Realizing Your Vision – Our Passion

Hilmar Platz is founder and managing director of Concepts4Value GmbH. His focus is on Life Science, Photonics & Greentech. Hilmar has successfully demonstrated the ability to bridge industrial expertise with corporate finance and to integrate into a valuable corporate concept. He has gained special experiences in the DACH-region, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. His work involves in depth cooperation with VC, PE, Family Offices and industry. Support of VC- and PE-grade small to medium-sized companies. Identification of financial and industrial investors, establishing of industrial alliances, M & A and IPO advisory.

Services

• Corporate Finance
• Project based management functions and mentoring
• M & A
• IPO
• Industries

Hilmar and his team have been involved in a large number of successful financing rounds, M&A, IPOs in the core sectors mentioned as well as an advisor for industrial players and professional investors. After more than 25 years of business experience, he has a robust and proven track record in the chemical sector, Medtech, Red & White Biotech, Photonics/Sensorics and Greentech.

Alrik Koppenhöfer is the founder and Co-managing director of the Life Science Consulting Network. He offers consulting services to executives and investors in the Life Science industry since 2004.

Services

• Market assessment & competitive intelligence
• Access to experts & KOLs
• Business planing & due diligence
• Business & marketing strategy
• Strategic alliances & partnering
• Interim management in S&M

Background

• 20 years of experience in strategic and operational business consulting, interim management, business development & management roles on the executive level (LION bioscience AG; Axaron Bioscience AG)
• Substantial deal experience
• Deep international network throughout Life Sciences industries, especially in R&D, medtech, diagnostics, white biotech

As a Marie-Curie-Fellow Alrik Koppenhöfer earned his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Oxford and holds a degree in chemistry from Freiburg University, Germany. His working languages are German and English.

Business and Sales Development Expert

Services

• Business & Sales strategic planning in Diagnostics
• Market Access and Reimbursement in Diagnostics
• Market Assessment and Market Research
• Strategic Alliances & Partnering
• Project and Interim Management in Diagnostics

Background

• 20 years of experience in General Management, Business and Commercial Development
• Founder and Managing Director of Microbionix GmbH and Diagnostics & Life Science Consulting
• Interim Management at companies such as Luminex and Omega Diagnostics
• Strong international network in Medical Diagnostics

Thomas Schulze is Managing Director of EirGenix Europe GmbH (Munich) and Corporate VP of EirGenix Inc (Taipei/Taiwan) – a leading Asian biopharmaceutical business headquarted in Taipei. He also is Founder and Managing Director of FundaMental Pharma GmbH (Heidelberg) – a start-up company targeting neurodegeneration while maintaining neuroplasticity.  
Thomas has three decades of international leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry with a particular track record in Germany, Japan and Taiwan. His focus covers complementary approaches, innovative therapies and biosimilars.
He is passionate about life sciences, philosophy, politics and football.

Johan Grant is partner of Aeneas GmbH, Munich/Stockholm. As cooperation partner of Concepts4Value GmbH he brings in more than 25 years of industrial expertise in the areas strategic processes, commercial and technical evaluations, intellectual property, distribution, marketing and sales. His special focus is in cleantech-technologies. He held several management positions in companies like IKEA, Wärtsilä, United Waters Europe AG, as well as partner in different consulting service companies. Johan is M&A experienced.

Languages: Swedish, English, German

Richard is a seasoned transformation executive and strategic advisor with over 20 years of experience leading businesses through growth, crisis, and change across Europe and the Middle East. As Partner of Concepts4Value, he supports private equity firms, founders, and leadership teams in scaling operations, managing complexity, and preparing for or navigating ownership transitions. Core segments: Growth-Stage and Mid-Cap Industrial Players, PE companies.

Richard is especially skilled at unlocking value during corporate transformations, from legal and organizational restructuring to building ESG and compliance frameworks across multi-entity groups. He has led cross-border M&A deals and post-merger integrations, successfully turning underperforming subsidiaries into profitable units — even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He understands the demands of private equity environments, having been instrumental in scaling Infinigate from €40 million to €2.3 billion while transitioning the company from founder-led to PE-backed ownership. As a trusted partner to both investors and management, Richard bridges strategic intent with operational execution — and delivers.

Core competencies

• Corporate Transformation & Turnaround
• M&A Strategy, Due Diligence & Post-Merger Integration
• Legal Structuring, Compliance & ESG Implementation
• Preparation for PE Investment & Ownership Transition
• Interim Executive Roles (CFO, EVP, MD)
• Non-Executive Board Positions & Strategic Advisory

Background

• More than 20 years in executive roles including CFO, EVP Corporate Development, Legal & Compliance, and Operating MD
• Delivered sustained growth (CAGR >25%) over 17 years, scaling revenues from €40M to €2.3B
• Led 7 M&A transactions across Europe and the Middle East, including 2 squeeze-outs and 7 legal mergers
• Built governance and ESG systems covering 50+ corporate entities
• Successfully managed multiple turnarounds, including one during COVID with significant supplier issues and workforce restructuring
• Board experience in Switzerland, Germany, and the UAE
• Certified Financial Analyst (CEFA) and MBA, University of Basel

Gertrud K. Deffner is the founder and managing director of Metropol Audit GmbH, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, based in Mannheim and Lahr, Germany.
Her company’s core business is the auditing of financial and non-financial statements, with a focus on mid-sized companies and large corporations.
Gertrud has in-depth expertise knowledge of German Accounting (HGB) and International Accounting (IFRS) as well as national tax law. She serves a wide range of customers from different industries and has a long track record in auditing also stock listed corporations in the D-A-CH region, the UK and the USA.

