Meet our team

It's all about trust - especially in a trustless architecture

Sagar Barvaliya
General Partner

Sagar is one of those people that make new friends every day. Deeply passionate about the potential of blockchain technology, he is our master networker creating valuable allies, helpful introductions for our portfolio companies, and strong connections within the web3 community. In addition, his multinational upbringing and engineering background make him feel at ease in almost any environment.

Based in Munich

Gujarati

Hindi

English

German

Ben Horvath
General Partner

Ben, a lifelong gamer and sci-fi enthusiast, knows what it's like to be founder. His former startup, matching people based on their character, may not have achieved unicorn status. Still, it taught him valuable psychometrics skills that we use to support and benefit our founder teams every day. He is committed to both grand innovation and constantly improving the small details of our work with startups on a daily basis. He is also building lots of AI into our tech stack to become even better at deal sourcing and evaluating.

Based in Berlin and Singapore

German

English

Wolfgang Männel
General  Partner

Wolfgang worked in consulting, PE/VC, and startups in industries ranging from telco, construction, retail, and consumer goods in functions like IT, supply chain, sales & marketing, and strategy across Europe, the US, China, and India. Having witnessed many economic and technological hype cycles in his 35-year career, he has a good grasp on the sometimes long path to mass adoption and the critical triggers required to get there. He has made the experience that women and migrants often make the toughest founders.

Based in Frankfurt am Main

German

English

French

Marcel Uhlmann
General Partner

Blockchain technology had a profound impact on Marcel's life. With over two decades of working alongside independent asset managers within Germany's foremost B2B banks, he possesses an intimate understanding of the industry. Marcel was there from the very beginning of Decentralized Finance, and ever since, the potential of distributed ledger technologies for a broad array of use cases has been a central element in his professional and personal journey.

Based in Munich

German

English

Dr. Burkhard Bonsels
Venture Partner

Burkhard is an esteemed investor, board member, and trusted advisor renowned for his exceptional contributions to innovative companies, private equity funds, and family offices - the result of a remarkable career as managing partner of Quadriga and principal at BCG. He has an insatiable curiosity for understanding the societal impact of technology and supporting ambitious founders spearheading transformative change.

Based in Frankfurt am Main

English

German

Peter Cullom
Venture Partner

Peter is a veteran venture capital investor with thirty years of experience as a GP manager, angel, and LP investor. He has invested directly and indirectly in over 500 start-ups through four significant business cycles of growth and recession. Peter is a trusted advisor for many venture capital funds, and we are very fortunate to call him an esteemed advisor and a close friend.

Based in Frankfurt am Main

English

German

Maik Fechner
Venture Partner

With over 20 years of experience at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Ninety One, Maik is the seasoned pro you want in your corner. He's all about backing creative, mission-driven founders because he knows they're the ones who make the magic happen. Maik firmly believes that smart resource use and cutting-edge tech is the recipe for long-term success and a brighter future.

Based near Frankfurt am Main

English

Swedish

Ulrich Spindler
Venture Partner

Ulrich, a successful entrepreneur and founder of a mail-order pharmacy, knows firsthand the challenges and sacrifices that come with starting a business. His experience makes him well-equipped to support our startup teams and understand their passion and determination to succeed. In addition to his business ventures, Ulrich is an active angel investor dedicated to fostering the growth of talented founders.

Based in Munich

German

English

Harald Zapp
Venture Partner

Harald is a serial tech entrepreneur, business angel, and ICT & IoT innovator who envisions democratized technologies revolutionizing industries. In 2016, he founded Next Big Thing AG (NBT), a Berlin-based venture studio focused on building IoT companies using machine learning, AI, and blockchain technology. With over 25 years of experience in IT and telecommunications, including co-founding relayr and Weeve, he aims to position Germany as a digital hotspot for data-driven B2B business models while actively promoting IoT initiatives and advising on Industry 4.0.

Based near Frankfurt am Main

German

English

Alex Höptner
Advisor

Ever since entering the crypto space in 2013, Alex has been a strong advocate of the potential of tokenization for financial markets. With his experience at Deutsche Börse, as CEO at Börse Stuttgart and later at BitMEX, he played a pivotal role in launching the BISON app, which served as a gateway to Bitcoin for many newcomers. Alex's visionary mindset has always driven him to think big to explore the vast possibilities of crypto.

Based in Frankfurt am Main

German

English

French

Mirko Ross
Advisor

Mirko is an internationally recognized entrepreneur, expert, speaker, publicist, and researcher in the field of Cyber Security and the Internet of Things. At the age of 14, he began investigating vulnerabilities in IT systems. However, instead of pursuing a career as a hacker, he decided to align with the law. In 2018, he founded asvin.io with the goal of enhancing cybersecurity in industry and AI applications. His work has earned him numerous national and international awards.

Based in Stuttgart

German

English

Pranav Sharma
Advisor

It is rare to meet a more thoughtful person than Pranav, the founding partner of Woodstock, a multi-asset investment fund focusing on early and growth-stage Distributed Ledger Technology startups. Pranav studied mechanical engineering at Pune University (India), the Asian Institute of Management (Philippines) and earned his MBA at HEC (Paris). His professional trajectory has traversed a wide spectrum, from engaging in strategic initiatives at Aditya Birla Group—an Indian multinational conglomerate—to immersing himself in the intricacies of Web3 protocols in his current capacity as an investor.

Based in India and UAE

Hindi

English

Alireza Siadat
Advisor

Always curious to understand the legal ramifications of blockchain technology, Alireza is the go-to lawyer for regulatory law within the financial sector. As a highly trusted advisor to many crypto companies and investors, he brings a refreshing can-do attitude, offering workable solutions that are supported by both regulators and businesses in the emerging Web3 world.

Based in Frankfurt am Main

German

English

Patrick Van de Mosselaer
Advisor

Patrick is an internationally recognized entrepreneur, expert, speaker, publicist, and researcher in the field of Cyber Security and the Internet of Things. At the age of 14, he began investigating vulnerabilities in IT systems. However, instead of pursuing a career as a hacker, he decided to align with the law. In 2018, he founded asvin.io with the goal of enhancing cybersecurity in industry and AI applications. His work has earned him numerous national and international awards.

Based in Stuttgart

German

English

It is rare to meet a more thoughtful person than Pranav, the founding partner of Woodstock, a multi-asset investment fund focusing on early and growth-stage Distributed Ledger Technology startups. Pranav studied mechanical engineering at Pune University (India), the Asian Institute of Management (Philippines) and earned his MBA at HEC (Paris). His professional trajectory has traversed a wide spectrum, from engaging in strategic initiatives at Aditya Birla Group—an Indian multinational conglomerate—to immersing himself in the intricacies of Web3 protocols in his current capacity as an investor.

Based in India and UAE

Hindi

English

What our founders say about us

No founders were harmed in the making of this statement

These are the type of guys you really want to have on your team: when things go well AND when things don't go as expected... Always valuable and fun to work with!  

Michael Höweler

CEO and Co-Founder of Biddz