Entrepreneur Networking Event
Tuesday, 10.09.2024, 5:30 pm at DRFZ
Chairs: Lisa Budzinski & Henrik Mei
From idea to innovation. The translation of scientific ideas to an innovative product or technology is one main vision of the DGfZ. The community is a hub of novel developments and applications that have been translated into a company and thus holds great expertise about the founding process, pitfalls and success stories. We want to provide a forum for these stories and thus hold our second entrepreneur networking event this year.
You will get to know founding stories and the persons behind, which is a perfect chance to ask all burning questions in an open, informal setting.
Please register here if you want to join.
Sharing their knowledge this year will:

Isabel Hahne
Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH
Did you know our free Services from Berlin Partner for Berlin based institutions and companies? For example:
- Startup service: support of scientists who plan to spin of
- Innovation Service: find the right partners for your research & development
- Finance service: find the right financing solution
Biosketch
Isabel Hahne recieved her diploma in Biology, in 2009. She was project manager at BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg from 2006 – 2013. From then until today she holds a position as Project Manager at Berlin Partner / Cluster HealthCapital.

Frederiek-Maarten Kerkhof
Kytos
You will learn more about:
- transitioning from academic to industrial research: killing your darlings & knowing when to leave good enough alone
- building a multi-functional flow cytometry data team: getting the people and instruments together for innovation with FCM data
- from the bench to production: how to translate complex concepts in cytometry to market insights for several stakeholders
Biosketch
Frederiek-Maarten (F.M.) Kerckhof, Ph.D. is a co-founder and head of DevOps at Kytos BV, a Ghent University spin-off that aims to revolutionize microbiome management in the agriculture industry by means of single-cell technologies. F.M. obtained a Ph.D. in 2016 of Ghent University in applied biological sciences with a focus on interactions between methane oxidizing bacteria and partner bacteria and yeast. During his master’s and Ph.D. he developed a strong affinity for biostatistics and bio-informatics, and implemented workflows for multivariate data-analysis, sequencing data analysis, and FCM data-analysis for his whole group going from elementary training to in-depth consulting on numerous papers. During his post-doc, this interest only grew; leading up to an appointment as in-house bio-informatician at the center of microbial ecology and technology (CMET) . Nonetheless, the application and usability of his research work always remained at the fore. When F.M. – together with Kytos co-founder and CEO Ruben Props – followed entrepreneurship courses at Ghent University and beyond (Vlerick business school, VOKA “from Ph.D. to SME” program, …) a spark was lit, and in 2021 F.M. and his co-founders took the jump from academia to the spin-off life. Three years and many lessons learned later, Kytos BV is an international start-up with over 60k microbiomes profiled across dozens of countries and crops. Outside of Kytos, F.M. is father to one energetic 8-year-old son – leading to humbling lessons about the work/family-life balance and being present in the moment.

Can Pinar
Cytolytics
- From Idea/Vision to building a product that is adding value to real users.
- Funding for scientific projects and getting to your MVP
- Addressing the right pain points with the right solutions and timing
- Pitfalls and important learning along the way.
Biosketch
Can Pinar is an accomplished entrepreneur and expert in automated flow cytometry data analysis, with a background in bioinformatics. He is the founder and CEO of Cytolytics, a software company specializing in cutting-edge flow cytometry software solutions for academic ,clinical and industrial research.

Dr. Konrad von Volkmann
Geschäftsführer/CEO APE
Short sketch:
Is it always the best idea to write a patent to protect an innovative product idea? APE has pursued a mixed strategy for more than 30 years, which includes patents, but also writing protective publications or keeping confidential information secret. I would like to give a little insight into almost 15 years of experience with patents in product development at APE and why niche markets can also provide good protection for innovation.
Short biosketch:
Konrad von Volkmann studied physics at the FU Berlin and in Bordeaux, specializing in ultrafast laser physics. He then completed his PhD in the group of Prof. Martin Wolf at the FU Berlin on ultrafast relaxation processes in condensed matter using ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy and time-resolved broadband THz spectroscopy. Since 2010, he has worked at APE in various areas, including as a product expert, developer, manager of various development projects and later as head of the R&D department. Finally in March 2021, he was appointed CEO.

Thomas (Tom) Bauer-Jazayeri
Sengenics
What to share:
- Expertise in selling and marketing highly complex products from a Start-up perspective.
- What does it take to start a company?
- Are you an Entrepreneur? What does it take.
- How to analyse market potential and build/execute a strategy.
Biosketch:
After finishing his degree in Bioengineering, Tom obtained his Ph.D. of the University of Heidelberg. Afterwards he joined Invitrogen and built the European Application Centre in Heidelberg which was then moved to Darmstadt as of the merger with Applied Biosystems. Tom then joined young organisations like Ayoxxa Biosystems or evorion Biotechnologies for global Marketing and Business Development. Tom has expertise particular in the Start-up environment in Business and Market Development and holds currently the position as Director Operations Europe at Sengenics.