Other services

• Assements and Valuation in different situations (due dilligence, merger and acquisition)
• Share valuations under S 8 (IDW Standards) “Fairness Opinions”
• Internal control systems assessment
• Risk management audits
• Compliance audits

Gertrud is the author of a book on business assessment - fundamentals enterprise valutions

Services

• Overall strategic positioning and business development support
• Strategic alliances and partnering, geographic expansion plans
• Market research and competitor analysis, medical need and patient potential
• Optimization of financing and exit strategies

Background

Over 35 years of academic, industrial and healthcare finance experience in biotech, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices, member of two advisory Boards and one supervisory Board

• 19 years healthcare finance experience at Deutsche Bank AG. Deal team member – often as Originating Director - in +200 transactions including debt and equity financing, M&A and IPOs for clients in all sizes from start up to mid cap companies including + € 1 billion sales corporations
• Previous positions as Director and Head of the Expert Team Life Sciences at Deutsche Bank AG, at the German Cancer Research Center at the team of the 2008 Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen, the BioSidus foundation team (Buenos Aires), and Behringwerke
• PhD in microbiology and molecular biology
• Working languages: bilingual in German and Spanish, English

Leigh A. Hooper is an accomplished financial executive with broad management and capital markets experience across multiple industries including banking, oil & gas, IT/SaaS, law firms, healthcare, international recruitment and watersports. He has worked with companies with activities in Europe, the US, Latin America and the Middle East.

​Leigh is a consummate all-rounder when it comes to the art of managing the CFO function in Germany. With both British and German citizenship, being fully bilingual and after 30 years corporate experience in Germany, his forté is acting as the financial bridge between international operations and German activities as well as helping start-ups in all aspects within the CFO scope. ​ Leigh has been on both sides of the fence when it comes to raising capital. In his first career in investment banking with Barclays Bank and Merrill Lynch. And in his second career as CEO/CFO of Activa Resources AG, a German listed holding company.

As owner of Peak Consulting GmbH, Leigh has assembled a global network of best-in-class CFO as a Service providers, providing bespoke CFO services in 20 countries around the world.

Christian Bacherl has more than 20 years of experience in Investment Banking / Equity Capital Markets. After holding positions as head of syndicate and head of equity capital markets at a pan-European bank, he most recently served as a member of the executive board of a boutique investment bank prior to co-founding ACCNITE Partners.

ACCNITE Partners advises companies on capital market transactions such as IPOs, capital increases, share placements, carve outs & spin-offs as well as share buy backs. In addition, ACCNITE Partners advises clients on IR strategies, investor targeting and equity story presentation. Our clients are typically entrepreneurs and managers with entrepreneurial minds. During the entire life of a project ACCNITE Partners manages and presents an unbiased view on all relevant workstreams and becomes an integral part of a client’s teams

Maria Töpfer is specialized in Equity Capital Markets. Prior to that she gained experience in accounting, controlling and strategy consulting.

ACCNITE Partners advises companies on capital market transactions such as IPOs, capital increases, share placements, carve outs & spin-offs as well as share buy backs. In addition, ACCNITE Partners advises clients on IR strategies, investor targeting and equity story presentation. Our clients are typically entrepreneurs and managers with entrepreneurial minds. During the entire life of a project ACCNITE Partners manages and presents an unbiased view on all relevant workstreams and becomes an integral part of a client’s teams.

Services

• Public R&D funding for German tech companies
• Comprehensive service package: grant selection, preparation of proposal documents, project administration, accounting and reporting
• Strong track record in (but not restricted to) Life Science
• Largely success-based fee model

Experience

• 19 years of experience with R&D projects
• Supported >100 funded R&D projects across sectors & industries during last 3 years
• Advised several hundred Life Science clients with corporate finance & strategy at Deutsche Bank

History

• Founder & Owner, ifectis Innovationsförderung
• Senior Consultant specialized in public R&D funding
• Life Science Industry Expert at Deutsche Bank
• Team Leader in Drug Discovery at deCODE genetics (Reykjavík, Iceland)
• Ph.D. in biochemistry (Frankfurt/Marburg)

Services

• Goal- and resource-oriented team coaching/team formation/team development
• Clarification of tensions/conflicts/constructive conflict management
• goal-oriented support during change processes
• Communication
• Working on values and cultivating positive corporate communication
• Mental Training
• Development of potential
• Cross-thematic moderation
• Identification and formulation of visions, consistent and successful implementation of goals

Background

20 years of experience in text coaching
15 years of experience in coaching, seminars, workshops for organizations, teams and individuals
M.A. in Philosophy, Psychology, Modern German Literature, University Augsburg
B.A. in Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences Augsburg