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SPEAKER 2025

The Speaker lineup is a curated selection of thought leaders, innovators, and change-makers from across industries. These influential voices will take the stage to share their insights, bold ideas, and transformative stories, inspiring our community to think bigger and act smarter.

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DANIEL
KRAUSS

CIO & CO-FOUNDER
FLIX SE
Daniel Krauss is Co-founder, CIO & CHRO at Flix. He drives technology and HR at Flix. As an investor and advisor, he supports startups like Baby1one and uvex. Passionate about education and entrepreneurship, he lectures at FAU and co-founded the FightBack initiative.

JENS
FIEGE

CO-CEO FIEGE LOGISTIK
Jens Fiege is Co-CEO of FIEGE, a more than a 150 year old family business, together with his cousin Felix Fiege in the fifth generation. FIEGE is shaping the logistics ecosystem with digital and innovative business models and is recognised as an innovation leader in logistics.

DEEPA
GAUTAM-NIGGE

VP CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENTS SAP
Deepa Gautam-Nigge is VP Corporate Development & Investments at SAP. With 25 years of experience, she leads corporate development at SAP and serves on advisory boards for companies like elumeo, Schmitz Cargobull, and Aleph Alpha.

MAX
WITTROCK

CO-FOUNDER ZEROLABS
Max Wittrock is the co-founder of zeroLabs, a startup revolutionizing the beer industry with high-quality non-alcoholic brews. As an experienced entrepreneur, he is passionate about innovation, sustainability, and redefining consumer experiences.

HENDRIK
KRAMER

CEO & CO-FOUNDER FERNRIDE
Hendrik Kramer is Co-Founder & CEO of FERNRIDE, enabling scalable autonomous trucking. He studied Entrepreneurship & Autonomous Driving at TU Munich and Stanford and founded his first company at 16. In 2024, he topped Forbes 30 Under 30 (Manufacturing & Industry) and was named Logistics Leader of the Year.

FRANK
THELEN

CEO FREIGEIST CAPITAL
Frank Thelen is a European serial entrepreneur, technology investor, and best-selling author. Passionate about innovation, he is dedicated to shaping a future driven by groundbreaking technologies and bold ideas.

KARIM
SALEH

CO - FOUNDER & CEO CERRION
Karim Saleh is the Co-Founder & CEO of Cerrion, a leading developer of vision AI agents for industrial automation. Backed by Y Combinator and Twitch founder Justin Kan, Cerrion’s AI agents are transforming manufacturing operations across 10+ countries and 3 continents.

LENA
WEIRAUCH

CEO & CO-FOUNDER AIOMATIC
Lena Weirauch is the CEO and co-founder of aiomatic, an AI startup specializing in predictive maintenance. With a background in psychology and statistical methods, she drives sales and software development. She is pursuing a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Bern.

FELIX
HAAS

FOUNDING PARTNER 10X & BITS & PRETZELS
Felix Haas is a former software entrepreneur (Co-Founder of amiando and IDnow) and now an active startup investor as Founding Partner of 10x Founders and FLEX Capital. He is also Co-Host of the well-known Bits & Pretzels conference. In his free time, he's an avid pilot!

UWE JEAN
HEUSER

PUBLISHER "ZEIT FÜR UNTERNEHMER"
Uwe Jean Heuser is an Editor of “Die ZEIT,” Germany leading weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism. Uwe is the paper’s World Economic Correspondent and in addition publishes the magazine Zeit fur Unternehmer.

DR. ANNIKA
VON MUTIUS

CO-FOUNDER & CO-CEO EMPION
Dr. Annika von Mutius is the co-founder of Empion, an AI-driven automated headhunting startup, and a board member of the German AI Association. Empion has grown to 50 employees, raised €9M. Annika is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, among Capital’s Top 40 Under 40, and recognized as one of Germany’s top AI pioneers.

MARIE
FABIUNKE

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
COSMYC PARTNERS
Marie Fabiunke is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Cosmyc Partners, a consultancy for founders and investors across Europe. With a decade in the tech ecosystem, she has worked with top VCs, unicorns, and market leaders. Based in Berlin, her team spans key hubs like London and Paris.

