SET Tech Festival 2024

Corinna Enders has been Chairwoman of dena’s Management Board since October 2023. In this role, she is responsible for dena’s operational and strategic development as well as its content. Her work focuses on supporting the German government and all stakeholders involved in the transformation to climate neutrality.

Corinna studied law in Germany and Italy and is an expert in environmental and climate policy, working briefly as a lawyer before spending many years as a government civil servant. Before joining dena, Corinna established and expanded Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH, a non-profit, in Berlin as Managing Director.

Mario is a senior energy transition executive with significant experience developing and investing in energy infrastructure projects. Prior to Breakthrough Energy, Mario was with Chicora Energy, an energy transition investment platform he co-founded focused on Latin America. Before Chicora, Mario was with Macquarie Capital serving as a Managing Director and Head of Latin America Energy Principal Investments Origination. Prior to Macquarie, Mario was the CFO for Trafigura’s US$1 billion Colombia fluvial logistics project. Mario also worked for several international financial firms, including ING Capital and Syncora Guarantee. Mario was a management consultant before obtaining his Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Boston College. Over the course of his career, Mario has worked in different cities across the world, including New York, Geneva, Amsterdam and Bogotá

Irene brings more than 20 years of experience in the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. Her background is in project and structured finance across emerging and European markets with a particular focus on renewable energy. She is currently leading the Cleantech Growth Capital team at EIB, Europe’s largest provider of venture debt. Passionate about forging meaningful partnerships and collaboration, Irene firmly believes in the power of uniting the public and private sectors to tackle Europe’s pressing investment challenges.

Akshat Rathi is an award-winning senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News. He is the author of Climate Capitalism, host of Zero, a weekly climate podcast for Bloomberg Green, and writes a weekly newsletter on climate solutions.

He has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. He has worked for Quartz and The Economist.

Anne Lauenroth has been with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) since 2016, currently as Deputy Head of the International Cooperation, Security, Raw Materials and Space Department. After studying political science in Berlin and Strasburg and working in the Bundestag and the European Parliament, she worked as researcher and Head of Institutional Affairs at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Brussels.

At BDI, Mrs Lauenroth initially led two task forces on climate, energy & resource efficiency as well as on infrastructure finance during the German G20 Presidency as part of BDI’s Business 20 (B20) Presidency team. She was then responsible for the ‘Creating Perspectives’ project of BDI and GIZ in East Africa as national coordinator. After dealing with the topics of foreign trade promotion and development policy with a focus on supply chain due diligence, Mrs Lauenroth is since two years responsible within BDI for the topic of raw materials security.

Aditi is a Director at Systemiq, a system change company and think-tank dedicated to accelerating delivery of the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals by transforming markets and business models in three economic systems: nature, clean energy and circular economy. Within Systemiq, she focuses on helping corporates in the food and agriculture sector on their net zero and food system transition journeys. She is also building up Regeneration, a Systemiq JV, on a mission to help corporates procure nature-positive commodities at scale. She leads our newly established Berlin Office. Previously, she was part of the McKinsey Global Institute, a think-tank that focuses on global issues and broad macroeconomic forces affecting business strategy and public policy. She also served public sector and automotive clients at McKinsey & Company. She invests in climate tech and health tech startups and advises impact VCs.

Rebekka Müller shifted from a corporate to political career, motivated by sustainability and climate protection. Her experiences as a consultant in the energy sector not only sharpens a pragmatic political approach but also deepens business insights, moving beyond the mere push for more regulations.

A serial entrepreneur, David successfully founded Good Impact Ventures and a number of companies that are part of its family including enorm magazine, GoodJobs, GoodNews, and now goodcarbon. David was inspired to set up goodcarbon after meeting Alexandra Cousteau and Fritz Neumeyer, founders of Oceans 2050, and discovered the untapped power oceans have to fight climate change.

Born in 1976 in Ludwigsburg. Degree in Political Science at the Freie Universität Berlin. Studies in Political Science, History and Public Law in Heidelberg, Paris, Brussels and Berlin. Joined the Foreign Office in 2002. 2011-2019 Member of the Berlin House of Representatives. MEP since 2019. Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Innovation, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Security and the Development Committee.

