Lara Sophie Bothur

Global Tech Influencer on LinkedIn & former Deloitte

Lara Sophie Bothur is one of the most influential Tech Influencers worldwide and a globally recognized Tech Translator who bridges cutting-edge technology and everyday understanding. With a background in psychology and digital transformation, she runs the largest personal LinkedIn account in the DACH region and reaches over 400 million impressions per year, shaping how technology influences society, business, and culture.

She became known for making complex technologies—AI, robotics, digital healthcare, future manufacturing—human, relatable, and inspiring. Her storytelling approach turns innovation into everyday moments, like introducing her 101-year-old grandfather to car sharing, and led to the role of Tech Translator, connecting technical progress with real human meaning.

Lara works with organizations like AWS, Google, Meta, SAP, NVIDIA, and Siemens to build influential executive voices, craft impactful narratives, and communicate responsible innovation. She has spoken and moderated at Web Summit, CES, and SXSW, empowering leaders to understand emerging tech and communicate it with clarity, confidence, and purpose. Driven by the belief that technology is only progress when people can understand and use it, she is dedicated to making innovation accessible to all, especially future generations.

Valeska Schneider

Professional Surfer & Founder of RIVVER

Valeska is one of Germany’s few professional surfers. She started at 20 and is now German Vice Champion and founder of the surfboard brand RIVVER. Highlights include German Champion Rapid Surfing 2022, Rapid Surf League Champion 2023, four-time German University Champion, and appearances with the German national team at the ISA World Surfing Games.

With 51k+ followers and brand work with DKB, NIO, Rip Curl, Allianz, and Barebells, she blends sport and entrepreneurship. At RIVVER, together with shaper Luis Carvalho, she builds custom and standard boards for ocean and wave pools.

On stage she speaks about self-leadership, resilience, and turning fear into progress, and mentors in surf-inspired workshops and retreats.

Quinten Selhorst

Partner @EWOR | Co-Founder & ex-CEO of felyx [Exit]

Quinten Selhorst was co-founder and former CEO of felyx, the market leader in shared e-mobility in the Benelux, which he scaled to millions in revenue, hundreds of employees, and operations across multiple countries. After exiting felyx, Quinten became full time partner at EWOR, co-founded Dutch Operator Fund and set up his multi family office together with his friend where they invest in early stage venture, real estate and private debt.

Christian Fenner

Co- Founder & CMO of nucao 

Christian Fenner is Co-Founder and CMO at the challenger chocolate brand nucao. His passion for storytelling, communication, and branding has propelled the chocolate start-up from zero to 100 to become one of the top sustainability brands in Germany. Before joining nucao, the “Forbes 30 under 30” entrepreneur earned a Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from RWTH Aachen University and worked briefly in the automotive industry. In 2016, he joined nucao’s mission to create sustainable chocolate with a maximum positive impact on the planet.

Fynn Kliemann

CEO of Kliemannsland & ODERSO

Fynn Kliemann is an entrepreneur, inventor, and hands-on maker with a strong focus on DIY culture, prototyping, and rapid execution. His work sits at the intersection of craftsmanship, technology, media, and entrepreneurship—always driven by the belief that you need to truly understand things yourself before scaling them.

He became known through his own build-and-explain formats, from which several startups, products, and business models emerged. Instead of following classic startup logic, Kliemann relies on “building through understanding”: ideas are broken down, simplified, and turned into working prototypes—often with minimal resources, small teams, and high speed. Whether physical products, media formats, or new ways of working, execution beats planning.

Through projects centered around workshops, production facilities, and innovation spaces, he has shown how curiosity can turn into functioning businesses. Responsibility, in his view, cannot be delegated—core processes must be understood in order to ensure quality, credibility, and continuous development.

Kliemann’s approach combines childlike curiosity with entrepreneurial commitment: trying things out, failing, rebuilding. Economic success is not an end in itself, but the result of enthusiasm, personal responsibility, and radical making. 

Waldemar Zeiler

Founder of Ding Dong Ping Pong, einhorn & zweihorn 

Waldemar Zeiler is an unrelenting world changer, father, entrepreneur, activist, speaker, aspiring actor, and author. He is the founder of Ding Dong Ping Pong, a community-driven ping pong brand, and einhorn, a company known for its eco-friendly, ethical condoms and period products. einhorn is committed to sustainability, social responsibility, transparent supply chains, and new ways of working. Waldemar is also the founder of zweihorn, an initiative focused on redefining business through positive impact.

