Panel/Fireside Chat

Beyond the Wrapper: Technical Bets That VCs Back

with Christian Nagel & Philipp Moehring & Filip Dames & Justus Lumpe

Thursday 9 July 12:10 – 12:40 Tech Leaders Stage

About This Session

Substance over hype. While the tech world chases shiny interfaces, the real value is being built deep in the stack. What separates a short-lived "wrapper" from sustainable, long-term tech infrastructure? This panel goes past the marketing noise to analyze the core technological bets capturing strategic venture capital right now.

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Speakers

Christian Nagel

Partner and Co-Founder · Earlybird Venture Capital

Partner and Co-Founder of Earlybird Venture Capital

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Filip is a Founding Partner at Cherry. Originally on track to become a classically trained musician, he took an unexpected detour into entrepreneurship — and never looked back. Before becoming an investor, Filip built and scaled multiple ventures. He first founded a digital marketplace for art and collectibles, then joined the founding team of Zalando, where he focused on product, business development, and international expansion. His work helped turn Zalando into Europe’s leading lifestyle destination. These experiences gave him a deep understanding of the founder journey — the challenges, the breakthroughs, and the constant need to build — and shape his hands-on approach to supporting Cherry’s portfolio companies. Beyond Cherry, Filip serves on the board of KfW Capital, the German Startup Association, and the Board of Trustees of the State Opera Berlin. He guest lectures at WHU and IMD Lausanne, and through his family foundation, works to provide access to entrepreneurship and education for underprivileged families. Filip is a three-time Midas List Europe honoree and was named Investor of the Year 2022 by the German Startup Association. He is especially drawn to founders pushing the frontier of technology — from AI to deep tech and breakthrough products. Filip partners with visionary teams like The Exploration Company, robeauté, and Proxima Fusion to help turn bold ideas into the next generation of category-defining companies.
Philipp Moehring

Founder and Managing Partner · tiny supercomputer investment company

Founder and Managing Partner of Tiny

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Philipp Moehring is the founder and Managing Partner of Tiny, one of Europe's top-performing pre-seed venture firms. Before Tiny, Philipp spent four years at Seedcamp, then seven years at AngelList where he launched and ran the European business. Through that time, he saw first-hand what works and what breaks at the earliest stage of company building — and what most investors get wrong. He cofounded Tiny to back the best technical founders in Europe at the moment they need it most: before anyone else is paying attention. The results have been consistent, and Tiny is now one of the best pre seed funds in Europe. Tiny backed nine unicorns including n8n, Wayve, Synthesia, and Payhawk from their first rounds.
Filip Dames

Founding Partner · Cherry Ventures

Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures

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Filip is a Founding Partner at Cherry. Originally on track to become a classically trained musician, he took an unexpected detour into entrepreneurship — and never looked back. Before becoming an investor, Filip built and scaled multiple ventures. He first founded a digital marketplace for art and collectibles, then joined the founding team of Zalando, where he focused on product, business development, and international expansion. His work helped turn Zalando into Europe’s leading lifestyle destination. These experiences gave him a deep understanding of the founder journey — the challenges, the breakthroughs, and the constant need to build — and shape his hands-on approach to supporting Cherry’s portfolio companies. Beyond Cherry, Filip serves on the board of KfW Capital, the German Startup Association, and the Board of Trustees of the State Opera Berlin. He guest lectures at WHU and IMD Lausanne, and through his family foundation, works to provide access to entrepreneurship and education for underprivileged families. Filip is a three-time Midas List Europe honoree and was named Investor of the Year 2022 by the German Startup Association. He is especially drawn to founders pushing the frontier of technology — from AI to deep tech and breakthrough products. Filip partners with visionary teams like The Exploration Company, robeauté, and Proxima Fusion to help turn bold ideas into the next generation of category-defining companies.
Justus Lumpe

Co-CEO · i5invest

Co-CEO of i5invest

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Justus is Co-CEO at i5invest. During his career he has built a strong network with international corporates, successful entrepreneurs and start-ups as well as leading investors. Through leveraging market and industry experience Justus helps tech companies define their strategy, gain market traction, scale and exit internationally. Justus started his career as a consultant at PwC and Capco. Following his MBA he joined Lehman Brothers as an investment banker in London, covering European Industrials. He then worked for Nomura and RBC, where he helped to build the European Industrials investment banking practice. He advised on numerous buyside and sellside transactions, financings and initial public offerings, mainly focusing on capital goods and automotive space. Justus also was a Managing Director at NOAH, a boutique corporate finance advisory firm. At NOAH he ran the partnership business focused on NOAH Conference, the leading events for the European digital ecosystem. Justus studied Business Administration in Germany and England, and holds an MBA with high distinction from the Tuck School of Business.