NILOUFAR
GHARAVI

FOUNDER & SECRETARY GENERAL ENFA
Niloufar is a nomad entrepreneur and founder of Desinova Studios, pioneering Design-Driven Entrepreneurship (DDE) in startups and businesses. She began her journey at 16, funding her car racing passion through her first venture. As Founder & Secretary General of ENFA, she connects businesses to EU and regional grant funding.

ELINA
BERREBI

FOUNDING PARTNER
REVAIA
Elina Berrebi is the co-founder of Revaia, a leading sustainable growth investor supporting European companies like Aircall and Deepki from growth to IPO. Previously at Eurazeo Growth and Bpifrance, she has overseen 30+ companies. A graduate of École Polytechnique and Columbia University.

ANDREAS
GOELDI

PARTNER B2VENTURE
Andreas Goeldi is a tech investor, serial entrepreneur, and former CTO with 25+ years of experience. As a b2venture partner, he focuses on AI and software. He co-founded three tech startups, invested for 20+ years, and holds degrees from MIT and St. Gallen, plus four U.S. patents.

OLIVER
STOCK

PUBLISHER
BUSINESS PUNK
Oliver is the editor of Business Punk, he studied economics and history and knows the world of politics, startups and companies: He was a correspondent in Zurich for a long time, was “on the other side of the desk” as a spokesperson in politics and for corporations.

SOLVEIG
RATHENOW

MEMBER EDITORIAL BOARD BUSINESS INSIDER DEUTSCHLAND
Solveig Rathenow is a Member of the Editorial Board at Business Insider Germany, focusing on audience growth and strategic event direction. With a background in journalism at BILD and WELT, she also led communications at FinTech firm finleap.

SVEN
WEIZENEGGER

HEAD OF BUNDESWEHR CYBER INNOVATION HUB
Since 2020, he has led the Cyber Innovation Hub of the Bundeswehr, driving digital transformation and bridging civilian and military systems. With a background in leadership across startups and corporations, he works to strengthen the Bundeswehr’s mission.

NADINE
SCHIMROSZIK

TECH CORRESPONDENT HANDELSBLATT
Nadine Schimroszik is an experienced tech journalist who currently works for the business media outlet Handelsblatt in Berlin. She mainly covers the startup ecosystem.

SEBASTIAN
PECK

PARTNER KOMPAS VC
Sebastian Peck is a Partner at KOMPAS, an early-stage VC firm investing in technologies to cut industrial emissions and boost productivity. Backing startups from Seed to Series B, KOMPAS is deploying its second €150M fund. Previously, he worked at BCG in New York and co-founded Digital Science in London.

ANTS
VILL

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
BISLY
Ants Vill is CEO & Co-Founder of Bisyley and Estonian tech entrepreneur with deep expertise in energy and cleantech. After nine years as COO/CCO at Skeleton Technologies, he co-founded Bisly in 2018, now leading as CEO to drive energy efficiency in buildings.

FLORIAN
GONTEK

EDITOR JOB & CAREER DEPARTMENT "DER SPIEGEL"
Florian Gontek is an Editor for DER SPIEGEL. He studied political science and law in Bielefeld, Cologne, and Istanbul. He started journalism at 15, with roles at Süddeutsche Zeitung, Axel Springer, and others. Since 2020, he has been an editor at DER SPIEGEL (Job & Career, Life) and a LinkedIn Top Voice for "Arbeitswelt."

JAN HENRI
KALINOWSKI

FOUNDER CHEFTREFF
Jan Henri Kalinowski is Founder & Talent Connector. He is building Germany's largest talent event, bringing together 5,000+ attendees with top companies in business and tech.

TINA
DREIMANN

CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR BETTER VENTURES
Tina Dreimann is the founder and managing director of better ventures. Named Investor of the Year 2023, she previously served on the Young Digital Economy Advisory Board of Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs. Her mission is to scale Europe’s leading alliance for impact entrepreneurship.

MARIE-HELENE
AMETSREITER

GENERAL PARTNER SPEEDINVEST
Marie-Helene is General Partner at Speedinvest. She has played a key role in building Speedinvest for over a decade. Passionate about climate-tech and industrial-tech, she also leads the Corporate Program, connecting startups with corporates to drive lasting impact.

