Connect. Innovate. Grow.

Claus Ruhe Madsen is a Danish-German entrepreneur and politician who has been Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism of Schleswig-Holstein since 2022. As a former entrepreneur, he brings extensive experience in founding, building and scaling businesses, as well as in navigating financial and economic challenges. In his role as Minister, he is particularly committed to strengthening entrepreneurship, innovation and the startup ecosystem in Schleswig-Holstein. He combines his political experience with a strong entrepreneurial mindset and a practical, hands-on approach to economic policy.

Jørgen Popp Petersen has served as Mayor of Tønder Municipality in Southern Jutland, Denmark, since January 2022. Representing the Schleswig Party (Slesvigsk Parti), which represents the German minority in Denmark, he was re-elected for the 2026–2029 term following the 2025 municipal elections.With a professional background in agriculture, Jørgen Popp Petersen has extensive experience in local development and agricultural organisations. His work as mayor focuses on fostering collaboration, supporting local communities and contributing to the continued development of the Tønder region, which has strong historical and cultural ties to the Danish-German border region.

Sissel Hansen is the founder and CEO of Startup Guide, a global platform and publishing company that has mapped startup ecosystems in 70+ cities. Her mission is to democratize entrepreneurship by making knowledge, networks and resources accessible to anyone with an idea. She co-founded the NGO Meaningful Entrepreneurship, runs The School for Meaningful Entrepreneurship and is writing Enough, a book about meaningful work and a more human economy.

Britta Balden is the Founder and CEO of SmartLoC and an experienced entrepreneur with a strong background in finance, auditing, and digital transformation. A three-time founder and mentor, she combines financial expertise with a passion for innovation. At SmartLoC, founded in 2021, she drives the digitalization of international trade through IoT-based shipment monitoring and automated B2B payments, making global trade more transparent, secure, and efficient.

Niklas Dreiskämper is Co-Founder and Managing Director of AERO MATERIALS GmbH, a deep-tech spin-off of Kiel University (CAU) founded in 2025. The company commercializes an ultra-light nanocarbon aero material for robotics and industrial applications. Its first product is a compressor-free, electrically driven smart vacuum gripper for robots. Niklas leads strategy, partnerships, and finance and works between Kiel and Frankfurt.

Adrian Radomski, PhD is Co-Founder and CTO of Marina Health, which develops AI-supported medical assistance for seafarers and crews far from shore. He specializes in AI applications for healthcare, with a focus on machine learning for medical decision support.

Torsten Vittrup Dalegaard leads Danish Entrepreneurs’ policy and strategic agenda, working to improve the framework conditions for entrepreneurs and scaleups in Denmark and across Europe. Combining experience in public affairs, regulation, and international business, he brings a unique perspective on how governments and entrepreneurs can work together to strengthen innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth.

Alexander Orth is co-founder of opencampus.sh and curates the Waterkant Festival in Kiel – since 2016 a stage for founders, speakers and mid-sized companies from Northern Europe. Formerly a journalist in Kiel, Hamburg and New York. As part of opencampus.sh they founded the coworking space starterkitchen.de and the education program edu.opencampus.sh, offering up to 50 courses a year to nearly 1,000 participants. His question: what if learning were fun? #StartHackingYourLife

Mads Sandemann is Director of Business Hub Southern Denmark. With a background as Editor-in-Chief and long-time journalist, he now leads the region's efforts to support small and medium-sized enterprises. He is especially passionate about discussing the hub’s targeted 2027 strategic focus on "Entrepreneurs with Growth Potential" and how to retain and scale high-potential startups in Southern Denmark.

Nikolai Raitschew is the technical co-founder of anymize, the privacy-compliant AI platform for professionals bound by confidentiality. The idea behind anymize was born during his internship: there, Nikolai experienced first-hand how confidentiality-bound professionals fail to use AI because sensitive data would be put at risk. The solution seemed obvious and yet was nowhere to be found – so he built it himself. He started coding at eleven and founded anymize at eighteen with his father Raitschin, building most himself - all while still at school. anymize anonymizes personal data before it can be processed in a language model such as ChatGPT or Claude, and returns it cleanly afterwards.

Morten Degn is the founder of Nexus Solaris, a Danish company rethinking how solar is built. His background as a Quality Manager at a major Danish independent power producer brings first-hand industry experience to the company’s development of technical solutions to practical industry problems. The ambition is straightforward: help solar take the same steps towards industrial maturity that other established industries have taken, making consistent installation quality, protection and serviceability part of the design from the outset.