Fabian Eckert

Founder RECUP

Every revolution starts with a spark.  

In Fabian Eckert’s case, overflowing garbage cans and towers of paper cups were the spark that ignited the idea for a deposit system for coffee cups and thus became the starting signal for RECUP’s packaging revolution.  

A lot has happened since Fabian founded RECUP together with Florian Pachaly in September 2016: In November 2016, they launched their pilot project in Rosenheim and showed that reusable packaging works in the food service industry! With over eight years of experience in setting up and expanding the RECUP reusable system, now with over 20,000 catering partners and market entry in Austria, Fabian is Managing Director of the market-leading provider of reusable containers in the catering industry. In 2021, he was recognized as a LinkedIn Changemaker and received the Bavarian Environmental Medal.   

Before RECUP, Fabian studied Business Psychology (University of Applied Management) and Leadership for Sustainability at Malmö University. He was born on 15.10.89 in Munich.

vivien KArl

CEO & Co-Founder of DR. VIVIEN KARL

Dr. Vivien Karl is a licensed pharmacist and holds a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences. She studied pharmacy in Bonn and completed her doctorate in theoretical medicine. After several years working in a pharmacy, she saw first-hand how many women’s questions and needs were tied to shame. In 2021, while finishing her PhD, she founded her own company to develop modern, science-based intimate care products. Today she co-leads the company with Julia Huhnholz and has received multiple awards for her work and her contribution to women’s health. Based in Berlin, her team sells their premium products through their own online shop and in pharmacies across Germany.

Viola Weller

Founder of VLACE

Viola Weller founded VLACE, a sustainable sneaker brand that transforms fruit waste into high-quality vegan footwear. She holds a Master’s degree in International Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Through international work experience in New York City, London and Copenhagen at consulting firms, as well as roles at Daimler, SAP, she developed a deep understanding of global markets, consumer behavior and digital brand building.

In 2023 she founded VLACE with the mission to challenge the ethical and environmental problems of the global shoe industry. Her brand creates sneakers from innovative plant-based materials such as orange, apple, grape and corn waste, handcrafted in Portugal through 50 individual production steps. She aims to prove that fashion can be both aesthetically elevated and responsibly produced.

Viola’s journey is driven by a commitment to sustainability, fairness and innovation. With her academic background, international experience and entrepreneurial work, she represents a new generation of founders building purpose-driven European brands with global potential.

Klaus Müller

Co-Founder and CEO Wictory.ai

Klaus is a former Google manager and serial entrepreneur with a career spanning digital transformation, disruptive innovation, and go-to-market strategy. He spent the first half of his professional journey in senior leadership roles at global companies including Google, T-Mobile, and Hutchison Whampoa, where he built deep operational and strategic expertise while experiencing the limits of traditional corporate environments.
Since 2015, Klaus has been a full-time entrepreneur. He has built and scaled multiple startups, raising close to €20 million across 5+ funding rounds from leading international growth investors and Business Angels, and achieved a personal exit in the data and marketing technology sector in late 2023.
He is currently fully focused on his latest venture, Wictory.ai, a startup at the intersection of SportsTech and HealthTech. Wictory.ai develops agentic AI that integrates data from wearables, glucose sensors, blood biomarkers, and other sources to deliver hyper-personalized performance insights. Together with elite coaches and athletes across multiple sports, Klaus and his team combine cutting-edge sports science with AI-driven intelligence to enable smarter, individualized training and recovery decisions.

Marie-Helene Ametsreiter

General Partner at Speedinvest

Marie-Hélène Ametsreiter is a General Partner at Speedinvest, where she has helped shape the firm’s success for over a decade. Focused on climate tech and industrial tech investments, she has long championed collaboration between startups and corporates.

Marie-Hélène leads the Speedinvest Corporate Program, fostering partnerships that accelerate revenue and market access for portfolio companies. She supports founders with go-to-market strategies and advises corporate leaders on innovation, connecting them with the Speedinvest ecosystem.

Prior to joining Speedinvest, Marie-Hélène served as the CEO of a mobile telecom operator and was responsible for global sustainability and ESG initiatives at OMV, a major oil and gas corporation. She currently serves as NED of RHIM, a FTSE 250 Industrial company, as NED of ERSTE BANK, and as a member of the investment board of STRABAG. 

