At this year’s Baltic Business Angels Schleswig-Holstein e.V. masterclass, Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism, Claus Ruhe Madsen, honoured Schleswig-Holstein start-up investors Matthias Damerow and Axel Niesing as „Business Angels of the Year“.
Damerow, managing partner of digital solutions provider Viakom GmbH, based in Handewitt, Hamburg and Berlin, and himself a founding member and former board member of the association, was only able to attend the award ceremony via video link, as his company was celebrating its tenth anniversary at the same time. His BBA colleague Frank Bock accepted the award on his behalf.
Niesing, managing partner of the well-known petrol station chain Anton Willer GmbH & Co KG, Kiel, was honoured as an outstanding new member of the association. The minister praised both investors for their exceptional financial, professional and time contributions to the success of their investments.
The minister also emphasised the tireless and successful efforts of the award winners in acquiring and introducing new association members. The latter are a central building block for the economic future of the state. The capital that individual business angels such as Damerow and Niesing made available to their investments was mostly syndicated with additional capital from other private investors. These amounts could then be „mirrored“ with money from public investors such as MBG Schleswig-Holstein mbH or private VCs. This would generate the necessary sums to enable technology start-ups in Schleswig-Holstein to get off to a good start, on which the economic future of the state largely depends.
Last week, the investor network announced a record seven start-up investments in Germany and abroad for the third quarter of 2025, with a cumulative total of EUR 1.5 million. Most recently, investments were also made in Israel and the Netherlands. Two more of the seven new investments were successful candidates on the VOX television programme „The Lion’s Den„.
At this year’s BBA Masterclass, leading speakers from the fields of basic research and the defence industry discussed the opportunities and risks of these markets for private investors. Speakers and panellists included Kathrin Krüger-Borgwardt, Minister of Economic Affairs at the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research GEOMAR in Kiel, former Anschütz managing director Lüder Hogrefe, former TKMS chief technology officer Andreas Burmester, Jens Wolf, head of the German venture capital practice group at the law firm Taylor Wessing, and Jannik Zerbst, a lawyer working as a legal VC fund advisor at YPOG in Hamburg.
Claus Ruhe Madsen has been Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism since 29 June 2022. He was born in Copenhagen on 27 August 1972; he is married and has one daughter.
Claas begann seine Karriere in der Old Economy bei „AEG und Electrolux Group“, wo er seine Leidenschaft für aufstrebende Industrien entdeckte. Das ist es, was ihn bis heute antreibt. Nachdem er bei „American Heritage Management Corp.“ an der Wall Street war und in den 1990er Jahren an den ersten internetbasierten Börsengängen teilnahm, wurde seine Leidenschaft für Technik und disruptive Technologien immer stärker. Er ist Mitgründer von „New Commercial Room“, einem VC-Unternehmen mit Sitz in Hamburg, mit dem er ein Portfolio von High-Tech-Wachstumsunternehmen verwaltet, das von medizinischen Geräten über Medien bis hin zu SaaS, IT und Cybersecurity reicht. Als Angel Investor investierte er sowohl privat in Unternehmen als auch mit dem „btov Investor-Network“. Er betreut aktiv zahlreiche deutsche StartUps, Accelerator-Programme und ist Scout im Norden für den „High-Tech Gründerfonds“ (HTGF). Dadurch hat er Zugang zu erstklassigem internationalen Deal Flow und Investoren. Darüber hinaus hat Claas mehrere Aufsichtsratspositionen inne und ist Live-Musiker mit der „Soul Lounge Connection“.
As a serial entrepreneur, investor and business angel, Julian has been involved in the German start-up and venture capital scene since 2003. He focuses on helping selected early-stage start-ups and their founders to turn their ambitions into reality. Investments are typically made in early-stage B2B technology companies with an initial track record. Julian’s current focus is on Industrial IoT, data analytics, B2B platform tools, e-health and 3D. He is particularly keen on spin-offs originating from research foundations and organisations or technical universities, but is also open to other opportunities. The best way to find out more about Julian is to visit his Website and here in the Interview.
EN 
DE