Green Venture Submit

Steffen Aumueller

Steffen Aumueller is managing partner and founder of TVUC, a film production company in Munich, Germany. Since 2008 his company has co-produced 12 full-length theatrical feature films with a total production budget of over 100 Mio. US Dollar.

His latest movie THE MESSENGER starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster has just received two academy award nominations (Oscars) and won several awards such as the Silver Bear of the Berlin International Film Festival. Before heading TVUC, Steffen Aumueller has gained over 10 years of professional experience with US entertainment brands such as The Walt Disney Company or McDonald´s.

In all its films TVUC is following a so called „smart-mainstream“ approach to bridge elements of quality and popcorn movies. Currently the company has five new movies in development and Steffen will present his favorite at this year’s Green Venture Summit.

Dieter Ammer

• Qualified political economist
• Co-founder of Conergy AG
• Held positions of Chairman of the board of Zucker AG, Beck & CO brewery and Tchibo Holding AG in Hamburg
• Since end of 2007 CEO of Conergy AG
• Private Investor and Founder of several young Enterprises

Dr. Thomas Badegruber

Dr. Badegruber holds a PhD in finance and has been co-founder of an e-learning company. Before founding crystalsol he has been Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, Inc. in Vienna for four years. He has advised several top-tier private equity firms in strategic due diligences and has extensive experience in organizational and operational matters in various process industries including steel, chemicals, and pulp & paper.

Sebastian Becker

Sebastian Becker (36) studied political sciences, Chinese and communication in Munich and Aix-en-Provence. After finding out that sustainability was not yet at the core of international politics, he looked for an alternative career path and worked both as a journalist and consultant, co-founding his own (Media Strategy) consultancy thebrainbehind in 2002. In 2009, he helped to set up MAMA AG and is responsible for business development and lobbying. Sebastian supports MAMA’s portolio companies to develop a sustainable vision for the future and grow global awareness in the important sustainability market.

Till Behnke

Till Behnke felt the need to combine his degree in business informatics, his professional expertise as a project manager and the ambivalent encounter with the African continent to a more meaningful end than a career working for a transnational corporation. In 2007 he surrounded himself with a highly motivated, interdisciplinary team to start betterplace.org — a global platform that was to be a bridge between needs and new, innumerable opportunities. In 2008, Till won a fellowship from Ashoka, the biggest organization for social entrepreneurship in the world. Within the first 24 months, betterplace.org generated more than 1 million Euros from more than 20,000 users for 1500 projects all over the world.

Holger Behrens

Holger Behrens is CFO and shareholder of Geohumus International (GHI), a Frankfurt based company, that manufactures and distributes a revolutionary soil amendment. He joined the company in 2007 and is leading the international expansion strategy for GHI.

In 2007 the company had developed its granulate to be introduced into the market of horticulture, landscaping and private household gardening. Beyond those immediately available markets the company is pursuing the long term aspects of reforestation, combating desertification and assisting countries with limited water supply in managing their water ressources. Before joining the Board of Geohumus, Holger founded and led an international mine clearance company, active in 13 countries, in some of which Geohumus is now being introduced.

During his talk at the Green Venture Summit Holger will introduce the product Geohumus and highlight the opportunites and challenges of their business case.

Dr. Stephan Beyer

Stephan Beyer is Investment Director at Ventegis Capital AG, a Berlin-based Venture Capital firm.

Having started his career as technology analyst at the Association of German Engineers (VDI), he has more than 12 years experience as Investment Professional with a focus on Cleantech. During his career he completed numerous transactions including an IPO, trade sales to financial and strategic investors as well as numerous financing rounds.

Stephan received an engineering degree from the Technical University Berlin as well as a Ph.D. in Finance and holds board seats with SULFURCELL Solartechnik, Nanda Technologies and AUPEO currently.

Dr. Philipp Bouteiller

Philipp is a partner at Finfortec, a boutique investment bank and corporate finance advisory for technology companies, where he signs responsible for clean-tech and digital. He has been a speaker at electric mobility conferences and published on electric mobility and passenger information systems.

