The new heroes of the Berlin economy: Younger managers in focus!

The new heroes of the Berlin economy: Younger managers in focus!

On July 15, 2025, the “Berlin Economy” team from Tagesspiegel will present eight inspiring examples in its list of the 40 most promising younger managerial personalities. Among them is Kai Lanz (24), who gained notoriety as the managing director of Crisis Chat. The program offers young people psychosocial first aid via WhatsApp and was launched during the first Corona lockdown. In 2022, Crisis Chat has expanded its offering to include young people affected by conflict in Ukraine. Lanz emphasizes that he would like regular financing for the important project.

Mental health is a significant challenge in Germany, especially among young people. Suicide is one of the most common causes of death in this age group, while mental illness is identified as the main cause of incapacity to work and early retirement. Crisis Chat has provided over 80,000 professional consultations since its inception - in an area that desperately needs support. The consulting practice focuses on acute emergencies, concerns requiring therapy and prevention.

Innovative projects and social initiatives

In addition to Lanz, Tayla Sheldrake (30), who works as head of the ventures department at MotionLab Berlin and founded a start-up for Scandinavian soft drinks, is also impressive. Her responsibilities include funding start-ups in MotionLab, where she brings her expertise in robotics, automation and clean energy.

Also worth mentioning is Ivan Maryasin, managing director and co-founder of Monite, a FinTech start-up that enables automated processing of invoices and payments. This is particularly relevant as the technology can be seamlessly integrated into existing banking and payment provider offerings.

Kave Bulambo, who founded TalentDiverse in 2019 and BlackInTech in 2023, is committed to supporting international talent entering the German job market and increasing the visibility of Black people in the tech industry.

Education and communication in focus

Anna Güntner founded Eclarity, a start-up that supports companies in further training. The approach of using AI to efficiently pass on internal knowledge to new employees is particularly innovative. Age-old ideas, like using AI for math homework, have been reimagined with this modern approach.

Another representative of Berlin's dynamic startup scene is Fabian Zorn (26), who founded Rebellious Communications, an agency for social media communications that already looks after several DAX companies. His goal is to bring expertise back to LinkedIn.

The list is rounded off by Ruth R. Shah (35), director of the start-up incubator Co-Lab at Bayer, and Janina Mütze (35), founder of the digital opinion research institute Civey. While Shah has held various positions at Bayer, Mütze has successfully steered her company through a crisis and is committed to part-time positions in management positions.

Crisis chat as a social initiative is supported by ProjectTogether, which promotes cooperation with the German state. Melanie Eckert, co-founder, and Paul Thiekötter from ProjectTogether describe Crisis Chat as a promising project that relies on support from volunteers, companies, foundations and donations. Crisis Chat aims to further expand and improve the advisory services offered, especially at a time when around 250,000 children and young people in Germany are struggling in acute crises.