
SIEWERT

CEO
SECUNET SECURITY NETWORKS AG
Marc-Julian Siewert has been CEO of secunet Security Networks AG since July 2025, previously serving over 3 years as CEO of Veridos. With international experience, he brings a strong passion for technology and digital innovation in complex security landscapes.

SARAH
HEUBERGER

JOURNALIST
MANAGER MAGAZINE
Sarah Heuberger is a reporter at manager magazin covering key players and power dynamics in the tech and start-up world. She has been part of the team since 2023 and is also responsible for the weekly newsletter “Tech Update” and cohosts the manager magazin podcast INSIDE.

ISABELLE
KÖRNER

TV-JOURNALIST/
CONFERENCE MODERATOR/
PODCAST-HOST
Isabelle is a journalist, tv- and international conference moderator as well as podcast host. She works as an anchor and reporter for the German ntv news station. Isabelle has covered major breaking news and globals events for ntv and the RTL group as well as attended high level international events, for example the World Economic Forum, Munich Security Conference or G7 meetings.

FLORIAN
WEYAND

JOURNALIST
WIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE
Since 2023, Florian Weyand has been an investigative reporter at WirtschaftsWoche, one of Germany’s leading business magazines. His reporting covers both the darker sides of the business world and the innovation ecosystem, including startups such as cooking-robot companies Circus and GoodBytz, as well as Germany’s renowned Mittelstand.

DR. FRÉDÉRIC
DU BOIS-REYMOND

VENTURE PARTNER
EARLYBIRD
Frederic du Bois-Reymond is an engineer turned deep-tech investor, partnering with founders building breakthrough technologies from first principles. Drawing on both technical expertise and venture experience, he supports ambitious teams at the intersection of science, engineering, and entrepreneurship, helping transform innovation into enduring companies.

HENRIKE
LUCZIK

CEO
BRIDGEMAKER GMBH
Henrike Luszick is the founder and CEO of Bridgemaker, Europe’s leading corporate venture builder. As an expert in business model development, she empowers established companies to develop scalable and resilient startups using their own resources. At Bridgemaker, she oversees the implementation process, acting as an entrepreneurial co-investor.

WILHELM ALEXANDER
BÖLLHOFF

MANAGING PARTNER
BÖLLHOFF GROUP
Wilhelm Alexander Böllhoff is Managing Partner at the Böllhoff Group since 1994. Previously, he worked as a Business Analyst at Kearny, before taking on the role as Managing Partner at Böllhoff.

WILLIAM
URBORS

GTM MANAGER
SANA LABS
WIlliam Urbors is GTM Manager at Sana Labs. He is driving the expansion of Sana Enterprise, the superintelligence that puts AI agents to work across organizations.

LEANDRA
FINKE

JOURNALIST
GRÜNDERSZENE
From successful funding rounds to exits and founder stories: Leandra Finke has been writing for Gründerszene since 2025 about startups, founders, VCs, and everything else the startup scene is currently discussing. To do so, the East Westphalia native traded her hometown for Berlin, the startup capital.

JENS
TOENNESMANN

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ZEIT FÜR UNTERNEHMER / DIE ZEIT
Jens Tönnesmann is Editor-in-Chief of "ZEIT für Unternehmer", DIE ZEIT’s business magazine, and hosts DIE ZEIT’s economics podcast "Ist das eine Blase?". He covers the German Mittelstand, entrepreneurship, innovation and economic developments - such as transformation of German hidden champions, Crypto Ponzi schemes or the rise of darknet marketplaces.

FREDERIKE
HOLEWIK

SENIOR REPORTER
POLITICO
Frederike Holewik is an energy reporter for POLITICO focusing on all things policy regarding renewables, grids and heating. She is especially interested in the nitty gritty of the energy transition and who shapes this transformation.

FRANCESCA
SEIDENSTICKER

CO-LEAD
THE TRAILBLAZERS GMBH
Francesca Seidensticker is Co-Lead and Authorized Signatory at The Trailblazers, one of Germany’s top three communications consultancies. Handelsblatt describes The Trailblazers as the “most hyped communications agency for transformation and change.” Francesca has shaped The Trailblazers from day one and leads a team of 15 people.

NINA ANIKA
SEIDENSTICKER

CO-LEAD
THE TRAILBLAZERS GMBH
Francesca Seidensticker is Co-Lead and Authorized Signatory at The Trailblazers, one of Germany’s top three communications consultancies. Handelsblatt describes The Trailblazers as the “most hyped communications agency for transformation and change.” Francesca has shaped The Trailblazers from day one and leads a team of 15 people.

HALL OF FAME DER LETZTEN JAHRE

Frank Seidensticker

Geschäftsführender Gesellschafter @ Seidensticker

Philipp
Klöckner

Investor, Berater, Podcast-Moderator

ANDREAS SENNHEISER

CEO @ SENNHEISER ELECTRONIC

MIRIAM
MECKEL

MIT-GRÜNDERIN & CEO @ ADA LEARNING

DR. ALBERT CHRISTMANN

CEO
@ Dr. Oetker

ALEXANDER
SIXT

CEO
@ Sixt

MARKUS
MIELE

Ex. Direktor & CEO
@ Miele

LARS
KLINGBEIL

Parteivorsitzender
@ SPD

GÜLSAH
WILKE

Partnerin/Leiterin des deutschen Büros @ DN Capital

MARKUS
PFLITSCH

CEO, Vorsitzender & Gründer @ Terra Quantum AG

JAN-HENDRIK
GOLDBECK

Geschäftsführer
@ Goldbeck

CARSTEN
SALLING

General Partner
@ Dreamcraft Ventures

FRANK
THELEN

Gründer & CEO
@ Freigeist Capital

CAL
HENDERSON

Mit-gründer & CTO
@ Slack

nathan
gruber

Founder
@ MANEX AI

nazanin
daneshvar

angel investor & Venture capitalist

sebastian
schall

cfo
@ Black Semiconductor

daniel
krauss

cio & co-founder
@ Flix SE

sven
mulder

Managing director
@ sap germany se & co. kg

hendrik
kramer

ceo & co-founder
@ fernride

jeannette
zu fürstenberg

managing director
@ general catalyst

zarah
bruhn

Founder & CEO
@ socialbee

maximilian
viessmann

ceo
@ viessmann

hakan
koç

co-Founder
@ auto1

siobhan
brewster

Partner
@ AENU

fridtjof
denzler

co-Founder & General partner
@ Planet a ventures

magdalena
oehl

Founder
@ talent rocket

VERENA
pausder

chair of the board
@ german startup association

BERND
LEUKERT

Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung
@ Deutsche Bank

YVONNE
BEISTER

DIREKTOR @ AXEL SPRINGER

ANGELIKA
GIFFORD

Vizepräsident EMEA
@ Meta

Philipp
Gattner

CEO @ REBUY

DANIEL
KHACHAB

Mit-gründer & CEO
@ Choco

Daniel
Metzler

CEO
@ Isar Aerospace

MAXIMILIAN
VIESSMANN

CDO @ VIESSMANN

BENEDIKT
BÖSEL

Landwirt & Geschäftsführer
@ Gut und Bösel

SEE OUR SPEAKERS FROM LAST YEAR