The Jury 2024

Christian heads the German Finance Division, the Global Capital Markets Group and is Linklaters' Global Co-Head of Innovation. In this function, in addition to his own internal innovation projects, he focuses on digitisation projects for clients. As an experienced partner in our capital markets practice, he has working knowledge in the field of digitisation of financial products and Fintech solutions. In Germany, he is leading the FinTech Sector Group, with the intent of uniformly overseeing digitisation projects and combining the expertise across different practice groups. Christian is involved in the global artificial intelligence activities of Linklaters and their use in our projects. His expertise in crypto assets, crypto currency, blockchain, electronic securities and smart contracts provides him with a competitive advantage as well. “Clients value his deep expertise in blockchain matters and his ability to deliver strong client service. "Christian is absolutely brilliant. He has an understanding of future developments, and he has a good understanding of the technical questions." by Chambers FinTech 2024 (Fintech Legal – Germany).

Maria is a CEO of Mindclip Behaviour a SAAS based EdTech startup. She is a business angel with focus on Fintech, Blockchain and SAAS. Her passion is to support startups in the early phase. With 20 years of experience in Entrepreneurship, Maria has advised over a hundred start-ups. In 2016 she co-founder Accelerator Frankfurt that was nominated as the top 25 most innovative acceleration of the world with the focus on Fintech, Blockchain. Maria was nominated in 2017 and 2018 the leading FinTech Influencer in the German-speaking world. In 2019, 2020, and 2021 she was elected as one of the EU’s top 50 influential women in Startups and VC’s. She is also the author of the book “How to f*ck up your startup”.

Michael Mellinghoff is Managing Director at TechFluence in London and consults Fintech founders all over Europe. He is a seasoned investment professional.

Nina-Luisa Siedler is a business lawyer with more than twenty years of experience advising on corporate and financial transactions with a focus on blockchain/distributed ledger technology projects since 2016. Her practice includes various types of structured finance (asset-based and asset-backed lending, acquisition and project finance) as well as crypto finance (initial coin or exchange offerings, e-securities, incentive models). Nina represents both financial institutions and corporates, most of them international players and start-ups in the high-tech sector. She is used to managing cross-border transactions and working seamlessly with developers, auditors, tax advisors and other parties involved.

In 1995, Dr. Lutz Raettig joined Morgan Stanley Bank AG in Frankfurt as Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board. From September 1995 to February 2005, he was Chairman of the Board of Morgan Stanley Bank AG and Country Head for Germany and Austria. Since 2002, Dr Raettig was also Vice Chairman Morgan Stanley Europe. Dr Raettig was a Director of Morgan Stanley International Ltd and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Morgan Stanley Bank International Ltd London. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Dr Raettig worked for Commerzbank and Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) for 26 years in various locations in Germany, in London and in New York. Additional positions - Member of the Exchange Council of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange - Vice President of the Frankfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) - Member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany - Member of the Board of the German-American Chamber of Commerce, New York - Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bankenakademie e.V., Frankfurt - Member of the Advisory Board, Clearstream International, Luxembourg - Chairman of the Advisory Board, Fraport AG - Member of the Supervisory Board, Messe Frankfurt - Member of the Magistrate of the City of Frankfurt - Spokesman of the Executive Committee, Frankfurt Main Finance e.V. - Member of the Executive Board, Hessischer Bankenverband

Mehrdad is a tech entrepreneur. The web and app pioneer started his career in 1990 as a programmer at a German enterprise. Founded 1995 his first startup Pironet and took it public in 2000. He has been an international business angel since 2003. In 2014, Mehrdad Piroozram founded InsurTech.vc, where he angel invests & advises Insurtechs across Europe.

Dr. Sebastian Schäfer is a behavioral economist and entrepreneur with over eight years of experience in building innovation ecosystems within the financial sector. As Managing Director of Fintech Community Frankfurt GmbH (TechQuartier), he has been instrumental in launching innovation programs and fostering a global network of over 650 startups and 30 established partners. Combining a background in behavioral economics with practical entrepreneurship, Sebastian focuses on creating collaborative environments where innovation thrives. Through the House of Finance & Tech in Berlin, he is helping shape the future of finance and technology by connecting startups, corporates, and institutions to drive impactful change.