Philipp has extensive entrepreneurial and consulting experience. After several years with McKinsey, where he specialised on high-tech and TIME industries, Philipp founded and built several companies, amongst them IGA Worldwide (leading independent provider of In-Game Advertising, New York), sMeet (leading browser based virtual world) and HIT Labs (advanced picture based object and face recognition systems).

He acts as business angel and adviser for a number of clients and earned his PhD in international management and social psychology from the London School of Economics.

Michael Bueltmann

Since 2008 Michael Bültmann has been a member and spokesman of the managing board of the Nokia Deutschland GmbH. He studied law in Würzburg, Heidelberg, and St. Gallen. His professional experience encompasses 5 year occupation as a lawyer and lecturer for international business law. He joined Nokia in 2001.

As a lawyer and managing director Michael Bültmann accounts for legal matters as well as the department for governmental and public affairs. Besides regulatory issues concerning the internet and telecommunication Michael focuses on education and corporate citizenship. Thus, Michael Bültmann is closely connected to both governmental departments and organizations for education and the advancement of learning.

Michael Bültmann held various international positions at Nokia, including the controlling department: He was acting as Senior Legal Counsel, for Germany and several eastern European countries.

Dr. Helge Daebel

Emerald Technology Ventures is a global leader in clean technology venture capital. Founded in 2000, Emerald is a pioneer in the rapidly emerging clean technology sector and is focused on innovative technologies in energy, materials and water.

Within Emerald, Helge is a Sector Specialist for water technologies and marine renewables. He is responsible for Emerald’s strategy within these sectors and is involved from the initial phase of each investment process up to assisting management of portfolio companies. Prior to joining Emerald, Helge conducted research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) in the Environmental Engineering Division. He also worked at the German Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute and participated in various water projects in Ecuador.

Helge holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Karlsruhe.

Alexander Dauensteiner

Alexander Dauensteiner, born 1968, made his degree on mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart. During his study and as a freelancer he worked at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy organising the International workshop “Das Drei-Liter Auto” and worked out his diploma thesis in cooperation with the Rocky Mountain Institute, Colorado, US. At the Fraunhofer Institute he worked on topics of ecodesign and Life Cycle Assessments. 2002 he changed to Vaillant Group as Project Manager Fuel Cells. Since 2005 he is Head of Product Management Innovation at Vaillant Group. Alexander Dauensteiner is author of the book “Der Weg zum Ein-Liter-Auto“, published in 2000.

Craig Davis

• International MBA in Marketing and Finance from University of South Carolina
• Tesla Motors Sales and Marketing Director Europe, General Manager Tesla Deutschland GmbH Nov. 2008 to Present
• MINI Global Brand Management/ Strategic Communication, Munich Germany July 2001-Oct 2008
• Coca-Cola Brand Management (Coke, Coke light, Fanta and Sprite), Vienna Austria April 1997-June 2000
• UNDP/ UNIDO Entrepreneurship Development and Eastern Europe Privitazation Team, Vienna, Austria
• BMW AG, BMW Motorrad Marketing, Sales and Distribution

Dr. Joerg Fabri

• 4 years Shell, Manager “Marketing Technology Department”
• 5 years VEBA AG (E.ON AG), Head of “Corporate Strategy”
• 5 years RWE AG, Head of “Strategic Planning” and Vice President “Multi Utility Operations”
• 4 years Arthur D. Little, Partner
• 6 years Droege & Comp., Managing Director
• Head of Competence Centres Energy/Utilities and Transportation/Infra-structure

Education: Dr. rer. nat., RWTH Aachen, Germany and Diploma in Chemistry, RWTH Aachen, Germany

Carl-A. Fechner

Since 1989, fechnerMEDIA has made mysteries of the world accessible, following moments of love and luck, visions for the future as well as questions concerning the past.

fechnerMEDIA:Production is an outstanding partner when it comes to giving answers, showing perspectives and providing encouragement using media tools. We create fascinating images to make complex historical, social and scientific topics both suspenseful like thrillers and easier to understand. We provide arguments for sweeping social change, communicate methods for competent negotiation and use progressive images to show people their personal and social future in a context of sustainable development. We create story-driven documentaries based on real facts, verified by investigative journalistic research and told in a dramatic build-up.