Outside of the office, Marie-Hélène enjoys spending time with her family, spending time in the mountains, exploring the world, and keeping up with the latest in politics.

SophiE Engelhart

TIKTOK

TikTok
Sophie develops holistic advertising strategies for enterprise clients in the DACH market. Beyond classic full-funnel approaches, she integrates creator marketing, TikTok Shop, and livestreaming into platform-native go-to-market plans. She works closely with leadership teams and cross-functional partners to maximize brand performance, reach, and growth.

Ski
With more than ten years in ski racing and coaching, she builds communities that are authentic and well structured. She was named Sports Promoter of the Year and built Germany’s largest digital ski club community. Her mindset comes from competitive sports: focus, drive, team spirit.

Women ERG
As Co-Lead of the TikTok Germany Women ERG and founder of WegotBusiness, she creates spaces for exchange, networking, and mentorship. The goal is to make women in tech more visible, strengthen them, and grow together. Community building with impact and heart.

Sander van de Rijdt

Co-CEO and Co-Founder of PlanRadar GmbH

Sander is responsible for the corporate and growth strategy at PlanRadar, and the Finance, HR, Legal and Operations departments report to him. Prior to PlanRadar, Sander founded five other IT companies with operations in Europe, the U.S., the Middle East and Central Asia and guided them from concepts to growth companies by leveraging his international experience as a business consultant.

Sophia Rödiger

1KOMMA5GRAD

Sophia Rödiger is the Chief Marketing Officer at 1KOMMA5°, a clean-energy unicorn and technology platform for carbon-neutral power, heat, and mobility. Trained as a business psychologist and author, she has spent 15 years shaping innovation in the digital energy and mobility space. Most recently she founded and served as CEO of bloXmove, a blockchain technology company that emerged after a management buyout with Mercedes-Benz. Her career began at Mercedes-Benz in various management roles focused on startup investment and digital transformation.

Sophia previously served on the bitkom board and is an international keynote speaker. She is deeply committed to digital education and hosts podcast formats on the topic, including the current NEW ENERGY TALKS.

Susanne Lederer-Pabst

Founder & CEO Dragonfly Finance

Susanne is the founder and CEO of the company Dragonfly Finance. Susanne’s vision as an entrepreneur is to connect separate worlds in order to help shape a new society. Raising awareness is her heartfelt mission. In this way, all aspects of her life—from finance to meditation—merge into her work.Her professional journey has led the financial analyst and court-certified expert (in banking and stock markets) from fund management to entrepreneurship. With a PhD in economics and philosophy, she is deeply committed to sustainable investing and responsible business practices. She is a member of the CFA Society and the VAIÖ in Austria. Additionally, she contributes guest commentaries to financial media and is actively engaged as a lecturer.

Dr. Susanne Lederer-Pabst is founder and CEO of Dragonfly Finance. Her vision is to help shape a sustainable economy. Knowledge transfer on ESG & SRI as well as investment structuring and placement activities are on her daily agenda. She focuses on responsible investing out of deep conviction, as a society-nurturing economy needs funding. Keywords: energy transition, social infrastructure, education. Susanne has over 20 years of investment experience, including board and investment committee positions.

Bertram Lutz

Head of GTM Innovation

Bertram is an expert in all things Startups, Go to Market & Scaling with AI & Automation.
Starting his career at the Munich based Decacorn, Celonis as one of the first employees he gathered extensive experience in scaling processes and expanding into new markets. Bertram built up the Go to Market in APAC before founding the Celonis UK Office in London. When Celonis acquired Make, he switched over to create sales led Go to Market from scratch. Now, Bertram is running the Make Startup Program, where Make is supporting the next generation of Startups to build and scale their business with Make’s AI Agent and Workflow Automation Platform.

Ludek Slouka

Director, Digital Products & Solutions, Mastercard

Ludek Slouka has been active in the payments and telecommunications industries for more than two decades. From 2005 to 2014, he worked as a Product Manager in the telecommunications sector, overseeing the development and launch of innovative services.

Since 2014, Ludek has been part of Mastercard Europe, where he serves as Director of Product Management. In this role, he is responsible for driving the digital payments agenda across the Central European region, shaping product strategy and leading initiatives that advance secure, seamless, and innovative payment experiences.

