February 8, 2023 | Frankfurt
At a time of transition and great uncertainty, Frankfurt Digital Finance gathers key participants in the European digital finance ecosystem. Launched in 2019, Frankfurt Digital Finance Conference has grown into one of the most pre-eminent events of its kind in Europe.
Putting quality over quantity, we bring together top-executives, entrepreneurs, investors, academics and policy makers on a single platform to discuss the topics shaping the future of the financial industry.
We enable exchange of ideas and foster collaboration – helping disruptive companies find corporate partners and investors to scale up faster, and established financial services providers to innovate their business models.
We are more than excited that Frankfurt Digital Finance 2022 was a great success. We are looking forward to having you with us in 2023. #FDF2023
Meet the speakers who shared their perspectives and insights.
Founder and Co-CEO, Banxware
Miriam Wohlfarth is a serial fintech founder and founded one of the first fintechs in Germany with the payment service provider Ratepay. With her latest company Banxware, she revolutionizes the lending sector and enables platforms to offer banking products. As a passionate founder, Miriam is committed to the startup ecosystem, cooperation between business and politics, and digital education through various advisory boards and initiatives. Among others, she is chair of the BMWi's Young Digital Economic Advisory Board, a shareholder in Startup Teens, a columnist for Wirtschaftswoche, and a supervisory board member at Talentsconnect AG.
Head of Listing, Euronext Amsterdam
René joined Euronext Amsterdam in 2017 as Head of Business Development for Small & Mid-Caps, before being appointed Head of Listing early 2018. He is also board member of Euronext Amsterdam. His experience before joining Euronext spanned over more than two decades through different commercial roles at ABN AMRO and Rabobank, in Treasury & Risk Advisory, Cash Equities and Equity Capital Markets. As Rabobank’s Head of Syndicate he was responsible for the development of their corporate access services. Before joining Euronext in 2017 he was leading the marketing & communications team of Rabobank Wholesale and part of the management team for RI Communications. René attended the Hotel Management School in Maastricht and followed several business and management related business courses.
CEO, Solarisbank AG
Dr. Roland Folz is Chief Executive Officer of Solarisbank AG (since February 2017). Roland has over 25 years of experience in the banking and financial services sector, with additional senior management expertise in the mobility and telecoms industries. He joined Solarisbank from Deutsche Bank, where he spent almost eight years in various regional and global CFO responsibilities. Prior to Deutsche Bank he held executive roles within the T-Com/T-Home division for Deutsche Telekom AG and was CEO of DaimlerChrysler Bank AG. As Co-CEO of Direkt Anlage Bank AG, Roland expanded Germanys first discount broker into 6 European countries, eventually taking the company public in 1999.
Chief Technology, Data and Innovation Officer, Member of the Management Board, Deutsche Bank
Bernd Leukert joined Deutsche Bank in September 2019 with responsibility for Technology, Data and Innovation, and became a member of the Deutsche Bank Management Board on January 1, 2020. Prior to joining the bank, Bernd worked at SAP, where he started in 1994 as a software developer. During his career, Bernd has held various management positions in application development and technology development. In 2014, he was named to SAP’s Executive Board, with development, delivery and business responsibility for the entire product portfolio. Bernd holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a Technical Background from the University of Karlsruhe. Outside of his role at Deutsche Bank, he is also a member of the Supervisory Board of DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA and Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA.
Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer, N26
Jan Kemper joined N26 in 2021 as Chief Financial Officer. In his role, Jan oversees The Mobile Bank’s Finance, Tax and Accounting divisions, to accelerate the company’s journey towards profitable growth and capital market readiness with the aim of becoming the bank that 100 million people around the world love to use. Jan joins N26 from Berlin-based travel scale-up Omio Corp., where in his role as Managing Director, he built out the company’s governance model and its operational backbone, completed the acquisition of Rome2Rio, and organized a US$100M funding round in the midst of a global pandemic. Prior to that, Jan was Group CFO at German DAX 30-listed entertainment company ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, where he oversaw a strict efficiency program, refinanced a €3bn credit facility and led the formation of the Unicorn NuCom Group through a series of M&A deals. Before that, Jan was CFO at Zalando SE, where he led the company’s successful €526m IPO in 2014. A veteran of Berlin’s vibrant tech ecosystem and a passionate start-up investor himself, Jan brings two decades of experience in dynamic, high-growth environments, as well as a solid background in complex capital market transactions such as M&A and IPOs. He holds a PhD in Business Administration and Economics from RWTH Aachen University, where he continues to teach as a lecturer and Assistant Professor for the institution’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group. He is an active triathlete and loves to play the piano (whenever time and family allows).