DENNIS
LEVIEN

PRINCIPAL PORSCHE VENTURES
Dennis Levien is a venture capital investor at Porsche Ventures focusing on early stage deep tech companies. Porsche Ventures is a global early-stage venture capital firm specializing in Industrial Tech, Energy Transition, and Mobility.

SEBASTIAN
POLLOK

FOUNDING PARTNER VISIONARIES TOMORROW
Sebastian Pollok is Founding Partner of Visionaries Tomorrow. At Visionaries Tomorrow, they invest in founders developing breakthrough technologies that redefine the backbone of our largest industries, leveraging the deep industrial access and the scaling expertise of our fund investors.

CARL - LUIS
RIEGER

MANAGING DIRECTOR
WEPA VENTURES
Carl Rieger leads WEPA Ventures, managing a portfolio of 22 direct and indirect investments with a focus on sustainability, green tech, and the circular economy. As Director of Diversification & Cooperation at WEPA’s newly established Business Unit Circular Solutions.

PAULA
CIPIERRE

DIRECTOR OF DATA
ETHICS & INNOVATION ADA
Paula Cipierre is the Director of Data Ethics & Innovation at ada. Previously the Head of Privacy & Public Policy at Palantir, she has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of data protection, data ethics, and the digital world.

MATTHIAS
AUF DER MAUER

FOUNDER JUNA.AI
Matthias founded juna.ai, creating AI agents to cut energy use in heavy industries. Previously, he built AiSight, a leading AI startup in predictive maintenance, later acquired by a Swiss sensor company. He also worked on AI and IoT at Porsche Digital Lab and in Silicon Valley.

NAZANIN
DANESHVAR

ANGEL INVESTOR & VC &
EX - ENTREPRENEUR
Nazanin Daneshvar is a pioneering Iranian internet entrepreneur and founder of Takhfifan, Iran’s leading discount & cashback platform, now set for IPO. An active angel investor, she supports the startup ecosystem, advocating for women in entrepreneurship.

FLORIAN
HILDEBRAND

CEO GREENLYTE CARBON TECHNOLOGIES
Florian Hildebrand is a German entrepreneur and business angel. With a background in engineering and corporates, he co-founded Qualifyze, scaling it to over 100 employees and 1,000 clients. In 2022, Florian co-founded Greenlyte, a combined direct air capture and hydrogen technology.

ALEXANDRA
HARTUNG

HEAD OF MEDIUM
ENTERPRISE GERMANY WORKDAY
Alexandra Hartung leads Medium Enterprise Business for Workday in Germany. She joined the company in 2016 and works in sales in the IT industry for over 15 years with a passion for value based selling and female leadership.

BETTINA
VOLKENS

CEO
GREAT2KNOW
Dr. Bettina Volkens is a passionate startup founder after a career at Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa as well as investor in startups and member of the supervisory board.

MIRIAM
MERTENS

CO - FOUNDER & CEO DEEPSKILL
She is the Co-Founder and CEO of DeepSkill, a tech-driven platform for digital people development. A board member and LinkedIn Top Voice (2023-2025), she is a thought leader in AI and human skills with an Executive MBA from Kellogg-WHU.

DR. ALEXANDRA
KOHLMANN

MANAGING DIRECTOR
ROWE GROUP
Dr. Alexandra Kohlmann leads multiple companies within the ROWE Group, she took over ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GmbH in 2024. A strong advocate for digitalization, sustainability, and modern leadership, she is an award-winning leader and former podcast host.

VERA
KNAUER

PROXY FOR STRATEGY & INVESTMENTS
Vera Knauer is an entrepreneur and investor specializing in family-run businesses and sustainability. She leads health investments at Orthomol, overseeing group strategy and the family office of the fast-growing supplement brand.

HENDRIK
BRANDIS

PARTNER & CO-CEO
EARLYBIRD
Hendrik Brandis co-founded Earlybird in 1997 and brings over 27 years of investment, operational, and entrepreneurial experience. His current domain focus is on the DeepTech vertical. Hendrik currently serves on the boards of Earlybird’s portfolio companies.