All our documentaries meet the highest technical requirements. We work with various renowned directors, cameramen and editors to guarantee creative film and editing work.

Hans Josef Fell

• Spokesman on energy policy for Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag
• Spokesman of the parliamentary group on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
• Rapporteur on technology assessment for the parliamentary group
• Substitute member of the Bundestag’s Defence Committee
• Substitute member of the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment
• Spokesman on energy and technology policy for Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag (2005 – 2009)
• Spokesman on research and technology policy (1998 – 2005)

Hans-Josef Fell wrote the draft Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which was adopted in 2000 in the face of strong political opposition. He was also involved in drafting the law amending the EEG in 2004. The EEG is the foundation for the technological developments in photovoltaics, biogas, wind power and geothermal energy in Germany, which are admired throughout the world. The underlying principle of the EEG has now been copied in dozens of countries.

Prof. Meinhard von Gerkan

Meinhard von Gerkan was born on January 3rd, 1935, in Riga, Latvia. In 1964, he obtained his degree at the University Carolo-Wilhelmina at Brunswick, Germany, and since 1965 has been working as a freelance architect together with Volkwin Marg. During his career, Meinhard von Gerkan held guest professorships and honorary doctorate titles at numerous universities, e.g. in Germany, Japan, South Africa, USA and Taiwan. Besides receiving many awards for outstanding buildings, he and Volkwin Marg were successful in more than 450 national and international architectural competitions, incl. 250 first prizes. Among his most notable buildings are Berlin Central Station, the Stuttgart Airport, the Hamburg Airport, Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre, China, Lingang New City near Shanghai, the National Museum of China in Beijing and the Berlin Brandenburg International Airport.

Holger Giebel

Since 2007 Holger Giebel is a founder and managing director of TimberTower GmbH. He studied economics and socio-economics at the University of Hamburg and at the University of Abertay Dundee/Scotland respectively. After his studies he started his PhD at the University of Hamburg. At the same time he worked for different management consulting companies and also as a freelance consultant for different nanotechnology start-ups (nanosolutions, nanolytics, nanogate). He entered the wind business in 2006 as a startup consultant and by developing sales and marketing concepts for engineering companies.

Philipp Gloeckler

Philipp Gloeckler is founder and CEO of Avocado Store – the Marketplace for green products. At Avocado Store he is responsible of the development, acquisition of retailers and brands, as well as marketing and PR. Being live for less than 3 months, Avocado Store already holds more than 80 retailers and 200 brands. Before founding Avocado Store with the help of Stephan Uhrenbacher, Philipp Gloeckler organized the first Carrotmob in Germany and founded the eco fashion label So Pure. In 2009, he was announced as ³One of the 33 most important Green Germans² by the NEON magazine and was nominated for the Clean Tech Media Award 2009, Category Culture and Media.

Christian Graeff

• Since 1995: Member of the CDU (German Christian Democratic Party)
• 2000–2003 and since 2005: Vice Chairman of a CDU District
• 2002–2009: Board member of the CDU in Berlin
• Since 2007: Chairman of CDU District Organization for Biesdorf
• 1995–1998: Training as retail merchant
• 1998–2004: Authorized Representative and subsequently Managing Director of a retail company
• 1999–2001: Member of Parliament of (the Federal state of) Berlin
• 2004–2006: Freelance businessman
• 2006: Member of Parliament of (the Federal state of) Berlin
• Since November 2006: District Council, Marzahn-Hellersdorf Borough

Dr. Manfred Heil

Manfred held several executive roles in the high-tech industry including Senior Vice President of SAP AG, where he led the SRM business and the global partner management. Prior to SAP he founded Goodex AG, where he served as CEO. The company was acquired by Ariba Inc. in 2003. He has a strong background in sales, marketing, software development and IT-strategy. He created and managed international business networks with focus on co-innovation and collaborative sales. Manfred received his PhD from the Technical University of Munich. He studied business administration at the University of Hannover.