Sebastian is a leading expert in Data & AI with over a decade of experience in the industry. He is the founder and CEO of statworx, one of the top-tier Data & AI consultancies in the DACH region, as well as the AI Hub Frankfurt, the leading AI ecosystem in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region. Sebastian is a pioneer in the AI industry and has actively shaped the German AI landscape. He is not only a successful entrepreneur, but also an active business angel and early-stage investor in AI startups. With the AI Hub Frankfurt and his role as Co-CEO at AI Frankfurt Rhein-Main e.V., he supports the AI transformation of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main region and Germany. Besides his passion for Data & AI, Sebastian loves to cook as an ambitious hobby chef while enjoying a glass of excellent wine.

Marco Di Sazio joined Metzler in 2015. In 2019, he became Digital Transformation & Innovation Manager responsible for implementing digital and innovative projects in the areas of data analytics, open banking, and embedded finance. Before that, he worked as a project manager responsible for digital development and transformation processes. Prior to joining Metzler, Mr. Di Sazio worked as a consultant in the area of risk and regulations in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, as well as at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Frankfurt/Main as a policy officer for securities supervision from 2012 to 2015. He studied business administration with a focus on finance at Pforzheim University in Pforzheim, Germany. He spent a semester abroad in the USA at California State University of Chico and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2011.

Franz von Metzler, CESGA, joined Metzler in 2014. In 2023, he became a Member of the Executive Board of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG and assumed responsibility for the Asset Management division and Human Resources department. Furthermore, Mr. von Metzler is Member of the Board of Directors of the group companies Metzler Realty Advisors in Seattle, USA, Metzler/Payden, LLC in Los Angeles, USA, a joint venture with the US investment company Payden & Rygel, and Metzler Asset Management (Japan) Ltd. in Tokyo. He also is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Metzler Asset Management GmbH as well as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Metzler Sozialpartner Pensionsfonds AG and Metzler Pensionsfonds AG. Prior to all this, he was Managing Director of Metzler Asset Management GmbH for three years and responsible for the departments Institutional Sales, Client Account Management, Real Estate Advisory, Asia Desk and Mutual Funds & KVG Services. In 2019, Mr. von Metzler became Head of the Asset Allocation & Fixed Income team, where he had been responsible for multi-asset mandates and asset allocation in his role as Portfolio Manager since 2018. Prior to this, he worked in the Capital Markets division as FX Sales Trader in the Fixed Income/FX team for two years. From 2014 to 2015, Mr. von Metzler was Portfolio Manager in the Equities team in the Asset Management division. Prior to joining Metzler, he worked from 2012 to 2014 as an analyst at HSBC Holdings plc in London, where he was responsible for originating and executing financial advisory assignments in various sectors (i.e. transportation, logistics, services and shipping). From 2010 to 2012, he studied business administration with a focus on finance and strategy at the ESCP Europe Business School in London, Paris and Berlin and earned a master’s degree in management. In 2009, he spent a semester abroad at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. From 2005 to 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy. During his studies, he completed several internships, for example at HSBC Holdings plc in London, ProCredit Bank in Skopje, North Macedonia, and Pristina, Kosovo, and Porsche Consulting GmbH in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany.

Birte Sewing has over 15 years of experience in the financial industry, both in traditional companies and in the fintech sector. She is Principal and Fintech Lead at Altor Equity Partners. Here she manages the activities in the field of fintech including insuretech and overarching financial services in the DACH region. In recent years, Birte Sewing has dealt in particular with growth and future issues against the background of digitization. She started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she focused on financial services.

Achim Oelgarth has been working in the financial industry and advises tech startups for over 20 years now. He is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of the Berlin Finance Initiative (BFI), the voice of Berlin's finance and tech hub and CEO of the East German Banking Association. Previously, as UniCredit‘s Head of Institutional Affairs Germany, he was responsible for the political and regulatory affairs team of the pan-European bank. Before that, from 2004 to 2009, he established and led the representative office of the Association of German Banks at the European Union in Brussels. Achim studied law at the University of Bonn. In 1998 he was admitted to the bar. At MIT Sloan School of Management he has been doing research on artificial intelligence and its implications on business strategy.

Jochen is Head of Financial Technology EMEA / Lead Developer Relations Manager Banking Global at NVIDIA, the globally leading accelerated computing platform company. He has spent the last 25 years in various roles on the topic of AI in financial services. He works with executives, data scientists, developers, and partners in the global NVIDIA ecosystem. Jochen is a financial data scientist and received his degree and Ph.D. from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Before NVIDIA he worked as a consultant, entrepreneur, and researcher with asset managers, banks, insurance companies, and central banks.

Co-founder Startupbootcamp FinTech, Rainmaking Innovation & Innotribe Startup ChallengeCofounder von Innotribe, der erste globale Fintech-Startup Wettbewerb, seit 2010Cofounder des Startupbootcamp FinTech-Accelerators (London, Singapore, New York, Mumbai, Mexico City, Amsterdam & Dubai)Founder von The Future Farm – addressing mental health of entrepreneursCofounder von Tribal Banking – a digital bank builder for under-serviced communities New Balance Sneaker fanatiker.

Georgios Kargakis has been committed to customer experiences at the interface of business and technology for over 18 years. Heading the Agile Transformation Office at Allianz Technology, he is an agile thought leader and intrapreneur working with modern approaches such as Design Thinking, Scrum or DevOps to accelerate the introduction of digital products, ensure their success and, in the process, take organizations along to transform them on the path to digitalization sustainably. As an evangelist for innovation, his aspirations strive towards an emotionally experiential IT that puts the digital customer experience at the centre. His organizational systemic approach puts empowered, cross-functional startups-like teams at the heart, scaling them for a global enterprise delivering greater impact and value.

Stephanie Wuest, born in 1989, studied Sociology and Political Sciences with a focus on structures of power and governance at Goethe University Frankfurt. She started her professional career as a policy advisor for a business association in Frankfurt. In 2019, she joined the Association of Hessen Entrepreneurs (VhU), acting as a policy advisor for transportation and logistics. Her political career started in 2013 when she joined the Frankfurt county chapter of the FDP (Liberal Democratic Party). From 2015 to 2017, she was Chairperson of the Young Liberals of Frankfurt. In 2016, she was elected as Spokesperson for Economic and Women’s Affairs in the Frankfurt City Parliament. In September 2021, Stephanie Wuest was appointed City Councillor and Head of the Department of Economy, Legal Affairs, and City Marketing.

Starting his investment banking career in 1978 at UBS, Alfred spent a total of 18 years in their foreign exchange department. During his time at UBS he worked in Zurich, Geneva, New York and spent several years as treasurer at UBS Luxembourg. 1996 he joined Commerzbank as Global Head of FX and spent five years leading the global sales and trading team from Frankfurt. During this time Alfred was part of the executive committee of EBS Broking Services Ltd./ London. Thereafter he led Commerzbank’s centralized portfolio management and research unit as COO until he 2003 joined 360Trading Networks. As Managing Partner and Global Head of Sales he was developing this FinTech to be one of the globally leading multibank tranding portals. 2015 360T was bought by Deutsche Börse Group. 2018 Alfred decided to follow on as active business angel and investor managing a family office.

Alice Rettig is Managing Director of Fintech Community Frankfurt GmbH (TechQuartier), the ecosystem builder of the Rhein Main region and one of the biggest digital hubs in Germany. Alice is an experienced project leader passionate in driving transformation and organizational change for both startup and corporate structures. At TechQuartier she is responsible for accelerating technological innovation and facilitating cooperation between 20 corporate partners and 600+ community startups. Prior to this, Alice worked 6 years in academia, conducting research and teaching in the fields of corporate innovation and start-up acceleration, and was responsible for the program management of a Berlin-based accelerator.

Stefan Kempf is CEO of aifinyo AG. He founded the company in 2012 and scaled it up to a leading German fintech offering cloud-based accounting and providing today over 400 million EUR in alternative financing annually to over 10.000 German SME’s. The company went public via a listing at the stock exchange in 2018. Before founding aifinyo, he worked in several positions in debt capital markets and alternative financing with focus on asset backed securities across different asset classes. Stefan Kempf absolved an apprenticeship as banker, studied at Frankfurt School of Finance and has a master’s degree in finance (MSc) as well as a master’s degree in law (LLM). Besides he is active as a business angel, member of the supervisory board of a publishing company and is member of the Munich stock exchange council.

