After Managing Director Christian Lindener left Wayra Germany at the end of October 2019, Telefónica's investment arm has now found a new Managing Director. As the company announced, Airgreets founder Florian Bogenschütz has already taken over as CEO effective January 1, 2020.
As founder and managing director of the home-sharing service provider Airgreets Florian Bogenschütz brings expertise in building collaborations between startups and corporations. During his time at the Munich-based startup, founded in 2016, he negotiated strategic partnerships with industry giants such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
Wayra connects startups with corporations
He now wants to bring this experience to Wayra: Bogenschütz's focus is on building robust processes that make it easier for startups to establish valuable customer relationships with corporations. With his venture client model, the Open Innovation Hub is already focusing on building such partnerships. The parent company Telefónica often acts as a customer for the young companies' products. With the Wayra-as-a-Service program, the corporate venture provider supports not only Telefónica but also other corporations in their collaboration with startups. Florian Bogenschütz says:
"Successful collaborations between startups and large corporations are crucial for the rapid scaling of innovative approaches and solutions—and are absolutely beneficial for both sides. However, because the worlds are so different, the hurdles often seem almost insurmountable without consulting support—I know this from my own experience. With its client venturing approach, Wayra forms the perfect interface between corporations and startups. I look forward to being able to further expand the principle of the open innovation hub."
His predecessor, Christian Lindener, left the company at the end of October 2019 and handed over the management to Katrin Bacic, Head of Venture Development at Wayra. Bacic will remain on the management team. While Bogenschütz focuses entirely on supporting startups in establishing the processes necessary for collaboration with large corporations, Bacic, with her corporate background, primarily acts as a link between Telefónica and Wayra. She is primarily responsible for venture development.