Geraldine co-founded Konnektiv in 2013 with René Schodder and Melanie Stilz and together with René Schodder leads the company as CEO. Geraldine is head of the consultancy department which offers different knowledge services such as expert research and analyses, project design and implementation, and strategic consultation.

In addition, Geraldine is a popular moderator and public speaker at events around digital transformation, sustainability, and innovation. She hosts events such as re:publica, Start Up Energy Transition (SET) Tech Festival, and NZZ X.Days. Furthermore, Geraldine has given keynote talks for TedX events, Federal Ministry events like the Civic Innovation Platform Award, and startup events including the Nürnberg Digital Festival.

Her work over the last 18 years has focused on digital transformation and international cooperation, innovation, and human rights. Geraldine has a background in political sciences and is bilingual (en/de) with an intercultural background. She has experience working with activists, governments, startups, and NGOs across the world.

Geraldine is also the founder of the Global Innovation Gathering (GIG), a network of grassroots innovators, social entrepreneurs, founders, and managers of makerspaces, hackerspaces, and innovation hubs. In 2018, she authored and moderated the ARTE documentary “Digital Africa” which captures many of the innovator’s activities in the GIG network.

Since 2012, she has been part of the curatorial team for the re:publica, Europe’s largest conference on the topic of the internet and society, and regularly organizes and curates events in the field of politics and digitization. In 2018, she organized the first re:publica in Accra, Ghana with over 2000 participants and over 260 speakers from across Africa.

Geraldine has been a member of the BMBF Zukunftskreis since 2019. Furthermore, she has been named by the City of Berlin as a member of the City Lab Advisory Board and a member of the Smart City Strategy Advisory Board. Geraldine is part of the Development Service and Humanitarian Aid Committee (AEDHH) for Brot für die Welt.

Claudio is the founder and CEO of Energy Dome, a leading long-duration energy storage solutions provider. The company developed the CO2 Battery, a breakthrough technology capable of storing a large quantity of energy cost-effectively and efficiently. Energy Dome’s mission is to unlock renewable energy and make solar and wind power dispatchable 24/7.

An engineer by education, but most importantly, an innovator and entrepreneur by nature and experience, Claudio has founded multiple successful technology ventures in the energy sector, taking them from germinal concepts to tangible market leadership.

Dr Ana Trbovich is Grid Singularity co-founder, developing grid-aware peer-to-peer energy exchanges, including tools for energy communities, and co-founder of the Energy Web Foundation, building web3 technology for energy transition. She also serves on the UNECE Task Force on Digitalization in Energy, and previously as board member at the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), dena SETHub, Axa and the Belgrade Philharmonic. She has been teaching, researching and consulting on good governance, competitiveness and innovation for international organisations, including the EU and the World Bank, having previously served as Assistant Minister in charge of Serbia’s EU Accession. She holds a PhD from the Fletcher School and Master Degrees from the Fletcher School and the Harvard Kennedy School. 

Anke is a convinced investor in innovative green technologies, drawing on her deep experience in the energy industry. Before joining DTCF, she was a senior project manager in the strategy team at Vattenfall, where she was responsible for decarbonization and business development projects and gained transaction experience. Previously, she advised energy companies on digitalization and innovation, in the field of electromobility, and on organizational growth topics at Accenture Strategy & Management Consulting. Anke also has a good eye for ideas with business potential and impact through her studies in economics with a focus on energy economics and supports founders in making a valuable contribution to decarbonizing our economy.

Dr. Lewis Akenji is a political economist and managing director of Hot or Cool Institute, a think tank that brings science-based perspectives to issues intersecting the environment and society. He is a full member of the Club of Rome, and Transformational Economics Commissioner with the Earth4All project.

