Thomas Funke

Dr. Thomas Funke is the co-director of TechQuartier. The Frankfurt-based TechQuartier serves as a focal access point to the startup and FinTech community in the largest financial center in continental Europe.

Before that he headed the entrepreneurship department of a think tank of the German Federal Ministry for Economics. Additionally, he is co-founder of www.iamstudent.at

Previously he was Assistant Professor and founder of the Entrepreneurship Center Network at Vienna University of Business and Economics. In addition, he was founder and head of operations of the Research Studio eSPARK, a studio that aims at supporting entrepreneurs in the very early stages. In his academic career, he was based in the US, Hong Kong, and Austria.

He recently published a book on entrepreneurship ecosystems with FAZ Buchverlag with the title: „Beyond Silicon Valley: Examples of Successful Entrepreneurship Ecosystems“. He also serves as the academic contributor for the renown Global Startup Ecosystem Report by Silicon Valley-based company Compass, which constantly publishes a ranking of the top 20 startup ecosystems.