On a ski trip in 2011, three close friends came up with an idea that has since grown into the world's largest intercity bus mobility provider. In 2022, Flix carried 60 million passengers between over 3,000 destinations in more than 40 countries in Europe, North America, and South America. A launch in India is coming next.

The trio embarked on a mission to make coach travel more affordable, greener — and, well, cool. They were helped when a clear opportunity emerged in 2013: Germany began deregulating the industry. This allowed intercity buses to compete with state-run subsidized railways, and to become the choice of a younger generation of cost-conscious travelers.

Daniel's journey from a small town in Romania to the CEO of UiPath, the juggernaut in Robotic Process Automation, is a tale of resilience and adaptability. Born in Onești, he aspired to be an author before discovering his calling in mathematics and computer science. After university, he supported himself in Romania's post-communist economy with currency arbitrage, and developed a passion for competitive bridge. He also taught himself to program, which led to five pivotal years as an engineer at Microsoft in Seattle.

Once he returned to Bucharest in 2005, Daniel founded DeskOver, which evolved into UiPath. He recognised the potential of the emerging RPA market and strategically positioned UiPath for a public offering in 2021 — a move that achieved a staggering $36 billion valuation.

That leadership in the RPA market has established Daniel as a pivotal figure in shaping how automation and human work integrate. Through it all, Daniel emphasizes a corporate culture of humility, a quality he says is essential for adaptation and innovation.

In just eight years, the software firm Personio has become Europe’s leading provider of HR software and one of the continent’s most valuable start-ups. Hanno Renner, the co-founder and CEO, remembers a time when money was far tighter. Before the company received its first real funding, it was down to just €200 in its bank account.

“As students, we didn’t have an office,” he recalls. “So we worked wherever we could find space at college to build Personio’s first software product — scrambling together any savings we had to help with the costs.”

Today Personio has more than 10,000 customers and 1,800 employees from more than 80 countries.

Incredible willpower, scalpel-sharp business acumen, and imperturbable clarity of mission — these are some of Eleonore Crespo’s ingredients for success.

“Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started,” she says. “For me, while I was working in VC, I got an awful back injury that required surgery, and had me bedridden for months, putting my normal life on hold. In the middle of all this pain, I had the chance to think about what I really wanted in life, and the answer was clear: I wanted to build something big, something really impactful.”

She and her co-founder Romain agreed: They would tackle only the most ambitious problems. They settled on a plan to replace spreadsheets — in effect, to liberate 1 billion users from the tyranny of Excel. The result is Pigment, a platform businesses everywhere rely on to make better, faster decisions in a changing world. It enables leaders to draw on data analysis, intuitive design, and sophisticated modeling to help them spend more time thinking and less time crunching numbers.

In short order, Pigment signed such clients as Deliveroo, Klarna, Carta, Evenflo, Miro, Airtable, Figma, Brex, Webhelp, Gong, Poshmark, Eventbrite, and Mozilla. In the summer of 2023 the company closed a Series C round that put its total fundraise at $248 million in less than three years.

When Mario drove home the winning goal against Argentina in the 113th minute of the 2014 World Cup final, he secured Germany's fourth World Cup title and cemented his status as an international sensation.

German fans long knew he was a playmaker. From a boyhood in Germany’s Allgäu region, he rose from Dortmund's BVB youth team and made his Bundesliga debut with Borussia Dortmund in 2009. Since 2010, he has been a fixture in the German national team, playing in two World Cups and European Championships.

Beyond the pitch, Mario has embraced Germany’s startup scene, investing strategically in ventures such as KoRo, PowerUs, and Qualifyze. He actively seeks to contribute value to these companies, and thus to leave a lasting impact in both sport and business.

Having experienced first-hand frustration with the skincare industry, Charmaine started GetHarley while still working at Goldman Sachs — delivering boxes of products to her customers on her way to her office job.

Five years later, GetHarley has raised some $80 million in funding and supports more than 1,000 clinicians who treat over 100,000 individuals.

From the first time we met her, we were floored by the clarity and sharpness of her thinking, her maniacal and obsessive focus on her customers, and her inspiring ambition.

Quote: “We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.“

Andrey has always been a builder at heart. While running his own creative agency in the 2000s, he dreamed of an environment where he and his team wouldn't have to reinvent their work from scratch every day. He envisioned something that would foster a different kind of collaboration.

Andrey created a digital canvas that went beyond conventional collaboration tools, offering people a platform for self-realization and innovative thinking. "We build the canvas, and we want everyone to realize their potential by interacting with it," he says. "I wanted us to realize ourselves."