Iris is a trained chemist who found her passion in climate tech investing. She holds multiple degrees from Utrecht University and has worked at Stanford University as a researcher in the Chemical Engineering department. She is specialised in heterogeneous catalysis, which is a cornerstone for processes like carbon dioxide valorisation and ammonia synthesis. Iris spun out of the academic world early 2022. Since then, she has co-founded a startup, CO2NVERT, that transforms carbon dioxide into alcohol and currently she is full-time devoted to the Head of Science role at Extantia Capital in Berlin. Apart from being the in-house chemist at the firm, she also functions as an investor and a thought leader.

Angela provides direction and innovative leadership for SET and is the Secretary General & CEO of the World Energy Council. Angela has a PhD in Physics and has become one of the world’s leading global energy futures experts. She has 30 years of experience in leading national, international and global multi-stakeholder transformation initiatives on a wide range of economic, energy, climate and sustainable development related challenges.

Andreas Kuhlmann has many years of experience in the energy sector. The former head of the German Energy Agency (dena) has been a member of the management board of Berlin-based consultancy Christ & Company since July 2023, where he uses his expertise to support companies in the strategic implementation of their energy and circular economy projects and the development of new business models. During his time at dena, Kuhlmann played a key role in driving forward energy system transformation in the interests of climate protection. Prior to that, he served in numerous other positions at the interface between business and politics. Kuhlmann holds a degree in physics from the Universities of Heidelberg and Bonn.

Julia is a Partner at SET Ventures. Her mission is to reduce the climate impact of the energy sector through digital innovation, together with industry-leading entrepreneurs. She is deeply experienced in finance, energy, and cleantech. Since 2016, Julia has been instrumental in strengthening SET’s European network and visibility, as well as spearheading new investments.

Previously, Julia was active in corporate finance and investment advisory in cleantech and energy, amongst others at merchant bank Kempen & Co. She advised on M&A transactions, IPOs, investments, and fundraising processes at European energy companies. She was also involved in establishing new energy projects, business cases, structured financing, and advising on growth strategies. Julia holds a Master’s degree in Environmental & Resource Economics from University College London. She is a board member and trusted advisor at Flexidao, Trunkrs and Sensorfact, and formerly at Depsys (acquired). She was also a board observer at Energyworx, GreenCom Networks (acquired) and Greenflux (acquired).

Rachel is an operational and growth expert with experience in both logistics and energy. She is currently the head of Product at Pave Power, a small company focused on truck fleet electrification. She previously spent 5 years leading Pricing and then Business Operations & Planning for Flexport, a global logistics and freight forwarding leader. She previously spent 8 years at Sunrun, a residential solar developer, holding Sr. roles in Finance, Market Development, and Strategy and was instrumental to Sunrun’s growth and ultimate IPO. Rachel lives in Berlin right now but hails from the US.

Jessica Burley is an investor at Planet A ventures, and active in the climate ecosystem, leading the Berlin arm for both Climate Mosaic and Rising Tide. Jessica studied Politics and International Relations at Cambridge and worked as a Climate Venture Researcher for the United Nations. She got deeper into the world of climate tech when leading the authorship team for the European chapter of the world’s first textbook on lab-grown meat and developed this interest by working at a pre-seed circular economy start-up, before joining climate VC. Today she applies her research background to understanding the technologies and predicting the trends in climate.

Ahmed is a researcher and lecturer at Munich University of Applied Sciences and an independent consultant specializing in smart, sustainable, and resilient urban development. His academic contribution includes authoring over 15 peer-reviewed papers and involvement in the development of various building and urban performance rating systems.

Through Carbon13, Michael has invested in over 64 climate tech startups in the UK and Europe. Each of those ventures aims to mitigate at least 10m tonnes CO2e per annum. Before Carbon13 his most recent start-up, Poq, is a London based enterprise SaaS platform for mobile retailing, powering the apps of some of the largest retailers in the world.

Shanbor is a Principal at Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) and drives the firm’s efforts to invest in the European ecosystem. He also leads greenhouse gas impact assessments for potential investments. He has helped develop the internal methodology and construct the Simple Emissions Reduction Calculator (SERC) tool to quantify emissions impact. He is part of the Data & Tools Group of Project Frame and the Methodology Working Group of the Venture Climate Alliance on behalf of CEV.

