Spotlight! is a service company with many years of experience supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in Europe and around the world. Operating at the intersection of technology, ingenuity and originality, we focus on the digital lifestyle and support in startups, brands and related
We partner with bold technology companies to build successful, global companies that shape the future of tomorrow. We are looking for inspiring personalities with big ideas who like to take on challenges and together with the entrepreneurs we build strong brands to make the world a special place.
We accompany our portfolio companies and support them in strategic decisions and operational challenges. Our team has many years of experience in the areas of business model development, sales, new work, marketing and public relations. We have access to a global ecosystem and connect you with the right players from business, science, research, VCs, private investors, business angels or suitable multipliers.
Would you like to be inspired, challenged and encouraged? Then you are exactly right with us!
OUR TEAM
Sophia Tran
CEO
Sophia supports up-and-coming digital start-ups. Through her work there as an investor, as VP of the LaFutura trend network, as state spokeswoman for the startup association and most recently for the startup incubator and accelerator DIGITALHUB.DE, she has an ear to the needs of young companies and knows how successful startups come about.
She also travels the world to learn about new trends and innovations, speaks and moderates at international tech conferences and is particularly known as a tech influencer on social networks, through her blog and on television (Galileo, Abenteuer Leben).
Ramtin Ramin
Director Academy
Ramtin proved his entrepreneurial spirit at a young age by founding his own marketing agency at the age of 19. Over the course of his career, he has held management positions at agencies such as FAKTOR 3, C3 Creative Code and Content and UDG Group.
He also makes an active contribution to the industry as Chairman of the Board of the IoT+ Network and as a mentor of the Digital Hub Initiative.
Ramtin was Director of Marketing & Investment at the Berlin-based venture studio Next Big Thing AG and has extensive experience in this field.
Christiane Poigné
Project Lead
Christiane has more than 10 years of experience as an international project manager in the tech industry, both in the corporate environment and at startups. Be it tech, marketing or operations – she has managed a wide variety of projects and built teams and processes in various areas. Her focus is on team empowerment and promoting and valuing diversity.
Your passion? Create structures and ensure clarity! Christiane loves working in environments where everything is not yet set in stone and processes are being developed.
Vor 8 Jahren wurde sie für ein IT-Projekt nach Kapstadt in Südafrika entsandt, und seitdem hat sie die “Mother City” zu ihrem Zuhause gemacht, kommt je8 years ago she was sent to Cape Town in South Africa for an IT project, and since then she has made the “Mother City” her home, but regularly visits her hometown of Bonn.
Nihat Koc
Venture Manager
Nihat is an experienced founder who successfully built his first online trading company at the age of 18.
During his studies, he founded another startup and ran an advertising agency independently for several years, which gave him in-depth insights into the founding and growth of companies.
With his strong connection to the startup scene and his experience in marketing and project management, he supports founders and companies in implementing innovative projects and achieving sustainable growth.
Anshul Srivastava
Venture Analyst
Anshul is currently studying management and engineering and loves diving into the world of venture capital. He is your contact when it comes to analyzing startups and recognizing market potential.
His background also includes employment in business development, financial management, product development and customer service.
Anshul’s versatile approach is influenced by his work in the Aachen Entrepreneurship Team and his voluntary work at Techstars.
Darleen Klug
Community Events
Darleen is a trilingual, multi-faceted individual with a rich range of different experiences. She was born in Germany, raised in Portugal, and by moving to the UK on her own at the age of 18 in 2015, she opened many doors. Als sie 2015 im Alter von 18 Jahren alleine nach Großbritannien zog, öffnete sie viele Türen.
Through exploring various industries from filmmaking to tech recruitment, and through Darleen’s international background and personal challenges she became deeply committed to fostering inclusive communities and safer spaces, driven by her desire to propel Diversity & Inclusion forward.
Elif Bulut
Marketing PR
Elif is an aspiring tech journalist/PR manager. At Spotlight! she is responsible for online marketing, social media and PR work. Her strengths include determination, creativity and of course writing.
Elif has a particularly keen eye for visualization and loves to get creative with visual communication. In her free time, Elif also engages in imaginative activities.
Korbinian Eudenbach
Eventmagement
Korbinian is an event manager at Spotlight! and ensures that our events run smoothly and inspiringly.
With great organizational talent and a flair for details, he creates events that bring our community together and bring the vision of diversity and innovation to life.
Korbinian designs every event as a special experience and successfully brings people in the tech industry together.
Khooshbo Hafizi
Project Coordinator
Khooshbo is on Spotlight! responsible for community management. With her international experience and a special feel for intercultural networking, she ensures that our members feel inspired and connected.
Always with a creative approach and an open ear, she brings the community together and creates Spotlight! to a place where diversity is lived.
Marc Bremer
Media Production
Driven by passion, dedication and attention to detail, his goal is to capture unique moments forever. Even as a small boy, Marc was interested in creative things such as music and design, and his fascination with creating special things turned his hobby into a profession.
Marc manages to get everyone in front of his lens and produce unforgettable images and videos.
Anna Horn
Content Production
Anna is a photographer and videographer and has been passionate about capturing emotions authentically and expressively since the first moment she used her camera.
With a creative eye for details and the goal of telling real stories, she implements her passion professionally and creates visual worlds that move – always in detail, without losing sight of the bigger picture.
Balou
Feelgood Management
As an expert in well-being and relaxation, he ensures a positive working atmosphere in the team. His responsibilities include cheering up, increasing well-being through short walks and strengthening team spirit through his loving presence.
With his friendly nature and ability to reduce stress, Balou is an indispensable addition to our team.
OUR EXPERTS
Milad Bazzaz
Accounting
Milad is a partner and tax consultant at taavas GmbH WPG, a “tax boutique” for the startup ecosystem. In addition, he is Head of Tax at a well-known startup from Offenburg (sevDesk GmbH, 30 million sales, 300 employees). Milad previously worked at Mazars WPG and Ernst & Young GmbH WPG (market leader in Germany).
His consulting focus is on corporate loyalty law as well as tax structuring and restructuring, M&A of corporations, especially from the start-up ecosystem. In addition, he accompanies startups in capital rounds and due diligence reviews.
Elizabeth Anderson
Leadership, Mindset, Communications, & DEI
Upon switching from the academic to the business world, Elizabeth worked communications at an early-stage VC, later creating their first DEI strategy. She then managed internal communications and DEI at a scale-up before starting her own consultancy.
Annabella Da Encarnacao
Leadership Career
Annabella hast 15+ years experience in leadership roles (including C-level).
As an openly lesbian woman with a multicultural background (FR PT), she has learned the value of self-discovery and authenticity at work, and became certified coach to support others.Annabella verfügt über mehr als 15 Jahre Erfahrung in Führungspositionen (einschließlich C-Level).
Ann Stark
Marketing
Ann is a digital marketing manager with a background in psychology and human-computer interaction (HCI). She is passionate about technological innovations and knows how to create compelling brand experiences through her strategic and creative approaches. Ann combines her skills with the latest digital tools to effectively position and strengthen brands.
Benjamin Debonneville
Online Marketing
Benjamin is a B2B brand strategy designer and passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship. He believes in the power of design to represent complex ideas and create meaningful connections between brands and their audience. With years of experience in the industry, Benjamin has honed his skills in brand identity, visual communication and user experience design.
Peter Siedlatzek
Legal
Peter has been advising startups / scaleups / ventures and investors for over 16 years. He is an entrepreneur himself, focuses on economic relationships and accompanies young companies from foundation to exit. He also advises business angels, venture capital companies and strategic investors on financing rounds and exits. He was able to steadily expand his experience on the basis of more than 180 corporate transactions.
Mirko Twardy
Funding
Mirko has been a management consultant in the field of “subsidies” for more than 10 years. For a few years he has also been involved in various formats as a startup coach and also writes for startup magazines on the latest trends in the funding and start-up sector.