Today, Miro spans 12 global offices and stands as the world's premier visual collaboration platform. It has become essential to 99% of Fortune 500 companies across a range of domains: brainstorming, ideation, research, design, and agile ceremonies. And Andrey’s unwavering determination to collaborate now provides that digital toolbox to a stunning 50 million users.

Once Nico Rosberg captured the F1 World Drivers’ Championship, he easily could have settled into a comfortable retirement. Instead, he shifted gears. Fueled by lessons learned on the racetrack — concentration, balance, and courage — he plunged into the world of entrepreneurship, where he focuses on companies in green technology and sustainability.

The son of a former F1 world champion, Nico began competitive karting at the age of 6. During his teenage years he raced karts against Lewis Hamilton, with whom he went on to share friendly lifelong competition. The enduring rivalry with Hamilton, now a seven-time F1 world champion, became a defining feature of Nico’s career.

Nico’s meticulous approach to racing — including his emphasis on physical fitness and mental preparation — was instrumental in his 2016 world championship with Mercedes. His ability to translate his learnings on the track to the world of entrepreneurship has become an essential ingredient for many founders who are seeking to achieve their own great performances.

Selina Stihl's story is one of deep-rooted values and evolving dreams. As a child in Hamburg, she aspired to become an architect before finding her way to her family's roots in Waiblingen. During an internship at STIHL, the family business since 1926, Selina immersed herself in the company's operations. She found herself drawn to the industrial environment. Something about the distinctive smell of the factories told her she was in the right place.

She sharpened her business acumen in auditor roles in London and by managing a beverage manufacturer in Hamburg. Then, through a VP post for STIHL in Brazil, Selina began to transition from hands-on management to strategic advisory roles. Eventually she returned to Germany to join STIHL’s advisory board.

Selina's professional achievements and her innate connection to her family’s legacy inform her leadership style — an appreciation for dynamic innovation, tethered firmly to tradition.

Few tech entrepreneurs have achieved as storied a career as Niklas Zenström, one of Europe’s greatest success stories and champions. He enjoyed an idyllic childhood in Sweden before studying abroad in the United States and becoming fascinated with computers and Silicon Valley giants such as Apple. He built the file sharing platform Kazaa — an iconic platform in the peer-to-peer internet — before going on to found the internet telephony business Skype, which he sold to eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005. Later he joined a consortium that bought back Skype — and later sold it to Microsoft for $8.5 billion.

Through his fund Atomico, Niklas has applied his expertise and investments to supporting some of the most promising tech startups in Europe. As a philanthropist Niklas supports human rights and environmental campaigns — and as an avid sailor, he has twice won Europe’s prestigious Fastnet race, fulfilling a boyhood dream of racing yachts.

Miki Kuusi came of age in the aftermath of the 2009 global recession, a moment where Europe felt wide-open and the iPhone and Android had people rushing to smartphones. People were interacting with computers and the internet in novel ways, leading to a startlingly simple question that inspired Miki and five other co-founders to launch Wolt in 2014. If phones were being used to summon cars via apps such as Uber, could they do the same for food?

A decade later, Wolt is a leader in food and grocery delivery in Europe, available in 25 countries and over 500 cities, generating some €3 billion in sales for more than 120,000 merchant partners. In 2022 DoorDash acquired Wolt in a deal worth $8 billion.

Quote: “We’re living through this revolution. The aha moment was realizing that the smartphone in everyone’s pocket was going to become a remote control for everything in life.”

Max Viessmann steers the Viessmann Group with a forward-thinking vision that blends technological innovation with a commitment to sustainability. First as Chief Digital Officer and now as CEO, he has injected dynamism into a century-old family business, steering the century-old heating and refrigeration manufacturer toward a digital future. His progressive emphasis meets contemporary business challenges while preserving the family’s legacy in a rapidly evolving world.

Under Max's guidance, Viessmann has become synonymous with environmental stewardship and social responsibility. More broadly, he has committed to creating sustainable and liveable spaces for future generations. He further shapes global strategies for climate and energy solutions in his influential role on the Board of Directors of Carrier Global.

Lea Cramer was determined to destigmatize the sensual lifestyle industry. Getting there would require a huge risk. At the age of 24, she left her role managing Groupon’s operations in Asia, and co-founded the sensual e-commerce brand Amorelie.

A failure could have undermined her young career — but the bet soon paid off. Amorelie shot to a staggering $65 million in revenue, established a presence in 15 markets, and grew to 150 employees. Lea emerged as one of the most accomplished entrepreneurs in her industry. Her dedication and innovative spirit earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as a role model entrepreneur by the federal government in 2014.

In reshaping her industry, Lea has shattered stereotypes and overcome obstacles. Her pioneering efforts have made her a giant in the worlds of sexual wellness and European entrepreneurship.

André, Nico, and Johannes represent the confluence of a unique founder DNA. The trio met at Munich’s Center for Digital Technology and Management. There they hatched a shared vision for AI-first B2B software as a catalyst to modernize Europe's established industrial base. Tacto was born.

As founders, their velocity, humility, and focus on truth enable the trio to build products that customers actually need. At Tacto, they bring AI-driven direct procurement solutions to mid-sized industrial companies — including legacy firms that form the backbone of Europe’s economy often with a minimum of modern software.

Tacto, in short, improves supply chain efficiency for those companies. But the founders also help these businesses gird themselves against future supply chain challenges and price shocks. They value practical experience and impact over traditional accolades — a fundamental ethos that informs the way they build their growing team.

It’s not false modesty when llkka describes himself as the “least-powerful CEO in video games.” Rather, he is really offering an insight into his radically contrarian approach to start-ups and company building — one that has driven outsized success for Finnish gaming company Supercell.

By committing to the mantra “trust, don’t control,” Ilkka built Supercell around small, nimble teams. Those autonomous teams, insulated from outside meddling and armed with maximal freedom, create a corporate culture resembling professional sports teams. The organization exists to support high performers who are empowered to focus on their individual role.

This approach has generated startling results. With an extreme commitment to excellence, Supercell has released just five games, ever. All of them have become worldwide top-10 iOS and Android releases, and four have grossed more than $1 billion.

Quote: “We’ve replaced the control with trust. The best days at Supercell, for me, are when I hear about something way later than it has been decided. That proves the model is working.”

From his youth, Adriaan’s insatiable curiosity drove him to sharpen his talent for technology. His passion for coding during his teenage years — helped by a secondhand Apple computer his uncle gave him — set the stage for an extraordinary entrepreneurial career that launched when he founded the payment service provider Mollie in 2004 at the young age of 18.

Under Mol's leadership, Mollie emerged as a fast-growing unicorn. The Dutch startup made headlines in June 2021 with an astonishing $800 million Series C funding round that valued the company at $6.5 billion.

Mol further went on to co-found a second tech unicorn, MessageBird, a prominent player in the cloud communications industry.

Sunil Mittal started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 18, by making crankshafts for local bicycle manufacturers. He is the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, a conglomorate which he started in 1976 involved in space, insurance, telecom, real estate, food and hospitality. Bharti Airtel, the group's flagship company is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. In addition to his incredible success in business, Sunil has been a passionate supporter of furthering education in India, through the Barti Foundation, which has established schools in villages across India and offers free quality education with free books, uniform and meals to children. In 2007, Sunil was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honor.

Shravin Mittal joined his father at Bharti Airtel in 2010. He is also the founder of Unbound, a VC firm investing in the most promising “100-year” companies globally, including the likes of Databricks, Snowflake, and Asana.

For a while, the conspicuously bleary hour of 5 a.m. was a busy time in the Sauter household. That predawn hour was when Claudia Sauter and her husband Bene began their days, programming a software to help manage their small business, a seller of microcontrollers.

Fuelled by coffee and a passion for building, they created the first version of their software expressly to solve their personal pain points. Their software project soon took on a life of its own: The intuitive ERP captured the attention of their existing customers, and xentral was born.

Xentral has since grown into a leading ERP solution for SMBs. And the husband-wife duo are only just beginning to empower their thousands of customers to run businesses better, at top speed.

Daniel Khachab’s ambition ran hot early in life. He brought it to the German Air Force, where he learned resilience. Then he launched a social network based around restaurant reservations. When the company fizzled, he remained alert for the next endeavor.

A few years later, he found himself conducting research in the bustling markets of Singapore. There he observed the archaic ways in which restaurant owners placed orders: leaving voicemails by phone, with a host of different suppliers — a maze of a process, fraught with errors.

The sheer inefficiency convinced Daniel there was an opportunity to capture. This led to the birth of Choco in 2018: a digital platform that connects restaurants and suppliers, boosting operational efficiency and reducing waste. Today, Choco has become the global category leader, serving tens of thousands in the food industry across the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, and Belgium.

