DLD Circular 2023

Efrat Friedland is the founder of materialscout, which helps companies create value through the creative and sustainable implementation of materials and technologies. She is also the co-founder of Positive Plastics, a platform that presents information about polymers with a lower environmental impact. (Photo: ©Daniel Schvarcz)

Fabio Volkmann is a Research Project Manager responsible for partnerships and project development at Climate Farmers, a non-profit that aims to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe. Volkmann is Climate Farmers’ coordinator for the EU-funded Benchmarks project.

Francesco Sciortino is a co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, which aims to deliver fusion energy as a viable energy source. Proxima Fusion is the first-ever spin-out company from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.

Dr. Frauke Fischer heads the Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the university of Würzburg. She’s also the founder of auf!, a consultancy specializing in biodiversity, and co-founder of PERÚ PURO, wich pays smallholder farmers in Peru fair prices for high-quality cocoa.

Greg Ameyugo is Head of AI and Interactive Systems at CEA, the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission in France. In 2023, his team set a new benchmark for human-robot task automation in the international Robothon challenge, focused on circular economy applications.

As Director Sustainability Direction at sportswear maker adidas, Gudrun Messias is responsible for creating the company’s long- term sustainability strategy and for guiding key topics like climate change, biodiversity and circularity throughout the organization.

Hannes Schoenegger is co-founder and CEO of QWSTION and its award-winning Bananatex brand. QWSTION has been manufacturing bags from plants since 2008, combining functionality and timeless design with the smallest ecological and biggest social footprint possible.

Hermann co-founded Amadeus Capital Partners in 1997 with Anne Glover. In his long and successful history as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, he has founded or co-founded companies in a wide range of technology sectors.