We are excited to announce the names of founders from Germany and Poland – and their amazing startups – that will be participating in the Delegation trip to China!
SABINE YANG-SCHMIDT, Chief Representative & YIRAN LI , Senior Manager
Sabine Yang-Schmidt, Chief Representative, and Yiran Li, Senior Manager, both have extensive knowledge and experience in Sino-German economic relationships. Looking back to previous leading functions in e.g. the German Chamber of Commerce, in one of China‘s largest real estate companies, in technology transfer or business consulting, Sabine and Yiran are excellent advisors for market entry strategies and information about Berlin and China.
WHO WE ARE: Berlin‘s Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises has opened its first representative office in China in April 2018 with the aim to foster economic relationships between Berlin and China. What we do in China: We support, connect and present Berlin‘s economy in China. Likewise, we are China‘s first point of contact for Berlin questions. Whether you plan to invest as a Berliner in China or aim to access Berlin‘s markets from there, we help you to connect. Our focus is set on supporting Berlin‘s Startups and SME‘s along with their economic clusters incl. Energy, Mobility, or ICT. For 2019, we particularly promote all things connected in Smart Cities.
TANIA BECKER, China Center, TU Berlin
Tania Becker, PhD, studied art history and comparative literature at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and Chinese history, philosophy and culture at the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. She teaches at the Center for Cultural Studies on Science and Technology in China (CCST), at the TU Berlin. Her recent research topic is AI and robotics in China.
ABOUT CCST: The Center for Cultural Studies on Science and Technology in China (CCST), TU Berlin, emphasizes the cultural dimensions of science and technology and a broader knowledge of China as a foundation for the understanding of how the industrial cultures of Europe and China are interconnected within the fields of science/technology and economics/society. In addition, CCST is also interested in the knowledge transfer that takes place between politics and society.
DR. STEFAN FRANZKE, CEO Berlin Partner
As CEO of Berlin Partner, Dr. Stefan Franzke promotes the growing business and technology location Berlin. He supports local companies and convinces investors from all over the world of the German capital’s potential. After graduating in mechanical engineering from the University of Hanover, Dr. Stefan Franzke became managing director at the Institut für Integrierte Produktion in Hanover. As the head of the Innovation Center Lower Saxony beginning in 2003, he intensified his know-how in in the field of strategy consulting for innovations and key technologies and advised international investors in their relocation process. Additionally, as the managing director of Innovatives Niedersachsen, he was responsible for the national and international marketing of the federal state starting in 2006. Since July 1, 2014 Dr. Stefan Franzke is the CEO at Berlin Partner for Business and Technology.
MATTHIAS TREUTWEIN, Founder and Managing Director at enpact e.V.
Matthias is one of the Founders and Managing Directors of the German non-profit organisation enpact e.V. enpact was founded in 2013with the aim of empowering entrepreneurship in emerging and developing countries. The organisation supports founders and startups in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East through a set of programmes. enpact is one of the leading players for the exchange and development of relationships between young entrepreneurs from geographically diverse startup ecosystems. Before enpact, Matthias gained experience in international development by working several years as a project manager and consultant for Transparency International, The Owners Forum and InWent. Furthermore, he worked in cultural management for the German Goethe Institute and the Bosch Foundation. Matthias is enpact’s foremost expert for mentoring, capacity building and sustainable organizational development. With deep insights into intercultural communication, he possesses a high level of cultural awareness which he developed during several study and work sojourns in the MENA region. He has a strong passion for fostering networks while strongly believing in horizontal and life-long learning. Matthias holds a Master’s degree (M.A.) in Arabic, French and Spanish Literature from the University of Göttingen and an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin.
MEIKE BUNTEN, Project Collaborator CCST , Founder and Graphic Designer
Meike Bunten studies culture and technology at the Technical University of Berlin, and works at the China Center and supports it in many areas and projects, such as graphic design, homepage maintenance, IT, mentoring students and lecturers, and hosting events. She was awarded with distinction as one of the best three Baden-Württemberg after her media design training. In July 2018, after 15 years of work experience, she founded her own company – the advertising agency okkool berlin (http://okkool.berlin/). As a trained media designer (digital and print) with a focus on conception and visualization, she gathered a lot of experience while being self-employed.