Thomas Antonioli is co-founder and CEO of Terra One, a startup that plans and operates large-scale, grid-connected battery storage projects. He is an expert founder with 15 years of experience in climate technology, fintech and investment. In his last role as CFO at Grover, an electronics rental company, Thomas and his team turned the company into the first “green unicorn” in Germany. In addition, Thomas supports several promising start-ups with his experience as a board member and angel investor. His background in finance and management benefits his activities, particularly in the area of funding. Thomas holds a degree in business administration and an MBA from INSEAD.

As an active Business Angel and Partner at Vireo Ventures, Felix helps pre-seed and seed companies to prosper. Furthermore, he supports Start-ups and innovation departments as a coach and mentor in the fields of Business Modell Development, B2B Sales and Financing.
Before founding Vireo Ventures, Felix worked as an Investment Partner at innogy Ventures, the venture capital arm of one of Europe’s largest utility companies. As their first external employee, he established the Berlin office and built the overall investment theses as well as company communication. At innogy Ventures, he had the end-to-end investment responsibility for early to growth stage investments in North America, Europe and Israel for the investment fields Future Energy, Smart City and Mobility. Additionally, he led the “Future of Cities” investment segment (Mobility, Smart City and PropTech) for the expanded innogy Innovation HUB (60+ investments and €162m under management) and helped the Innovation HUB to evolve from a company builder to a renowned seed investor.
Overall, he has been part of the startup scene for more than a decade, founding two companies himself, leading the European expansion of a US startup as MD, and supporting founders as consultant, interim manager, trainer and mentor. He holds a MSc in International Business Studies from University of Maastricht.

Magnus Agerström is the Managing Director of Cleantech Scandinavia. With more than 70 investors and industry companies from around the world in a membership network, Cleantech Scandinavia has become one of the most influential actors in the Nordic cleantech space. Magnus co-founded Cleantech Scandinavia in 2007. Before this he co-founded sustainability consultant/software company, Natlikan Sustainability AB, where he was Managing Director for many years and from which he made a successful exit in 2011. In 2022 he also co-founded Cleantech for Nordics with the support from Breakthrough Energy. Cleantech for Nordics focus on engaging with policymakers to support the growth of cleantech. Magnus holds a bachelor of Business Administration and has a passion for Environmental Economics. He is convinced that the way we use our economic system will have to be reformed in order for us to solve the big sustainability challenges ahead.

Benedikt is a Cofounder and Chief Operations Officer at TURN2X. His experience lies in financing multi-million Euro infrastructure projects. After graduating his masters in Physics at KIT Karlsruhe, he started his own VC fund which now holds over 30M EUR under management. At TURN2X, Benedikt leads the project development to find ideal locations for new plants. Additioanlly he structures the financing of the plants.

Meike Neitz is the Founder & Managing Director of the Startup Consultancy embassidy – with hosting events being her favourite side hustle. She has been moderating at Web Summit, Slush, Ruhr Summit, HTGF Partner Day, START Summit and many other conferences.

Before founding embassidy, Meike was Senior Manager, Trend & Innovation Scouting at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) in charge of the Digital Hub Initiative (de:hub) by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action. She is an expert in International Relations and Communications: From 2020 to 2022, she was a Digital Ambassador with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), based in Namibia to support the local Startup ecosystem and build bridges between Europe and Africa.

Until 2020, Meike ran her own coaching business, focusing on communications and business development for Startups, amongst others working closely with the TV format “Die Höhle der Löwen”. Meike has begun her career as Country Director for the Emerging Markets Research and Consulting Firm Oxford Business Group (OBG), living and working in Turkey, Indonesia, Tunisia, Thailand and Algeria.

She studied International Relations at TU Dresden und Boston College and holds a Masters Degree in Political Communications from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Freerk Bisschop is a seasoned investor and advisor in energy-transition innovation. He has a long background in the energy industry, as a scientist, strategist, consultant, manager, entrepreneur, executive, non-executive, investor and advisor. Currently he acts as Venture Partner to Inven Capital and as an independent advisor to start-ups, scale-ups and investors.