DAVID
HAHN

CEO & CO-FOUNDER REMBERG
David Hahn is Co-Founder & CEO of remberg, empowering industrial companies to eliminate downtime with AI & software. He studied Management & Technology at TU Munich, CDTM and Columbia University in New York. He was named Forbes 30 Under 30 (Manufacturing & Industry).

LEA
FRANK

CO-FOUNDER & CEO
ANYBILL
Lea Frank is the co-founder of anybill and the driving force behind the digital receipt. Alongside building her company, she earned a Master’s in Business Informatics. She represents startups on the Bitkom Retail Board and serves as State Spokesperson Bavaria for the German Startup Association.

JOSEF
SCHINDLER

CO-CEO SMART2i INTELLIGENCE
He is expert in digital businesses, internal startups, and technological innovation. Founder and managing director of several high-tech startups and carve-outs. Lecturer and speaker on disruptive innovation, startup culture, digitalization, and scaling up. Experienced business coach for executives.

JAKOB
STEIN

VICE PRESIDENT
CREANDUM
Jakob Stein is Vice President at Creandum, a EUR 500m early-stage fund with offices in London, S.F., Berlin and Stockholm. The fund invests at Seed + Series A stage and has backed companies such as Spotify, Klarna, Trade Republic or Bolt. At Creandum, Jakob is focusing on DACH and Eastern Europe and investment.

MARIE
KOBER

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
SENVO
Marie Kober is the Co-Founder & CEO of Senvo. Before founding the AI-powered logistics startup, she spent 5 years as one of DHL Express’ top account managers and later consulted leading logistics firms on carrier management. At Senvo, she now helps 3PLs and brands automate billing, audit processes, and cost allocation.

OTTO
BIRNBAUM

FOUNDING PARTNER
REVENT
I am a founding partner of Revent. We are an early stage specialist VC fund investing across Europe. We focus on technology companies in healthcare, climate and empowerment. In particular we invest in the most ambitious founders leveraging technology to address generational problems.

LEONIE
ALTHAUS

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
TRAIDE AI
Leonie leads traide AI, where she and her team have been reinventing AI-powered trade compliance since long before the hype. Their mission: to revolutionize global trade through intelligent customs classification.

JASPER
ROLL

MANAGING DIRECTOR
HAUFE GROUP VENTURES
Jasper Roll is Managing Director of Haufe Group Ventures GmbH and develops new business models in the corporate service sector with his team. As an investor in early-stage B2B SaaS start-ups, he brings over ten years of experience from scale-ups such as audibene and Dreamlines.

STEFAN
RÖBEL

CO-FOUNDER & COO
ARX ROBOTICS
Ex-German Army Officer, 20y Leadership Experience, 12y e-commerce and start up

FLORIAN
NÖLL

GLOBAL VENTURING & EMEA STARTUPS, SCALEUPS LEADER
PWC GERMANY
Florian Nöll is a renowned entrepreneur and leader in innovation ecosystems, heading PwC's EMEA Startups, Scaleups, and Venturing initiatives. His expertise in fostering corporate-startup collaborations and guiding venture capital investments has propelled innovative partnerships across Europe.

NATHAN
GRUBER

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
DATAGON AI
Nathan has a computer science background from TUM. While working at BMW, he realized, that most of the steering and optimization around the production was still done by hand. With Manex AI, he wanted to change this and systematically close all optimization loops with the power of AI.

JANINA
MÖLLMANN

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
GAIA LAW
Founder and CEO of GAIA. Lawyer by background with 7 years of experience. Turned into tech-founder and building a legal management software.

CAROLINE
VON LINSINGEN

HEAD OF IPO & GROWTH FINANCING
DEUTSCHE BÖRSE
Caroline von Linsingen, economist by training, began her career at Deutsche Börse in capital market regulation before spending seven years in cash equity trading in London. In 2023, she took charge of the Börsenplatz in Frankfurt.

MAXIMILIAN
SACHSE

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

PHILIPP
HÜNING

CEO & CO-FOUNDER
LOGISTIKBUDE
Born and raised in the Ruhr area, I was fascinated by logistics and entrepreneurship from an early age. Consequently, I studied logistics with a final thesis at IKEA, an internship abroad in Finland and a job as a student assistant at Fraunhofer IML.

