Thomas Bachem (born November 14, 1985) is a German entrepreneur, software developer and investor. He is founder and chancellor of the CODE University of Applied Sciences in Berlin.
Thomas Bachem | |
---|---|
![]() Bachem in 2017 at the Googleplex | |
Born | Bergisch Gladbach, Germany | November 14, 1985
Nationality | German |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur and investor |
Known for | CODE University of Applied Sciences, German Startups Association, sevenload |
Website | thomasbachem |
Career
editBachem grew up in Cologne and taught himself computer programming at the age of 12 years. As a teenager, he ran an online portal for software development and developed websites for corporate customers.[1][2]
Parallel to his studies at Cologne Business School, he developed the video-sharing website sevenload in 2005, which acquired more than €25 million in venture capital while he was still a student and was sold to Hubert Burda Media in 2010.[3][4] Immediately thereafter he founded United Prototype, which developed the social game Fliplife and was acquired in 2012 by German-Turkish gaming company Kaisergames.[5][6] In his spare time, Bachem developed Lebenslauf.com (engl. Resume.com), an online CV editor which he sold to publicly traded XING AG in 2014.[7][8]
In 2016, Bachem founded the CODE University of Applied Sciences in Berlin in an effort to improve the education of software developers since existing computer science courses appeared outdated and too theoretical to him.[9][10] The accredited private university was granted state recognition by the state of Berlin in July 2017 and commenced its English-language studies in October 2017.[11] Bachem is the youngest university chancellor in Germany.[12]
In addition to its own entrepreneurial activities Bachem supports young startup companies as an angel investor.[13][14][15]
Voluntary Commitment
editIn 2012, Bachem, together with other internet entrepreneurs, founded the German Startups Association as a political voice for startups in Germany.[16] He serves as its Vice Chairman ever since.[17]
Bachem also initiated the non-profit Code+Design Initiative[18] and is a senator of the German Academy of Science and Engineering.[19] He is a long-time member of the Entrepreneurs' Organization and for many years served as a regional board chair.[20]
Awards
editGermany's leading business newspaper Handelsblatt named Bachem "Founder of the Year 2017".[21] German magazine Capital honored him in the same year as "Young Elite - Top 40 under 40" in the Society and Science category.[22] In December 2017, the magazine Business Punk named him one of "100 Rising Stars" in its "Watchlist 2018".[23] In August 2019, he received the "Innovators Under 35" award of the German issue of MIT Technology Review and was named "Social Innovator of the Year".[24][25]
Previously, Bachem was already named as a "famous German founder" in 2010 by business magazine WirtschaftsWoche and in 2014 as one of 25 "notorious founders - Germany's pioneers."[26][27]
In 2019, the university he founded was awarded the "German Excellence Prize"[28] as well as honored as an "Excellent Place" in the annual "Land of Ideas" competition.[29]
References
edit- ^ Burfeind, Sophie (July 5, 2017). "Nicht nur was für Nerds". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). No. 152.
- ^ Nezik, Ann-Kathrin (March 24, 2017). "Nerds von morgen". Der Spiegel (in German). No. 13/2017. p. 71.
- ^ "European startups prepared for the worst". TechCrunch. October 2, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Burda takes over Sevenload video portal". Rapid TV News. December 15, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Fliplife gets 7-figure investment for its browser-based virtual world". TechCrunch. February 7, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "The biggest German exits and takeovers of 2012". Heureka. January 4, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Xing buys CV creator". AIM Group. May 27, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Xing übernimmt Lebenslauf.com" (in German). Heise Online. May 28, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ "Reprogrammed". deutschland.de. June 12, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ Tönnesmann, Jens (June 3, 2017). "Calling All Tech Talent". Handelsblatt. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ Kuhn, Annette (July 16, 2017). "Studieren mit Zukunft". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). p. 12.
- ^ "Menschen 2017". Handelsblatt (in German). No. 242. December 15, 2017. p. 78.
- ^ "Thomas Bachem - Cavalry Ventures". Cavalry Ventures. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ "Dieses Startup vermittelt Wohnungen auf Zeit an Geschäftsleute" (in German). Gründerszene. April 4, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "PROfounders setzt auf Steuererklärung für Studenten" (in German). deutsche-startups.de. February 9, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Startup-Verband will über 1.000 Mitglieder" (in German). Gründerszene. October 18, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Members of the Board". German Startups Association. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Code+Design Camp für 150 Jugendliche in Köln". Hochrhein-Zeitung. October 7, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Members of the Senate". Acatech. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Chapter Rhine-Ruhr" (in German). Entrepreneurs' Organization. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Menschen 2017". Handelsblatt (in German). No. 242. December 15, 2017. p. 78.
- ^ "Junge Elite – Top 40 unter 40". Capital (in German). No. 12/2017. November 16, 2017. p. 82.
- ^ "Watchlist 2018". Business Punk (in German). No. 6/2017. December 7, 2017. p. 44.
- ^ "Die besten "Innovatoren unter 35": Unsere Visionäre". MIT Technology Review (in German). No. 9/2019. 2019-08-15. p. 52.
- ^ "Technology Review kürte zehn Innovatoren unter 35 Jahren" (in German). MIT Technology Review. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ "Berühmte deutsche Gründer" (in German). WirtschaftsWoche. October 20, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ "Diese 25 Vordenker der deutschen Gründerszene sollten Sie kennen". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). No. 29/2014. June 14, 2014. p. 64.
- ^ "Deutscher Exzellenz-Preis verliehen" (in German). n-tv. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
- ^ "Ausgezeichnete Orte 2019" (in German). Deutschland – Land der Ideen. Retrieved August 15, 2019.