It was a great display of community and achievement at Dominic’s Oyster Point in South San Francisco as we celebrated this year’s award winners of the GABA Achievement Award, Petra Vorsteher and Ragnar Kruse.
The amazing power couple was at the center of our celebration, honoring their achievements and vision in the transatlantic business sphere. As became clear in the Fireside Chat with Olaf Groth, Petra and Ragnar have always had a keen sense for new developments and future trends. They not only helped found Intershop, a multi-billion dollar e-commerce platform, but also co-founded Smaato, an innovative mobile advertising company. Their latest endeavors are focused on AI and revolve not only around their company AI.GROUP but also extend to supporting other AI companies in their success. In late May, they brought 10 AI startups from Germany to pitch in front of investors in New York and Palo Alto.
GABA News had the pleasure of speaking with the awardees. Read the interview on the GABA website to discover the inspiring entrepreneurial journey of this dynamic transatlantic power couple.
Petra is a serial tech entrepreneur and has more than 40 years of business experience in the US, Europe and Asia.
She moved to the US in 1980 and has been a Bay Area resident since 1981.
Petra is Founding Partner of the AI.GROUP which consists of the not for profit AI network AI.HAMBURG, the Venture Capital Fund AI.FUND and the Venture Studio AI.IMPACT.
She is also Co- Founder of the AI.STARTUP.HUB, an excelerator funded by the German Government; the Transatlantic aiXchange and the AI4Germany network.
As a serial entrepreneur with 40+ years experience in IT, Ragnar understands the unique opportunities and challenges in bringing new technologies to International markets. He has built up several successful companies from inception to market launch and IPO in both the US and Europe.
Ragnar is Founding Partner and Managing Director of the AI.GROUP which consists of the not for profit AI network AI.HAMBURG, the Venture Capital Fund AI.FUND and the Venture Studio AI.IMPACT.
He is also Co-Founder of the AI.STARTUP.HUB, an accelerator funded by the German Government; the Transatlantic aiXchange and the AI4Germany network.