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SPEAKER

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.Get ready to hear from 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 2026 a year to remember!

HALL OF FAME
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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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

LAURA
SCHROEDER

MANAGING DIRECTOR,
PRIVATE EQUITY
KKR
Laura Schroeder is Managing Director at KKR and a member of the European Private Equity team. She advises in digitalization to cloud hosting provider Contabo and the IT service providers Datagroup and Techone. Laura is founding member of Level 20 Germany, an NGO dedicated to improving gender diversity in the European private equity industry.

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.

THOMAS
RABE

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
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.

FLORIAN
NÖLL

GLOBAL VENTURING & EMEA STARTUPS, SCALEUPS LEADER
PWC GERMANY
Florian Nöll is an innovation ecosystem expert who connects startups, corporations, and investors. At PwC he leads venturing and startup initiatives and drives corporate–startup collaboration, scaleup growth, and new business models. Earlier, he founded the German Startups Association, with more than 1,000 members from 30 technology sectors.

HALL OF FAME SPEAKER

Frank Seidensticker

Managing Director @ Seidensticker

Philipp
Klöckner

Investor, Advisor, Podcast host

ANDREAS SENNHEISER

CEO @ SENNHEISER ELECTRONIC

MIRIAM
MECKEL

CO-FOUNDER & CEO @ ADA LEARNING

DR. ALBERT CHRISTMANN

CEO
@ Dr. Oetker

ALEXANDER
SIXT

CEO
@ Sixt

MARKUS
MIELE

Ex. Director & CEO
@ Miele

LARS
KLINGBEIL

Party Chairman
@ SPD

GÜLSAH
WILKE

Partner/Head of German Office @ DN Capital

MARKUS
PFLITSCH

CEO, Chairman & Founder @ Terra Quantum AG

JAN-HENDRIK
GOLDBECK

Managing Director
@ Goldbeck

CARSTEN
SALLING

General Partner
@ Dreamcraft Ventures

FRANK
THELEN

Founder & CEO
@ Freigeist Capital

CAL
HENDERSON

Co-Founder & 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

Member of the Management Board
@ Deutsche Bank

YVONNE
BEISTER

DIRECTOR @ AXEL SPRINGER

ANGELIKA
GIFFORD

Vice President EMEA
@ Meta

Philipp
Gattner

CEO @ REBUY

DANIEL
KHACHAB

Co-Founder & CEO
@ Choco

Daniel
Metzler

CEO
@ Isar Aerospace

MAXIMILIAN
VIESSMANN

CDO @ VIESSMANN

BENEDIKT
BÖSEL

Farmer & Managing Director
@ Gut und Bösel

SEE OUR SPEAKERS FROM LAST YEAR