Hans Harjung

Hans Harjung gathered his experience in international management and marketing during more than twenty years in leading positions on a local and international level in the pharmaceutical industry. He has a degree in economics and a strong scientific background. Together with experts from the electronic and automotive industry he founded e-moove, tackling the two decisive issues supporting the breakthrough of e-mobility: energy storage and infrastructure. The success experienced so far is backed by inventions and protected by patent applications and PCTs. Partnerships with Research & Development Organizations and partners from industry are empowering e-moove to succeed in this competitive field.

Dr. Michael Hoppe

Founded the market research company WBA during his studies. Was CEO and chairman of the WBA Institute from 1972 to 1993. Sold major shares to the international market research chain Ipsos (Paris) in 1993. Became CEO of Ipsos Germany and member of the international management board of Ipsos.

Left his profession as capitalistic entrepreneur to become a social entrepreneur. Launched his own foundation “steps for children” and the first sustainable social-entrepreneurial project “steps for children” in Namibia.. Now he is the general manager for the project as well as the chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation “steps for children”. He also works as consultant and mediator.

Joern Ihlenburg

Jörn Ihlenburg studied computer systems engineering at the University of Tübingen and is a freelance systems architect and consultant for more than fifteen years in the field of industrial and automotive embedded systems. While working on several hybrid car powertrain projects for the last three years he established COGILUX in 2009 together with Ersin Celik and Thomas Lillie to foster the development of high quality green lighting systems.

Olaf Jacobi

Olaf joined Target Partners as a venture partner in 2007 and became a partner in 2009. In the past Olaf Jacobi has invested as a business angel in young IT and Internet companies. He also founded Collax Inc. (Boston and Munich) in 2005, a Linux server solutions vendor, and served as CEO of the company until the end of 2006. Prior to that, Olaf was an investor and Chief Sales Officer of Cobion AG, an IT security solutions provider which was successfully sold to ISS Internet Security Systems Inc. (Atlanta) in 2004. From 1999 to 2002 Olaf was a management board member at ACG AG, a company publicly quoted on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Since 1994 Olaf served in various management positions in the IT sector, including as Senior VP for Marketing and a management board member of Minolta GmbH. Olaf Jacobi is a supervisory board member at Scoreloop AG, a member of the advisory board of hetras GmbH and an observer on the board of directors of JouleX Inc..

Prof. Dr. Achim Kampker

Prof. Kampker studied from 1995 to 2000 Mechanical Engineering at the RWTH Aachen University and began as a doctoral candidate at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) thereafter. The focus of his work was process and technology planning and in change management. He received his doctoral grade with distinction in the year 2004. Prof. Kampker then remained two more years at the WZL as a chief engineer in the division Production Management. At the Jüpo GmbH he started his career in the industry and was CEO between 2006 and 2008. At the same time he was in the managing board of the myOpenFactory eG and completed an eMBA at the University of St. Gallen and RWTH Aachen University. Since April 2009 Prof. Kampker is the head of the chair of production management at the WZL of RWTH Aachen University.

Bernd Kolb

Bernd Kolb is considered a visionary and is widely recognized for his innovative work. He is the recipient of various prizes and awards including being named “German Businessman of the Year” as well as having held the position of Chief Executive for innovation at Deutsche Telekom. Kolb left behind these accolades to work as a “social entrepreneur” and “change agent“ helping to navigate the complex challenges amongst us and to develop innovative new solutions to deal with those challenges. In founding the “Club of Marrakesh”, Kolb gathers international thinkers, scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs to develop integrated ground-breaking projects and to implement them.
The approach is entrepreneurial in nature and follows the principle that sustainability can be only achieved through profitability.

Dr. Ralf Leutz

Ralf Leutz is a founder of Concentrator Optics GmbH, a company focusing on the design of solar optics and the manufacturing of Fresnel lens parquets. An engineer with MBA by trade, Ralf has been in solar for 15 years, six thereof in Tokyo researching his PhD, and another six in Marburg lecturing in physics. He coauthored a book on Nonimaging Fresnel Lenses (Springer 2001), and organizes a workshop on technical aspects of CPV every 18 months. Ralf has been involved in dozens of optical designs for solar thermal energy conversion and concentrating photovoltaic power generation.