Dr. Denis Jung
Scouting
Dennis is an entrepreneur, strategy consultant and C-level operations manager with more than 11 years of experience in startup companies and SMBs The focus of his work is on business development and on supporting start-ups in acquiring venture capital.
Johannes Nünning
Strategy
Johannes has been an expert in the areas of company development, innovation management, finance and strategy for over 25 years. With a diploma in business administration and economics from the University of Witten/Herdecke, he specializes in supporting innovators and startups in realizing their ideas, validating assumptions and securing financing. Johannes is committed to creating value not only for investors and customers, but also for society. He also coaches, advises and inspires founders, managers and entrepreneurs to innovate strategically.
Florian Hoppen
Sales
Florian is the Founder and CEO of GoToMarket. Ninja (GTMN), a premier B2B sales advisory boutique created for early-stage B2B ventures. GTMN combines psychology with business acumen, understands the emotion-driven human being behind every business, and focuses sales for impact.
Ronny Höher
Design
Born in Berlin, Ronny has already lived in different German cities, but also in New York and Hong Kong. His cross-industry experience with large, international corporations, network agencies, medium-sized companies and start-ups helps Ronny today in his work as co-owner of a design agency in Essen. The focus there is on packaging and brand design.
Marcel Schubert
Branding
Marcel is a brand strategist and managing director of the disruptive branding agency burnt GmbH. Marcel takes up many theses from the German version of the book THE BRAND GAP, combined with his 20 years of experience in brand development, in his lectures and in his own podcast “Brands after hours”. He advises companies on how to position their brand disruptively, validated and successfully.
Philip Gawlik
Video Production
Philip is a Celle-born filmmaker and art director. With years of experience in directing, camera and editing as well as productions in Thailand, Kenya, France and Germany, Philip now lives in Cologne.
Martin Rohler
Culture Mindset
Martin has over 20 years of professional experience in building teams and organizational structures. He is firmly convinced that, in addition to the talent and skills of the individuals, well-matched personality constellations must be ensured in teams so that the teams can achieve their best possible performance and develop further together. Martin’s vision is to give people the opportunity to develop in environments that suit them so that they have the best possible opportunities to reach their full potential.
Sören Steuber
Tax
Sören is a tax consultant and tax coach with business roots and his own founding experience. His specialization is the holistic tax advice of start-ups as an ongoing sparring partner and the creation of win-win situations.
Christian Graser
Talents HR
Through his many years of work in finance and human resources, Christian has realized that in our fast-moving society, human resources are increasingly taking a back seat and numbers rule.
Together with his co-founders Sebastian and Stephan, he wants to break new ground and disrupt the usual recruiting scene with their ANGEHEUERT approach.
Michael Schneider
Strategy Funding
Michael is a Serial Entrepreneur & Startup Founder with two exits, twice COO and corporate and venture builder with a strong passion for business development, growth hacking, PR, fundraising and B2B sales.
Björn Angenendt
Finance Controlling
After leaving the Haniel Group, Björn is the finance all-rounder MD of CoCo Finance at the Rhein-Ruhr location. Since 2019 he has been supporting start-ups, their investors and the network partners involved in the ecosystem in their venture activities.
Florian Hoffstaedter
Strategy Growth
Florian brings 15 years of experience in entrepreneurial development, management and scaling of digital companies and business areas. He himself was responsible for the digital transformation of medium-sized companies as the founder of an e-commerce start-up and a consulting firm. In addition, he draws on the knowledge he has gained from his positions at corporate digital start-ups. This includes his role as Managing Director of a B2B SaaS solution in the construction industry. He was able to develop new business models and successfully introduce them to the market.
Marvin Bührmann
Sales
Marvin supports startups (Seedstage+) with go-to-market strategies and operational implementation in sales. He provides both SDRs/ Account Managers and Account Executives who operate from the startup’s environment (CRM etc.) to realize your runway goals.
