Dirk Ahlborn

Dirk Ahlborn is the founder and CEO of JumpStarter Inc., a web portal that believes in creating smarter and more successful companies by applying crowd sourcing from the conception of an idea, all the way through funding. Dirk is also CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc., which used JumpStartFund's well-known crowd collaboration concept to become a reality.

He is a serial entrepreneur with experience in almost every element of business: Management; product design and development and manufacturing; production facility design and set up, production cost control, marketing, product distribution; customer service; and sales. Before co-founding Jumpstarter, he was at the Girvan Institute of Technology, an incubator-accelerator for early-stage high-tech companies. At Girvan, beginning in 2009, he was instrumental in the development of several startup companies, notably Advanced Turbine Designs, Inc., a developer of natural-gas-fueled gas turbine generators for combined heat and power. In the course of his multi-faceted activities at Girvan, he also managed mobile and web application developments as well as search engine optimization and online marketing.

Prior to 2009, his activities were centered in Germany and Italy. He began his professional career in 1996 as a broker and investment specialist at Bank Gesellschaft Berlin, AG, one of Germany’s largest banks. In 1999, he founded Rika Italia, distributor for Europe’s leading manufacturer of energy-conserving pellet and wood-burning stoves. In 2001, he founded Diva Srl, manufacturer, importer, and seller of residential heating and cooking appliances.

Ahlborn is fluent in German and Italian and proficient in conversational Spanish. He holds the credential in banking and insurance from the Organization of German Industry and Commerce.