Thorsten joined NRW.BANK as team lead for Digital Business & Technology investments on August 1, 2017. Since then, he has also been one of the two managing directors of Gründerfonds Ruhr.

Prior to this, he spent ten years in the USA (LA & Silicon Valley) and worked as a director for the Sony Innovation Fund, the division responsible for investments and partnerships for the Sony Group. Over the course of his 15 years of professional experience at companies including Sony Corporation of America, Gemstar TV Guide and Sony Venture Capital Europe, he has led numerous financing rounds, M&A transactions and business partnerships across the US and Europe. Additionally, Thorsten has been responsible for advising a large number of start-ups in the digital and tech sector.

Thorsten holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the TU Berlin and a Bachelor of Commerce with Honors from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa).