On a personal note: Goodbye, Michael.

Michael Völter leaves the Stuttgart Stock Exchange. A short farewell letter.

The fact that Startbase was able to grow from stealth mode, so to speak, to the third largest startup medium in Germany within eighteen months is primarily due to the trust and commitment of Michael Völter. Michael Völter has led the Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse e.V. association as CEO since 2015 and has made Startbase one of his heart's projects.

Unlike other stock exchanges in Germany, Börse Stuttgart Group is owned by an association. Its statutory mission is also to strengthen Stuttgart as a financial centre. A strong financial centre needs a stock exchange, that is clear, but it needs even more. Exchange between the players, financial education, innovations - and therefore also a strong startup scene. This holistic vision has significantly shaped Michael Völter's actions in recent years.

With Startbase, Michael Völter has launched a milestone in German startup promotion in 2019: the creation of a comprehensive database to give business, science and politics access to all startups in Germany free of charge for the first time. This will be followed in 2020 by the online magazine, which is intended to give visibility to the youngest startups in particular. His next steps also show how much Michael Völter cares about the promotion of start-ups: in the future, he will be involved in various functions primarily for start-ups. Even if the common path ends here, the startup scene can look forward to a promoter and business angel who acts on the conviction that "giving" always comes before "taking".

In this sense: Thank you, Michael, for the great time together, your trust and your support. We wish you all the best for your future and will certainly hear a lot more from each other.