Mehemed Bougsea is Co-founder and CEO of Think-it, an engineering collective of Tunis’ and Berlin’s strongest technologists in Cloud and AI. With a focus on intelligent infrastructure, data-driven innovation and a passion for sustainability, Think-it’s solutions help innovative teams around the world lower costs, democratize data and scale performance.

Previously Mehemed has worked as a strategy consultant at Kompetus Management Consulting as well as for the German, Tunisian, and Libyan governments. He also built the country office of Kiron Open Higher Education in Turkey, a blended learning educational platform connecting more than 2000 students and graduates in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. He holds an MPA in Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York City and a B.Sc. in International Business from Technical University of Cologne. He is a fellow of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School.

Dr. Philipp Gerbert is future shaper UnternehmerTUM and director of appliedAI. Beyond artificial intelligence, he has made significant contributions to quantum computing in business, including widely acclaimed reviews of the field. In a separate vein, he is committed to driving climate action and was the lead author of “Klimapfade für Deutschland” (BDI/BCG/Prognos) – the most comprehensive study on how to decarbonize a country without hurting the economy.

Before UnternehmerTUM Philipp worked at BCG and other companies, focusing on technology-driven business transformation on both sides of the Atlantic, including Silicon Valley. By background Philipp is a quantum physicist, received his master from the LMU Munich/Max-Planck Institute and his Ph.D. from MIT in Cambridge, USA. 

Marco C. Görgmaier – head of DevOps platform, cloud technologies – is responsible for driving the strategic cloud-native platform approach of the BMW Group forward to transform the software application landscape. Marco joined the BMW Group in 2013 as an IT specialist. In 2015 he was assigned to develop the IT strategy of the BMW Group and was appointed head of strategic planning & innovation management two years later.

In 2019 he became head of cloud enabling, before he took over the global responsibility for BMW’s DevOps cloud platform. Marco holds a degree in business informatics at the University of Reading (UK) and started his professional career at Audi AG in 2010 as an international trainee. Marco is also a co-founder of the Munich based recommerce-startup Bonavendi.

Niklas Hebborn is an ESCP Europe Master graduate. He worked for digital and high-tech companies as a Roland Berger consultant and gained experience in Private Equity with Quadriga Capital. As a Head of International Business with PEC Group, he scaled up the company from 50 to 120 employees and accompanied the M&A sell-side process to Hilti AG. In his role as Junior Partner at Freigeist, he sources new deals and supports portfolio companies to realize their strategy.

Bayrem is  the Head of the Software Engineering Business Unit within Wevioo, a major Tunisian software company. He is responsible for 150 Software engineers delivering software and embedded projects to customers in Europe, North America and MEA region.

Bayrem studied telecommunication in the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen Nuremberg. He left the university in 2000 as a “Diplom Ingenieur” and started his career with Lucent technologies as an embedded Software engineer and then as a technical Lead and consultant in the semiconductor sector (ex: Infineon)

Bayrem moved back to Tunisia in 2007 to join the French multinational SAGEMCOM as a Senior Project Manager. 2010 He joined Wevioo as Delivery Manager.

Moritz Hunger works as a GIZ project manager for the Digital Transformation Centre of the German Development Ministry (BMZ) in Tunisia, facilitating Tunisian and German companies to co-create digital solutions.

Previously, he advised the BMZ on topics such as digital entrepreneurship and the future of work in the development context and supported companies looking to invest in Western Africa.

Moritz is passionate about the creation of local innovation through digital technologies.

Lena Jüngst is Co-Founder and joint inventor of air up, a drinking system that flavors pure water just by scent. As an Industrial Designer her heart beats for innovation and creativity. After a successful market entry in 2019 with the first product of air up, she is now developing a future product vision for the company. air up today has 43 employees and an office in Munich’s city center.

Gunda Opitz is head of Entrepreneurial Network at UnternehmerTUM. She has been with UnternehmerTUM since its beginnings in the year 2002. She strongly believes in the power of entrepreneurship as a game changer for the challenges of our time. In 2009 she founded the Entrepreneurial Network section and – with her team – successfully provides the launch pad for international startup teams with a deep tech focus.

She previously worked as a freelancer for a range of organizations, developing and implementing innovation projects and tools. Gunda holds a diploma in architecture and in business administration.

Dirk Rossberg is the CEO of UnternehmerTUM MakerSpace GmbH, a workshop for innovators to prototype high-tech products. Teams who have invented products at MakerSpace have raised a combined amount of approx. 100 MN € and include start-ups Air Up, proGlove, Inveox and corporates BMW AG, Linde AG and Zeiss AG to name a few. In parallel, Dirk looks back on 23 years at BMW AG. He has held roles as software engineer, Head of BMW’s Technology Office in Mountain View and as Architect Future Climatissation. Dirk holds a PhD in Semiconductor Physics from TU Munich.

Amel Saidane is an entrepreneur, ecosystem builder and digital transformation expert. She is the president of Tunisian Startups Association, which gives a voice to Tunisian startups. Being a co-founder of BetaCube, a venture builder in mobility solutions, she is an innovation and digital transformation activist acting as a board member for the Digital Center of Excellence of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. She is also a member of the BMW Responsible Leaders Network, and a fellow of the BMW Ready-Go program.

Amel is an engineer in electro-technics, qualified from the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, she also holds a master’s of science in business in digital economy from the University of Maryland.

Frank Thelen is a European serial founder, technology investor, TV personality and bestseller author. Since 1994, he founded and managed technology and design-driven companies. In his role as the founder and CEO of Freigeist Capital, he focuses on early phase deep tech investments. His products have reached over 100 million customers in over 60 countries. Frank was the first investor in startups like Lilium Aviation, Smartlane, Wunderlist, air up and YFood. At age 42, he released his autobiography „Startup-DNA“, which became a bestseller in Germany.

At UnternehmerTUM, Miki Yokoyama heads operations at TechFounders, the startup accelerator brand of UnternehmerTUM, and RESPOND, the impact accelerator by the BMW Foundation and UnternehmerTUM. Further, she is working on the integration of sustainability issues across the VC investment process as well as on how considering sustainability topics can become mainstream for startups. 

Miki started her career in the corporate strategy and sustainability division of the BMW Group and also worked several years for the Boston Consulting Group, mainly advising automotive companies on business strategies and digital transformation.