Annelie Tallig has been dedicated to supporting start-ups for almost 15 years. With a PhD in Business Administration from Syddank University she heads up startuphub.SH and has closely accompanied the development of the start-up scene in Schleswig-Holstein from its very beginnings to the present day. Together with her team, she supports founders from the initial idea right through to international scaling, and connects start-ups with investors, companies and partners from across the region.

Lars Ahrendtsen is Director of BlueTech Center and Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Baltic Ventures Program. His work in the programme includes contributing to its management and advising and supporting the project manager.

Katarina Fruerlund Deylami is Head of Network at BlueTech Center and Project Manager for the Baltic Ventures Program. She coordinates the programme’s development and implementation in collaboration with its Danish and German project partners.

Juri Klusak is Founder and CEO/CTO of Orthodrone GmbH, a German drone technology company delivering advanced UAS, LiDAR, and geospatial solutions for offshore, infrastructure, and environmental applications. With a background in coastal geography and remote sensing, he combines scientific expertise with practical experience from projects in some of the world's most challenging environments, including Antarctica and offshore regions across Europe.

Kathrin Krüger-Borgwardt is Head of Research Funding and Transfer at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. She leads GEOMAR’s activities in research funding, technology and knowledge transfer, with a particular focus on industry collaboration, intellectual property and licensing. With a background in startup support, innovation ecosystems and strategic development, she is especially passionate about connecting science with industry and turning research into real-world impact.

Frank Schröder-Oeynhausen is Managing Director of the Technology Center Lübeck (TZL), which has been promoting business startups since 40 years. With the accelerator program GATEWAY49 and several INTERREG-funded projects, TZL offers perfect starting conditions, far beyond infrastructure, capital, and network. His goal is to expand the startup ecosystem in Lübeck and Schleswig-Holstein, closely linked to partners in the HanseBelt region and beyond. Main topics are such as renewable energy, maritime technology, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics, and digitization.

Niclas Apitz is Head of International Business Development at Technikzentrum Lübeck (TZL) and Project Manager of the Baltic Ventures Program, an Interreg project Germany-Denmark. Together with the Danish partners, he runs the Maritime Startup Growth Academy and drives business development and venture building between Danish and German project startups, partners and stakeholders.

Susann Dreßler is Team Leader of “IB.SH Europa und Förderlotsen” at Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein (IB.SH), the public development bank of Schleswig-Holstein.Her team provides neutral and free-of-charge advice to companies and start-ups on public funding and financing opportunities at regional, national and European level. It includes the IB.SH Funding Guides as well as IB.SH’s activities within the Enterprise Europe Network Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein (EEN HHSH). Together with its partners in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, EEN HHSH supports companies, universities and research institutions in accessing EU funding and financing and provides advice on internationalisation, innovation and sustainability.

STEAR helps technology startups develop and commercialise their solutions through access to capital, knowledge and industrial expertise. Based in Sønderborg, Denmark, STEAR connects startups and investors with local industrial companies, research at the University of Southern Denmark and a network of experts.

Thomas Tucker is Managing Director and Head of Sales at PCT digital GmbH in Kiel. Together with Amt Eiderstedt and IHK Flensburg, his team built startuphafen.sh: an open-source one-stop shop that lets founders in Schleswig-Holstein start their business fully online, with BundID login, automated filings to tax and trade offices, regional guides and AI-supported succession matching. His focus: smart bureaucracy that saves founders time instead of costing it.

Ken Holm Thomsen is an experienced business developer with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Business Development, Innovation Management, Analytical Skills, Coaching, and Entrepreneurship. Strong business development professional with a Master focused in Entrepreneurship Education Training (IMEET) from Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University. Long standing educational experience with a strong focus on entrepreneurial skill development. Project development, management and funding record in both national and international projects.

Stefanie has been shaping entrepreneurship at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences since 2013. Today, as Director of Entrepreneurial Development at the Jackstädt Center Flensburg, she brings people, ideas and institutions together to create new connections and opportunities. Rooted in the German-Danish border region, she is driven by curiosity, collaboration and a strong belief in the value of connecting entrepreneurial ecosystems across borders.

Volker Looks is Programme Director of “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Development” at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. With 15 years of experience in lean production and another 15 years in education, he leads the team of lecturers and students developing this interdisciplinary Bachelor's programme, where students build and test their own startups. Our approach: Students don't just learn about entrepreneurship – they become entrepreneurs from their very first semester!

Stephanie Kropf is Head of Global Entrepreneurship Week Germany. After 15 years of managing a federal innovation initiative she joined the RKW Competence Center in 2018 to lead the nationwide coordination of Global Entreprenurship Week Germany on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Together with more than 1.300 partner organizations she is committed to connecting ecosystems and strengthening entrepreneurship across the country.