As Head of the Start-up Programme at Aareal Bank AG, Henning Zander has group-wide responsibility for the bank's four pillars of cooperation with start-ups: Accelerator Programmes, Cooperations, Strategic Investments and Own Start-ups. He is also Chairman of the Investor Advisory Board and Observer on the Investment Committee of the first pan-European venture capital fund PropTech1 Ventures.

Isabelle Canu is a partner of the Green European Tech Fund (GET) at Munich Venture Partners. She is also founder and managing director of respin UG (haftungsbeschränkt), a consulting firm in the field of ESG and sustainability strategies for venture capital funds. Previously, she built coparion, a EUR 275 million VC fund financed by the German government, KfW Capital and the European Investment Bank; she was managing director of the management company. As an experienced fund manager, she also has a wide range of experience at the interface between finance, law and politics (including tbg, Federal Chancellery, KfW). She studied International Relations at Sciences Po in Paris and holds a PhD from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich.

With over 17 years of experience in the finance and fintech sectors, Alexandra Weck brings not only deep expertise but also a fresh perspective to the FTGA Jury. In recent years, she has focused on helping companies bridge innovation with authentic communication – a combination that is crucial in today’s digital world. As a passionate advocate for customer engagement and trust in an increasingly digital landscape, Alexandra understands that it’s not just about the technologies themselves, but how they are embedded in the lives of customers.

During his 12-year tenure at Deutsche Bank, Hubertus Väth held the positions of Analyst, Head of Communications and Chief Economist for Asia and Global Head of Marketing for Wealth Management at offices in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Singapore. He is the Founder of the NewMark Group and CEO of NewMark Finanzkommunikation GmbH, established in 1997 and specialized in market research, business consulting and financial communication. In 2008, Väth was appointed Managing Director of Frankfurt Main Finance, the Financial Centre initiative for Frankfurt and the leading Financial Centre in Germany and the Euro Zone. Most recently, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC), which was created to facilitate cooperation and exchange of best practices among international financial centres and to foster greater exchange with international public authorities. Väth regularly speaks at international financial conferences on Brexit, FinTechs and Financial Centre Development; Euro Clearing and Green Finance. Väth is a Special Fellow of the Financial Think Tank of Asian Financial Cooperation Association (AFCA) and publishes regularly in this capacity. He is a member of Rotary Club and has a Diploma in Economics from the University Mainz, Germany. Väth is an occasional lecturer at Universities and Business Schools.

Aman Dogra joined the Commercial team at the Financial Times in 2014, initially starting as a Customer Services Executive. He worked his way up over the years and now heads up the German Advertising Sales team, helping corporates reach wealthy business leaders and start-ups reach investors globally. Before joining the media world, Aman worked in financial services as an account executive in the leasing industry. Having studied International Business & German at Aston Business School, Aman is fluent in German and embraces the culture. His favourite city is Hamburg where he previously lived whilst working at Publicis, the renowned advertising agency.

Hans is an entrepreneur and Managing Partner of FRED Executive Search. He has over 20 years of experience in headhunting, focussing on Digital & Technology within Financial Services and FinTech. With his sense for trends and drivers of digitalization, he shapes courses of action and recruitment strategies for candidates as well as clients. He started coding at the age of 13 as data, algos and infrastructures have always fascinated him. Besides people & culture, digitality, transformation and emerging technologies form his major strengths.

Dr Alex von Frankenberg is Managing Director of High-Tech Gründerfonds and has been active in the venture capital / start-up environment since 2000. Previously, he was venture manager at the Siemens Technology Accelerator, responsible for spin-offs from Siemens' Corporate Technology. In 2001/2002 he was sales manager in an IT start-up. Before that, he was a project manager at Siemens Management Consulting, where he was responsible for setting up an internal incubator. He started his career at Andersen Consulting with the development of complex IT systems. Dr. Frankenberg studied at the University of Mannheim and the University of Texas at Austin (MBA) and completed his doctorate in Mannheim on the formation of de-facto technology standards.