MONA
FEDER

CO-FOUNDER & CPO
DOINSTRUCT SOFTWARE
Mona Feder is an experienced entrepreneur and currently Co-Founder & CPO at doinstruct. Previously, she co-founded tokenstreet, where she launched an investment app enabling private investors to access VC and private equity funds, in partnership with Earlybird and IQ Capital.

LISA
GRADOW

FOUNDER & CEO
FIDES TECHNOLOGY
Lisa Gradow is the Founder and CEO of Fides, a governance software company helping businesses digitize and automate legal processes. She also invests in software startups through her firm LionCorn Capital. Previously, she co-founded Usercentrics, a leading consent management platform.

EVA VALENTINA
KEMPF

SHAREHOLDER & CEO
HENKELHAUSEN HOLDING
Eva Valentina Kempf is Managing Partner of the HENKELHAUSEN Group, the specialist for modern drive and energy technology. Before joining the family business as the second generation in 2019, she worked for several years at the management consultancy Capgemini in the field of strategy and digitalisation.

EDDA
BECKER

HEAD OF VENTURE CLIENTING
FIELMANN GROUP AG
Edda is responsible for Venture Clienting at Fielmann, where she integrates innovative solutions and pioneering technologies into the business processes of the optician, hearing aid and eye care provider through targeted collaborations with start-ups.

JOCHEN
ZIERVOGEL

CO-FOUNDER
ENPAL
Jochen, Co-founder of Enpal, originally wanted to work at a bank. At Goldman Sachs in London, EY, and Deutsche Bank, he gained firsthand experience of how the financial market operates. He eventually ended up at BMW Financial Services, where he realized that a tangible product—something you can see and touch—excited him far more than banking.

FRANZISKA
WÖRTHMÜLLER

FOUNDER & CEO
CHAGOS
As Co-Founder of CHAGOS, she helps real estate developers and asset managers choose sustainable, cost-neutral materials and simulate CO₂ impacts. Before starting CHAGOS in 2021, she spent 8 years in strategy consulting, leading high-impact mobility projects.

CHRISTOPH
HAß

CEO
POSSEHL DIGITAL
As Managing Director at Possehl Digital Tech, I support companies in scaling by creating synergies and knowledge transfer from and to the Possehl Group and across industries in the DACH region. I also support established companies in transforming their business with a focus on digitalisation.

FLORIAN
RÜHL

FOUNDER & BOARD MEMBER
SIMPLIFLIER AG

DR. JOACHIM
BRENK

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
L. POSSEHL & CO. mbH

MEIKE
NEITZ

FOUNDER & MD
EMBASSIDY
Meike Neitz is a startup supporter and experienced event moderator based in Cologne and Windhoek. Previously, she led Trend & Innovation Scouting at Germany Trade & Invest and served as a Digital Ambassador for GIZ in Namibia.

JOHANNES
VELLING

Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Industrie, Klimaschutz und Energie des Landes NRW

THOMAS
PAULUS

GLOBAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER
KSB SE & KGAA

CHÉRINE
DE BRUIJN

FOUNDER & CEO
CORPORATE KITCHEN
GmbH & Co. KG
With 16+ years in leadership, Chérine is a founder, former managing director, and spokesperson. Through CORPORATE KITCHEN, her podcast MUT ZUR PERSÖNLICHKEIT, and her work as speaker and moderator, she empowers people to lead with presence and courage.

FRIDTJOF
DETZNER

CO-FOUNDER & GENERAL PARTNER
PLANET A VENTURES
Fridtjof Detzner is a serial founder and impact investor. He founded Jimdo at the age of 16 and taught himself entrepreneurship. A journey fundamentally changed his life and led him to his current role. Despite many stations, his common thread remains: solving the pressing problems of our time.

ALEXANDER
PRAMS

CO-FOUNDER & CTO
KERTOS
Alexander Prams is co-founder and CTO of Kertos, the leading platform for automated data protection and information security. Having started programming at the age of 11, he gained early entrepreneurial experience with his own apps and ran an AI consultancy before Kertos.

CHRISTIAN
VOLLMANN

CEO
C1 GREEN CHEMICALS
Christian Vollmann is co-founder of C1, a company that is reinventing green methanol to defossilize three hard-to-deplete sectors: Shipping, aviation and chemical production. He has built three successful digital companies (MyVideo, eDarling & nebenan.de) and invested in more than 100 start-ups as a business angel.

SEBASTIAN
SCHALL

CFO BLACK
SEMICONDUCTOR
Sebastian is an entrepreneur with proven experience in scaling sales teams and building business processes to create revenue. Since 2020, he is applying his business experience to scale Black Semiconductor to Europe's next tech giant.

JAN
MARQUARDT

CEO
ZIVE
He is a serial tech entrepreneur, passionate about tech, with a proven track record of creating success from nothing. After self-taught coding at home to growing and exiting startups as well as later-stage scale-ups he is now back to building again.

SVEN
MULDER

MANAGING DIRECTOR
SAP
As Managing Director of SAP Germany since 2022, Sven Mulder leads sales, operations, and strategy in one of SAP’s key markets. He joined SAP in 2019 and has held several leadership roles, most recently as SVP for strategic customers in Central and Eastern Europe.

BRIGITTE
MOHN

MEMBER OF 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.

STEPHAN
SEGBERS

CHIEF SALES &
COMMERCIAL OFFICER RHEINENERGIE AG
He combines deep expertise with a strong sense for future energy trends and technologies. Driving the energy business forward, he balances innovation with impact, always keeping people at the center. His mission: Sensing future, transforming markets, and empowering people – fast-forwarding the energy transition.

GORDON
REPINSKI

EXECUTIVE EDITOR
POLITICO GERMANY
Gordon Repinski is Executive Editor at POLITICO Germany, founder of the Berlin Playbook newsletter and podcast, and a leading voice in German political journalism. A former correspondent for Der Spiegel and editor at The Pioneer, he’s an award-winning journalist recognized for his transatlantic reporting.

HENRIK
HERR

HEAD OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT GERMANY ROTHSCHILD & CO
As a seasoned Wealth Mangement leader, I help entrepreneurs create lasting Financial impact beyond their ventures. On a personal Level, I am passionate about startups, as I believe they play a vital role in sharing a better world. I‘ll Share what entrepreneurs typically seek after an exit-and how to approach Wealth & purpose.

BJÖRN
HOBUSCH

HEAD OF OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
NAGEL-GROUP LOGISTICS SE
As Head of Operational Excellence, Björn Hobusch is the go-to expert for operational efficiency in food logistics. With a strong focus on customer service and loading equipment management, he drives smart processes and innovative solutions at the Nagel-Group.

FRAUKE
HOLZMEIER

HEAD OF BUSINESS NEWS
RTL & NTV
Frauke Holzmeier is Head of the Business Desk at RTL NEWS, where she leads economic and financial reporting for ntv and RTL. She has been part of ntv’s business editorial team since 2010 and took on leadership of the business authors' team in 2023.

ANJA
MÜLLER

CORRESPONDENT FAMILY BUSINESSES
HANDELSBLATT MEDIA
GROUP
Family entrepreneurs are currently facing a particular challenge - especially if they want to run their own business and enable their children to do the same. What do they think about climate protection, armaments, the USA and China and the resilience of their own business model?

ELISABETH
L'ORANGE

HOST TECH & TALES
AI Specialist

PHILIPP
HERRMANN

FOUNDER & CEO BRYCK
Philipp's mission is to help entrepreneurs start and scale their ventures. He built his first company with that mission in Berlin - etventure, which he sold to EY. Now he's building the next startup platform in the Ruhr Area: BRYCK – aspiring to become one of the few selected Startup Factories of Startup Germany.

GESA
MICZAIKA

GENERAL PARTNER AUXXO FEMALE CATALYST FUND
Gesa is one of the founders of the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, a venture capital firm co-investing into startups with at least one female founder in Europe. She co-founded the Evangelistas, a network of female business angels with more than 350 members in Europe and is a founding member of EncourageVentures e.V.

LENA
WALTLE

EDITOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Editor and podcast host in the science and technology department of the NZZ. Before that, she was responsible for the ‘Tech Briefing’ of the Berlin media start-up ‘The Pioneer’ as a podcast host and author.

JENNIFER
KAISER-STEINER

HEAD OF LEARNING & EXCHANGE CENTER UNTERNEHMERTUM
Jennifer Kaiser-Steiner heads the Learning & Exchange Center at UnternehmerTUM, Europe’s largest center for entrepreneurship. In this role, she helps professionalize startup ecosystems across Europe. Prior to this, she served as a personal advisor to a member of the German Bundestag.

SOPHIA
TRAN

FOUNDER & CEO SPOTLIGHT!
Sophia is entrepreneur and founder and ceo of Spotlight! and Spotlight! Ventures. with a focus on innovation, startups, and digital transformation. She connects stakeholders from business, tech, and policy - on stage and beyond.

ARON
KIRSCHEN

CEO SEMRON
Aron Kirschen is the Co-Founder of SEMRON with a background in industrial engineering and mathematics from TU Dresden. He is convinced that technological progress requires a stable societal framework in the long run.

VEIT
BRUCKER

GM DACH & SOUTH EUROPE ASANA
Veit Brücker is the GM of DACH & SOUTH Europe at Asana (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) region. With over 15 years of experience in sales and marketing leadership roles at companies including Salesforce, Zuora, Snowflake, Siemens, and Oracle, Brücker leads Asana's business and drives growth in the region.

RAINER
BUEHNE

ABUS SHAREHOLDER & CEO OF KERAVONOS
Rainer Buhne is a Board Member of ABUS a leading manufacturer of indoor crane systems & the CEO of Keravonos, a digital transformation consultancy

THORSTEN
GIERSCH

CHIEF EDITOR MARKT UND MITTELSTAND
Journalist, podcast host & presenter. Editor-in-chief of Markt und Mittelstand, Germany's third-largest business magazine.

HAJO
KRÖSCHE

PARTNER ALTOR EQUITY PARTNERS
Hajo Krösche from the Swedish private equity fund Altor is the right person to talk to when it comes to supporting medium-sized companies in their transformation. Altor often invests in partnership with founders in companies that redefine their industry as ‘challengers & changemakers’, primarily through green and digital transformation processes.

FLORIAN
HUBER

CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER EWOR
A Berlin-based founder, entrepreneur, and startup investor, Florian founded united-domains, acquired by the 1&1 Group in 2015, and neubau kompass, Germany's leading real estate marketplace for new residential developments. As an early-stage investor, he holds stakes in 50 tech startups.

ALEXANDER
GRAF

CO-FOUNDER & CO-CEO SPRYKER SYSTEMS GMBH
Alexander Graf is a passionate e-commerce entrepreneur, serial founder and retail and digital expert. As CEO of Spryker, a software company for digital commerce, he is shaping the disruption of transactional business of all kinds.

FARINA
SCHURZFELD

FOUNDER & CEO
ANDROBIN
Farina Schurzfeld is a serial entrepreneur and digital health expert. She co-founded Selfapy, launched Groupon in Australia, and scaled Airtasker globally. Today, she leads AndRobin – an operational growth squad helping startups scale smarter. She was named one of Forbes' 30 under 30 and 25 Women Shaping Sustainability.

ROMY
SCHNELLE

MANAGING DIRECTOR
HIGH-TECH
GRÜNDERFONDS
Romy Schnelle is Managing Director of HTGF. She is responsible for the Industrial, Climate and Deep Tech sector. She started her career at Fraunhofer IDMT. Together with mp3 inventor Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg she founded the Fraunhofer spin-off IOSONO, now Barco Technologies.

CHRISTIAN
SCHMIERER

CEO HYIMPULSE TECHNOLOGIES
With a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Christian spent years at the German Aerospace Center focusing on rocket systems, lunar landers, and launch vehicles. Now, as CEO of HyImpulse, he’s leading the mission to develop a smallsat launch vehicle and make access to space more affordable.

NATALIE
KREINDLINA

CONSULTANT KEKST CNC
Natalie Kreindlina is a consultant at the global communications consultancy Kekst CNC. She supports tech companies, start-ups and corporations in strategic positioning, change processes and crisis situations. Previously, she helped shape digital transformation processes at IBM.

ULAS
TÜRKMEN

CTO SENVO
Ulaş Türkmen is co-founder and CTO of Senvo. Ulaş is an experienced CTO, software developer, and AI practitioner with an academic background in engineering. After completing a PhD in cognitive science, Ulaş worked in various backend and ops engineering roles with a primary focus on high-performance data-driven systems.

TORSTEN ROLF
BENDLIN

CEO VALUEDESK
Torsten R. Bendlin is CEO and co-founder of Valuedesk GmbH. He was previously CPO at Nolte SE. His career from Head of Purchasing to start-up founder is an example of successful personal transformation. He has international study experience, including in St. Gallen, Washington, Hong Kong and Stanford.

ANTONIA
GÖTSCH

CHEFREDAKTEURIN
HARVARD BUSINESS
MANAGER
Antonia Götsch is editor-in-chief of Harvard Business manager, a trained coach and has worked in various management positions for over 15 years. She is passionate about leadership and management topics and writes the newsletter Lead Forward.

PETRA
GESSNER

CHEFREDAKTEURIN
WIR - DAS MAGAZIN FÜR UNTERNEHMERFAMILIEN
She is a Journalist and economist, specialized in succession and governance in entrepreneurial families and family businesses

LUCA
CARACCIOLO

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
YEEBASE MEDIA
Luca ist 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 is a Tech Journalist for over 15 years.

JAN
THOMAS

CEO & FOUNDER
STARTUP INSIDER
Jan Thomas is the founder and CEO of Startup Insider, the leading platform for the startup ecosystem in the DACH region. Through podcasts, events, and news, he connects founders, investors, and corporates. Previously, he was the publisher of Berlin Valley and The Hundert, and organized several startup event series.

FRANCESCA
SEIDENSTICKER

CO-LEAD
THE TRAILBLAZERS
Francesca Seidensticker is Co-Lead at The Trailblazers, one of the top 3 communications consultancies in Germany, which was only founded in 2020. Handelsblatt calls The Trailblazers the “most hyped communications agency for transformation and change”.

STAN
BOLAND

ANGEL INVESTOR
I'm a serial founder and company builder. I've raised around $330M and built businesses I've sold for about $1.3 billion, two of which were chip companies bought by Broadcom and NVIDIA, one was an AI company bought by Bosch. I'm now angel investing in young ambitious deep tech founders.

JAN
HANSEN

CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER
FINN GMBH
Company cars and personal mobility are essential components of corporate success for many companies, but they involve a lot of effort. I'm motivated every day by the ambition and dedication our team puts into simplifying work, making fleets more efficient.

RENE
KLEIN

CEO
FÜR-GRÜNDER.DE
We are helping people to start the business!

PHILLIP
KLÖCKNER

TECH-ANALYST & INVESTOR
DOPPELGÄNGER PODCAST

ULRICH
SCHMITT

PARTNER HTGF
Ulrich is partner at HTGF, focusing on digital technologies. Prior to joining the HTGF team, he was a management consultant and supported software and financial services companies in strategy, business unit and organizational development. Ulrich studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

FLORIAN
WEYAND

JOURNALIST
WIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE
I have been working as an investigative reporter for WirtschaftsWoche since 2023. Most recently, I reported from Ukraine, among other places. In addition to the shadowy world of business, I also cover start-ups such as Circus and German SMEs.

ALENA
KUHLMEIER

CHAIRWOMAN
TEUTOSEED CLUB
Alena Kuhlmeier is a Business Angel and Investment Manager from Ostwestfalen-Lippe. As Chairwoman of Teuto Seed Club, she promotes entrepreneurship and business angel activities while supporting startups with expertise, network, and capital. At Bertelsmann Investments, she gained international experience.

JAN
SESSENHAUSEN

GENERAL PARTNER CUSP CAPITAL
I am a General Partner and Co-Founder of Cusp Capital, investing in early stage software and technology companies with initial investments of 2 - 10m EUR. I have a background in Computer Science, working in the IT industry and consulting for 7 years before becoming a full-time investor 16 years ago.

ANDRÉ
CHRIST

CO-FOUNDER & GENERAL MANAGER 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.

DANIEL
KRAUSS

CIO & CO-FOUNDER
FLIX SE

JENS
FIEGE

CO-CEO FIEGE LOGISTIK

DEEPA
GAUTAM-NIGGE

VP CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENTS SAP
 

MAX
WITTROCK

CO-FOUNDER ZEROLABS

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