Michael Loehr

Michael has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nuremberg in Germany and has a decade of experience in the high-tech
industry working on automotive fuel cells and other clean technologies. He held positions as Senior Engineer, Project Manager and Team Leader in R&D and Product Development at the fuel cell company Ballard Power Systems Inc. in Germany and Canada. Until recently he worked for a consulting firm with offices in Switzerland and the UK focusing on strategic advice in novel energy technology industries. Michael is the CEO and Founder of tiramizoo Ltd, a web-company operating the world’s first booking portal for local same-day couriers.

Volko Loewenstein

Volko Löwenstein (*1958) holds a graduate title in engineering. After his post-graduate studies in electrical engineering at the University of Kassel (Kassel, Germany) he worked for several years at the Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology (ISET) in the field of Product and Technology Development for power conversion by means of photovoltaic modules. In 1993, Volko Löwenstein joined Schüco International KG (Bielefeld, Germany) and worked in the Advanced Technology Department. He supervised the research project „Façade-Integrated Photovoltaic Modules“. The project was highly successful and cumulated in establishing the first commercial system for the integration of photovoltaic modules in the building façade. Starting in 1998, he founded the new Solar Department and was Head of the Management Team Solar. Later, he became Vice President and joined the Management Team of the Schüco Group. In spring 2007, he founded the Inventux Technologies AG together with Roland Sillmann, Christian Plesser and Oliver Rothe. In addition to his function as CEO, he is responsible for Human Resources, Purchasing and Quality Management.

Timon Meyer

Timon Meyer joined Berlin Partner, the business development agency for Berlin, in 2006. Berlin’s renewable energies sector, particularly in the field of Solar / PV, has grown considerably since then, with companies such as Sulfurcell, Inventux and Global Solar Energy setting up production facilities in the city. Previously, he was with TOTAL Germany from 2002 through 2006, serving as Strategic Controlling Manager, among other positions. During his tenure, the company opened its first LH2 / CH2 hydrogen filling station in Berlin and initiated several other sustainable development projects, most notably a CO2 emission reductions formula for trucks (“Ad Blue”) and Bio-Diesel / Bio-Ethanol production. Timon received a European Master in Management degree from ESCP Europe (Oxford, Madrid, Paris) in 2001. He is fluent in English, Spanish, German and French.

Wolfram Putz

Wolfram Putz studied Architecture in Germany at the Technische Universitäy Braunschweig where he graduated as Dipl.-Ing. Arch, at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City and at the Southern Californian Institute of Architecture, USA, where he received his Master. In 1998 Wolfram Putz established GRAFT in Los Angeles together with Thomas Willemeit and Lars Krueckeberg. GRAFT has won numerous national and international awards and garnered international fame with a wide-spread following throughout its 10-year existence. GRAFT today employs 100 architects and artists worldwide.

Karl Rabeder

To finance his studies, Karl Rabeder founded an arts and crafts company in 1986, which employed up to 400 people at a later stage. He sold his company in 2004 and became a social entrepreneur supporting orphan houses and creating agricultural programs for developing countries. In 2009 he founded the non-profit organisation MyMicroCredit which runs an internet platform enabling Europeans to hand out micro loans to poor people in Latin America.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Rill

Prof. Dr. Rill is CEO and co-founder of Phytolutions GmbH. The engineer for aerospace engineering studied in Berlin and Stanford. After completing his doctorate he worked as a research and development engineer for Airbus. In 1993 he was appointed to the chair for aerodynamics at the Applied University of Bremen. Between 1996 and 2008 he built up the largest German engineering service company in the aeronautical industry (CeBeNetwork Group, today Voith Engineering Services GmbH).

Alexander Romahn

Sonne+Wind Beteiligungen AG (S&W) was founded in November 2000 by Versiko AG, Hilden / Düsseldorf. S&W is located in Berlin and since 06/2008 listed in the Entry-Standard-Segment of Deutsche Börse. S&W offers the only investment opportunity in Germany to participate directly in investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency with a track record of 10 years. S&W profits from the growing demand for investments in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector with currently very high multiples.