Bijan Soltani

Founder @ Gemma Analytics

Founder @ Gemma Analytics.
Data Engineer at heart.

I’ve been working in data for almost ten years – as head of BI at start-ups, as freelancer, and since 2020 as founder of Gemma Analytics. With more than 70 projects under my belt, I’ve made every mistake so you don’t have to.

Feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk about data or AI, and especially if you want to talk about using AI for data analytics!

Svenja Lassen

Female Investors Network

Svenja Lassen is Head of Startup Services at Startup City Hamburg. In 2020, she founded the Female Investors Network (FIN) as a hub for active and aspiring female business angels throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Her goal is to sustainably increase the proportion of women in the startup investment scene. To this end, she launched the FIN Academy in 2022, an online program for training female investors, which has already been completed by over 230 women.

Dorothea von Griessenbeck

Startup Consultant @Startup.Tirol

Startup Consultant @STARTUP.TIROL supporting (early-stage) startups in scaling innovative business models, developing the right funding strategy, and achieving sustainable growth. Co-Founder & CEO of a cutting-edge AI platform designed to secure tacit knowledge and empower future leaders. Holds an EMBA in Innovation and Business Creation (TU Munich) and brings extensive experience as a Senior Design and Innovation Manager in the B2B sector, with a proven track record on an international stage. Known for combining strategic vision with hands-on expertise to drive impactful results.

Birgit Ströbel

Ströbel Business Empowerment

Birgit Ströbel is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and mentor with around 30 years of experience building, scaling and transforming companies. She co-founded successful ventures such as ImmobilienScout24, holidayInsider, Design Offices and FoundersFightClub, and brings hands-on expertise from building and restructuring organizations and teams of up to 500 employees.

Since many years I work as a strategic sparring partner for business owners, supporting mid-sized companies in making their business models and organizations future-proof. As an AI Transformation Architect, I also help organizations roll out AI in a structured way, from strategic framing to implementation.

In the startup ecosystem, I am particularly committed to support female founders. I am active in various advisory and board roles and share my entrepreneurial experience as a business angel. At SKINNOVATION, I help founders sharpen their pitches and I am available on-site as an investor for questions, feedback and honest sparring.

Looking for a clear outside perspective on your pitch, strategy or next steps?
Feel free to reach out.

James Langer

James Langer Coaching & Consulting

James Langer is a founder, communications coach, and event moderator & host with deep roots in the startup world. He built, scaled, and exited his own EdTech company, and later served as Head of Business Development at a SaaS startup, before moving into coaching, where he now helps founders and leaders communicate with clarity, confidence, and real impact. Having lived across multiple countries and cultures, James brings a genuinely global perspective that shapes how he understands people and connects with audiences.

His coaching background shapes everything about his presence on stage. James doesn’t just move an event forward – he elevates it. He’s known for creating atmosphere, bringing the right energy at the right moments, and making complex ideas feel accessible and engaging. His style mixes high energy with real warmth, delivered through a structured, founder-first lens.

As a coach, James works with founders, teams, and leaders to refine their stories, strengthen their delivery, and elevate how they show up in high-stakes moments – from pitches to strategic presentations to major internal meetings. That training gives him a stage presence that feels sharp, human, and deeply connected to how founders think.

At Skinnovation, James brings both worlds together: the energy and vibe of someone who genuinely loves hosting, and the depth of someone who spends his days helping people communicate at their best. The result is an MC who brings clarity, flow, and founder-first understanding to every moment on stage.

Anne Bley

Event Host & Moderator

Anne Bley is a freelance presenter and multimedia creator working on international stages such as the World University Games, the Alpen Film Festival, and events for WWF. Trained as a journalist and sports teacher, she blends storytelling and movement in her work. Anne believes in genuine connection, meeting people on equal footing, and creating spaces defined by respect, collaboration, and positive energy — choosing projects that truly matter to her and the people involved.

Rebekka Bogner

Event Host, Moderator & Innovation Consultant

Rebekka Bogner is a moderator full of energy, ease, and genuine enthusiasm. She loves connecting people and ideas and brings an engaging and dynamic presence to every stage.
She’s experienced with the worlds of startups, innovation, and consulting, with work stations in international innovation hubs like Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley. Passionate about the future, creativity, and new ideas, she makes complex topics relatable, accessible, and inspiring.
Rebekka sees herself as a host, creating spaces where real connections happen and turning events into something memorable — never just the usual. She loves the mountains, and also likes to pursue out of the box ideas for fun – she once even wrote a mountain-themed Schlager song and performed it at the Oktoberfest.