ABOUT OKKOOL: Kokkool is an advertising agency, founded in 2018. A forward-looking, contemporary appearance is of immense importance in the digital present. Whether it’s redesigning a website, designing and producing promotional material, we’re ready to take on any challenge. Thanks to our partner network, photo and video production is also part of okkool’s repertoire. In recent years, the founder Meike Bunten has acquired a large repertoire. With her knowledge, she wants to support the young founders and help them to promote their products and ideas in both the German and the Chinese market.
PATRICK KNIPPEL, Managing Director and Co-Founder Nowtilus
Patrick holds a MSc degree from the Technical University Berlin, and graduated from the Steinbeis University with a MBA in Media Management. Over the course of 10 years, Patrick produced 15 feature films while he co-founded, financed and developed the online delivery company NOWTILUS. Since 2017 the company focussed the business to Serverside Ad-Insertion with the objective to establish the leading personalized ad streaming and monetization company for the TV and video entertainment industry.
ABOUT SERVERSIDE.AI: Our Ad-Insertion technology serverside.ai inserts ads dynamically into video content. It allows a buffer-less transition from content – to ad – back to content in a streaming environment delivering a personalized broadcast TV experience across devices. This provides media owners and video publishers more usage with better ad-viewing completion and higher return on ad-revenues due to precise targeting. China is not only a place where this technology can be used but also allows a great opportunity to use China developed technologies to enhance our offering.
LEANDER CARELL, Co-founder & Managing Director Nowtilus – SERVERSIDE.AI
As Co-founder and Managing Director of Nowtilus, Leander Carell oversees Product & Marketing of the company’s Server-Side Ad-Insertion and Video-Distribution Platform SERVERSIDE.AI. With offices in Berlin and an international Partner-Network Leander drives the business development and solution integration with Service Operators, Streaming Platforms and Broadcasters. Leander has been an entrepreneur and established player in the media industry for 18 years. With his former movie production company, he was an OSCAR Nominee for the Best Foreign Feature “IN DARKNESS” in 2012. He sold Nowtilus to Rovi Corp. in 2011 and managed a buy-out in 2014, driving the company to the next level of video content monetization. Leander holds a degree as media merchant and postgraduate of EAVE for International Film Production and Marketing.
ABOUT SERVERSIDE.AI: With their Video-Ad-Technology SERVERSIDE.AI Nowtilus is helping Video-Streaming Platforms and Broadcasters to make revenues from video-advertisement in their content. By driving a personalized ad-experience viewers can enjoy ads in Broadcast-Quality, with a seamless experiences and targeted to their profile. Our aim in China is to find customers and also potential investors to roll-out our product in China Market and grow the business together with the new partner.
STEPHANIE RICHTER, CEO & Co-Founder, Adspert.net Bidmanagement GmbH
As CEO, and Co-Founder Stephanie is in charge of the operational side of Adspert’s business and is responsible for the organisation of the company. Passionately interested in film, she studied business education in Berlin, focusing on auditing and entrepreneurship. Stephanie had been an executive partner at Prozentor GmbH since 1999 ( a company providing automated statistical forecast systems focusing on the financial sector) before she founded Adspert.
ABOUT ADSPERT: We believe Adspert can bring a unique mixture of machine learning and heavy focus on Amazon to anybody interested in leveraging Amazon Advertising to reach their business success. With our mathematical/AI approach and highly qualified Chinese Account Management team, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. We also went through the good and the bad with Amazon and are willing to share our lessons learned with the event’s audience.
CHRISTOPHER KRÄNZLER, CEO lengoo GmbH
Born and raised in scenic Bavaria, Christopher graduated from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University New York. He has always been an advocate of data-driven decision-making processes and is an avid speaker on AI, digitalization, and localization. Christopher himself is fluent in German, English, Bavarian and currently improving his Spanish and Portuguese skills. Powered by a thorough understanding of, and an appreciation for data science in combination with a passion for languages, he founded the AI-first translation platform lengoo in 2014. Being the founder and CEO of lengoo, he is on a mission to usher the global localization industry into the age of digitalization and to direct the future of translation by combining cutting-edge Neural Machine Translation technology with expert linguists.