Dr. Hermann Scheer

• Since 1980 Member of the German Bundestag
• Member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs
• Deputy member of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
• Since 1987 Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Since 1988 Honorary President of EUROSOLAR – The European Association for Renewable Energy
• Since 1989 Editor of the magazine “Solarzeitalter – Politik und Ökonomie Erneuerbarer Energien” on policy and economics of renewable energy
• Since 1997 Editor of the magazine “Zeitschrift für Neues Energierecht” (ZNER) on juridical questions of energy
• Since 2001 Founding General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE)
• Since 2004 Chairman of the International Parliamentary Forum on Renewable Energies
• 1991 – 1993 Chairman of the Arms Control and Disarmament Committee of the German Bundestag
• 1994 – 1997 Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Since 1993 Member of the Federal Board of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)

Ingo Schoenberg

Ingo Schönberg has sat on PPC’s board of directors since 2001, and has been its chairman since 2005. He is also managing director of Vype GmbH, PPC’s broadband Internet subsidiary. Before joining PPC, Ingo worked for MVV Energie AG in Mannheim in areas including business development, strategy, R&D and energy services. Prior to that, he was one of the founding members of the Fraunhofer Institut FhG UMSICHT in Oberhausen. While still at the Frauenhofer Institut, he held management positions at energy foundations and industrial lobbying organisations. He then worked as an engineer and was later departmental manager for CHP generation, with responsibility for renewable energies and energy services. Ingo holds a degree in engineering from Dortmund University and also studied business management in Hagen.

Stephan Schuetz

Stephan Schütz, born in 1966, Dipl.-Ing. Architect, studied Architecture at the Technical University of Braunschweig and joined von Gerkan Marg und Partner Architects (gmp) in 1994. In 2002 he established the first Chinese gmp branch office in Beijing, which now, together with the offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen, employs nearly 150 architects. He became Partner in 2004 and is responsible for projects in China and Europe. Together with Meinhard von Gerkan he developed the idea to turn the shut down Berlin-Tegel airport into a showcase for German Green Tech.

Rolf Schumann

Rolf Schumann is business development executive focused on Europe and, in particular, the German market. He is responsible primarily for engaging key constituencies with the ultimate goal of creating infrastructure for the mass adoption of electric ehicles at a national level. To this end, he works closely with governments, financial institutions, automobile manufacturers, energy providers and other potential partners.

Schumann brings nearly 20 years experience in strategic planning, business network transformation and the introduction of new technologies within markets and corporations to his role with Better Place. Before, Schumann worked for eight years at SAP as chief technology officer in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, overseeing the software company’s platform business, including SAP NetWeaver, and leading the platform solutions sales organization. Prior to that, he served as an eBusiness Principal for Siemens, managing strategic IT planning, network management, operations and outsourcing.

Schumann received a degree in “Wirtschaftsinformatik” (Master of Science Business Administration and Computer Science) from the Universität Mannheim and a Master of IT Management from ZfU International Business School.

Andreas Spiess

Andreas Spiess has been a lawyer for all his professional life. In 1999 he founded Spiess & Schumacher, based in Berlin. Specialized in IP-law with clients all over the world, development and implementation of international licensing and know-how transfer solutions for technology and IT companies, lately counselling start ups in the field of green technology. In 2008, Andreas Spiess became founding partner of Solar23, a solar system integrator in Ethiopia. He has been active in numerous countries in Africa and now developed, together with GRAFT architects, a new project SOLARKIOSK to distribute solar energy and green technology solutions in rural off-grid areas worldwide.

Maurice Stanszus

Maurice Stanszus recently finished his Bachelor of Business Administration at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. His interest in Sustainability arose from working on projects in China and Chile. Mister Stanszus is specialized in Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing and wrote his thesis on “Relevant CSR Information for Consumers”. The WeGreen concept was developed by him in the neofonie GmbH which is also well known for the WePad. The WeGreen Project was a 2009 winner of the “Mission Sustainability Project” awarded by the “Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung”. WeGreen realized the so-called “Nachhaltigkeitsampel” in association with the checkitmobile GmbH well known for the mobile Barcode Scanner “barcoo”. WeGreen now cooperates with Dr. Manfred Heil from Sustain GmbH to develop a community-based sustainability platform.