Flo Akinbiyi

Speaker & Coach

International Presenter, TEDx Speaker and Communication Coach. Flo hosts corporate events, conferences, panel discussions, fireside chats and virtual formats. He has shared stages with Michelle Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robin Sharma and Michael J. Fox and interviewed industry experts. As a communication coach he works with government entities, high level executives and leaders of international Fortune 500 corporations.

Fabio Nalucci

Founder & CEO of FNDX

Fabio Nalucci, Founder & CEO of FNDX, has over 20 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, he has founded and scaled several innovative companies, achieving numerous successful exits.

Among them, i4C, acquired by Accenture and later transformed into Accenture Analytics, where he led European operations, coordinating a global team of around 7,000 professionals.

He is also the founder of GELLIFY, a B2B Innovation Factory with an international presence in four countries and over €50 million in revenues by 2024.

As an active investor in Venture Capital and private markets, he has built a track record of over 100 investments, with a personal IRR of 85%.

From this experience comes FNDX’s vision: combining strategic expertise, entrepreneurial vision, and a founder-friendly approach to generate real value.

Valerie Bures

Serial Entrepreneur,
Partner and MD @Xange,
VP @Exceptional Ventures

Valerie Bures ist Partnerin bei XAnge, einem der führenden europäischen VC-Fonds, und eine der erfolgreichsten deutschen Serienunternehmerinnen, die u.a. den Fitnessspiegel VAHA, gemeinsam mit Torwart-Legende Manuel Neuer, auf den Markt brachte und die Frauenfitnesskette Mrs. Sporty gemeinsam mit Tennis-Spielerin Steffi Graf aufbaute.

Fabian Q. Veit

CEO, Make

Fabian Veit is the CEO of Make, the leading visual platform for AI-powered automation and agentic workflows. Before joining Make, Fabian was part of the Celonis executive team, where he helped scale the company from dozens of employees to thousands worldwide. Today, he leads a global team of 300+ at Make, empowering organizations to accelerate innovation and growth with AI and automation.

Fabienne Grieshaber

Head of Partnership @Businettes

Fabienne Grieshaber is a partnership and business development enthusiast with experience in startups and corporates. Passionate about networking, B2B sales, and lifting up female founders, she loves connecting people and making ideas shine.

Magdalena Muttenthaler

Founder of JUNE MINDS

Magdalena Muttenthaler is the Founder of JUNE MINDS, on a mission to build Europe’s leading growth and scaling lab for female founders. With more than 1,900 founders supported and a network of over 40 experienced mentors, JUNE MINDS provides mentoring, masterminds, and access to strategic networks and funding.

Recognized as one of Germany’s leading voices for female entrepreneurship, she works to increase female founders’ success and remove structural barriers within entrepreneurship.

Susann Hoffmann

Founder MANTI MANTI

Susann Hoffmann is a creative force, curious mind, mother, feminist and serial entrepreneur at heart.

With her company MANTI MANTI she creates the coolest kids eyewear brand around – combining design, functionality and sustainability while taking a hard bet empowerment for kids with glasses. MANTI MANTI has won the most prestigious awards – for design, brand and product – within the optical industry in just over two years since starting.
Her route into entrepreneurship was anything but typical. With a background in theatre studies and German literature, she didn’t follow a business blueprint — she followed curiosity and conviction. That mindset first led her to found EDITION F, a pioneering feminist media platform (now part of Funke Media Group). Through the online magazine, major conferences with up to 5,000 guests, and the digital coaching program Female Future Force, she supported over 12,000 women in unlocking their potential — many going on to start companies of their own.

Whether she’s reshaping media or rethinking kids’ eyewear, Susann’s work shares a common thread: making space. For new voices, new ideas, and new generations who get to see the world — and themselves — a little more clearly.

Marlis Baurecht

Symbia VC (Pfeifer Holding)

Marlis Baurecht is a senior innovation and venture capital expert with over 15 years of experience across science, industry, and public funding, currently serving as Senior Investment Manager at Symbia VC. Her background includes leading major entrepreneurship and seed‑financing units at Austria Wirtschaftsservice, shaping national innovation policy at the Industriellenvereinigung, and driving innovation strategies at Greiner Innoventures. She has extensive leadership experience, manages multimillion‑euro budgets, and holds multiple advisory and board roles in the tech and startup ecosystem. Her academic foundation is in genetics and microbiology, complemented by international research experience and continuous executive training.

