Experience Meets Ambition and Innovation
Our network is carefully curated and brings together industry professionals, seasoned business leaders, investors, business angels, and experienced founders who join our programs on a voluntary basis. They’re all dedicated to supporting and guiding the next generation of entrepreneurs.
This is where experience, passion, and innovation converge to empower early-stage start-ups.
Knowledge and expertise for accelerated learning
Mentorship and guidance
Validation and credibility
Inspiration and motivation
Our Mentors
Trailblazers are an asset to an Ecosystem. They can share lessons learned and insights, help avoid common pitfalls, and are role models
Sören Gunia
Co-Founder and former CHRO of Motius
Sören Gunia, Co-Founder and former CHRO of Motius, a deep tech consulting company with +120 employees and 8-digit profitable revenue in 2023. He holds an MSc. in Computer Science from TUM and is a Manage&More alumnus. With a passion for digital transformation, Sören played a pivotal role in Motius's journey from a Munich startup to a global player, specializing in A.I., Industrial Automation, Robotics, and more.
Christoph Pirkl
Serial founder
Christoph Pirkl, a serial founder, experienced start-up expert, and coach at TU Munich & UnternehmerTUM. Active in companies like parcelLab, traplinked, Valuecase, or Capmo, Christoph shares valuable insights from his entrepreneurial journey. With a focus on fostering innovation and supporting emerging startups, he continues to make a lasting impact in the startup ecosystem.
Gonzalo de Lomana
Co-Founder & CEO of SaaS Growth
Gonzalo, a Ph.D. holder in economics and digitalization, transitioned from Boston Consulting Group to empower B2B startups. As CEO of SaaS Growth, he collaborates with 80+ startups, crafting sales systems and playbooks that lead to significant investment rounds and exits. His passion lies in creating interconnected systems for successful sales methodologies.
Philipp Walz
Serial founder
Philipp Walz, an experienced Director Of Product Development in logistics and supply chain. Bringing expertise in Innovation Management, E-commerce, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and Mobile Applications, Philipp has a proven track record of driving success in these domains. As a serial founder, he is dedicated to mentoring and guiding the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Tobias Pohl
First Recruiting
Tobias Pohl, CEO of CELUS, a deep-tech start-up enabling smart electronics engineering. Armed with a Master’s in Automotive Engineering from TU Munich, Tobias co-founded CELUS in 2018, successfully completing the series A funding round in July 2022. Leading a team of over 70 employees, he remains committed to automating manual processes in electronics design, allowing engineers to focus on creativity and innovation.
Our Experts and Coaches
Experienced professionals bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and insights from their years in the industry. They possess a deep understanding of market trends, customer behavior, and industry best practices, which helps guiding a start-up in making informed decisions.
Dr. Kerstin Joos
Head of Legal R&D
“I really enjoy to develop the xplore startups to the next level on their entrepreneurial journey. As mentor it is really rewarding how quickly new ideas are coming into action!”
Dr. Jan-Uwe Claas
Executive Expert Health Care & Pharma
“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen – I am excited to support engaged entrepreneurs in the crucial steps towards a solid value proposition for their customers”
Conny Marx
Entrepreneur & Speaker
“As an entrepreneur I want to give back and share my experience with early-stage founders to support them and guiding them through the process from the start. It is so rewarding as a mentor to see how they are able to bring their ideas into businesses with the Xplore program.”
Matthias Homann
VP Post-Merger-Integrations, Global Sales Operations
“As a mentor within an early-startup program, I find immense reward in utilizing my professional insights gained from my work in a global software company to guide entrepreneurs, helping them shape their visions, overcome challenges, and watch as their ideas evolve into thriving enterprises.”
Dr. Alexander Moscho
Operating Partner, International Executive, Business Angel and Advisor
„My passions for purpose, people and performance are motivating me to make the world better - a tiny bit every day. With 25 years in (bio)pharma and healthcare as executive, founder, business angel and advisor, I love working with talented founders, who have set out to create a better tomorrow. - Like the highly motivated participants of XPLORE."
Yorck Bülow
Head of Product, Surgical Robotics
“I love working on solving real problems in healthcare to increase people’s quality of life – XPLORE is a great opportunity to do that with highly motivated people who think outside the box and are not afraid of the status quo!”
Philipp Timmen
Strategic CFO
“I support early-stage startups & the Xplore program to stay connected to the future, challenge my own perception, learn new things, have fun, and connect with inspiring people in the tech industry.”
Cornelia Auer
Finance Advisor and Business Coach
Being a mentor at XPLORE keeps me humble, as I am constantly impressed by the dedication and energy young entrepreneurs put into their business ideas. It enriches me to be able to share my knowledge and connections, and then witness the seeds bear fruit at later stages. I wish Xplore had existed during "my time".
Julia von Dewitz
Managing Partner Neofaktur eG
I've been working with start-ups for a long time: as a strategy consultant and even longer as a mentor for student founders in the BCG business@school program. Becoming part of the XPLORE network seems like the next logical step. As a biologist, I know how overwhelming the business side of things can be for tech students. So I would love to act as a bridgebuilder between the scientific and the business side. I can't wait to meet the teams and their ideas!
Kevin Hsu
Business Development & Operations
XPLORE brings together early-stage founders who are just starting their new ventures. I am grateful to support such a passionate group of entrepreneurs at this stage in their journey
Maximilian Forster
Business Venture Architect & Startup Incubation
Having been an entrepreneur myself, particular the pre-seed stage of the startup lifecycle is the most rewarding, challenging, interesting and demanding stage of all. Facing constant change regarding your customer, product, team & general setup throws you into a hard-to-handle roller-coaster. I’d like to support the future entrepreneurs by telling them my mistakes, so that they can avoid them
Stephan Masyuta-Hesslich
Entrepreneur, Company Builder, Revenue Leader
To work with Startups is my passion. I have been building up sales organisations in several start-ups for more than 15 years. Sales is the most critical and most underestimated business function and success lever in startups. I would like to help startups to navigate around all the obstacles and build a solid Sales basis from the very early stages on.
Michael Jesswein
Investment Manager
Why am I part of XLPORE? Pretty basic: I was exactly in your shoes a few years back. A ton of drive but zero network or relevant venture experience in my direct environment. Looking back at my own little journey, everything changed at the right moment with the right mentor on my side. Now it's time to give something back to my hometown and its entrepreneurial ecosystem. Let's dream big together!
Jan Mittendorf
Operational Director
Guiding early-stage startups, for me, is a way to help them sidestep the pitfalls I've encountered firsthand. Passionate about maintaining customer-centric focus, I strive to steer these budding enterprises towards what matters most – their clients.
Ask Simin to Learn More about How You Can Start
Join us and be part of a dynamic community that is dedicated to fostering innovation and driving start-up success. Help shape the future of start-ups, provide invaluable guidance, take part in events, and be part of a vibrant ecosystem where innovation thrives.
Contact Simin for more information.