ABOUT LENGOO: lengoo is an AI-first language tech company focusing on providing enterprises with top-notch professional business and technical translations. lengoo’s international expansion is about to start. This trip will be used to elaborate if lengoo is already prepared to enter the Chinese market. Christopher is excited to meet some representatives from the Chinese tech-scene and gain some first-hand insights into the market.
ROLF-DIETER LAFRENZ, Founder of Cargonexx
Rolf-Dieter Lafrenz is founder of Cargonexx and Managing Partner of Schickler, a consulting boutique for digital transformation. Rolf-Dieter Lafrenz is reckognized as a leading media and digital expert with a large coverage in publications, speeches on media conventions and memberships in councils and associations.
ABOUT CARGONEXX: Cargonexx is an AI based platform for long haul trucking. Besides applying Artificial Intelligence to the trucking industry, it aims to realise a revolutionary new service called “one-click-trucking”. Cargonexx is excited to learn what the Chinese startup and technology ecosystems have to offer.
ANTONI OMONDI, Co-Founder, CyberStudio
Antoni Omondi joined the KPMG IT Risk Management team in October 2013. During his work he took part in the projects concerned clients from following sectors: banking, financial and insurance institutions, computer software, FMCG. Then, as an independent consultant he provided advisory services in the field of IT security, i.e. adapting one of the leading European hypermarket and supermarket chains do GDPR guidelines (equivalent to new China’s Data-Privacy Laws). Currently, he is engaged in the development of CyberStudio system. In this project he is responsible for coordinating the implementation of financial plans, and sales and marketing activities. He is also in charge of contacting the media, investors and business partners.
ABOUT CYBER STUDIO: CyberStudio is an advanced system that anticipates and detects cyber-threats, as well as analyzing events in IT systems and verifying IT services. It works in the cloud, it is billed in the subscription model (annual subscription) and intended primarily for SMEs that can not afford to hire a high-class cyber security expert. CyberStudio provides 24/7 control of IT systems and provides real-time information on existing threats, and – thanks to the use of artificial intelligence algorithms – can also predict these threats. In addition, it also proposes ways to eliminate them immediately. What’s more, all information in the manager’s system dashboard is presented to users in the most understandable way, therefore their understanding does not require specialist knowledge. The company intends to verify as soon as possible how an European product functions in different markets. From the financial standpoint carrying out of the project is to create profitable services characterised by world-class innovation. By joining the Start Alliance and SUAB go China 2019 program the team is searching for a business partner (software distributor) who will contribute into the creation of new markets and obtaining new customers.
LORENZ SCHNEIDMADEL, General Manager EDUBAO GmbH, and RICHARD POLL, Business Development EDUBAO GmbH
Lorenz Schneidmadel is a German professional entrepreneur focusing on Asia-German activities in the field of technology transfer and business cooperation. He is General Manager and Co-Founder of the Fintech EDUBAO located in Berlin, Singapore and HCMC, which offers finance and insurance solutions via a digital platform. He is Board Member of the German-Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence and Chairmen of the Juvenile Business Society Europe. As a China enthusiast he is involved in different Sino-German activities and member of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin.
Richard Poll worked as project manager for Evocis, Bejing and is currently located in HCMC for the Fintech Company EDUBAO. He has detailed knowledge about international business development in Asia and Go-To Market Strategies adjusted to the current market requirements. As the bridge between Germany and Asia he handles communication and strategy decisions. He studied at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) 对外经济贸大学 Bejing and the Friedrich-Schiller University. He speaks mandarin at level HSK 4.
ABOUT EDUBAO: EDUBAO is a digitally driven service provider aimed at covering all the needs of students, Au-Pairs, interns and young professionals wishing to study and working abroad in Europe. Its end-to-end advice, services and support include a straightforward, mobile-friendly app that guides the user through the entire process – from selecting the ideal form of education and school to checklists of actions required. The package includes visa application support, setup of a blocked account, health insurance and more financial solutions. Being in the customer´s ecosystem for years, EDUBAO builds a trust bond and is able to up-sell distinct financial solutions along the customers life-long journey. EDUBAO is looking for education agencies, language schools and universities in the field of Sino-German education projects.