Spiros Margaris

Founder, Margaris Ventures

Spiros Margaris is a globally recognized investor and thought leader who has held the No. 1 global ranking in Finance by Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) and in Fintech and top AI by Onalytica. These rankings reflect long-standing relevance and trust at the highest levels of the innovation economy.

As a venture capitalist and fund manager, he’s backed unicorns, supported IPOs, and guided companies through critical regulatory milestones — not by following the market, but by understanding where it’s going and acting early.

Carina Roth

Investment Manager at Fund F

Now Investment Manager at Fund F and former HR & AgeTech founder, Carina’s mission is to elevate the next generation of successful women entrepreneurs and investors. She is a Forbes 30 under 30 in Technology and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in Social Entrepreneurship.

André Hammerer

Managing Director Blum Ventures GmbH

Andre leads venture capital and venture building activities at Blum Ventures for the Blum Group. With an engineering background and deep experience in product innovation, he connects technology, corporate strategy and entrepreneurship.

Bernardita Araya Kleinsteuber

Managing Director at CMPC Ventures

Bernardita Araya is a leading figure in the science‑to‑business and innovation investment landscape in Latam, with extensive experience advancing science‑based and technology‑driven ventures. An Environmental Chemist from the University of Chile with a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge, she founded a nanotechnology company during her doctoral studies, gaining first‑hand experience in the full innovation cycle—from scientific discovery to market validation and financing.
She has held key roles bridging research, technology, and commercialization, including R&D Manager at Recalcine Laboratories (now Abbott Chile) and Senior Associate at the venture capital firm Aurus. Today, she serves as Managing Director of CMPC Ventures, leading the corporate venture capital fund of CMPC. In this role, she focuses on disruptive and sustainable technologies in bio‑economy, advanced materials, forestry, and wood‑based innovation, expanding the company’s global investment footprint and integrating corporate capabilities with international innovation ecosystems.
Recognized by Bloomberg in 2021 as one of Latin America’s most influential figures, she is also an active advisor and mentor in incubators and a frequent speaker on leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Yann Fiebig

Partner HTGF

Yann is a Partner at HTGF, one of the leading seed investors in Europe. The engineer has been investing in Deep Tech and Climate Tech startups at HTGF since 2016. Yann recognized high-potential emerging segments such as New Space and Quantum Technologies very early on and led pioneering investments for HTGF.

Yann looks back on five successful portfolio exits, including Envelio to E.ON (2021), Fazua to Porsche (2022) and Wiferion to Tesla (2023). In HTGF’s industrial tech team, he co-designed the allocation strategy and contributed his conceptual and analytical skills to the development of the HTGF IV fund model. Yann actively supports his portfolio on the board, focusing on product-market fit and product management best practices.

Yann Fiebig holds degrees in electrical engineering and industrial engineering from the RWTH Aachen and the École Centrale Paris and was educated in venture capital at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. Prior to joining HTGF, he supported the entry of the international energy supplier Enovos into the German market in various positions.

Constantin Schmutzler

CEO of Startups for Tomorrow 

After many years in communications and marketing, Constantin looked for a place to test his own ideas. When he couldn’t find it, he built it.

In 2019 he founded the non-profit BERLIN STARTUP SCHOOL. Since then, he and his team have supported 100+ founders from first idea to first investment through programs, workshops, and hands-on advising. To date, alumni have raised close to €1M. The school works with 150+ coaches and mentors across disciplines to help startups grow with real-world expertise.

Focus areas

  • Early-stage programs and coaching

  • Community building and founder education

  • Fundraising readiness and mentoring coordinatio

Benjamin Mandos

Founder GOTBAG GMBH

He began his career as a cameraman, later building a film production company and a communications agency, but the real foundation of his journey was laid much earlier—through countless days spent sailing with his father, developing a lifelong bond with the ocean. His work filming documentaries around the world deepened that connection and sparked a desire to protect what inspired him. With GOT BAG, he entered his second professional life, uniting his love for people and our Planet with an entrepreneurial mission to create something meaningful.