Nikolaus Starzacher

Nikolaus Starzacher founded Discovergy GmbH, believing that Discovergy will make an important contribution towards the smarter use of energy. Nikolaus spent much of 2009 refining the business model, learning about the utilities industry and the underlying market mechanisms, building prototypes, and – most importantly – building the team that has all the capabilities required to successfully execute this exciting business model.

Previously, Nikolaus founded just digits GmbH, providing a range of innovative telecommunication solutions (Sparruf, Funruf and Phonecaster) by turning arbitrage opportunities into customer benefits. In 1998, Nikolaus founded Verivox GmbH, Germany’s largest independent consumer portal for energy and telecommunications. He began his career with Mitchell Madison Group, a leading management consulting firm, working for some of the leading financial and retail institutions across Europe and Australia. Nikolaus graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics & philosophy from Oxford University in 1996.

Dr. Gerhard Timm

• Degree in economics, political sience and sociology
• CEO of Friends of the Earth Germany (1999 – 2008)
• Founding Director of the BUND Foundation (2006)
• Founding director of the DESERTEC Foundation (2009)
• Member of the supervisory Board of the DESERTEC Foundation
• General Manager of the Federal Working Group of non-statutory Welfare Organizations

Otto von Troschke

Otto von Troschke is Chief Investment Officer of SUSI Partners AG. Prior he worked for Fortress Investment Group, a global alternative investments and asset management firm, focusing on real estate and infrastructure. He was involved in successful portfolio acquisitions and dispositions worth several billion Euros. He studied at the University of Hong Kong, the University of Westminster and the European Business School (EBS) where he graduated with a MSc in Business Administration. Otto von Troschke has published various articles on asset-backed securities.

Marco Voigt

Marco Voigt studied automotive engineering and started his career at Porsche. He was one of the founders of Germany’s biggest private postal companies PIN AG. He worked for several years as a Clean Tech and Automotive manager for the European Commission and German Government at VDI/VDE. He was coordinator of Germany’s Lithium Ion Support Program for Automotive and Energy Applications as well as of the portable Fuel Cells Support Program. His focus has been to strengthen German industry for hybrid cars and portable energy storage solutions. Marco is one of the founders of Germany’s most attractive “Green” Award: Clean Tech Media Award. In addition he is stakeholder and Managing Director of the international CLEAN TECH WORLD at the historic airport Berlin Tempelhof.

Gerald Vollnhals

Entrepreneurial spirit in different high-tech areas characterizes Gerald. Over 15 years of starting companies he made high-tech companies very successful. In the field of data and telecommunications, internet and high tech components Gerald gained a lot of experience in implementing structures and managing growth of start-up companies. With his financial background he brings a lot of process and administration stability into GOVECS. Gerald’s responsibility in GOVECS is the production, finance and administration.

Philipp Wagner

Philipp Wagner has worked as an architect, energy consultant and designer in the United Arab Emirates over the past 7 years. Mr. Wagner is familiar with the entire range of big scale planning from urbanism to high-rise structures in fast growing environments. His latest – and probably most innovative – invention: The WindCube combines the growing need of emerging countries for vast amounts of energy with clean technology and new solutions for logistical challenges.

Richard Youngman

Richard Youngman is based in Cleantech Group’s office in London and is responsible for the company’s global membership offering – its industry-leading data, research, and conferences – as well as driving the growth of the group’s activities in Europe, India and the Middle East. Most recently, he was Vice President of Research & Operations at Library House, where he ran the Library House Research team, which discovered and collected the information about high-growth companies that underpinned that company’s data, analytical, and event services.

Before Library House, Richard ran his own advisory firm conducting research and consulting on the measurement and evaluation of intangible assets and intellectual capital for organizations such as the European Commission. This followed nine years building a broad-based finance and research background with leading financial institutions such as ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital and BZW in the City of London. His work was centered on the debt markets and revolved around financing M&A deals and advising clients on achieving alignment between their financial and strategic plans.

Richard has an MA from Cambridge University, and an MBA from Theseus International Management Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France.