Rushad Nanavatty currently leads Third Derivative, the world’s leading early-stage climate tech accelerator, which has helped 100+ startups so far — each with gigaton-scale emissions abatement potential — raise over $500 million in funding and forge a range of corporate partnerships through an inclusive ecosystem approach.

Rushad also helped establish and lead the Global Cooling Prize, a global innovation competition to develop a climate-friendly residential cooling solution that produces 80 percent lower emissions than today’s standard room air-conditioners. Previously, he worked with the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), a partnership between RMI and Grid Singularity to develop promising applications for blockchain technology in the energy sector.

Pia has been leading the SET project since 2019. Prior to this, she was heavily involved in driving dena’s work with the start-ups scene as it relates to renewable energy. She holds an MA in Environment and Development from King’s College London and a Magister, International Business Administration from the University of Vienna, specialising in International Energy and Environmental Management. Meet her at the SET Tech Festival and Awards Ceremony celebrating this year’s finalists, winners, and the wider international SET100 community.

Céline Göhlich, is co-founder and managing director of everyone energy, a startup at the forefront of automated energy advisory solutions for renewable energy applications, ranging from PV systems to heat pumps for both commercial and residential use. With a foundation laid in 2021, everyone energy is committed to revolutionizing the user experience of the energy transition. Céline brings a depth of experience in energy and sustainability, cultivated through roles as a consultant and project manager across diverse strategy consultancies, think tanks, and foundations. Her leadership has been instrumental in driving forward projects and publications aimed at catalyzing the decentralized and digital transformation towards a decarbonized energy landscape. Join her at the SET festival in Berlin as she shares insights and experiences shaping the future of energy.

Chetan serves as the head of Third Derivative’s Research and Diligence function, responsible for investment thesis development and startup selection.

Prior to D3, Chetan worked for nearly a decade at the intersection of technology and innovation, international development, venture capital and climate change, supporting the deployment of clean technologies and the scaling of impact-oriented innovations. This includes stints with the World Bank and IFC, Harvard Business School’s Lab for Innovation Sciences and 3i Partners. He holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a Master’s in Technology & Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Anna is a climate tech investor at Future Energy Ventures. She’s based in Berlin and focuses on scouting for and delivering new investments and portfolio management. Future Energy Ventures invests in Series A and B companies, which deliver software solutions for decarbonization and energy transition. Anna has 15 years of experience in the energy sector across various functions including academia, consulting, corporate strategy and finance. Her educational background is in engineering.

Rik Arends is the Director of the Sustainable Freight Buyers Alliance, a leading initiative of Smart Freight Centre. Together, we unite freight buyers and suppliers to track and reduce their logistics greenhouse gas emissions. In his capacity as Director, Rik works with the largest shippers in the world to accelerate their decarbonization in collaboration with their supply chain partners. Rik is trained as a civil engineer and has 10+ years of experience in sustainable transport in Europe and the Global South.

Amir Horowitz is the CEO of ESIL, a venture platform investing in early-stage climate-tech startups. ESIL was founded as a partnership between EDF Renewables, Johnson Matthey, and Bazan, with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority.

ESIL’s current portfolio includes startups dealing with diverse challenges, including direct air capture (DAC), energy storage, hydrogen storage and transport, energy efficient cooling systems, energy storage, autonomous robotics, EV charging optimization, Agri-PV, and pollutant identification.

Before assuming his position at ESIL, Amir was Innovation and Strategy Team Leader at EDF Renewables Israel, leading open innovation activities in the company by evaluating new technologies and business models, with a specific focus on solar/wind/wave energy, energy storage, distributed networks, microgrids, and drones.

