Back in 2000, at the end of the new economy era, Heiko co-founded the affiliate marketing network Zanox. Seven years later, Zanox had matured into one of the leading affiliate marketing networks in Europe and was sold to Axel Springer and the Publi Group for 214,9 million dollars — one of the biggest exits in the history of German startups. He is an active angel investor and startup mentor, working on different projects. One of his current projects is UFOStart, the first “crowd investor network”. Based in Silicon Valley and Berlin, Heiko and his former founding partners of Zanox days are developing a new crowdfunding and -sourcing platform that connects startups with investors, experts and customers. Their ambitious goal is to close 10,000 startup deals over the next 3 years, accelerating these ventures with the skills of 300,000 people, and funding them for a total of $500M. We are looking forward to welcome Heiko on stage to share his story and give you the chance to connect with him afterwards. The interview will be led by Christoph Raethke. Christoph has been working in the digital industry for over 17 years. He has run two semesters of the Founder Institute and is the founder of the Berlin Startup Academy — Berlin’s boutique, independent Startup Accelerator. In addition to that, Christoph is a frequent speaker at international events and renown for his critical and thought-provoking views. Our event takes place in the St. Oberholz apartments. As the central meeting point of Berlin's digital scene, there could be no better setting for our intimate “fireside chat” interview format.