Romy Schnelle

Romy Schnelle has been Managing Director of the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) since May 2023. After graduating from the Technical University of Ilmenau, her enthusiasm for technological innovation led her to the business development department of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (IDMT). A year later, in 2004, she entered the venture capital and start-up ecosystem. Together with mp3 inventor Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg, she founded the Fraunhofer spin-off IOSONO, now Barco Audio Technologies.

In 2008, Romy moved to the investor side and joined the HTGF team. She built up a promising portfolio and successfully sold the HTGF shares. Romy supported the Digital Tech team, particularly in digital health and SaaS investments. Today, in her role as Managing Director, she is responsible for HTGF’s Industrial Tech sector (including Deep Tech and Climate Tech).

She chaired the investment committee of TX Group, one of Switzerland’s leading media companies, and serves on the advisory boards of start-ups. Her involvement includes serving as a jury member in renowned start-up competitions, as an advisor to the Quantum Computing Initiative of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Young Digital Economy NRW, and in networks for female founders and investors such as encourageventures e.V.