Benedikt works in Planet A’s science team as a senior scientist and is responsible for evaluating potential investment opportunities and to identify start-ups with a high impact potential.
He is an expert in sustainability assessment and has been working in this field for several years. In his work he assesses innovative start-ups and systemic changes. Currently his focus is on how to include the Planetary Boundary Framework and Biodiversity in applicable methods assisting decision making in a VC context. Before he applied and developed his knowledge in the VC industry, he worked on topics related sustainability assessment as a Post-Doc and in an SME.

As the founder and CEO of Cling Systems, William Bergh has a mission to enable circular batteries. Before starting Cling in 2020, he developed recycling strategies and designed battery systems at Northvolt. He attended Lund University, where he founded the first electric racing team and holds a master’s in Mechanical Engineering – Energy Technologies. Based in Stockholm.

Andrés Galnares is the CEO of H2SITE. He’s been involved in energy for almost 20 years, built 2 technology-based startups and led development teams achieving substantial growth in Latin America and Western Europe. Within H2SITE, he leads BD and strategy.

Tom Stepien, CEO of South 8, specialises in advanced lithium-ion battery electrolytes. With 30+ years in engineering, operations, and management, he co-founded Primus Power, served as VP at Applied Materials, and worked with KCK private equity.

Roni Mayer, CEO and co-founder of OtailO, brings vast software expertise from roles at Check Point and SAP. Committed to impactful innovation, she’s a published author and devoted mother of four.

Rajal Upadhyaya, Roam’s CFO, is a seasoned Kenyan finance expert with 20+ years’ experience. Formerly MD at Catalyst Principal Partners, his expertise in capital raises and strategic planning drives Roam’s growth in Africa’s EV market.

Jacob van Zonneveld, a leader in e-mobility for 10+ years, co-founded Deftpower, revolutionising EV charging integration with AI-supported SaaS. Formerly, he co-founded Plugsurfing, which was acquired by Fortum in 2018.

With 15+ years of experience in chemical processes, Mohammad specialises in mineral processing, metal extraction, and wastewater management. He envisions an environmentally sustainable future through innovation, holding an MS in chemical engineering and an MBA.

Timur is a trained engineer and economist from TU Darmstadt and TU Berlin. With his co-founder Max Fries, he spun out MAGNOTHERM from TU Darmstadt in 2019, grew the organization to 30+ full-time employees, and raised 10+ million from VCs and governments. Timur is passionate about hardware technologies, reducing climate change, and saving lives.

Karl-Gustav has a Materials Science degree from Tallinn University of Technology. He has been in for more than 10 years in sales, business planning and project management with total sales amounting to over 20 million euros. His experience comes from technical sales in a plastic distribution company called Resinex that sells Plastics, Elastomers and rubbers. He is well experienced in industrial manufacturing and project management in Interconnect Product Assembly AS. Led a project with over 80 people engaged for a specific high-value customer. He has experience in an international setting, as he has worked in the US for many years.

Peyvand Melati, CEO of QEA Tech, a leading AI company specialising in the building envelope, is a seasoned entrepreneur with expertise in Clean Tech and renewable energy. With a proven track record, he excels in strategy development, team building, and international market expansion.

Yaron, with 20+ years in R&D management, co-founded SolCold in 2016. Holding an Electronic Engineering degree and an MBA from Tel Aviv University, he’s SolCold’s CEO and inventor with seven patents, driving cooling innovation and green technology.

Sébastien has been with Keey Aerogel as production leader and is now the team’s director since Keey’s creation in 2015. Sébastien completed his PhD in silica aerogels at the University of Nancy in France.

Tobias, an entrepreneur in software, data, and climate sectors, founded Bridge To India, a data company, and TFE, an infrastructure fund for solar energy. His ventures contributed to VIDA, which is recognised for sustainable infrastructure investment.

Ante Joseph, CEO of Agrisiti (Maatalous Nasah), leads a tech-driven food systems construction firm. His background in construction and academia has earned him recognition as a top African innovator and entrepreneur.

Kevin Kung, co-founder and CTO of Takachar, developed its core technology during his Ph.D. at MIT focusing on biofuels and renewable energy. A Breakthrough Energy Fellow, he tailored the technology for local Indian needs.