ERHAN ENGIZLI, Founder & CEO MG.Technology GmbH
Erhan Engizli holds a diploma in industrial engineering and a Master in European Business from the ESCP Business School. He studied in London at ESCP and in Shanghai at Tongji University, and started to work in Shanghai in the consultancy area and at AIG as Project Manager after his graduation. In Germany, he worked for BASF and Bombardier as a Project Manager. After his workstation at Fortune 500 companies, he worked for two years as a senior consultant for Bain&Company in Germany in the area Public Sector & Government Consulting. Currently, he is the Founder and CEO of MG.Technology GmbH
ABOUT MG.TECHNOLOGY GMBH: Due to the large population in China, Chinese companies might face difficulties in making objective and comparable decisions in personnel selection and acquisition. Mg.Technology GmbH aims to to simplify personnel management in order to enable better sustainable performance and targeted organizational development under the cultural disposition of the participants. This is an essential instrument for the diagnosis of resistors and their processing. Mg.Tech is convinced that knowledge of the cultural coherence of individual and group makes personnel decisions more successful. They wants to support companies in China as well as individuals in making objective decisions with regard to cultural harmony on both sides. Especially in a culture as broad as that in China, it is important to establish the cultural agreement of candidates and teams with measurement results and not solely rely on subjective assessment. By combining company and personal data, MG.Technology would like to support the decisions in the recruitment processes of Chinese companies with their software.
HENDRIK SCHNEIDER, CEO Teamhero GmbH
Serial entrepreneur Hendrik Schneider has extensive experience in event management and staffing. Before founding Teamhero GmbH in 2014, Hendrik founded yoove Mobility GmbH – focused on event management.
ABOUT TEAMHERO: Teamhero is a software as a service company providing its own product called Teamhero. It is a software for managing human resources and it’s specialized in handling external resources for event and promotion agencies. Teamhero would like to get to know potential new technology partners in China. On the one hand side, we are looking for partners within the “Software as a Service” business and on the other hand, we are seeking for know-how in artificial intelligence, face recognition and how it can be implemented within Teamhero. We are also looking for distributing partners in China.
MARCEL WOSCHEE, Consultant Teamhero
Marcel Woschee consults teamhero as an Automotive Specialist,as well as an expert on Process Management Aftersales Management.
ABOUT TEAMHERO: Teamhero is a software as a service company providing its own product called Teamhero. It is a software for managing human resources and it’s specialized in handling external resources for event and promotion agencies. Teamhero would like to get to know potential new technology partners in China. On the one hand side we are looking for partners within the “Software as a Service” business and on the other hand, we are seeking for know-how in artificial intelligence, face recognition and how it can be implemented within Teamhero. We are also looking for distributing partners in China.
SOFIA LEWANDOWSKI, Chief Experience Officer at HFM
Sofia is a hybrid in Interaction-/ User Experience and Transportation Design disciplines. She is passionate about automated vehicle technologies, interaction design concepts and innovative user experience designs. Sofia is currently focused on autonomous vehicle user experience and transportation interior design concepts at HFM. This includes the definition of virtual reality interior designs and concept development for highly automated vehicle platforms – “Motionboard”.
ABOUT MOTIONBOARD: Hanseatische Fahrzeug Manufaktur GmbH (HFM) specializes in the development of highly complex mechatronics systems for electric and autonomous vehicles. HFM focuses not only on the technical feasibility, but also on compliance with all the requirements for type approval and homologation within the framework of existing and future legal provisions. Motionboard is a universal chassis that lets companies plug and test their technologies easily. It’s modular, electric, accessible and capable of autonomous driving. HFM aims to explore the Chinese market, to look for potential opportunities and exposure.
LAURA LIMBERT, Legal Liaison Coordinator Ableton AG
Laura Limbert grew up in a German small town in the Rhine valley before moving to Hong Kong at age 16. After finishing high school there, she moved on to The Hague to study International and European Law. Completing her studies with a Master’s degree in Munich, she relocated to Berlin to become part of Ableton’s legal department. Her work as Legal Liaison Coordinator at this music software and hardware company focuses on the coordination of international legal topics concerning the parent company in Berlin and its subsidiaries worldwide.