Daniel’s aims for Choco go beyond technology. He envisions a world where food wholesale markets operate waste-free, powered by technology and sustainable practices. He nurtures the next generation of entrepreneurs by returning often to his alma mater to share his insights. And as Choco continues to expand, he drives it to set new standards in the food industry for a more sustainable future​.

Dominik Richter founded HelloFresh with the aim of revolutionizing the way people eat. That is no small task, clearly. Yet as the food delivery company has grown from its humble early days in 2011, when Dominik and his team hand-packed and delivered meals to their first customers, the trailblazing CEO has poured his passion into making home cooking accessible, enjoyable, and sustainable.

As he turned meal kits into a global phenomenon, Dominik has changed the entire food industry. HelloFresh supports the entire supply chain of a meal, from sustainable farming, to newly harvested ingredients, to reliable recipes — reducing food waste and emissions at every possible stage. The company’s rise from a start-up to the global food subscription leader testifies to Dominik’s pursuit of innovation and growth without sacrificing values.

As a venture capital investor, entrepreneur, and proponent for startups, Christian Miele has made a career of transcending conventional boundaries.

His investment philosophy holds that transformative journeys start with a single step. He prefers to partner with founders who see obstacles as part of an authentic path to success.

His own path began early, as part of the century-old Miele family business known for its global production of household and commercial appliances. He studied economics and went to work for Bertelsmann and Rocket Internet before founding TodayTickets, a digital ticket sales platform that was later acquired by a Spanish competitor.

Christian remains committed to energizing European entrepreneurship. As the President of the nonprofit German Startup Association, he collaborates with founders to foster relationships with European governments and to build resilient, innovative companies. His voice has become one of the strongest and most-recognized in German politics and business.

The remarkable story of Felix and Jens Fiege, the fifth-generation leaders of Fiege Logistics, begins in 1873, humbly, with Joan Joseph Fiege lugging coal on a horse-drawn cart through Greven, Westphalia. Over the generations, Fiege Logistics has transformed dramatically from a business focused on transport, to one oriented around forwarding, and ultimately to a contract logistics provider.

Since taking leadership of Fiege Logistics in 2014, Felix and Jens have ably steered the company through market challenges and supply chain disruptions. In 2021 INTES Academy recognized their joint leadership with the Family Entrepreneur of the Year award, a testament to their effective governance and forward-thinking approach at a time when the Covid pandemic's jolted supply chains worldwide.

The rise of Fiege Logistics from a small haulage business to an international logistics giant is a story of unwavering work ethic, smart business decisions, and wise succession planning. Underpinning it all: a strong family bond and a commitment to the company’s long-term success.

The saga of the Oetker family, who heralded one of Europe's most successful food companies, is rooted in generations of pioneering spirit and entrepreneurial drive. Born a baker’s son in 1862, Dr. August Oetker as a young man embarked on a pharmacy apprenticeship that led to him owning a pharmacy in Bielefeld in 1891. His groundbreaking development in 1893 of the baking powder Backin laid a key cornerstone for his business. The foresight to create and brand pre-measured baking powder packets revolutionized home baking and helped make Oetker a household name across Europe.

Over the decades the family diversified the company's interests across various sectors, setting the stage for its future growth. Today the Oetker Group unites some 350 companies under three business divisions: consumer-related products, luxury hotels, and data and information processing. Several additional companies complement the group's diversified portfolio.

The Oetker family's journey from a humble beginning to a global presence in the food industry exemplifies a remarkable blend of vision, adaptability, and a steadfast commitment to quality and innovation.

Without a fateful travel mix-up, the global booking platform GetYourGuide might never have existed. It began when Johannes, then a student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, arrived early for a holiday in Beijing. He spent days wandering the streets, unsure of how to fill his time and what to see. Once his classmate Tao, a Beijing native, arrived to act as a local guide, the duo were able to get the most out of the experience.

Along the way, they sketched out a vision that became GetYourGuide. Cheap flights and great hotels were easy to book anywhere in the world. But bookings for what Johannes calls the fun parts of a trip — tours, activities, social connection with locals — were scattered, and ripe for disruption.

When they returned to school, the men tapped two other friends in Zurich who, like them, shared a talent for engineering and a love of travel, and got to work. One pivot, one pandemic, and over $1 billion in funding later, GetYourGuide has emerged as a leading global platform for experiences. Travelers have used it to book more than 80 millions tours, allowing people everywhere to experience destinations richly and authentically.