In this episode, Mark Schmitz (TIALUS), Niels Tomm (Representative of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse AG), and moderator Joel Kaczmarek, examine a vast topic field: the political framework for the digital ecosystem in Germany and Europe - especially with regard to IPOs. How does the financing situation of up-and-coming tech companies currently look? What role does the capital market play at the moment? What is the responsibility of politics to make the tech scene in Germany globally competitive? How can science, politics and business interact more closely in order to further develop existing strengths of the ecosystem for growth and make it viable for the future?

You will hear a fast-paced, in-depth discussion of the following topics

• IPOs for digital companies
• historical review of the VC and angel investment scene in Germany
• comparative perspectives between China, Europe and the USA
• political parameters in the ecosystem - from pension funds and employee participation to corporate and tax law
• a constructive look at the risk culture in Germany, which has room for improvement
• a outlook of the two discussion guests on what they consider to be the most significant trends emerging in this area.

Mark Schmitz
Mark Schmitz is founder and managing director of Tialus GmbH, a consulting and investment company specializing in venture capital and private equity. Previously, he was a partner and part of the founding team of Lakestar, one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe. Mark Schmitz has been a member of the board of the German Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVK) since June 2019 and is committed to mobilizing growth capital for innovation and technology. He studied law and economics in Germany and the USA. As Investor in Residence, he supports extensive research projects at the Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies at the Technical University of Munich and advises the management of UnternehmerTUM GmbH, Europe's largest entrepreneurship center. 

Niels Tomm
Niels Tomm has been Head of Stakeholder Management & Berlin Hub in the Group Communication & Marketing department at Deutsche Börse since 1 April 2020. As Representative of the Executive Board and Head of the Berlin Hub of Deutsche Börse, which opened in 2019, he is now also responsible for the newly created Stakeholder Management department. This enables the company to broaden communication and discussion with social and political stakeholders. Niels Tomm is also Co-CEO of the China Europe International Exchange, a joint venture of Deutsche Börse. He studied political science at the Free University in Berlin and in the United States at Indiana University Bloomington.

Joel Kaczmarek
Is founder of digitalkompakt and moderates the discussion.

This podcast is produced in cooperation with digital kompakt, an online magazine for digital business models, companies and developments in the digital scene.