Chief Executive Director of Asset-Management, BaFin
Dr Thorsten Pötzsch is a member of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Executive Board since 2018. At present, he is the Chief Exekutive Director of Securities Supervision. Dr Pötzsch is also member of the Board of Supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and member of the Board of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Prior to his current position, Dr Pötzsch, who holds a doctorate degree in law, was Chief Executive Director of the Resolution Directorate at BaFin for 4 years. Prior to joining the Executive Board of BaFin, Dr Pötzsch held, beneath others, long-term executive-level positions at the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Chancellery.
Co-Owner and Editor, Finanz-Szene
Since 2019: Co-Owner, Managing Director and Editor of Finanz-Szene.de - a German Daily Banking & Fintech Newsletter founded by Heinz-Roger Dohms in 2017 with 39.000 Subscribers. Before that: Various editorial and reporting positions at Handelsblatt Publishing Group (2002-2008), Financial Times Deutschland (2009-2012) and Capital Magazine (2014-2018) Christian has graduated with a masters degree from University Mannheim in Political Science and German in 2001.
CEO and Founder, bunq
Ali Niknam (1981), born in Canada but from Iranian descent, set up his first company when he was just 16 years old. In his early twenties he founded TransIP, the biggest domain name and web hosting provider of the Netherlands. In 2012 he set out to change the banking industry radically and founded bunq.
Head of Blockchain Center, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner is head of the Blockchain Center at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He was ranked as a “Top 30” economist by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and belongs to the “Top 40 under 40”,a ranking by Capital (German business magazine). Philipp´s expertise includes blockchain and distributed ledger technology, crypto assets, Euro-on-Ledger, ICOs, security tokens, digital transformation and entrepreneurship. He is member of the Fintech Council (FinTechRat) of the Federal Ministry of Finance and also engaged in the EU Blockchain Observatory. He is founding member of the German Blockchain Association, the International Token Standardization Association and the Multichain Asset Managers Association.
At Frankfurt Digital Finance, we combine breadth and depth with a focus on the key topics transforming the industry.
Here are three reasons to be part of Frankfurt Digital Finance: a diverse list of world-class speakers, high-quality and inspiring content, unequalled networking opportunities,
Frankfurt Digital Finance brings together the people and companies shaping the future of the finance industry. Broaden your network and share ideas with others in your field, meet your future business partners, or seek advice from leading experts, senior executives, entrepreneurs and investors in a familiar atmosphere.
At Frankfurt Digital Finance you really get your money’s worth. Enjoy one day packed with high quality educational content allowing you to bring back valuable skills to your office. Watch and learn from a diverse list of select speakers across key industry branches through keynotes, panels and interactive workshops.
Our conference will give you plenty of opportunity to make new contacts and collect solid leads that convert into valuable business relationships. Engage with top executives from established European financial institutions, innovative technology companies and service providers in round tables and one-on-ones.
Our aim is to connect the key players in the European Digital Finance ecosystem under one roof: corporates, start-ups, investors, academia, regulators and policy makers. We are proud that the first two editions of Frankfurt Digital Finance seem to have achieved just that.
Frankfurt Digital Finance is the perfect kick-off event to discuss all relevant topics that circulate in the industry in 2022.
Europe is becoming a global tech powerhouse - and its events like Frankfurt Digital Finance that help promote European tech.
The digital transformation of the financial system is in full swing. Europe needs a competitive digital financial ecosystem while ensuring an up-to-date regulatory framework. Frankfurt Digital Finance offers a great platform to absorb the needs and viewpoints of different market participants.
The conference offers a great mix of people to engage with. The audience is phenomenal from banks to young companies. It is a great place to share our vision and connect with new partners.
The conference offers ample opportunity to discuss the topics that shape the future of the financial industry. From insightful speeches to lively discussions and personal exchange – Frankfurt Digital Finance is a place for visionary thinking.
It is important for young companies to come together with established players to create dialogue and a mutual understanding. For at the end of the day it is not fintech vs. traditional banks but partnerships of mutual benefit. This conference is the right form and the right format to have this kind of exchange.
Frankfurt Digital Finance is the first real community ecosystem-event in Frankfurt.
It is very important for us to network - not only with our peers but also with people from the wider community. Having a format like this really helps to foster that dialogue. It is very efficient because you do not have to set up 100 meetings, I like that.
Frankfurt Digital Finance is the event where innovative tech companies and solution providers meet decision makers from large financial institutions. We need more events like this.
For us as a company from Finland, the conference is a great opportunity to meet decision makers from all the different financial institutions. You cannot miss that.
Frankfurt Digital Finance is ideal for startups to meet the relevant players under one roof. We have had a number of startups from our accelerator and it was amazing to see how many contacts they made in one day – work that normally takes us 3 months. I encourage international startups to attend and present themselves.
Frankfurt Digital Finance represents the diversity of the ecosystem
Frankfurt Digital Finance is made possible through generous support of our partners and sponsors. Get in touch if you, too, would like to sponsor FDF2022.
Connecting Europe’s Digital Finance Ecosystem.