ABOUT ABLETON: Ableton makes Live, Push and Link — unique software and hardware for music creation and performance. The software product is going to be launched in simplified Chinese in early 2020. Leading up to that Ableton increased the interaction with its Chinese speaking users to better understand their expectations. Although some research has been conducted regarding the risks and opportunities of expanding Ableton’s presence in mainland China, a great deal of first-hand knowledge is still missing to come up with a proper expansion strategy – Ableton is looking forward to connecting with stakeholders in China to close this gap.
HOUMAN AMLASHI, Founder & CEO of WINDBUOYY
Houman founded Windbuoyy AG (together with 3 members of the board) in Berlin as a technology development company in clean energies. He holds project management certificate from PM Institute in California, Venture Capital certificate from University of Berkeley, and has done some phd research in risk management in City of London.
ABOUT WINDBUOYY: Windbuoyy AG is private corporation in Berlin. In collaboration with Technical University of Berlin and funded by Berlin Investment Bank, it developed and tested the first laboratory prototype. The company’s philosophy is that 40% of world population lives within 100km from the coasts, demand for electricity consumption is surging due to electric cars, and there is enough wind in the sea far from shore to harvest. Windbuoyy is looking for strategic partner in China with the vision to upscale its Floating Wind Turbine technology for deployment at all major cities around the Globe.
RAPHAEL LIAO, Business Manager of MatchX – a subsidiary of MXC
Raphael Liao has more than 15 years of experience in manufacturing and product marketing in various international companies. In taking the role as Business Manager of MatchX in China, Raphael covers MatchX’s hardware realization as well as its potential business partners development.
ABOUT MXC: MXC (Machine Exchange Coin) is a German non-profit organization based in the country’s startup and blockchain capital, Berlin. MXC is to develop a decentralized network of compounds based on LPWAN with smart-bidding machine to machine talk technology. MXC has had two high profile pilots, on of which was withthe New York city municipality concerning waste management, and the other with Deutsche Bahn, the German railway provider. MXProtocol is a revolutionary design that solves the problem of LPWAN, and bridges the data gap between different infrastructures. MXC takes China as one of the biggest and most promising target markets based on its LPWAN and Machine eXchange Protocol (MXProtocol) solution.
MIRIAM THEOBALD, Innovation Consultant & Founder DŌNGXii.com, and MARCEL MÜNCH, Innovation Consultant and Founder
Miriam’s work focuses on the human scale of technology and innovation. She worked as concepter in architecture, city planning and marketing. As co-founder of DONGXii, Miriam developed a special interest for cultural variations of entrepreneurship characteristics and strategies. She analyses entrepreneurial strategies from the perspective of female entrepreneurship and puts Chinese and Europeans female narratives into relation in order to analyse the contexts and paint a picture of innovation in entrepreneurship. At DONGXii, Miriam is the expert for Chinese social media topics as well as recent developments of innovation in the realm of urban habitats (urban change) in China at core of which are tech solutions and their usability.
Marcel is a business designer, passionate about new technologies and their potential to pave the way for new business models. Before founding DONGXii, Marcel pioneered the car service industry, he co-designed some of the first car services in Berlin. In his role as an entrepreneur and due to his close ties to new EV car manufacturers such as Nio, Byton and Tesla, he is valued in all industries for his tangible insights that he delivers as a well sought after keynote speaker and panel host.
Marcel’s insights are a trusted source for investors and journalists all over the world. He is frequently interviewed and quoted in renowned newspapers, online magazines and TV shows. At DONGXii Marcel focuses on business strategy with a particular focus on e-mobility, e-health and Chinese tech trends.
ABOUT DONGXII
Pioneering Digital China. Founded in 2016, the DONGXii team is now considered to be leading Experts for Digital China. We focus on cutting edge research on the ground, diving into all China-related digital future trends. Marcel is supporting the trip with first-hand insights on the Chinese Startup scene. Together with his colleague Miriam he acts as sparring partner for the participating startups.
