I'm a founder, a startup enthusiast, a community builder, networker, event organizer, marketing consultant, and innovation manager. I'm passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, futurism, innovation, and disruption. I have 15 years experience in international business development for both startups and scale-ups. I'm a gender equality, inclusion and diversity advocate, and last but not the least as a founder I'm focusing on the Internet of Senses - immersive experiences - XR industry.

01. How did you get involved in Techstars Startup Programs?

I got involved in the Techstars community to become a Startup Digest Curator in 2017. My name was recommended by other fellow curators, and when I was invited, it was a great surprise. I obviously said YES immediately and never thought twice. I also supported Techstars Startup Weekend Mittelhessen in their 2018 and 2020 editions.

02. How have Techstars Startup Programs impacted your life?

The Techstars platform impacted my life from day one. Taking the role of being a curator with Techstars Startup Digest in my region challenged me to step up and to become more proactive, engaged, and involved in my community. When I look back, it supported me to become a leader in innovation. How? I believe it gave me an helicopter view of what's happening worldwide and the vision to understand what was missing and needed to be developed in my region. That gives an edge for those who love challenges, like myself. Also, I believe that having the ability to connect and interact with other peers from startup ecosystems around the globe motivated me to become a better connector and multiplier, using the power of crowd-work and benefiting from the unique tools that Techstars offers.

03. Why are you passionate about entrepreneurship?

There are different types of entrepreneurship and I would say I'm passionate about innovative, scalable, and impact entrepreneurship. What makes me wake up every day motivated to work is indeed the feeling that I'm working with innovative and scalable projects that finally will impact our world positively.

Why am I passionate about it? Because it's the only way to deliver something to our future generations. Not to be egoistical, but I think about my four kids everyday. I want to provide solutions to their problems.

But in a more broader way, I love it because I believe we entrepreneurs have the power to build the future.

04. How else are you involved in your community's startup ecosystem?

In our Frankfurt startup ecosystem I have been involved in many projects.(It's hard to summarize briefly but I will do my best).

I'm very proud to be part of the local teams of Founder Institute and Singularity University, the first is the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator and the second is a global community that connects individuals that want to understand and explore current and future technologies to improve human lives and all aspects of society. But I also mentor for other programs like Plug&Play or Scaler8.

I'm also tremendously happy about my role as a local partner that was key to publishing our Startup Guide Frankfurt edition (in 2019) and the German edition (that is about to being launched next month). Those are physical guidebooks full of rich content to help entrepreneurs navigate and connect with our startup scene.

I have been also involved as community manager, since 2018, with a project called startuprad.io, a global top 150 tech podcast, that delivers ongoing content in audio and video format, and founded in a joint-venture with Mainstage Incubator a platform called Frankfurt Valley with the goal of unlocking Frankfurt Rhein Main’s hub to the world and fostering bilateral bridges to different stakeholders and ecosystems.

Last but not the least, being a gender equality, inclusion and diversity advocate, I created another platform called Women Who Inspire Rhein Main and became an ambassador of WomenTech Network to support female entrepreneurship.

When I have time for myself (just kidding), I'm a founder myself of a startup disrupting the XR landscape called Xperience Plus.

05. What's next for your community's entrepreneurship ecosystem?

Our ecosystem in Frankfurt Rhein Main - Hessen - it's still at a stage that a lot of things can be improved or worked. For the optimists, these are great news!

Indeed, we may be at the perfect point where the speed of growth can accelerate. Despite the well known COVID-19 crisis, we had some great success cases in multiple industries, and a record in funding.

Our ecosystem is still lacking venture capital investments and that can be a significant change.

Also, traditionally, our ecosystem was only perceived as a fintech hub, but now I do believe that our diversity is standing out.

Personally, I hope that we will see more projects addressing impact and solving SDGs.

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