Business

Erika found her passion for entrepreneurship and startups at an early age, founding her first company in high school with fellow students. She continued this path throughout university with active participation in the startup community as co-founder of E-Wreck, an e-mobility initiative, and developing multiple startup concepts in Portugal, China & Japan, that were pitched in front of investors. 

After her studies, she has led projects for DAX30 companies as an Innovation Consultant at HYVE, worked in business development for emotion AI startup TAWNY, and validated venture ideas at company builder, Stryber. Her experience and network from living in 10 different countries and working in various industries and functions make her extremely adaptable, fostering innovation at every step.

Mareike is a startup culture & internal communication expert with a Scanner (Accumulator-) personality and SPS. She received a B.A. in Communication Science, Organisational Pedagogy, Psychology of Knowledge and a M.A. cum laude in Media Culture at the University Maastricht - teaching method of problem-based learning (PBL).

She is the 4th employee of aviation unicorn Lilium GmbH, where she set up and implemented the communications and knowledge management strategy from scratch. Further, she implemented their corporate culture as an own business area and provided recruitment and HR-related support in a true start-up fashion.

Mareike built up the initial team and culture of a new Serviceplan subsidiary, Serviceplan Solutions in Munich and before stayed abroad in Melbourne, Australia where she was an online consultant for intercultural expert pools, academies and think tanks.

Mareike is co-author of Culture Up and author of To Hell with Specialisation

René is a curious rule breaker and experimentalist with high social competence, a hands-on mentality, and an entrepreneurial mindset. Experienced, cross-functional team leader, inventor, and innovator with a demonstrated history of working in the areas of fundamental research and the industrial engineering industry. Skilled in (change) management, research and (consumer + machinery) product development and management, technical sales and business strategy, with a Ph.D. in physics focusing on nanotechnology and spintronics.

René founded a corporate startup with 40+ team members focusing on technology development, sales, and marketing, organizational development including people and culture, (development) processes, and agile methodologies. Most recently, he signed responsible for the change management process within a system and special engineering company.

Niclas has been fascinated with entrepreneurship and technology for all of his life. He started his career in the innovation department of T-Systems MMS where he helped co-found the DTAG spin-off Couchfunk. Later he became an Associate Partner at PULSAR Consulting where he focused on Innovation Management, M&A, Corporate Venturing and Fundraising. He is also the co-founder of rapitag.

After supporting Hardware.co, TechFounders and organizing his own Events for Hardware Startups, he founded BatchOne out of his desire to support founders to bridge the gap from first prototype to mass production. He is also a passionate speaker and mentor at a lot of accelerator programs and conferences.

Oliver has an excellent track record and more than 20 years of experience in the hardware industry, working with renowned businesses such as Nokia’s successor HMD Global, where he played a significant role in changing the direction of the company. Prior to this, Oliver held the position of CEO Mobile of the Bullitt Group which, among others, is the exclusive worldwide licensee of Cat® (Caterpillar Inc.) for the mobile hardware category. 

Oliver was one of the founding members of HTC in EMEA bringing the company from contract manufacturer to brand.

Oliver results are more than impressive with regard to both the growth rates and the individual management goals of the company. He knows products in detail and, due to his comprehensive experience, he knows exactly what he’s speaking of regarding operations, research and development, product management and sales.

Birgit studied performing arts in Stuttgart, Germany, followed by theater engagements in Koblenz, Bochum, Neuss (all Germany) and in Switzerland. She successfully performed in TV productions and dubbing under her artist’s name Birgit Salkin.

Since 2007, Birgit works as a personal, media and corporate trainer and coach. Her focus is on personal performance and development, striving to improve soft factors, body language, charisma, rhetorical and communication skills. Her clients range from C-Level executives of SMEs and blue chips (DAX), consulting companies, entrepreneurs, to welfare organizations. Furthermore, Birgit is an active speaker on business networking and business women challenges.