Victoria Neuhofer

Founder & CEO (Damn Plastic, Veatzz, CO-Boss Academy, Before-Applause Podcast)

Victoria Neuhofer, MSc Ing.– Founder | Speaker | Entrepreneur

I’m an serial entrepreneur, speaker & strategist with entrepreneurship running through my veins. As the 11th generation of a 370-year-old family business, I grew up with innovation, courage & the mindset that change is something you create, not wait for. Still, I chose my own path — building companies that redefine how business, sustainability & impact work together.

I founded Damn Plastic, an impact brand & retail concept that turns sustainability into something simple, cool & accessible. Our mission: stop greenwashing & make doing good effortless. With stores, B2B solutions & a franchise system, we’ve shown that conscious consumption can be profitable 6 fun. Our idea of Passive Sustainability – impact without lifestyle sacrifice – became our signature.

My second venture, VEATZZ – the Magic Flour, brings grandma’s kitchen into the modern world. Vegan, allergen-free, organic & working with just water. We ha’ve built a scalable brand combining health, inclusivity & innovation with startup speed.

As a speaker & advisor, I focus on entrepreneurship, leadership, circular economy, & the mindset behind building impact-driven companies. I’ve spoken on international stages – from TEDx to corporate keynotes – inspiring people to rethink how we build & grow.

I’m also a trade delegate in the Austrian Parliament & serve on the board of the Young Economy. My book “From BFFs to CEOs”, co-written with my business partner, shows how friendship, trust & emotion can become a powerful startup strategy. From it, we founded the CoBoss Academy & launched the podcast “Before Applause”, sharing real founder stories & lessons behind visible success.

I believe business doesn’t need to be perfect, but it must be effective. Less talk, more action. Less ego, more impact. My goal: build companies that make people care, make systems smarter & make change damn sexy.
In short: I don’t just start businesses. I start movements.

Markus Hallermann

CEO & co-founder komoot

Markus is CEO & co-founder of komoot. With komoot more than 40 million users find, plan, and share their outdoor adventures. We founded komoot 2010, now it is a profitable remote-first company with more than 150 team members. Markus is father of 4 kids, loves cycling, skiing, hiking,…. the mountains. He grew up in the Austrian tourism destination Kleinwalsertal, studied Physics at the TU and LMU Munich, and now lives with his family south of Munich at the Austrian border.

Flo Pachaly

Founder & Strategic Advisor for future-ready organizations | RECUP

 

Florian Pachaly is an entrepreneur, founder, and strategic sparring partner for future-ready organizations. As co-founder and long-time managing director of RECUP, he built one of the leading reusable systems in Germany and Austria to more than 20,000 partner locations with over 100 employees. For more than seven years, he was responsible for strategy, financing, team development, and scaling – gaining first-hand experience of what real growth looks like.

Today, he supports founders, owners, and leadership teams in building organizations with substance. His focus is on the foundations of sustainable success: clear ownership and governance structures, a healthy culture, effective leadership, and long-term responsibility instead of short-term optimization. He works as a sparring partner, advisory board member, and coach.

At the same time, he is developing Hofgut Scheitzenberg as a place for regeneration, learning, and shaping the future, and initiates formats such as Play Date Munich, which bring people together in a low-threshold, accessible way.

What drives him: shaping companies that are economically successful while making a genuine contribution to society and the environment.

 
 

Moritz Weinhofer

Project Manager aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net

As Project Manager at Industry Start-Up Net, I lead strategic initiatives in Corporate Venture Capital and Venture Clienting, driving impactful partnerships between start-ups, SMEs, and large corporations.

Key Focus Areas:

•Partnerships: Connecting innovative start-ups with corporations to foster growth through Corporate Venture strategies.

•Networking: Expanding networks to create opportunities for future collaborations.

•Business Development: Leading entrepreneurial projects that drive business growth and transformation in the Corporate Venture space

Andreas Spengel

Senior Vice President, Fintech / Platforms Central Europe, Mastercard

Andreas is leading the Central European activities of Mastercard in the ​Fintech, Platform and New Verticals segments.​

In this role he is driving innovation to scale his partners across the continental European markets.
Andreas has 25+ years’ experience in the financial services industry with leadership positions held at Oliver Wyman and Allianz Global Corporate previously.​

Andreas holds an MBA and PHD (Dr. rer. pol.) in business administration from the University of Bayreuth.​

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